A NEW Chinese reality show is now under fire on Chinese social media platforms for being suspiciously similar to U.S. reality TV series “Queer Eye” and promoting gender stereotypes. “You Are So Beautiful” was released on streaming service Mango TV (MGTV) in December, and the format is almost exactly identical to “Queer Eye,” a U.S. reality TV series that premiered on the cable television network Bravo in July 2003, except for the fact that in the Chinese show, every one of its host team is straight. The show’s five hosts each have a specialty, and they put them to use giving live makeovers to one person per episode. Wu Xin is in charge of hair and makeup, Han Huohuo handles fashion, Kun Ling overhauls their lifestyles, Fan Tiantian teaches them to make great food and Huang Ji redecorates their homes. Although “Queer Eye” has never officially been aired in China, some people in the country have found ways to access episodes online. According to Inkstone, Chinese “Queer Eye” fans have taken to Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, to accuse “You Are So Beautiful” of plagiarizing the American show with one writing: “One question: Have you paid for the copyright?” The news caught public attention on Chinese social media after Bobby Berk, one of the “Queer Eye” host team, tweeted a report published by U.K. gay news service PinkNews on Jan. 9. MGTV has not yet responded to the accusation of plagiarism. The core value of the Chinese show also drew harsh criticism. While “Queer Eye” is about self-identification and staying true to oneself, the so-called change in “You Are So Beautiful” is to help people become more confident just by living up to society’s standards, Peng Yanzi, founder of LGBT Rights Advocacy of China, told the Global Times in an interview. “‘Queer Eye’ is telling us how to live better. But ‘You Are so Beautiful’ is reinforcing our existing biases and telling everyone to live a life that can be accepted by the public,” one person wrote on review site Douban. “‘Queer Eye’ encourages guests to be brave and to improve their self-esteem, self-love and self-confidence. In this reality show, I can only see the stereotypes of women that are continuously strengthening in society,” another wrote. Three questions appeared at the very beginning of the first episode of “You Are So Beautiful.” “Do you think you are beautiful?” is the first one. The show claimed they did a nationwide survey on life satisfaction, and 89 percent of 3,000 female respondents thought they were not “good-looking.” The hashtag “the value of ‘You Are So Beautiful’” has been viewed more than 200 million times on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo as of Monday. Amid the controversy, Jiang Dingtian, a single woman who lives in Beijing and was the guest of the third episode, said on Weibo that she was happy to be on the show. “I see more possibilities, more color and more love than I saw before.” However, the criticism has continued, especially over the second episode in which a father of quadruplets complained that his wife rarely put on makeup and had little time with him because of their children. The wife apologized to the husband at the end of the show for neglecting him, triggering heated discussion among viewers, some of whom criticized the husband for not helping more to take care of the babies and only complaining to the exhausted wife. Some netizens also pointed out that some of the hosts, including MGTV hostess Wu, have experienced unreasonable public judgment themselves, so it’s disappointing to see them promoting stereotypes to others in this show. Wu featured in another MGTV show about young single women in January 2019. She was criticized by the audience as being lazy and for being unmarried in her 30s. “I always think that there is no right or wrong in lifestyle choices. Every individual is different; the most important thing is to follow your heart,” Wu once said on Weibo in response to the criticism. (SD-Global Times) | 