Since 2004, Yue started the Hat Series in order to investigate the relationship between one's social role and existence. He continues to employ his signature laughing self-portrait. The various styles of hats represent the multitude of roles one take up in the society. In Era of Hero No. 1 (Lot 2371), contra the artist's usual depiction, the figure stands straight in a disciplined manner in the green military uniform of China's People's Liberation Army. The military uniform is a heroic symbol of authority and power, one that does not fit in with Yue's mindless laughter. The representation shows the gap between man's inner world and his superficial outer shell, suggesting the masking of one's true self required by society. The animal's antenna stretched out of the military hat is an evidence of the inextinguishable human nature, its fundamental resistance to socialization. This dogged nature forms the criticism of the society.
Yue has said, "an artist is one who entices incessantly the naive and the dragooned. He lives a faulty life from start to end," illustrating his understanding of "reality", which is precisely the "faulty" life he is destined to lead. Yue Minjun, with the use of a sarcastic and deceptively familiar expression, has pinned down the crux of a twisted humanity and a way of living that demands hypocrisy. It is with this profound conceptual insight, portrayed in a distinct visual style, that he has gained him the recognition of critics and the public alike, instating the epochal significance of "Cynical Realism" in the history of Chinese contemporary art.