Mian Mian's Candy

“Candy” was a highly controversial novel that was eventually banned in China due to its contents regarding sex, drugs, and prostitution. Written by Mian Mian, the story was ultimately a reflection of Mian Mian’s life, as it was told through the struggles of the main character, Hong. At the age of 17, Hong drops out of high school and heads south for the city of Shenzen, located near the Hong Kong border. In Shenzen, the government created a specialized economic zone (SEZ) where people were given the opportunity to pursue their dreams, comparable to the laissez-faire approach. Here, Hong becomes a singer at a night club and eventually meets her lover Saining, who was a musician. With the influences of Saining, Hong goes through many hardships as she becomes consumed with heroin addiction, the rock and roll lifestyle, and pursuit of self-indulgence. Eventually, Hong rehabilitate’s with the aid of Saining’s parents. In the end, although much of her actions resulted in depression and failure, she is left with her lover Saining, who was also the major influential figure to the outcome of Hong’s life.

Although this novel was banned in China on the mere fact that it contained the issues of sex and drug addiction in addition to the overall dark nature of the story, it was a highly popular novel in China’s underground. This novel is not merely discussing the topics of sex, drugs, and prostitution, but it exposes its existence in China, and describes the negative outcomes through the life experiences of Mian Mian. It shows how the concept of self-indulgence during that critical time period had strong influences on China’s youth and how it essentially led them to their suffering. Essentially, the PRC naturally does not want to publicize these issues, but the fact of the matter is, is that these issues did exists and Mian Mian simply shares her life story.

Personally, there is not much that I can take from this novel. To me, this is merely a story of the author’s life. I do not believe it has any intuitive meaning behind it or that it is supposed to teach a lesson. The one thing that I do appreciate about the novel is that it was China’s reality among the youth, and Mian Mian exposed it internationally for others to become more aware of what kind of things were really happening among the youth. It exposed the appeal of the specialized economic zone, the concepts of self- indulgence, and the freedom to pursue whatever one wants along with its negative outcomes. This story could have been a success story by giving it a happy ending, but in the end, it was an unsatisfying journey. This shows the importance of portraying the reality vice the happy-ending, Hollywood approach.