Why We Tell Stories Part 5: Taming the Tyrant

Douyin dramas are notorious for proliferating the domineering/overbearing CEO 霸道总裁 trope and the first thing one concludes after weeks of watching is that they tend to be variations of a theme. Arguably every drama that gets packaged on the platform revolves around to a large degree, a domineering CEO story despite it being told from the perspective of the FL. I’m aware of its popularity among young women from the mainland — it has to be to have evolved into a beloved sub-genre. Truth be told, the utilization of this trope is a very mixed bag. In the right hands, the domineering CEO story speaks effectively and humorously to issues like family dysfunction, marital strife, greed and the blessings of having children. The CEO is meant to be a prince among men slaying dragons and rescuing the damsel in distress. Moreover it can also highlight the havoc that tyranny wreaks when power is abused in visceral fashion. Power can’t be wielded by just anyone. A prince is also a man. In that vein, folktales, nursery rhymes and fairytales have been the staple of cultures and civilizations. The tales of the domineering CEO is very much located in that tradition of storytelling: Suspicious deaths, genius children, overpowered leads, crazy coincidences, caricatures of good and evil all wrapped up in a hero’s journey.

Where inferior productions fall short is when the direction come across as exploitative and disingenuous. It’s a very fine tightrope to tread. Love and hate is a thin red line. A potential romance begin life as raging jealousy, repeated mental torment and even rape is hard to navigate. The angry social media comments are proof of this. And yet these stories continue to have a sizeable devoted audience. An attractive charismatic actor can pull it off but it’s still a painful watch as the audience navigates the trials of a maladjusted pairing riddled with misunderstandings and terrible communication based on acute mistrust. The lack of trust is the key to everything. It brings out the worst of the prince and his bride.

The CEO husband as tyrant is one of degrees and perspective. In a way, he is almost always a despot. In his universe/domain he is a leader of men wielding absolute power used to getting his own way. It’s not without foundation that he believes the world revolves around him. In every instance he is at the very least a member of the most prominent family or the designated successor of it which usually means he is the most powerful man in the land. It should be remembered that he has near unlimited resources at his fingertips to do a lot of good and with that authority to do much evil. For the woman he loves this is a double-edged sword. When he’s a loving doting husband, the world is her oyster. Whether it’s her avaricious relatives or the snobs at the local kindy or unwanted attention high class auction, he wields his sceptre for her protection. With one phone call he can sack recalcitrant blowhards, acquire companies, and destroy families. All his wealth is at her disposal. Despite all that, he is flesh and blood, prone to all the passions of mere mortals. So when he is bombarded by contradictory voices that would do her harm eg. 绿茶 (Green Tea) or when there’s little to no foundation for trust in that relationship, he unleashes his wrath against her in a terrifying manner that befits a man of his position. That same power that he uses to dish out retribution to scheming criminals is now used against her — the woman he is meant to protect with his life. The scripts and direction milk this idea for all it’s worth. The manipulated CEO threatens her life, chokes her, torments her day and night, forces sex on her and feigns indifference during her greatest crisis. He is the tyrant turned monster — a perpetual destructive force in her life. He hates himself for having loved her once (or quite likely still in love with her) and so to assuage his guilt, he conceives of everything humanly possible to humiliate her. In doing so, he himself is turned into an emotional wreck of a human being trying to reconcile his love for a woman he deems unworthy of it and a warped sense of justice. He is the law of the land (judge, jury, executioner) and the obligation to execute is intense. His overbearing pride is his downfall. Until the lies are revealed to be so, he is a man groping around in the dark, putty in the hands of others.

So what’s the attraction? Why has the tyrannical CEO become such a dominant trope? Why is he allowed to cross all these lines? Perhaps there’s a reason why taboos are part of the package.

