No Beta 06: Siblings, Romances

Week of 20th of March

Hi there. Welcome to Active Faults.

This week, fanquan is talking about……

On Weibo, trending at No.4: 大S发声

Xu Xiyuan Statement

The divorce between Taiwanese actress Xu Xiyuan and Wang Xiaofei, her manic nepo baby ex-husband waxes and wanes in the entertainment chattery with a surprising tenacity. This time round, Xu responds again to yet another series of defamatory comments from her ex and his family, claiming that there were moments of domestic abuse during her pregnancy. 

I don’t want to give the ins and outs of their marriage any more screentime, but what’s interesting is how recent celebrity divorces and breakups played an integral role in raising awareness for intimate violence. Engaging in conversations surrounding these so-called tabloid gossips has been educational for many. Li Jinglei divorcing the manipulative singer Leehom Wang in 2021 popularised the concept of “gaslighting”. In the case of Xu we’re seeing various forms of emotional extortion, verbal assault and continuous harassment. Beyond the triviality of these events on the surface, it is normalising discussions about domestic abuse that are commonly regarded “off-limits” because it is behind closed doors. It is giving the public (especially women in fandom) a set of vocabulary that could, hopefully allow them to articulate their own situations. 

On Bilibili, trending at No.6 in the Entertainment Ranking: 《恋爱兄妹》：恋综新玩法，不仅好磕，还很温馨，看它！

My Sibling’s Romance: new dating show concept, so shippable and wholesome

I’ve been dying to talk about this South Korean show, because it is mind-blowing even for me who’s seen years and years of entertainment antics. Produced by the team behind Transit Love, this JTBC variety is a dating programme between pairs of opposite-sex siblings. Each pair has to hide their biological relations and romantically interact with others in the meantime. The audience is prompted to guess, along with the observing hosts, whether a pairing is related or flirting. We are basically encouraged to ship however we want, even and perhaps especially incestuously.