All is Well: the Chinese show that talks about sexism (a bit)

I have just finished watching the entire 46 episodes of 都挺好 ("All is Well"), a Chinese TV drama that's been a huge hit this year (yes, 46 episodes is a perfectly normal length for a Chinese show. They don't even have seasons, they just release them all in one go. But it seems like this practice may change soon).

The show is genuinely entertaining and well-acted, which makes it a rarity for Chinese TV. The other reason for its popularity is that it touches upon some genuine social issues and paints a realistic and unflinching portrait of middle-class life in a big Chinese city. The show revolves around the Su family of Suzhou, a family that has been thrown into disarray by the death of its matriarch. Many of the characters are pretty dislikable and sadly realistic, starting with the main ones: the Su family's patriarch, Su Daqiang, is cowardly, childish and selfish, and now that his wife is dead he thinks nothing of manipulating and pestering his grown-up children until they give him what he wants.

Su Mingzhe, the oldest son, is well-educated and lives in the States, but he has inherited his father's cowardly and irresolute nature, and feels much more duty-bound towards his original parents and family than towards his own wife and daughter. The Su family's second son, Su Mingcheng, is lazy, irresponsible and generally unpleasant, and has been bleeding his parents dry for years. But there are other more minor villainous characters who also strike a chord, for instance the brothers' uncle, an uneducated, greedy ruffian who tries to extort them for money after Su Mingcheng is unable to pay back a minor debt.

Then there is Su Mingyu, the show's hero, played by superstar 姚晨 (Yao Chen). She is the Su family's youngest daughter, an outcast who has bloomed into a wealthy, successful and beautiful businesswoman. The series starts off with a flashback that reveals how she was subjected to some shocking sexism from her parents, and particularly her domineering mother, who directed all of the family's resources onto her two brothers while Su Mingyu was ignored and mistreated for being just a girl who would eventually be "married off" to another family. Some on the Chinese internet have claimed this depiction to be over the top and inaccurate, but others have said that it actually reflects their own experience.

This early foray into gender inequality is intriguing, but unfortunately the show doesn't really keep it up. Instead, we are treated to an entertaining family drama that focuses mostly on the squabbles between the siblings and their father, and on the intrigues and power struggles within Su Mingyu's company (which include the boss passing himself off as comatose to see who will try and take over). Some episodes do portray broader problems in Chinese society, for instance both Su Daqiang and Su Mingcheng invest in enterprises which then disappear overnight along with their investors' money, falling victim to the scammers that prey on people's "get rich quick" mentality. The social commentary, though, feels more accidental than intentional.

At some point the endless subplots begin to get repetitive (after all there are 46 episodes), and some characters are less than believable, for instance Su Mingyu's boyfriend, who looks like a model and body-builder but actually works as a cook in a restaurant. Still, all in all a pretty good job is done of keeping viewers entertained. The ending, when it finally comes, is genuinely moving. What's more even the three lead male characters, in spite of all their unpleasant traits, end up becoming almost likeable in their flawed humanity.

You can watch the show here (with English subtitles).