The Pulled Punch and the Sheathed Blade: Her Story (2024) as a Feminist Stand-up Film

When

Friday, October 16, 3:15 PM to 4:30 PM

Where

Monroe Hall, Charlottesville

Price

Free

This talk frames the 2024 Chinese blockbuster Her Story (Hao dongxi) as a “stand-up film” and explores how the movie borrows not only the quick, verbal wit of stand-up, but also its risky politics of “punching up” in a censored environment. The talk places Her Story in conversation with the recent rise of Chinese female stand-up comedians, especially the debates around Yang Li and the weaponization of “women’s punches,” a term anti-feminists to cast almost any feminist critique as an illegitimate blow. The talk then shows how Her Story “sheathes the blade” by hiding pointed references to COVID lockdowns, tightening information control, and the decline of investigative journalism inside a feel-good, almost utopian story of women’s alliances as spaces of care, healing, and muted resistance. It concludes by considering what this mix of pulled punch and sheathed blade reveals about disillusionment and stubborn, necessary hope in contemporary China.

Last updated Sunday at 7:07 PM. Details can change; the venue’s page is the authority.