Bounty Lady (My盛Lady) is a TV drama which produced by TVB and broadcasted
in 2013. Bounty Lady is a TV drama
that talks about how Heung Kwong Mam (Dayo Wong) helps those women who reach
the marriageable age but still cannot get married to show their virtues in
order to find their true love and get married. In this drama, the marriageable
unmarried women (盛女) are stereotyped as Hong Kong lady (港女). The following paragraphs will be divided into
two parts to discuss the identity construction of female characters in Bounty Lady and the narrative ending of
these female characters.
In Bounty Lady, the marriageable unmarried female characters are represented as Hong Kong lady. The female characters are egocentric, money worship and having princess sickness. In this TV drama, these Hong Kong lady's characteristics are linked with the unmarried female characters. It reinforces the idea that the reasons of marriageable women cannot get married is because they are all Hong Kong lady. The cultural diversity of marriageable unmarried women is being suppressed in Bounty Lady (Ma, 2005). Bounty Lady also strengthens that the marriageable unmarried women are all behaved in a particular way which are negative behaviors. In this way, a negative image and identity of marriageable unmarried women is constructed (Dyers, 2000). In Bounty Lady, the female characters are being highly institutionalized that the marriageable unmarried women must be Hong Kong lady. This public version is formed when audience are consuming this TV drama (Ma, 2005).
In Bounty Lady, the marriageable unmarried female characters are represented as Hong Kong lady. The female characters are egocentric, money worship and having princess sickness. In this TV drama, these Hong Kong lady's characteristics are linked with the unmarried female characters. It reinforces the idea that the reasons of marriageable women cannot get married is because they are all Hong Kong lady. The cultural diversity of marriageable unmarried women is being suppressed in Bounty Lady (Ma, 2005). Bounty Lady also strengthens that the marriageable unmarried women are all behaved in a particular way which are negative behaviors. In this way, a negative image and identity of marriageable unmarried women is constructed (Dyers, 2000). In Bounty Lady, the female characters are being highly institutionalized that the marriageable unmarried women must be Hong Kong lady. This public version is formed when audience are consuming this TV drama (Ma, 2005).
Besides the term Hong Kong lady is representing the
identity of the marriageable unmarried women in Hong Kong, Bounty Lady stereotyped a particular type of women who are unable
to "sell" themselves out. For example, no one willing to be Judy's
boyfriend because she is overweight; Yam Mo Lin (Grace Wong) cannot get a
boyfriend because of her tomboyish behavior and tomboyish way of speaking;
Windy is a 40 years old hypercritical woman that does not have boyfriend. This
TV drama stereotyped women that if they do not have a nice body curve, feminine
and gentle behavior, they are not able to have a boyfriend. Bounty Lady ignores the complexities of people. It is because the
reasons of women that they do not have a boyfriend for a long period of time or
they still cannot get married even though they reach to the marriageable can be
varied. In the reality, appearance and behavior may not be able to explain all
the situations of the marriageable unmarried women in Hong Kong. Thus, the
cultural identity of the female characters in Bounty Lady is naturalized (Ma, 2005).
The narrative ending in Bounty Lady can be regarded as a “happy ending". In Bounty Lady, although Judy, Windy,
Paula, and Yam Mo Lin have Hong Kong lady’s characteristics, 'undesirable' body
shape and behaviors, with Heung Kwong Nam's help, all of them can finally find
their Mr. Right. This narrative ending illustrates a patriarchal idea that
women can possess their happiness unless they find their true love and their
Mr. Right. It is their ultimate goal in their lives. Under this gender
ideology, when audience are consuming
Bounty Lady, they will also regard this TV drama has a “happy ending"
as long as the female characters have a heterosexual coupling ending.
To conclude,
Bounty Lady stereotyped the marriageable unmarried women as the Hong Kong
lady. In this TV drama, the idea of finding a Mr. Right as women's ultimate
goal in their lives is also reinforced. Although the TV drama reflects some of
the reality in Hong Kong society, it reveals some stereotyped representations in
Hong Kong female.
(601 words)
Cheung Chor
Hang, Dion (10487955/21239718)
References
Dyer, R. (2000). The Role of Stereotypes. In P. Marris & S. Thornham (Eds.), Media Studies: A Reader (pp. 243-251). New York: University Press.
Ma, E. K. W. (2005). Culture, Politics and Television in Hong Kong. Routledge.
My盛Lady. (2013.). Retrieved April 12, 2014, from TVB.COM LIMIT, http://programme.tvb.com/drama/bountylady/
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