"I would rather cry in a BMW" is a quotation that became an online sensation in the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in 2010. The old, long-familiar phrase was made famous by Ma Nuo, a 20-year-old female contestant on the television dating show ''
Fei Cheng Wu Rao
Fei Cheng Wu Rao (, also broadcast with the titles ''If You Are the One'' in Australia and ''Perfect Match'' in Malaysia) is a Chinese dating game show hosted by Meng Fei. Loosely based on the ''Taken Out'' format, the show is produced by JSBC: ...
'' (also known in English as ''If You Are the One''). The line was in response to a question by an unemployed suitor who asked if Ma would "ride a bicycle with him" on a date. The series of events have been summed up in the media with the quip "I would rather cry in a
BMW than smile on a bicycle."
Author
In interviews after the show, Ma pointedly denied that she is a "
gold digger
Gold digger is a term for a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience.
Etymology and usage
The term "gol ...
" – saying that she "just wanted to reject
er suitorin a creative way."
Social commentator Chen Zhigang remarked, "Does Ma Nuo only speak for herself? No. Her opinion resonates with youth; they have grown up in a society that is quickly accumulating material wealth. They worship money, cars and houses because the
highly developing economy has made them do so."
Analysis
The blunt nature of the statement works well in the dating show's format, and is not the first controversial phrase to arise out of ''Fei Cheng Wu Rao''. It was cited by critics as a window to the "degradation of Chinese social values,"
[ and even drew the attention of government censors, who eventually forced producers to re-design the format of the show to be more professional and 'clean' of morally questionable content.]University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...
referred to the quote to allude to trends in the last decade of Beijing residents opting to get rid of their bikes in favour of cars as a mode of transport, citing the social perception that, "bikes are now for losers."
See also
* List of internet memes
References
{{reflist
2010 in China
Quotations from television
Internet memes introduced in 2010
Bicycles
BMW
2010 in Chinese television