The Pretending President and the Unexpected Ending

The Chairman pretends to wash his car in his hometown and is despised by his friends and the ending, The Chairman pretends to ride a cart and is caught by his ex-lover and the ending, The Chairman pretends to submit a job application and is kicked out and the ending,… are the titles of a series of short film clips that are attracting tens of millions of views online. This trend is so hot that regardless of the content, just add the phrase “Chairman and the ending” and netizens will rush to watch it. Some of us in the media industry also tried to watch an episode of “Chairman” to follow the trend and the ending is… not having enough patience to watch the ending. The content is poor, the acting is bland, the images are shabby, we want to criticize it so much but when we look at the number of views, we can only bow our heads in shame. Truly, never underestimate the online community!

Why is the motif of laughing at someone one day and laughing at someone the next day, the poor and despised character turning the tables and becoming rich so popular? I think, perhaps because many viewers see themselves in it. Not necessarily in the lack of material things but in the desire for a position in society. These are people who always carry within themselves resentment about the injustice (from a subjective perspective) that they have to endure. Injustice because others are richer than you, injustice because others are more successful than you, injustice because others are more beautiful than you, injustice because others are loved by everyone more than you, injustice because others are more respected than you... That resentment is a manifestation of inferiority, dissatisfaction with what you have. That mentality can easily develop in a distorted direction into jealousy, envy and even greed for things that belong to others.

Humans are complex and contradictory creatures. We want to promote our individuality but at the same time we want to belong to a group. There, we feel safe when our views are agreed and feel valuable when we are praised by the group. People always think that material things are the most powerful driving force, but compliments are the drug that makes people willing to do anything, even lose themselves. Just like the story of the golden apple for the most beautiful person - the source of the Trojan War in Greek mythology: three beautiful goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite turned against each other because of fighting over an apple. We humans are also willing to trample on each other in the war for vanity - even though that vanity is not necessarily more valuable than a rotten apple.

Let's say that after the war that was exchanged with sweat, tears and sometimes blood, when we stand on the heights that people admire (sincerely or falsely), do we ever look back at ourselves in the mirror and wonder: Do we respect ourselves? Or after all, do we have nothing left but a dirty conscience, covered by a cloak and a flashy crown? I think that being despised by ourselves is much more despicable than being despised by others. Because after all, no one will whisper sweet words into our ears forever, nor will anyone scream contemptuous words into our ears forever. Only the voice of conscience is always inside you. And it will tell you the truth. Only the truth!