Event Note | "Epistemic Injustice" in the TV Series Imperfect Victim (2023)

Date: April 24, 2026, 10:00–12:00

Venue: Online Zoom Webinar

Event Link:  Link
Event Photos: Link

Moderator: Wang Chih-ming (Deputy Director, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica; Convener of the Contemporary China Research Group, ICCS, NYCU)

Keynote Speaker: Bai Ruoyun (Professor, Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto Scarborough)

Rapporteur: Mai Zhixuan (PhD Student, Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, NYCU)

On April 24, 2026, the "Contemporary China" sub-project of the International Center for Cultural Studies at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (ICCS, NYCU) invited Professor Bai Ruoyun from the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough to deliver a brilliant lecture for the semester's inaugural event. Titled "Epistemic Injustice in the TV Series Imperfect Victim (2023)," the talk opened with remarks from Moderator Wang Chih-ming, who noted that popular culture is an indispensable lens for understanding contemporary China, with TV dramas specifically reflecting shifts in the era. Professor Bai has long specialized in Chinese television studies—ranging from early anti-corruption dramas to contemporary gender issues—always focusing on how mass media navigates power and morality. This lecture guided the audience through the intricate relationship between this cinematic text and reality.

At the start of the lecture, Prof. Bai highlighted the connection between Imperfect Victim and the 2018 #MeToo movement in China. Produced and funded by iQIYI, the series features a plot highly similar to a real-life case (the Liu Qiangdong case): the defendant is the founder and CEO of a listed tech company; the incident involves sexual assault following forced drinking at a business banquet; and the victim faces severe online harassment. The drama essentially reconfigures the trajectory of this social controversy through fiction. Although the creators and investors never publicly admitted the show was inspired by the Liu case, viewers familiar with the incident can immediately recognize the parallels. Thus, Prof. Bai regards the series as a form of "fictional reconfiguration."

Prof. Bai pointed out that while the victim in the real-life case suffered a near-total defeat in the court of public opinion at the time, this TV series has revived dissipated social memories. By adopting the victim’s perspective, the show offers a critical reflection on power imbalances and workplace sexual assault. Furthermore, Prof. Bai posed two primary inquiries: How can a victim's subjective experience be presented within a restricted commercial and political environment? And how does it interact with the current feminist movement, mainstream ideology, and a commercialized creative landscape?

Two Forms of Epistemic Injustice

To address these questions, Prof. Bai utilized the framework of "Epistemic Injustice" proposed by feminist philosopher Miranda Fricker. Fricker identifies two primary forms of epistemic injustice, both of which are manifested in the series.

The first is Testimonial Injustice, which occurs when a listener deflates the credibility of a speaker due to existing social prejudices. Prof. Bai noted that the show vividly portrays how "rape myths" permeate society—such as the beliefs that "successful men don't need to resort to rape" or that "the victim's accusation is a self-directed 'honey trap' for money or status." Additionally, the series critiques the bloodthirsty nature of online commentary while exposing the indifference and "mansplaining" (characterized as "dad-like" lecturing) of certain bureaucrats within the judicial system. Under these multi-layered factors, the testimony of the victim, Zhao Xun, is questioned, leaving her in a predicament where she is not believed.

The second form is Hermeneutical Injustice, which occurs when a gap in collective interpretive resources prevents individuals from making sense of—or expressing in a socially recognized way—their own social experiences. For instance, the title Imperfect Victim is itself a challenge to this injustice. Within existing social frameworks, victims are often implicitly expected to be "flawless, blameless, and defiant," ignoring the "silence and submission" that arises under power imbalances. Zhao Xun’s line, "Gentle coercion is still coercion," emphasizes that even if the act is not overtly "violent," it does not change the nature of power bullying and intimidation. The series attempts to create a new vocabulary for victims, stressing that silence under the pressure of authority must never be misread as "sexual consent."

The Price of the Female Growth Narrative

Prof. Bai then examined the series within the context of "female-centric dramas." While it successfully integrates popular commercial elements like "female growth," "female friendship," and "alpha-female (Da Zhunü) narratives," it creates internal tensions and contradictions. Even as the drama identifies epistemic injustice as a structural problem, the narrative ultimately retreats to individual agency and interpersonal relationships for a resolution.

