Chinese Dating Shows Pull Back on Materialist Values

It seems one now-famous “gold digger” may have reshaped the Chinese dating show scene. After Ma Nuo, a contestant on If You Are the One, declared she’d “rather sit and cry in the back of a BMW” than ride on a boy’s bicycle, Chinese media has cracked down on “vulgar” reality show content.

If You Are the One, a Jiangsu dating show, is the most watched reality show in the entire country. Until last May, it had viewers rolling with laughter (and mild horror) as its female contestants revealed themselves to be materialistic, superficial beauties. The men paraded before the lucky bachelorettes displayed profiles including all of their material assets (or disappointing lack thereof). The girls, often accused of being actresses hired by the show, interrogated and brutally rejected all but the most affluent, handsome suitors, to audiences’ endless delight.

According to the New York Times, these salacious ladies and their frank statements attracted the attention of the powers-that-be. Now, If You Are the One and similar programs shy away from openly sexual dialogue and “promoting materialism” (we’re guessing they don’t mean dialectical materialism here).

For what reason, you ask? Didn’t this dialogue draw millions of viewers and buckets of revenue to state-owned TV companies?

Well, if you ask one Sichuan University professor, “There are several functions of the television industry. Entertainment is last.” Mmm, what possible other function could media play in an open society like China?

In any case, If You Are the One now aims to promote higher moral decorum by focusing on: “Tales of civic service and promises of good relations with future mothers-in-law,” maintaining core socialist values as requested by Beijing.

Since when has getting on with your mother-in-law been a “core socialist value”?

Sadly the show’s ratings have slumped considerably since the content change.