Please respond to Rhinoceros
in Love (2008 version, written by LIAO Yimei and directed by MENG Jinghui). A 2003 adaptation of an earlier version is available here for study purpose only. This experimental play has been performed for more than 1000 times in China and has been widely performed outside by students of Chinese worldwide. Why is it so popular? Use textual evidence from the reading to support your argument. Due Wednesday March 26 by 10 pm. Comments to two responses due by 11:59 pm.
Some elements that make this play popular are the deep and genuine unrequited love of Malu, the poetic language, and the social commentary.
ReplyDeleteUnrequited love is a very popular subject that appeals to many people. Malu becomes more endeared by the audience because of it. He captures their sympathy by explaining the depth of his love and agony of his longing. He is represented as pure and sweet, willing to learn English and how to work computers to woo the girl he loves. He also comes across as misunderstood. He has an odd occupation, Rhino caregiver, as well as being a poet. The audience continues to watch because they want him to succeed and be happy because his character inspires pity.
The language of the play is also very poetic, not only in the monologues but in the interactions between characters. Such as Malu’s poem “All white things become as black as ink and feel inferior next to you. All ignorant birds and beasts are in extreme despair since they can't speak your name.” The whole play isn’t poetry however; most of the language is simple and bold making it easy to understand as well as artistic.
There is also a lot of social commentary and critique on present times. There are the scenes with the residents commenting on the large clock as well as many one-liners (commenting on marriage) “Society has rid itself of another destabilizing factor.” “Life can really imitate a soap opera.”
“This is an age of too many things This is an age of too much emotion This is an age of too much knowledge This is an age of too much information This is an age of intellect and reason This is an age of sincerity and pragmatism”
I also thought that sympathy with Malu's character and the love triangle intrigue is a factor in the plays popularity.
DeleteI think this play is rather absurd. I myself can't understand why it is so popular. I suppose perhaps the subject matter it is dealing with increases its popularity due to its risque nature:
ReplyDeleteHeizi: I do what?
Toothbrush: It's not possible that she's pregnant. In these twenty-odd years I've never been able to finish inside.
Malu: Why not?
Toothbrush: It started with a fear of knocking her up. After that I just became used to it. Now, I can't change even if I try. I always hurriedly suppress it on the inside, but on the outside I always appear happy.
but beyond that I can't really say I understand its appeal. Besides the actual content of the play itself, I suppose that to a chinese audience, the experimental style of the play may seem refreshing and novel, although to me this play feels like it is arbitrarily experimental, experimental for the sake of being experimental without really making much sense. On the other hand, asides from the overly ambiguous experimental feel, I do think that some parts of the play are smartly written, like these lines for example:
"Hong Hong: I love you!
Toothbrush: The saying is: "lucky at cards, unlucky in love!"
Heizi: I also want to be unlucky in love!
Director: Lucky guy, what's your name?"
The only conclusion I can come to is that the play is "contemporary", thus it has intrinsic appeal to younger audiences.
In fact, I also think that some dialogue is not suitable for this play, because these dialogue with erotic elements, are not suitable for a stage show.
DeleteI think the popularity of the play comes from the bizarre spectacle and the love story of Malu and Ming Ming. The play is at times illogical in its format. For example, the long sequence with the toothbrush salesman has little bearing on the overall story. Its absurdity is added for comedic effect. I also found it weird that he chews her used bubble gum calling it “street flavored Ming Ming.”
ReplyDeleteThe one child policy in china has left a sour life for many men. Men outnumber women by a large margin. Inequality is a huge problem. Women demand the best from their potential spouses. This leaves many men who cannot afford much out of contention for dating or marriage. For this reason unrequited love is a popular subject that appeals to many people in China. Malu inspires pity in the audience because he is represented as a nice guy who has the odd occupation of a Rhino caregiver. This job is menial and low paying. Also, Ming Ming, Malu's neighbor and object of affection, is a product of her time. She is materialistic and modern. This leads her to pursue a man who mistreats her so that she can have a luxurious life and be admired. Many people can relate to this stereotype of Chinese women in society.
