CRI听力:Why Hollywood divorce got Chinese people talking

Hollywood Divorces are not shocking in the world of Vanity Fair.

But one case has got the eyes of many Chinese talking—the bombshell split of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

"The divorce thing is sad, it got me sighing."

"I was not shocked by this news, because I didn't hold high hopes for the couple, I don't see much drama in splitting the assets, but I think there will be fight over custody."

The divorce case has drawn attention from more than 50 million internet users in China, talking and sharing on social media sites, just one month after Chinese actor Wang Baoqiang's split with his wife.

Why do Chinese people gossip so enthusiastically about divorce cases?

Anthropologists believe that throughout human history, gossip has been a way for us to bond with others.

Psychologists see it as a way of expressing oneself, activating brain cells and satisfying the need to be engaged in social life.

Despite various opinions, the case sees Jolie as the female partner, filing for divorce from her husband.

Some observers have seen it as a symptom of equal gender relations in marriage, where China's traditional customs might differ.

Xinyu Wang is a Sociologist at the New York State University. According to her observations, divorce in American culture is more accepted than in Chinese.

"In China, the social acceptance of divorce is different from that in the U.S. Though it's not a good thing, divorcing doesn't amount to the soiling of one's reputation or ruining one's life here in the States. It's simply about not choosing the right person, or once right, but no longer right as of now. It's considered as a procedure of growing up. But in China, many people still consider divorce a blow to one's reputation especially for women."

While still stigmatized — especially for women — divorce rates have steadily risen in China.

According to the Global Times, a total of 3.84 million couples in China divorced in 2015, an increase of 5.6 percent from 2014.

But divorce does have a great impact on people's lives, financially, and socially. Sociologist Xinyu Wang has discovered a bad trend in the Chinese social media.

"I think here in the U.S. most people were shocked by the divorce case, but I didn't see vicious comments. However, I read mixed comments from China's social media. Some trash talk on Jolie and some say Brad Pitt cheated on his ex-wife then married the other woman who was Jolie at the time. I feel like these people were amused by watching the couple make fools of themselves, they are consumed and entertained by this kind of sad divorce news."

Whenever a loud divorce case is made known, Chinese Internet users and media all attempt to eke out as much information on the case as possible.

The huge amount of attention also proves to be an opportunity for businesses who gladly post their ads in the viral comments columns to get free rides off of the heavily visited trash talk.

Who do you think is at fault in this divorce case? Log onto your preferred social media and leave a comment.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui.