Social
engineering invariably produces unintended consequences—often times resulting in
outcomes perversely opposite from what was hoped for. Nobody is better at
illustrating the follies of intrusive social tinkering than the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP). Due to the recently revised One Child (now Two Child)
mandate, marriage-age men vastly outnumber their female counterparts. To
minimize the imbalance, Chinese society (necessarily directed by the Party,
which strictly controls all media) pressures women to wed sooner rather than
later. As a result, unmarried women over 27 years of age face tremendous scorn
and criticism. Hilla Medalia & Shosh Shlam document challenges three such
women face as they try to live their lives in Leftover Women, which screens during the 2019 Philadelphia Film Festival.
Make
that two of them. Much to her surprise, 36-year-old film studies scholar Gai Qi
has recently married a much younger man and started a family. Xu Min (just
barely a “Leftover Woman” at twenty-eight, despite her protests to the
contrary) seems poised to join her when she meets a rather decent seeming chap at
one of the innumerable singles events staged in Beijing. Yet, strangely, she
scuttles the relationship before it even starts (for acutely human reasons that
will eventually become clear).
Far
more complicated—and ultimately much more compelling is the 34-year-old
attorney Qiu Hua-mei, who is truly conflicted by her desire for both
companionship and independence. She also feels filial guilt in spades, even
though her hard-working provincial father is a surprising fount of
understanding and compassion. Frankly, viewers will have a great deal of
sympathy for Xu Min and Qiu, but the latter is a much more magnetic and
thoughtfully mature screen presence. Ironically, Western men would probably
trip over themselves to ask out either—a likelihood perhaps not lost on one of
them.
Although
Medalia & Shlam maintain a largely personal perspective on the “Leftover
Women” phenomenon, they do not ignore the role the One Child Policy playing in
bringing about the current state of social imbalance. However, they arguably place
greater emphasis on traditional deep-seated manifestations of chauvinism, which
is not wrong either. Still, this film is probably best viewed alongside Nanfu
Wang & Jialing Zhang’s revelatory and heartbreaking expose, One Child Nation, which fills in a lot
of the blanks regarding the One Child Policy and the resulting explosion of
sex-selection abortions and horrifically abandoned infant girls. It also
happens to probably be the best documentary of the year.
Leftover Women is not as powerful
or revealing, but it is still a valuable work of nonfiction cinema. Qiu Hua-mei
is a particularly compelling figure and her experiences are instructive. It
certainly will never make the CCP’s recommended viewing list, but that in
itself is an endorsement for free-thinking audiences. Recommended for those
interested in Chinese society and women’s issues, Leftover Women screens tomorrow (10/18) and Sunday the 27th
(ominously), as part of this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival.
