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Born in the 1980s – Guo Jingming

By Hu Min (Shanghai Daily) 09:02, August 20, 2013

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Guo Jingming is probably among the most controversial writers in China. He is also one of the most popular and richest.

Born in 1983, the teen pop idol is an author, director as well as chairman and general manager of a cultural entertainment company.

“I am the Chinese dream in the contemporary era,” says Guo. “My dream is to fulfill my personal talents to the utmost.

“My parents’ generation didn’t have many choices,” he tells Shanghai Daily. “They were allocated jobs, whether they liked them or not. Nowadays, young people have many more choices, and they pick what they like and what they are good at in pursuit of success. That is my understanding of the Chinese dream.”

Guo’s stellar career has been dogged by controversy.

In 2006, he lost a lawsuit filed by author Zhuang Yu, who accused him of plagiarism in the book “Never Flowers in Never Dream.” A court in Beijing ruled that he had to pay Zhuang 200,000 yuan (US$32,258) in compensation and apologize. Guo paid the money but refused to apologize or admit to any plagiarism.

More recently, Guo found himself embroiled in another controversy. His debut film “Tiny Times 1.0,” based on one of his novels that he adapted, co-produced and directed, generated a storm of criticism when it first was shown in June. Critics said it was an exercise in vanity and money worship, displaying a twisted sense of values and misleading adolescents.

“Tiny Times 1.0” depicts the life of four young women and their boyfriends in a fashionable and rapidly developing Shanghai. The characters wear luxury brands and drive expensive cars. The men in the film shower their girlfriends with gifts beyond the purses of most people.

Still, the film has done well at the box office, taking in 73 million yuan in its first day. Its fans are mainly teenage girls.

“Hollywood is filled with commercial films; why shouldn’t Chinese movies be highly humanistic instead of just commercial entertainment?” Guo asks. “China should tolerate a variety of film genres. You cannot condemn a film just because it is mainly watched by young girls.”

“Tiny Times 2.0,” which continues the tale of the earlier characters, was released on August 8.

“The voices of skepticism never stop, whatever I do,” Guo tells Shanghai Daily. “From writing books to directing films, controversy persists. At first, it made me sad, but now I have become quite used to it. I try my best to conquer, but if there is no solution, I let it be. Being myself and doing whatever I like are more important.”

In the book “Tiny Times 1.0,” Guo wrote: “At Starbucks, numerous Asian faces lift packs with takeaway coffee and push open glass doors in a hurry. Half of them drink coffee, while the rest rush to the bosses’ offices, carefully holding coffee cups. On the contrary, Western faces sit inside leisurely, reading Shanghai Daily or laughing loudly, saying ‘What about your holiday?’ with a mobile phone in their hands.”