Perhaps there’s a universal agreement regarding the limits on government and the importance of the rule of law. Clearly no one person should be allowed that much power over the rest of us. The prince or the king must also be subject to the laws of the land. History is replete with examples of tyranny. Power without wisdom leads to anarchy at every level. Perhaps it is more the case that another beloved fairytale is being alluded to — The Emperor’s New Clothes. A possible interpretation might be this: The utter humiliation of the most powerful man in the land… by tricksters, children and women. It’s isn’t that his actions are being condoned but there’s a certain unholy glee in watching an attractive highly sought after man on a downward slide and finally brought to his knees. It is somehow cheering to know that even he has chinks in his armour. And for those who are on that diet, there’s a kind of perverse pleasure fantasizing that they could be that woman to conquer the stone cold heart of that man residing in the lofty perch of his castle. There are two women responsible for his humiliation — the imposter and the virtuous wife. One blinds him to the truth with false goodness. The other proves her worth and shows up his flaws through her suffering. The virtuous wife undergoes humiliations galore to garner sympathy for her plight. In most cases, when all’s revealed and he knows that he has wronged the virtuous wife, the tyrannical husband goes back to her subdued, repentant and eager to please. The monster has been broken and tamed accordingly. Now he’s ready to be the ideal husband. It’s not who’s the best man for her or whether it’s moronic act of sadism to get back together with a man who once tormented her cruelly. It’s about overcoming and subjugation. Occasionally it’s also about redemption. And second chances.

To my mind, it is a false narrative. It assumes that relationships are built on conquest and domination. Both parties trying hammer and tongs to win the argument often end up losing the war. Taking an adversarial approach to life is far too exhausting. (Watching the misunderstandings pile up like a week’s worth of dishes is fatiguing. The odour is equally off-putting) Thankfully real life is far more sane and boring.

At some point most of the tyrannical CEOs are locked in some kind of loveless marriage. Whether it’s some meddling relative insisting that he marry some girl he’s never met or a contract relationship that comes built in with power struggles, revenge and mystery. It’s a low trust environment to begin with and while the domineering CEO is almost always a narcissist, he has good reason to be cautious. Women are eager to bed him for wealth and status. Prominent families are ready to throw their daughters at him. His own family is ready to stab him in the back. There are spies all around. Just because he’s paranoid doesn’t mean there’s not someone who wants a piece of him. But a formidable man who is running a business empire should be savvy and connected well enough not to have to resort to violence to get at the truth… unless it’s a matter of urgency. To make a fool out of him by diminishing his discernment where needed shows little respect for the audience. Trials and suffering are a part of life but manufacturing suffering to start a character’s journey from zero requires intentional, skilled character development which can get in the way of a crazy convoluted plot. Many of these stories just can’t be bothered because the crazy convoluted plot is the thing. My guess is that they’re all out for the shock factor. Or the stark contrast. The worst the CEO, the more remarkable the transformation. All because he’s been “rescued” by a woman. But not just any woman.

It also ends up being a false narrative because tropes are what’s driving everything not the plot logic. Not even the characters matter. The tropes are there as reminders or signals as it were that these are very old allegories/allusions utilized to explore difficult contemporary issues in more palatable ways. On the other hand the good CEO stories are the ones that see the leads as characters with clear motivations and desire line. The CEO lives up to his reputation as an entrepreneurial genius and the female protagonist is no shrinking violet waiting for a change that doesn’t come as she weeps at the state of her marriage. Sure he might be emotionally stunted and lack the social skills to woo a wife with finesse but it doesn’t mean he’s devoid of any redeeming qualities.

So yes, redemption is part and parcel of the tyrannical CEO’s story. All the drama and frustration that the audience suffers is all about him being brought to his knees in the realisation that he has not even fulfilled his most fundamental duty to his wife — to protect her from external attacks. Everything in the story is calculated to be a slap in the face until the penny drops. When they’re not a united front things fall apart fast and the antagonists run amok. Often he has a family he doesn’t know exists. This leaves a wife and children vulnerable especially when wife embarks on dangerous endeavours such as revenge. The key point is that their humiliation becomes his cross to bear as a result of neglect.