[1] Filmed and set during The Great Leap Forward, it focuses on a peasant woman (Li Shuangshuang) who is married to a man (Sun Xiwang).
Shuangshuang, sick of staying at home and working on domestic labor, leads the commune to take part in the progress of The Great Leap Forward.
[2] Films like Li Shuangshuang were produced with the goal of “assist[ing] with current political, social, and economic campaigns.
At first he is resistant, however, after watching Li Shuangshuang and all the women happily working the fields he realizes the error of his ways.
In 1950, the New Marriage Law substantially differed from previous versions in the Communist base areas and was similar to the Nationalist Civil Code of 1930.
Specifically, “it outlawed bigamy, concubinage, child betrothal, interference in widow remarriage, the exaction of money or gifts in conjunction with a marriage agreement, and compelling someone to marry against their will”.
Instead, Wang showed immense understanding and support for Guiying’s own will in choosing her partner and said that the parents should not have too much control over their children’s marriage since the era was different.
By illustrating both Guiying and comrade Wang, the film strived to deliver a message of marriage equality from both men and women.
During this time mobilizing women to work for collective tasks was central to the party's efforts to raise agricultural production.
[5] Thus the party mobilized rural women to take action and accomplish the agricultural work that had historically been left to the men.
[5] Exemplary workers could be selected as labor models where their good deeds would be publicized and touted as a way of motivating other women to mobilize and work hard for their commune.
[6] As early as 1950 the government created a quota system to ensure that the content of film productions aligned with the parties current concerns.
[6] By 1953 the distribution of “rural feature films'' that would cater to the peasant population became a top priority of government policymakers.
[6] The story of Li Shuangshuang first appeared in People’s Literature in 1960, was later adapted into a film, and eventually turned into a lianhuanhua, or an illustrated storybook.
Not only was the same narrative repeated multiple times, enough to make an impact on people’s perception of a Party-led life, but it also reached audiences from different social strata.
The propagated message could arrive at the door of intellectuals who read the literary magazine People’s Literature, children who enjoy illustrations, and those who have a taste in the new media of film.
[2] In the 1950s, exceptional women of the rural areas would be identified as labor models: “skilled farmers, dedicated midwives, astute livestock handlers, and tenacious cotton-growing heroines”.
[7] The major difference between Li Shuangshaung and traditional labor models in the Maoist era, however, was that Shuangshuang did not need to be “trained and discovered”.
[9] However, when Li Shuangshuang began to step out of her domestic sphere and participate in collective production, both her and Xiwang’s perception of her role changed.
Shuangshuang thought, “The Great Leap Forward is turning the sky red outside… Can I let myself be tied down by this household for the rest of my life?”.
[8] The Communist society was ready for “the labor of housewives”, and “once they gain the right to work, they relish their feeling of connectedness” to the collective production.
[2] At the end of the film, Li Shuangshuang earned respect for her ability in the fields and in managing the work points system.