“I Don’t Like Her” - Exploring ‘Authentic’ Female Character and Gender Narratives of Audiences in Chinese Audience Dislike of Bella Baxter
(2025) MKVM13 20251Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
- Abstract
- This thesis examines the audience reception of Poor Things and its protagonist Bella, focusing on the expression of dislike toward them, serving as a mirror reflecting deeper ideological tensions surrounding gender, morality, and nationalism in contemporary Chinese society. Focusing on Douban, a leading Chinese film review platform, this thesis conducts text analysis inspired by critical discourse theory of the most popular negative review of Poor Things, authored by user “Nana” along with over 800 comments in its comment section. It argues that these interaction, far from being emotional reaction, are complex performances of social meaning-making that reflect broader sociopolitical dynamics.
Audiences’ dislike toward Bella expose... (More) - This thesis examines the audience reception of Poor Things and its protagonist Bella, focusing on the expression of dislike toward them, serving as a mirror reflecting deeper ideological tensions surrounding gender, morality, and nationalism in contemporary Chinese society. Focusing on Douban, a leading Chinese film review platform, this thesis conducts text analysis inspired by critical discourse theory of the most popular negative review of Poor Things, authored by user “Nana” along with over 800 comments in its comment section. It argues that these interaction, far from being emotional reaction, are complex performances of social meaning-making that reflect broader sociopolitical dynamics.
Audiences’ dislike toward Bella expose anxieties around moral propriety, feminist subjectivity, and the commodification of feminist cinema. By disliking Bella, a new empowered woman figure is created by those dislike-minded audiences, one who is economically independent, morally proper, and open-minded towards progressive ideals. This occurs within China’s fluid feminist landscape, where feminism is continuously shaped by the shifting intersections of nationalism, neoliberalism, and grassroots activism. In this context, this thesis identifies the backlash against popular misogyny as a gendered response that paradoxically results in feminism becoming an exclusive space defined by biological sex. A phenomenon known as “pink feminism,” a distinct form of Chinese feminism, is particularly evident in the material. It is “double entangled”: while it embraces feminist ideas, it simultaneously reframes them within nationalist frameworks to maintain patriatry compatibility. This thesis hopes to reframe dislike as a critical lens through which to understand the localized dynamics of feminism, and as a subtle but significant form of political engagement in China’s gendered media landscape. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9188744
- author
- Peng, Chenlu LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MKVM13 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Dislike, Audience Engagement, Neoliberal Feminism, Nationalist Feminism, Subjectivity, Chinese Feminism, Pink Feminism, Douban, Poor Things, Bella Baxter
- language
- English
- id
- 9188744
- date added to LUP
- 2025-07-03 16:25:25
- date last changed
- 2025-07-03 16:25:25
@misc{9188744,
abstract = {{This thesis examines the audience reception of Poor Things and its protagonist Bella, focusing on the expression of dislike toward them, serving as a mirror reflecting deeper ideological tensions surrounding gender, morality, and nationalism in contemporary Chinese society. Focusing on Douban, a leading Chinese film review platform, this thesis conducts text analysis inspired by critical discourse theory of the most popular negative review of Poor Things, authored by user “Nana” along with over 800 comments in its comment section. It argues that these interaction, far from being emotional reaction, are complex performances of social meaning-making that reflect broader sociopolitical dynamics.
Audiences’ dislike toward Bella expose anxieties around moral propriety, feminist subjectivity, and the commodification of feminist cinema. By disliking Bella, a new empowered woman figure is created by those dislike-minded audiences, one who is economically independent, morally proper, and open-minded towards progressive ideals. This occurs within China’s fluid feminist landscape, where feminism is continuously shaped by the shifting intersections of nationalism, neoliberalism, and grassroots activism. In this context, this thesis identifies the backlash against popular misogyny as a gendered response that paradoxically results in feminism becoming an exclusive space defined by biological sex. A phenomenon known as “pink feminism,” a distinct form of Chinese feminism, is particularly evident in the material. It is “double entangled”: while it embraces feminist ideas, it simultaneously reframes them within nationalist frameworks to maintain patriatry compatibility. This thesis hopes to reframe dislike as a critical lens through which to understand the localized dynamics of feminism, and as a subtle but significant form of political engagement in China’s gendered media landscape.}},
author = {{Peng, Chenlu}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{“I Don’t Like Her” - Exploring ‘Authentic’ Female Character and Gender Narratives of Audiences in Chinese Audience Dislike of Bella Baxter}},
year = {{2025}},
}