“I won’t apologize for who I am”

Netflix’s recent supernatural release “Marry My Dead Body” is inevitably built around this axiom. A traditional same sex marriage between a human and a ghost might not be the ideal premise for a 2 hours long movie, but it leaves a strong message that propagates love, tolerance and breeds familial acceptance. While homophobic prejudices cannot be mended easily, this movie is a lighthearted attempt at challenging the natural order. It tackles homophobia in a way that is essentially relevant and yet level-headed. Without falling into the potholes of slapstick comedy, the movie is a rambunctious action thriller that delivers on its promise of entertainment. Join us as we recall some of the finest moments in this movie!

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Inclusivity. Prejudice. Misogyny.

These are all things that the Taiwanese film Marry My Dead Body touches on while also maintaining a steady stream of comedic moments peppered with the heavy.

Starring Greg Hsu (Wu Ming Han) and Austin Lin (Mao Bang Yu / Mao Mao), Marry My Dead Body tells the story of a traditional same-sex marriage between a down-on-his-luck homophobic cop and a deceased gay man.

While it is as funny as the trailer promises, it is also heartwarming & heart-rending. It doesn’t take itself seriously while also managing to take itself seriously. And that’s hard to find in comedy these days.

Rather than simply focus on a testosterone-heavy plot about a man shaken up by his dead gay husband, it takes both men and weaves them into each other’s lives in a way that shatters misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ community while also deftly pointing out the prejudices both have against each other and overcoming them. All while cop Ming Han and ghost Mao Mao fall into a love story that isn’t quite a love story with each other.

While this isn’t a romantic film, there comes a point in the movie where the viewer falls in love with how they fall for each other. The love that grows between Ming Han and Mao Mao is more about respect and need than romance, but that felt much bigger than the screen holding them, punching me in the face in an unexpected way that left me in tears.

And the film doesn’t stop there.

Despite the villainess Ming Han’s female partner, Lin Zi Quing (Gingle Wang), turns out to be, Marry My Dead Body has a raw, intriguing way of using her to point out the misogyny women face in the workplace. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her being a villain in the film, especially after seeing how she was treated at the police station, because I was worried that it would be another case of villainizing women.

But it wasn’t. Instead, it felt more profound. Sad. Eye-opening. Tragically honest. Although Lin Zi Qing turns against everyone, it isn’t possible to be angry at her for it. As Mao Mao smugly points out, “There’s more than meets the eye with her.”

Isn’t that the case for all women in a patriarchal-dominated world?
Lin Zi Quing essentially turns her back both on the ‘brotherhood’ that shames her and the villains who abuse her, taking her life into her own hands away from them all. She became more than a pretty face and a traitor. She walked out the villain the world itself turned her into. In the same way women are often villainized in the workplace, film, and life.

There was a lot of thought and heart put into every scene in this film. From the gentle change we see in Ming Han and Mao Mao as their worlds collide to the transition of acceptance and pain Mao Mao’s family goes through over his sexuality while Mao Mao himself is hoping to spend his life with someone forever thanks to Taiwan’s recent approval of same-sex marriage before that is abruptly taken away from him. All while removing the rainbow glasses from the faces of those who idolize gay relationships by showing the reality of Mao Mao’s romance with a man who is cheating on him.

This film promotes the need for equality while delving into our reality.

It all plays out beautifully on screen with a subtle heaviness that never feels too political but still manages to punch viewers in the face. The final scene between Ming Han, Mao Mao, and Mao Mao’s father before Mao Mao’s reincarnation expresses a deep love between three men finding acceptance in each other that left my heart raw and my cheeks damp with tears.

All in all, Marry My Dead Body offers viewers both laughter and truth, and there aren’t a lot of films that can manage that.

For a fun film that shatters prejudices and opens hearts, check out Marry My Dead Body now.

