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Cherie
Movie

Cherie

1984 • Unknown

Woke Score
2.6
out of 10

Plot

The beautiful Cherie Chung plays the title character, an exercise teacher who is wooed by a rich, older businessman and a young photographer. You watch Cherie as she bounces between these two, not really liking the businessman, while the photographer is more in love with her image as his model than as a true love.

Overall Series Review

The 1984 Hong Kong romantic comedy "Cherie" follows the title character, an exercise instructor, as she is pursued by two distinct suitors: a wealthy, older businessman and a young, artistic photographer. The film is a commercial vehicle for its star, centered on a battle of wits and egos in a love triangle. The narrative describes a critique of the predatory and materialistic instincts of the men, particularly the businessman who attempts to buy affection with wealth. The photographer, while younger and more appealing to Cherie, is emotionally distant and shuns the idea of marriage. The story ultimately positions Cherie as the superior agent who possesses the upper hand, navigating the possessiveness of both men to assert her own space and independence. The film's setting is Hong Kong, and its focus is a critique of contemporary social anxieties, materialism, and the dynamic between the sexes in that specific cultural context.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The core conflict revolves around class, wealth, age, and character, not immutable characteristics like race. The casting of the Hong Kong film is naturally authentic, and the narrative contains no commentary on 'whiteness' or forced diversity. Characters are judged by their personal merits or flaws, such as the businessman's use of money to buy desire.

Oikophobia1/10

The film is a Hong Kong production and offers a critique of materialism, patriarchy, and societal stiffness within its own cultural context. It contains no hostility toward Western civilization, nor does it feature foreign cultures or 'aliens' presented as morally superior to the West. The social criticism is internal, focusing on local 'civil' expectations and their distortion.

Feminism7/10

The female lead, Cherie, is portrayed as an 'enigma' who is strategically superior to the men. She is shown to have the 'upper hand,' navigating and playing the men's egos off one another. The narrative focuses on the men's 'predatory instinct of patriarchy' and their treatment of women as objects of desire, framing male ambition and possessiveness as a problem. This narrative structure elevates the woman as the one with moral and strategic command over deeply flawed male characters, fitting the 'Girl Boss' trope by critiquing traditional masculinity as toxic or bumbling.

LGBTQ+1/10

The plot centers on a traditional heterosexual love triangle, and there is no evidence of centering alternative sexualities, deconstructing the nuclear family, or presenting gender ideology as a theme. The photographer's shunning of marriage is a personal choice within a traditional framework, not a challenge to biological or gender reality.

Anti-Theism3/10

There is no explicit hostility toward religion or Christianity. However, the film's moral landscape is described as driven by 'survival instincts and possessive childish drive,' suggesting a materialistic and amoral world where all characters act on selfish desire to achieve a wish. The core morality is subjective and centered entirely on immediate desire and possession, indicating a spiritual vacuum rather than a transcendent moral law.