The narrative logic requires the victim, Zhao Xun, to face her past weakness and achieve self-redemption by becoming "brave." Prof. Bai observed that this "bravery" comes at an extremely heavy price. Zhao Xun must repeatedly dissect her imperfections—such as greed, vanity, and hesitation—before the public. Only after enduring cyberbullying, losing her job, and being slandered does her choice to "jump into the sea" (suicide attempt) serve as a trade-off for her innocence.

Interestingly, the image of Zhao Xun wearing a pure white dress before her jump pushes her toward the socially expected image of a pure, "perfect victim." It is as if trust is only granted once the victim is pushed toward death. Prof. Bai argued that this narrative, which shifts the responsibility of fixing institutional and social defects onto the victim's individual "bravery," creates a self-contradictory paradox: on one hand, it advocates for the recognition of imperfect victims; on the other, it demands they pay a price for those imperfections.

The Double Dissolution of the Feminist Movement

One of the most critical points of the lecture was Prof. Bai’s analysis of how the series aligns with mainstream state discourse. In the show, Zhao Xun eventually achieves a limited victory and dignity, but this is not through social activism. Instead, it is mediated by "elites within the system"—namely, a female police officer (Yan Ming) and a female lawyer (Lin Kan)—and the newly promulgated Civil Code. Prof. Bai pointed out that the real-life #MeToo activists and cyber-feminists are hidden in the series, while online culture is generalized as a negative space lacking rationality and easily manipulated.

Thus, a deeper layer of epistemic injustice lies in the "appropriation and de-identification of perspectives." Many profound and sharp feminist viewpoints in the drama are voiced by the female lawyer and police officer. Prof. Bai admitted that this might be a survival strategy to pass official censorship, but it undeniably leads to the marginalization of feminist knowledge production.

Consequently, Prof. Bai believes this forms a "double dissolution": real feminist activists are suppressed in real life, and they are erased again within fictional texts. When viewers hear these lines, they remain unaware that behind the perspectives lie the "heartbreaking stories" of countless activists and the blood and tears of collective struggle.

Discussion: Cross-Strait Comparisons

During the discussion session, Prof. Wang Chih-ming supplemented the analysis with another key character, Mi Mang. He argued that Mi Mang’s presence expands the complexity of the issue, extending the discussion from power oppression in white-collar workplaces to marital rape and domestic violence at the grassroots level. Participants also engaged in a heated discussion regarding the quote from 2 Timothy in the Bible used by the lawyer Lin Kan: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." One audience member perceptively noted that this mirrors the context of the conclusion of Fang Fang’s Diary, suggesting that the screenwriters may have used a "hodgepodge" style of appropriation from contemporary public discourse and intellectual rhetoric.

Prof. Bai further explained the significance of this line: when Zhao Xun was deeply concerned about whether Lin Kan believed she had been raped, Lin Kan did not give a direct answer. She believed that the victim’s internal truth was more important. Therefore, by saying this, Lin Kan was validating Zhao Xun’s persistence and the price she was willing to pay for it.

In response to questions from the Taiwanese audience regarding "cross-cultural receptivity," Prof. Bai mentioned that the Taiwanese series Wave Makers (2023) and mainland Chinese dramas share much room for dialogue on sexual harassment. For instance, she observed that the "unlikable" nature of Zhao Xun—her hesitation and inconsistency—challenges the audience's limits of acceptance, but this accurately reflects the predicament the creators sought to portray. This is similar to the "let’s not just let it go" sentiment in the workplace harassment plot of the Taiwanese series. On the other hand, Prof. Bai noted that Lin Yi-han’s Fang Si-chi’s First Love Paradise resonated deeply in mainland China, indicating significant space for dialogue between the literature and film of both sides.

Conclusion: Speaking Through the Cracks

Regarding her real-world concerns as a scholar, Prof. Bai shared her journey of following Liu Jingyao (the victim in the Liu Qiangdong case), including traveling to the University of Minnesota to participate in support activities. This emotional drive is the reason she conducted this research. Although the real case ended in a settlement—leaving many feminist activists feeling a lack of closure—the emergence of the TV drama has opened a space for discussion.

Prof. Bai concluded that while Imperfect Victim, as a commercial drama, dilutes the energy of the feminist movement under commercial logic and censorship—and transforms structural social problems into individual moral redemption—it still managed to air in mainstream media. It opened possibilities for dialogue, allowing progressive concepts like "gentle coercion" and "silence under power imbalance" to enter the public's vision. The entry of gender issues into mainstream cultural creation via social critique can be seen as the starting point for the mainstreaming of gender discourse.