Yes, I found a lot of it to be illogical and sort of whimsical as well. It made me think of how we see comedy today and how others, in other countries see it. Very interesting.
DeleteThis is a very interesting way to think about the play. I would have never thought to incorporate the one child policy into my thinking.
DeleteI like how you related the story to the mindsets of today's modern Chinese man when faced with the larger population compared to women.
DeleteI agree, I think a lot the parts of this play don't really make any sense, but I agree with your analysis on the rhino metaphor.
DeleteOne reason to why “Rhinoceros in Love” is so popular is because it deals with the overlying theme of love. Love seems to be a very popular theme in the case of books, movies and even plays. In the prologue, Ma Lu expresses his love for a woman, Ming Ming. “I love you. I truly love you from the bottom of my heart. I love you madly. I flatter you shamelessly. I swear to you my eternal love. Whatever I can do I'll do it. How can I possibly make you understand that I love you this much?”. Ma Lu has clearly expressed that he is in love with this woman and wants to be with her. Ma Lu will do anything to be with the unobtainable Ming Ming.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason to why this play is so popular is that it has a lot of poetry within it. Throughout the play, there are numerous times when Ma Lu or Ming Ming have solo parts where they sing poetry.
“You never knew that,
You are my longed for cloudless day,
My sudden rainstorm.
You never knew that,
You are my long endured hunger,
The air upon which I depend.
You never knew, my darling,
Maybe you will never know......
You are different, unique, soft, clean like the sky.
You are my warm glove, my ice-cold beer.
You carry the fragrance of a shirt laundered in the sun, a never-ending dream.
You are chaste, naive, like glass,
Nothing can dirty you,
Nothing can change you.
My love, my love, my love,
Maybe you will never know . . . .” (Act XV)
This is a poem that Ma Lu recites to Ming Ming. We can see Ma Lu and Ming Ming have other scenes where they use poetry to express themselves to one another.
I agree. The love poetry is passionate and would appeal to many people.
DeleteYea, it is important to remember that popularity most often comes from talent rather than originality; in this case the script and poetry within.
DeleteI agree with the fact that "Rhinoceros in Love" is so popular because of it's themes that focus on romance and love.
DeleteI agree with you that the overlying theme of love is a reason for this play's popularity, but I think the extreme love and rich psychological description about love more exactly.
Deletethere are some wonderful lines that you picked.
Deletetrue, when it comes to a play, song or movie, you can't go wrong with using love as a theme.
DeleteI felt very depressed after I read Rhinoceros in Love, and I think both of the actor and actress have tragical and pitiful love experience. In this play, Malu crazy in love with Mingming while Mingming is crazy about Chen, and because of some coincidence, Honghong falls in love with Malu. But these three people do not get love from their ones. Malu is a lonely, emotional, bigoted and a little neurotic but very man. He judges people by his nose and has very few “friends”, and sometimes he shows a creepy side to others, such as his “dream” and he even ate chewed gums for several weeks. But the most impressive feature about Malu is his crazy love for Mingming, he describes Mingming as “a warm glove, an ice-cold beer, a shirt laundered in the sun, a never-ending dream.” (Liao, prologue) But also described that “You have the face of an angel and the heart of a bitch” (Liao, prologue), this could reflect his tangled feelings about Mingming and himself. In order to please Mingming, Malu changed himself to study English, computer, driving and finish a training course on love. (Liao, Act 22) Finally, Malu cannot control himself and his crazy love to Mingming, and he killed Tula and wanted to kill himself. There is a rich psychological description about Malu in the beginning of this reading, and I think this is very important for the whole epitasis.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, modern drama is not as popular as movies in China, and I think it is a dispensable entertainment to most Chinese people. But Rhinoceros in Love is still very popular for many years, so I think there should have many reasons for it. Of course the most important reason is the wonderful plot about the entangled love among the roles. Except for the wonderful plot and the actors’ well performance, there also have many impressive and funny lines in this play, for example, “Dusk is the worst time for my vision. My eye wanders to the busy street. All I see are pretty girls.” (Liao, prologue), the story about selling toothbrush (Liao, Act 2), the woman throwing up because looking at Heizi’s face (Liao, Act 7), etc. I think another important reason for Rhinoceros in Love’s popularity is that there are few impressive and great Chinese dramas in China, like Thunderstorm, Tea House, etc. I know this dramss because we learned these in high school, so I think Rhinoceros in Love has an objective market advantage. In addition to these reasons above, the business advertisement and star power maybe is another reason.
