Not your typical Asian mum: character in Rock it, Mom, a Chinese TV drama, subverts stereotypes by smoking, swearing, and playing rock music
- Yao Chen’s turn as Peng Lai, a 40-year-old rock star mum who smokes, wears heavy make-up, swears and drinks is wowing Rock it, Mom viewers
- The show subverts the usual daughter-mum dynamic, making the mother the loose cannon and troublemaker – and Chinese viewers are lapping it up
A character in a new Chinese television drama has shattered conventions about how Asian mums are portrayed on screen. Rock it, Mom, a 12-episode series from Chinese streaming platform iQiyi, tells the story of a former rock star who ends up living with the daughter she abandoned 12 years ago.
Yao Chen stars as Peng Lai, the show’s protagonist mum who is an alcoholic and a wanderer. She plays rock music, wears heavy make-up and swears at her daughter. She is the type of mother that is not seen on Chinese screens.
“Chinese literary works portray mothers in two broad categories: ‘loving’ and ‘evil’ mothers,” Jie Yilin, a PhD student in Renmin University of China wrote in her film and television studies research. Women are, she wrote, solely seen through the lens of motherhood, and their devotion to and tolerance for their children are a given.
“But the point is, [she] is firstly an individual, then a woman and finally a mother,” she adds.
This is exactly why Peng stands out. Despite being a mother, she always puts herself first. Peng is a wayward rock star who flies to the United States to pursue her dreams and leaves both her husband and child behind.
Twelve years later, when she turns 40, she returns home to look after her daughter Bai Tian (Zhuang Dafei) after her ex-partner dies of a heart attack. The mother-daughter reunion is far from heartwarming – Peng, who yearns for freedom, is reckless and irresponsible.
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In most Chinese dramas that revolve around mother-daughter relationships, the daughter is the problem child. In Rock it, Mom, the problem is the mother.
In one episode, Peng accidentally dumps out her ex-husband’s ashes, which were stored in a milk powder jar by her daughter. “Why don’t we bring the vacuum cleaner,” she tells her daughter, “and vacuum as much of your dad back as we can?”
“Peng Lai’s persona is quite new, a bit of a break from the norm and not the traditional view of mothers in dramas,” one critic wrote, “She has her own way of life, her own attitude.”
“I will always have respect for works that dare to push the boundaries of film and television and [stereotypical] personas,” says another reviewer.
Other reviewers have delved deep into the possible reasons this character behaves how she does.
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“Not having felt a mother’s love, she doesn’t know how to be a good mother; not having the opportunity to love her mother, she doesn’t know how to be a good daughter,” one wrote. “Peng Lai’s life has always been one of emotional absence. I can understand her indifference and ‘selfishness’.”
It is this complex portrayal that makes Peng an interesting character – her husband cheats on her not long after she falls pregnant with Bai Tian.
Her childhood, too, was far from pleasant – after she was abandoned by her mother, she was left to the mercies of her alcoholic aunt. As such, her backstory goes some way in explaining her unruly and rebellious behaviour.
“Instead of saying she is a ‘bad mother’, she is just an ordinary mother with flaws.” Wu Ning, the screenwriter of the show, says. “Without experiencing deep maternal love herself, Peng Lai does not know how to love her daughter.
