What's love got to do with it?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

What's love got to do with it?

What truly puzzles me is the phenomenon of established stars jostling for attention by the super-rich. We all know celebrity entertainers earn a lot - not only in their prime, but even after they are over the hill. China has its equivalent of Las Vegas, where no-longer-popular stars keep plowing in smaller but steady incomes via commercial appearances and county-level variety shows.

The suggestion that they marry into wealth purely for the sake of wealth can hardly hold water. As actress Fan Bingbing once retorted, "Why should I? I am wealth incarnate myself." She spoke the truth and got my respect.

Singing and acting can bring fame and fortune galore, but traditionally they do not lead to social stature. The old Chinese word for "actor" is xizi, which is derogatory. Only a few, such as Mei Lanfang, rose above it and attained a high level of respectability. I have always suspected that the norm of men playing female roles in some traditional arts was partly necessitated by the reluctance of women to get into the business considered promiscuous by the populace.

This stigma was more or less gone with the founding of New China when the title "artist" became a be-all and end-all moniker. Even today, mainland actresses, at least the superstars, seem to be more career-oriented than their Hong Kong and Taiwan counterparts. Even when they marry billionaires, they often do not quit their day job in the arts and entertainment. If anything, some seem to use power and money to advance their career.