To describe this play as a "pitiful love experience" seems accurate and very telling of the deepest fears in popular China now.
DeleteI also think the entangled love plots and interesting psychological state of Malu factored into the play's popularity.
DeleteI too can see this play as a tragedy. It is a tragedy because none of the people are loved by the ones they love.
DeleteSadly this goes on more than we realize in our society. It is tragic because the audience can see that the characters deserve better but we can never see it for ourselves. Malu wants the mental love that he created in his mind to come to fruition when love described in the poems say that love should be spontaneous and held in the moment. It really shows how we cannot force everything to be.
DeleteRhinoceros in Love can be popular for many reasons. Firstly, it is abnormal in form and entertainment. It is said to be absurdist and this form bring it from locally popular Beiking Opera to a new, world stage whereby it can be critiqued and acclaimed by stars and authorites worldwide. In "Experimental Theatre as Popular Entertainment" Chen says "Chinese dramatists’ and critics’ support for modernist theatre reflected, more than anything else, their wish to figure in the arena of world theatre.” What's more is that we may be able to classify "Rhino in Love" as Chinese absurdist which is unique and it allows Chinese theatre not only to stand on the world stage, but to act on it as well (that is to contribute). "Rhino in Love" is not necessarily a "metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition, the rage against the futility of civilization, [or] the depiction of senseless human activities in which nothing really happens or matters," (Chen, pg 204). It is something more positive and expecting than the utter despair of Western absurdist plays. We know this because the play revolves around the desire for unrequited love. It is absurd to assume it should come about by becoming obsessed to the point of eating the chewed gum of your love interest; but this desire to know and possess love is a monstrously present fear in humans and perhaps more so in China due to gender imbalance. It is popular because it strikes at the hearts of the audience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you talk about the obsessive aspects of love. Sometimes it can be something that is portrayed as frightening. It's not always a happy ending.
DeleteI agree, though the ending was extremely strange, I didn't see it as sad. Instead, I found it oddly beautiful (besides the image of the dead rhino.)
DeleteI also agree with your opinion about the obsessed and extreme behavior, and I think Malu's extremes of paranoid thinking are associated with mental illness.
DeleteI thought that the way that this story was done was very unique and out of the ordinary. The fact that they used poetry to portray their love for one another was quite beautiful. Even though the form used is completely different from what is usually used doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't popular. In fact it's actually popular for that reason alone. The forms that they used "reflected the dramatists' visions of the world, their positions vis-a-vis the characters they depicted and the audience they attempted to attract, the state ideology they appropriated or manipulated in presenting their ideas, and the collective consciousness and unconsciousness that had given rise to a theatrical space as a relatively coherent imagined community." This showed the unique techniques that they used in order to come up with their unique writing style. The sitanni tixi helped to establish illusionist theatre on the Chinese stage. Depsite the interesting writing style the story was quite depressing and in the end turned into a tragic love story.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed the poetry. In fact, I thought the poem ended on a rather happy note, when they began to sing together, as I think that Mingming finally realized that Malu would actually do anything (including ripping the heart out of a rhino) in order to show his devotion.
DeleteI also felt the uniqueness of the story telling and the different nature of the content contributed to its popularity.
DeleteI felt that the poetry gave the story a different effect. It reminded me of tragic love stories that Shakespeare wrote, like Romeo and Juliet.
