Award-winning director explains how her romantic comedy strengthened ties between China and the US.
Most audiences don’t expect romantic comedies to bring meaning to romance; rather, they anticipate a somewhat predictable plot and a happy ending concluding a character’s journey. This year, BYU’s China Conference put this stereotype to the test and invited award-winning director Xue XiaoLu to discuss the power a lighthearted rom-com can hold. On March 8, 2024, Chinese-speaking students, TAs, and faculty attended a screening of Xue’s film, Finding Mr. Right (北京遇上西雅图), and heard her explanation of the impact the film had on the relationship between the US and China.
Finding Mr. Right follows the journey of a young, expecting mother from China, JiaJia, who moves to Seattle with the hopes of having her baby in the United States. In Seattle, she finds a Chinese maternity center (an establishment for Chinese mothers wanting to give birth in the US) that provides her with housing and support for the final six months of her pregnancy. As JiaJia navigates life in an unfamiliar city, she makes an unlikely friendship with Frank, a driver for the maternity center. By the end of the movie, JiaJia learns the true meaning of love and finds out Frank was her “Mr. Right” all along.
Though the movie includes humor and light-hearted tropes, at its core, it highlights the difficulties many families faced in China at the time of its release. After the institution of the One-Child Policy prohibited women from having more than one child, Xue explained that many expecting mothers sought out real-life maternity centers in the US, which allowed Chinese mothers to start a family away from the strict policies enforced in their home country.
While visiting these centers as research for her movie, Xue saw firsthand the harsh realities young mothers faced in the US. She said, “many people’s experiences are not as ideal or beautiful as they were portrayed in the movie . . . some are very difficult for mothers. But because this is a rom-com, we had to adapt the plot for the movie.” By using humor to attract her audience, Xue was able to bring these issues to light in both the US and China.
Xue also noted that Finding Mr. Right’s success led her to receive three awards in Seattle because it increased tourism significantly in the region. In fact, direct flights to China are now available in Seattle in large part to the movie’s success.
Xue gave another lecture on her experience in the film industry the following afternoon. Over the course of the two-day conference, Xue and a myriad of guest speakers provided Chinese-speaking students and faculty unique insights on Chinese culture to promote collaboration between Chinese and US citizens. Participants had the opportunity to attend various breakout rooms where they could learn from international business professionals, corporate lawyers, and movie directors. All of the speakers focused on the importance of building bridges with China, and many encouraged students to learn about Chinese culture so they can come to respect it despite its differences with Western culture. Through this practice, each speaker hoped undergraduates studying Chinese would develop a deeper appreciation for the culture behind the language.
Check out the China Conference website to read up on this year’s speakers.