As the curtain rises on the new year, I’ve chosen the Jia Ling-led film “Blazing Hot” to open the act. There are multiple reasons behind this choice: Firstly, I personally have a fondness for Jia Ling; secondly, how Jia Ling achieves a 100-pound weight loss in the film also sparks my great interest—after all, many of us go through the experience of dieting in middle age, usually with repeated failures. How to overcome the bitterness has become a secret that attracts me to explore.
But more importantly, during an interview, Jia Ling revealed that the core of the movie is not merely about the experience of losing weight. The movie frequently mentions the concept of “loving oneself.” However, I have always believed that the term “loving oneself” is not sufficient to accurately describe the profound connotations the movie wants to convey, so I decided to go to the theater to find out for myself.
After watching the film, I was deeply moved. The first half of the movie makes one want to laugh, especially the first encounter between Jia Ling and Lei Jiayin, which is full of comedic moments; the second half, however, makes one want to cry, particularly in the boxing match scene after Jia Ling’s successful weight loss. Even though everyone knew her chances of winning were slim, she insisted on fighting the entire match, during which time the theater was filled with stifling sobs.
Undoubtedly, different viewers resonate emotionally at different points. My tears fell on the loneliness of a woman’s self-remodeling process and the strong self-recognition that one is unwilling to share with others after the rebuilding is complete. Jia Ling ends the film with a boxing match, and at that moment, she updates her social media stating that she has finally won a victory; this victory is not simply about winning the match, but rather a profound reaching of self.
This movie reveals a clear truth that has nothing to do with losing weight, with winning or losing. To sum it up as “loving oneself” is superficial. In fact, it’s about the complete reconstruction of a woman’s self-image after being shattered countless times. The reason why the film is so accurate and on point is that its creator Jia Ling is also a woman who knows well the dilemmas and struggles of the female heart.
Many men have held dissenting opinions about this movie, as they cannot understand why the defeats experienced by Jia Ling in the film seem so significant. In this world, there’s often a more tolerant attitude towards men’s weight issues; when men are advised to lose weight, it is mostly out of health considerations, and rarely is their weight linked to traditional male standards of success—such as marriage or wealth.
However, women’s weight issues often bring specific and profound problems. In everyday life, people often judge women with an emphasis on weight, even using it to determine a woman’s life value. In one scene of the movie, when Lei Jiayin’s character becomes romantically entangled with Jia Ling, I couldn’t avoid hearing the surprised voices of the surrounding audience. Those voices revealed a notion—that larger-sized women are only to be marginalized or rejected. Yet the character created by Lei Jiayin is full of flaws, and his personality greatly contrasts with Jia Ling’s, but this comparison does not seem to have formed a necessary consensus in society.
Women are easily objectified—the nobility of the soul doesn’t matter; what’s important is whether her appearance and function satisfy others. Therefore, in some film works, any kind of character can freely exploit and disdainfully squander a character like Jia Ling. She thought she found comfort in Lei Jiayin, but had her heart broken again. When she encountered the toughest moment, her cousin (played by Yang Zi) appeared, only to treat her like trash. This led to Jia Ling’s complete breakdown, and from then on, she had no further expectations of others.
Lu Yu mentioned that this movie is about a story of bouncing back from rock bottom, but I disagree. This movie isn’t about any form of pretense or the so-called strong female lead, nor is it about a desire to prove oneself. Rather, it’s about a woman blocking out external noises, not placing herself within any evaluative framework, and embarking on a journey of self-reconstruction and arrival. A woman, as long as she still has expectations of others and cares about their opinions, the destination she reaches will not be her true self, but the version of her in the eyes of others.
I think this movie can deeply resonate with middle-aged women with life experience. Many middle-aged women are often swayed by the voices around them and are required to take on various identities besides their own. Especially during the New Year period, regardless of what women do, there are always people who are dissatisfied. Whether it’s being unmarried, married without children, or even endless complaints after having children. There’s a word I particularly dislike hearing during the New Year—”obedient”—which utterly baffles me. Its terror lies in the implication that you must conform, regardless of who you are.
In the film, Jia Ling magnifies and concretizes this dilemma of women. The essence of the movie has nothing to do with weight loss or boxing. Jia Ling’s real purpose in the film is not to lose weight but to wholeheartedly do what she wants to do — in the movie, it’s a boxing match — and to immerse herself completely in her world. Jia Ling in the film stresses two phrases repeatedly, “It’s cool to focus on one thing” and “I want to win once.” What she wants to win is this time, for the inner voice to overcome all extraneous noise.
One of my favorite scenes is at the end of the film, where Jia Ling walks through the deserted alleyways, her back looking steadfast, calm, and composed. This long journey of life must ultimately be walked alone. The significance of life is not reflected in whether others can use you, but in finding your way to treat yourself, undisturbed by the noise from the outside. Only when the voices of others are no longer part of your self-reconstruction can they no longer break you. How you treat them is entirely up to your mood.
Traveling a challenging road is hard, but once we overcome the difficulties, we find ourselves stronger. It’s no longer just about smoothly sailing through obstacles, but that even when faced with numerous difficulties, they can’t threaten us anymore, because we are no longer the fragile boats we once were.
In our journey, various forms of support and encouragement are indispensable. Every like and follow represents your support, which is extremely important to me.