DeleteThis play definitely fits within the realm of absurdism. That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it, because I most certainly did. You could feel Malu's desperation and heartache through the screen, as well as Mingming's cold and calculating personality. As for its popularity, I think many of today's young Chinese citizens can (especially males) can relate to the socio-economic struggles of matchmaking and love in today's increasingly disconnected society. Due to the fact that there are considerably more men than women in China, Chinese women have a much larger sample size to choose from, and naturally speaking, they will choose those who (on average) can provide them with things which they desire: stability, money, prestige, luxury goods, good food, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe end result of such a society? Well, it creates love-tormented characters such as Malu, who may not be a hyper-realistic depiction of the modern Chinese male (I mean, he did end up ripping out a Rhino's heart to give to his eternal love), but his message is nonetheless the same: that there is undoubtedly an economic component to relationships, especially in today's consumerist society, where what you wear is more important than what you say or do.
Mingming states in Act IV, "In today's society people say that if you don't know English, computers or how to drive a car, it's the same as if you don't know anything at all."
She wants a relationship with somebody who fits her description of how a modern man in China should be, not a relationship with somebody who merely loves her (who would want that, right?).
So we have the notion that people (particularly men) in China can relate to this hopeless longing, which contributes to its popularity, but I also believe that the play's absurdist style helps as well. I might be going out on a limb here, but the current generation seems to have an extremely short attention span, as we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, text messages, social media notifications, and news 24/7, 365 days a year, for many years now. This play seems to read perfectly for somebody with a short attention span: it's short, neatly divided into brief acts, the characters seem to change subjects almost instantly during conversations, and the plot turns in a different direction quite often. I think these attributes help the play resonate with a 21st century audience.
I think you make a very compelling argument when you say that in China today, men have to kind of fight for a woman because there are so many men. It did not really occur to me that that was the case here in this play but now I do see that. Good point.
DeleteI agree with you on that it draws to a young audience because of the struggle of love that the young people face in today's world with matchmaking.
DeleteAs some one who grew up in the theater here in America, I have seen some very fantastic, silly, amazing, lovely and simply beautiful plays throughout my life. This play about unrequited love touches me very deeply because it is a theme very, very often used in musicals or American love stories. The story of Miss Saigon comes to mind, but is more of a tragic love story. The Phantom of the Opera, another love story that stems on unrequited love. I enjoy these types of musicals but am left to wonder about the way the story is told. Is this specific to Chinese Theater? Or is it the play write? It was a very different and kind of silly way of showing the love story but it did make sense in the end. I think the reason this is so popular is the same reason any love story is popular, because every human has experienced unrequited love at one point in their lives. It really has a tendency to transcend. I enjoyed reading it for this purpose because it makes sense to me as a play.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you compared Rhinoceros in Love to the Phantom of the Opera. Now that you mention it, I see a lot of similarities between the two plays. The theme of unrequited love seems to be popular no matter what country or language it is brought up in.
DeleteIn fact, I think that may be because different contact cultural background, so you can't find any familiar thing from this stage show.
DeleteI agree, love is a common theme in every play, movie, or story in every country. But I also, like how you depicted other stories with similarities that I didn't think of in comparison to this story.
DeleteOne of the main reasons that Rhinoceros in Love is so popular is because of its depiction of unrequited love. Whether or not a person has experienced this personally, the tragedy of the situation makes the audience sympathize with the lost love. The sheer romanticism and Malu’s to love so hard that it destroys him, really pulls on the audience’s emotions: “I could give it all up for you; they can’t.” Such emotional lines really get the audience emotionally invested. Other people admire Malu for his ability to harbor such a great love that it ultimately tears him apart.
ReplyDeleteAnother element that plays into the popularity of this play is the poetic and romantic language that is used. The play is very beautifully written. Malu’s love seems to almost take physical shape in the strong emotional lines. “Forgetting is the only thing regular people can do. But I’ve made up my mind. I’ll never forget her.” These lines are so full of longing and love that is almost impossible to not grow fond of Malu.
“You never knew that,
You are my longed for cloudless day,
My sudden rainstorm.
You never knew that,
You are my long endured hunger,
The air upon which I depend.
You never knew, my darling,
Maybe you will never know......
You are different, unique, soft, clean like the sky.
You are my warm glove, my ice-cold beer.
You carry the fragrance of a shirt laundered in the sun, a never-ending dream.
