Regulating 'Delulu': China’s War On The Cinderella Fantasy

My fellow delulu girls, can you imagine the devastating news that was just brought to my ears? Chinese media regulators have placed strict new rules on the rom-coms that will be produced going forward. Guess the reason? They said these shows have made women “too delulu", promoting unrealistic 'Cinderella fantasies' where ordinary women effortlessly land ultra-rich men (—cue the meme-worthy CEO and Y/N plots flooding social media). According to the State, such stories promote materialism, unrealistic expectations, and distorted values. The rom-com writers are now actively rewriting the script for love on screen. However, is this just about managing daydreams or a deeper attempt to manage social reality??

Shall we actually look deeper into the reason China might be doing this? 

To begin with it has been observed that they are trying to curb materialism. This is one of the themes depicted in the fantasy Chinese romance dramas, i.e the CEO male lead trying to prove his love through luxury while the female lead is often written as financially powerless waiting to be saved by her prince charming. 

Secondly and more critically is the demographic crisis of low birth rates playing out in China currently. They feel these dramas are in part, to blame as ordinary women are not willing to work on themselves and build a meaningful relationship but would rather find a rich CEO who will change their lives for the better. As such, the average men seem inadequate.   

What might the new TV love stories look like though? Forget the rich, moody boss. The new ideal man will be successful because he helps his country. Think a tech genius, a doctor, or someone who improves his hometown.

The woman won't be saved by money. She'll have her own important career. The couple will fall in love while working together on a big project, like starting a business or helping a village. The message will change from "He gave her a luxury life" to "They built a meaningful life together."

Now, the big question: will it work?

There's a fundamental risk here. Rom-coms are, at their heart, a form of escapism. If the new, purpose-driven love stories feel less like a fun fantasy and more like a state-mandated lesson in civic duty, audiences may simply tune out. The "delulu" impulse won't vanish; it will migrate. Viewers will find their fairy tales elsewhere whether in the sweeping fantasies of K-dramas, the clandestine worlds of online novels, or other content beyond the regulator's reach.

The real battle isn't happening in the writer's room. It's a fight for the imagination of a generation. Can the government make socially responsible romance compelling? Or will people always find a secret window to dream their own dreams? After all, the Cinderella slipper never really fit perfectly. That was always part of the fantasy. And as long as there's a yearning for one, a new version of that glass slipper, perhaps now imported from "Seoul" will always appear.

Zainab Omosubuola