How Narrative Shapes Reality: Good Cops and Bad Cops in China and in the US

Reposted from “Chimeras;” slightly edited. Jan 09, 2026

The Dumpling Queen 水饺皇后 (2025) is the story of 臧健和 (Chong Kin Wo), a real person (1945-2019) who fought hard to make a living for herself and her two daughters after having been abandoned by her husband. I don’t know how close to reality is the story told in the movie is, but it doesn’t matter. Narrative is not necessarily about reality. Narrative is there to bring out of your soul your feelings for your fellow human beings. And this is what this movie does. Oversentimental, sure, and with several defects as a movie. But also a stunningly beautiful movie: charming, entertaining, moving. You cannot possibly avoid standing for the plight of this young mother. If you, by any chance, don’t feel that way, you are a reptile, and that’s offensive to reptiles.

There is one scene in the movie, when the protagonist is arrested by the police for having sold her dumplings without a permit. At the police station, another woman tells the police chief that she has no money to pay the fine. The Chief thinks about that for a moment, then takes some money out of his own pocket and pays the fine, letting her go free. Note that he upholds the law: he could just let the woman go. But the law is the law: the fine has to be paid. It is a powerful message from the movie: respect the law, but also help your fellow citizens.

That’s not the only evidence we have that Chinese citizens expect their police to help them, not to club them, or shoot them. There are plenty of clips and images on the Chinese Web of policemen helping people in distress, saving children and pets from danger.

Of course, we all know that reality and YouTube are different realms. We also know that propaganda exists everywhere in the world. But if these clips from China are government propaganda (some of them surely are), it means that the Chinese Government wants the police to be kind to citizens. If movies such as “The Dumpling Queen” exist, it means that, within some limits, in China, people believe that the police are there to help them. Belief shapes reality, and good beliefs make the world better.

I don’t think I have to tell you how different things are in our world. Plenty of movies and clips on the Web show Western police mistreating and killing people. And if people believe that the police are there to kill people, then the police will kill people. Bad beliefs make the world worse. And so it goes.

You can see the whole movie “Dumpling Queen” movie at this link. The scene where the policeman pays the fine is at 1:15:00.