You are chaste, naive, like glass,
Nothing can dirty you,
Nothing can change you.
My love, my love, my love,
Maybe you will never know . . . .”
The poetry in Rhinoceros in Love is so hauntingly beautiful which greatly adds to its popularity. The language is very pleasing to listen to and adds to the originality of the play.
I think the reason Rhinoceros in Love is so popular is that it is a love themed drama. In the play, character expresses the love very fierce. When I read the play, I think there are two factors very attract me. The first: in this drama, the actors’ dialogues are designed, we can feel a lot of beautiful words, and at the same time, we can also find the humor from some dialogue. Second: I love the music in this play, I think the music at the beginning of the film and the song the chief actor singing is really good.
ReplyDeleteFor example:
Malu: Dusk is the worst time for my vision. My eye wanders to the busy street. All I see are pretty girls.
If we analyze this sentence, we can find humor in this dialogue. Because he has poor eyesight in the dark, all the girls are pretty in the dark.
Malu: I can smell those office workers who carry the smell of photocopiers and air conditioners; those small time businessmen whose bodies reek of smoke; even housewives just out of the kitchen, dolled up in their latest mall purchases and sprayed with perfume still can't mask the smell of oily smoke in their hair. And then there are the hookers. Each one carries the scent of a John's astringent sperm on her body. I can even tell from somebody's breath what they had for lunch: Fish-flavoured pork, spicy tripe, mushrooms and vegetables . . .
Through these words, we can see, these lines have been carefully designed, and each sentence is very concise.
wasai!!!! I like your analyzes of the lines
DeleteI like your analysis and agree with you. The writer of the play criticized the majority of the people in the society being hypercritical and superficial in a satiric tone. However, the three main characters, Mingming, Malu and Tula, although different from the majority, do not get a happy ending. There is no hero in the play!
DeleteHonestly, I have never heard of the play before, I am not a fan of stage plays, I watched the play online, I did not like it very well. So the only thing that I can think of about the stage palys after watching this one is that, the stage actors and actresses have to use exaggrate facial and body moves to act, so that the audience can get the passions behind the scripts.
ReplyDeleteeven thought I didnt like the show, there is a wonderful lines that I want to share.
Love is a candle, giving you light,
Snuffed out with one gust of wind.
Love is a bird in flight, decorating the scene
Gone with a change in weather.
Love is a freshly blooming flower, thrilling with its scent,
Withered after May.
Love is a rainbow, a multitude of splendid colours,
A twinkling hoax, evaporated by the first rays of the sun.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
I think the love that they describe in these lines are peaceful and beautiful. it just make me calm somehow.
I feel that "Rhinoceros in Love" is so popular is because it does not follow the traditional love stories that we see in Western culture. We typically see the common fall in love and happily ever after stories. Rarely do we see stories where no matter how much we desire or love something, it can never be ours. It is interesting to see how love is depicted in Chinese culture. Love is very delicate and not taken lightly. This extract of the poem from Act I explains how fragile love can be:
ReplyDeleteLove is a candle, giving you light,
Snuffed out with one gust of wind.
Love is a bird in flight, decorating the scene
Gone with a change in weather.
Love is a freshly blooming flower, thrilling with its scent,
Withered after May.
Love is a rainbow, a multitude of splendid colours,
A twinkling hoax, evaporated by the first rays of the sun.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
All of the items used to symbolize love are temporary concepts that are powerful in their moments but we know are not forever lasting. When I read and cringe at the almost desperation to receive the love back, I think of the relationships I saw during my trip to China. Women were treated so delicately, almost as if they were a prize to be won. It is interesting to thinks of the gender ratio in China and relate it to the desperation that Malu constantly displays throughout the play. I also found an article called "REVIEW: Rhinoceros in Love (Auckland Arts Festival)" and how it mentions that some of the interactions between characters, especially the desired love for Mingming is sometimes directed at the audience. It makes the female character seem cold-hearted to us but yet more desired by Malu. It presents almost the idea that love has many angles and must be viewed in many perspectives in order to understand it more. Love is typically misused nowadays and I feel the constant remake of the play shows that love is very complicated but must be enjoyed and treasured in the moments we have them. This has remained so popular because it is more realistic as to what many search for or experience their whole lives.