Reveeiws

Marry My Dead Body is a funny, supernatural crime drama that tackles the issues of love, loneliness and belonging in a profound way. A homophobic policeman Ming-Han (Greg Hsu) picks up a red envelope on the street, and he is ambushed by Mao Pang-Yu’s (Austin Lin) family who tell him that he is supposed to marry the envelope’s owner, Mao Pang-Yu who is now deceased, or else he would suffer some bad luck. Ming-Han, who doesn’t believe in the superstition, refuses the proposal. However, after the encounter, his luck runs out and he is constantly getting injured, gets demoted from his job and even loses money gifted to him. As a last resort, Ming-Han decides to go through with the marriage in the hopes that it turns his luck around. After the marriage, he encounters Mao Pang-Yu, who appears to him as a ghost, and it becomes apparent that Mao Pang-Yu has unfinished business on earth that hinders him from crossing over. The two must, therefore, assist one another to achieve their goals.

The movie is about friendship, family and acceptance. Mao Mao’s grandmother could not bear the fact that her grandson left the world unmarried and not wanting him to be lonely, arranges the marriage for him. It seems like fate that Ming-Han, who is working a case directly linked to Mao’s death would be the one to pick up the red envelope and help the family get closure, as well as help Mao Mao cross over, while he too grows and becomes more accepting.

Although the movie kind of bites more than it can chew, adding mystery, supernatural elements, comedy, real drama and a crime investigation element (with some of the elements not being neatly tied up by the end), it pinpoints the arcs related to the main characters whilst delivering a wholesome and emotional story. The actual translation of the movie title, which is “About me and the Ghost becoming family” is a better title from Ming-Han’s point of view who, in the end of the movie ends up with a family thanks to his marriage to Mao-mao. The movie tackles the issues of familial acceptance really well, as well as the fear of loneliness and ending up alone in the world, which is difficult to deal with. These themes could easily have been laid out well without the backdrop of a crime drama. However, it still worked well and the emotional angles landed regardless of the backdrop.

Ming-Han’s homophobia is almost out of place from the beginning of the movie. His coworker is gay, he also seems very comfortable flirting with the guy he was operating a sting for. This might be to highlight how even the lighthearted homophobia is still homophobia. It doesn’t have to be angry and aggressive to be harmful. The inclusion of slapstick comedy matches well with Ming-Han’s character, who is a bumbling idiot at heart, and it’s important that the audience does not forget this, as it is a character flaw. While slapstick comedy can be off-putting, it does not seem out of place in this movie and actually provides levity to the situation and is used to punish Ming-Han for his homophobia, which is fair enough.

The movie tackles the issue that soulmates do not necessarily need to be romantic, but sometimes platonic and family ties can be just as fulfilling. Mao-mao’s father accepting him and loving him unconditionally freed him, as well as Ming-Han’s love, acceptance and support which allows him to cross over to reincarnate.

Sarinpai

Marry My Dead Body isn’t a romance, not exactly, nor is it a love story, but it is a story of love and acceptance.

The protagonist Wu Ming Han (Greg Hsu), accidentally picks up a red envelope while on a case, binding him to a marriage with Mao Bang Yu/Mao Mao (Austin Lin). There is only a small hitch- Ming Han is homophobic and Mao Mao is a ghost. Now bound together, they try to solve Mao Mao’s hit and run case, while uncovering a larger conspiracy that ties their lives together.

As series as it sounds, the movie for the most part isn’t. It’s goofy, it’s silly, and it’s fun, but it’s also serious and tackles themes of queer acceptance in its more sombre moments. You see Ming Han evolve from a callous jerk to a compassionate husband, and Mao Mao process complicated feelings towards himself and his family. The movie, taking place in Taiwan, communicates that legalising queer marriage doesn’t neatly transition to immediate social or self-acceptance, and that we all need unconditional love in our lives (even after our lives are over).

Of course, it shows all that in an entangled mayhem of murders, mafias and moles, so there’s also that to look forward to.

Rating- 3.5 out of 5

Streaming on- Netflix

Krishna’s Sidenote-

☆ Marry My Dead Body stars Greg Hsu and Austin Lin were featured on the cover of Elle Taiwan