Throwing back to Front Cover: This one hurts so good
Released in 2015, Front Cover is the story of two very different Chinese gay men who come from different places, live different lives, and deal with their sexuality in very different ways. Like many films depicting the realities of queer life in China, this one has a complicated ending. For anyone interested in the politics of the LGBTQ community in China, Front Cover is a good introduction to the realities of life for the queer population there.
Haven’t seen it? Check out the trailer here:
Front Cover takes place in the United States, in New York City. Ryan Fu (Jake Choi) is a stylist working his way up in the fashion world in New York City. He is Chinese American, with Cantonese-speaking immigrant parents. They own a nail salon in the city, and they know Ryan is gay.
Qi Xiao Ning (James Chen) is in town from China. He is a pretty big deal in the Chinese entertainment industry and he is in the United States trying to break into the American scene and make a name for himself. He is very traditionally Chinese and this is his first time in America. While he is in town, he has some important shoots with big-time magazines and he is in need of a stylist.
Enter Ryan.
At first, Ryan finds Ning’s ego and attitude incredibly rude and abrasive. Ryan doesn’t want to work with the man, but his boss insists on doing so. It doesn’t take long for Ryan to work out that Ning is also gay, but living a very closeted life, and things start to shift and change between them.
They spend more time together and before long they’re doing the dance with no pants and the complications of their situation rear their ugly head. Ning finds it astounding that Ryan’s parents are accepting of Ryan being gay and the fact that he is making no effort to hide his lifestyle. It’s an awakening experience for Ning to spend time with Ryan and his family and witness them in action. While they are out one day on an outing with Ryan’s parents, someone snaps a photo of them looking lovingly at each other and it gets published in tabloid magazines in China.
Ning flips out because it’s not the first time the press has published gay rumors about him and he knows that unless he can make them go away, he will never work in China again. And this is where Front Cover highlights the cultural differences and the political issues that exist between these two men. Both are Chinese in their own right, but their life experiences are vastly different on this issue.
Ryan lives a very out gay life in America and has a really hard time understanding that Ning simply cannot choose that for himself in China. Even though homosexuality is not illegal in China, it’s still very much taboo in certain circles. The entertainment industry is definitely one of those circles. Public figures in China don’t come out. Not ever, not if they want to keep working.
The government in China regulates the entertainment industry quite heavily and monitors all that happens in those spaces. Happy, out, gay entertainers just don’t exist in China. That’s not to say there are no gay entertainers – Ning’s character and his story arc is proof that they are – but it does mean that those people that choose a life in the public eye also have to hide their sexuality from everyone.
In Front Cover, Ryan struggles deeply with the fact that Ning would choose his career over himself, over love. He doesn’t understand why Ning willingly lives such an active lie on the daily basis. But for Ning, it’s much more complicated that than. At the end of the film, before the two part ways, Ning tells Ryan that in China there is a saying that in order to get what you want, in order to succeed, you have to be willing to make sacrifices. And although he doesn’t say that Ning sacrificed himself for his career, it’s implied.
Front Cover does a good job of documenting the realities of the situation for queer folks in China. Ning’s life, albeit fictional, is a good depiction of what actually transpires. Public figures in China are still unable to come out and it doesn’t look like that is set to change any time soon. The government is currently cracking down on gender depictions (especially for men) in the media and making sure that the images of masculinity being broadcast to the Chinese public fit a certain persona that doesn’t lend itself to queer interpretation.
Depictions of homosexuality are banned on screens in China and queer stories remain in a chokehold, unable to be authentically told and the community continues to be stifled by the government at every opportunity possible.
At the end of Front Cover Ryan sits next to Ning’s girlfriend at a press conference and tells the media that he and Ning are just friends. He tells the world that the photos that were published are not what they look like. It clearly pains Ryan to lie like this, but he does it because Ning asks him to, and pleads with him to do so.
Despite the fact that it feels awful, it’s a nice thing for Ryan to do. The reality is, Ning’s life is very different from Ryan’s life and Ning is just doing what he needs to in order to survive.
Front Cover is definitely one of those movies that will leave viewers feeling helpless and wishing they could somehow make change happen for the LGBTQ communities around the world that are still living in prejudiced and discriminatory conditions. Storytelling is crucial to any kind of impactful change, so consume media from those countries that are attempting to challenge the status quo and change the narrative. Small things like this help more than people realize!
Front Cover is available to stream on Netflix in some countries. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!