I like your idea although I have different understanding on the characteristic of MingMing. I regard her as the female version of Malu, She is not cold-hearted but the same as Malu, loving a person who can never be hers.
DeleteDifferent people have different understanding, but this play in one way or another is able make them associate their won experience about love. Probably that is one of the reasons makes it popular.
i agree with you, i really like the symbolize love items.
DeleteI thought that at the beginning where you said most stories in happily is true for most stories you hear growing up from Disney movies or other children's love stories but I think it differs greatly for most of the classic literature that is meant for adults.
DeleteIn my opinion, the popularity of this play is contributed to the combination of its unique form of performance, modern drama, and the universal theme: love and humanity.
ReplyDeleteLove is an eternal element of all kinds of art. Many lines in the play are later regarded as classic. The audience can easily associate these lines with their own experiences. Such as “Once I realized that this pain would never leave me, once I realized that the expression in my eyes would become lifeless because of it, I got scared. Loving him was the best thing that I've ever done.” In the play, the love between Ming Ming and Ma Lu is a tragedy because they are the same kind of person that insists on pursing the love they can never get. The setting of the play is at the turn of the century. “This is an age of too many things… … Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch”. The same as the rhinoceros Tula who does not get on well with the other rhinoceroses in the zoo, the two main characters, Ma Lu and Ming Ming, also cannot fit into society. Meanwhile, the purporting characters, Heizi, Daxian, Toothbrush, Hong Hong and Lily, representing the majority of society, make an obvious contrast to the main characters. Although having friends, the only ‘’friend’ Ma Lu communicates with is the rhinoceros Tula.
Drama is a relative new form of performance to most of the Chinese audience. Performed on the stage in a small theatre, Rhinoceros in love is very different from movies or TV series for the audience. Although I have only watched is online, I think it would be a great experience watching the actors performing close in front me.
The play “Rhinoceros in Love” is popular because it contains the common theme of love. Love is a reoccurring theme, since it is something that everyone hopes to obtain. Like, Malu he wants someone that isn’t so easily obtainable in this unrequited love story. Such as how he begins the play by stating that he loves Mingming. He says, “I love you. I truly love you from the bottom of my heart. I love you madly. I flatter you shamelessly. I swear to you my eternal love.” In every love story, movie, or play there are similar sayings like this one that are confessed.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with love being such a huge and reoccurring theme in popular works.
DeleteRhinoceros in love is a play in Mandarin by Liao Yimei originally directed by her husband Meng Jinghui in 1999, and subsequently revived over 200 times. The play describes the love of a rhinoceros feeder for a beautiful woman. It has been described as a 'classic drama' of modern Chinese theatre.February 11, 2011 marks the beginning of the production's 12-year anniversary performances at the National Theatre of China
ReplyDeletealso i want to share these
DeleteLove is a candle, giving you light,
Snuffed out with one gust of wind.
Love is a bird in flight, decorating the scene
Gone with a change in weather.
Love is a freshly blooming flower, thrilling with its scent,
Withered after May.
Love is a rainbow, a multitude of splendid colours,
A twinkling hoax, evaporated by the first rays of the sun.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
Love is so wonderful, but delicate to the touch.
especially in English. its sounds better in Chinese. i mean so special to express love in English
The romance genre has always been and will continue to be popular among all audiences all over the world. The idea of being in love and the strong romantic feelings and emotions that they invoke are appealing. People want to be looked at in a special way and as the center of someone’s universe. Even in the prologue the imagery used through the words is appealing to many people:
ReplyDelete“I want to give you everything you want. When you wake up I want to show you sunlight, want to caress your back, make you spread your wings to heaven.”
Rhinoceros in Love is another work to be added to the long list of beloved romantic works. Like many other endings to romantic novels, this one ends in a sort of tragedy and they remain separated. I think it is the idea of hope in love that draws so many people to like it.