Among the many reasons a 39-year-old Chinese man cited for marrying himself was his dissatisfaction with reality.
On the first of January of this year, Liu Ye married a life-sized cutout photo of himself wearing a red bridal gown. The wedding took place in the square of Guanzhou Village before friends and bewildered local villagers.
This was no quickie city hall or Vegas chapel wedding. All procedures of an ancient Chinese wedding were honored, including the bride kowtowing to heaven and earth, to ancestors and to the elderly aged 90 and over. Bride and groom made the traditional rounds of toasting guests during the banquet.
Remarked one guest, “It is a real grand wedding except that the bride is a photo."
Self described as "an angry Chinese youth at best," Liu Ye denies he is gay but does admit to being "a little bit narcissistic."
Though dissatisfaction with reality was his primary reason for marrying himself, he also says that: "Marrying myself is a process of deconstructing and reconstructing myself. I make use of the wedding to reconsider opposite-sex marriage. My behavior seems ridiculous, but I am traditional and conservative in heart so the wedding ceremony is traditional.”
Villagers present at the wedding confessed to being confused as to what exactly was happening. One mother said she thought it was a group wedding.
A psychologist described the groom/bride as abnormal. He "diagnosed" the bride as being psychologically unhealthy because "as a middle-aged man he did not find a female or a male as his partner."
I don't know about the psychologically unhealthy part but I do think this is bizarre and yes, narcissistic.
