Enlightenment from the phenomenon of "chasing dramas across generations"
【Cultural Analysis】
CCTV's new year drama "The World" is coming to an end, and has attracted over 400 million viewers. On the online social platform with young people as the main users, Douban netizens scored 8.1. The video blogger's "high-burning clips" complement each other.
Some netizens said: "I wanted to recommend it to my mother, but I was crying." We can't help but ask: Why can the stories of the previous generation lead to the phenomenon of "chasing dramas across generations"?
In fact, "The World" is not an isolated case.
The domestic drama "Parents' Love", the Korean drama "Please Answer, 1988", and the American drama "My Mom and Dad" have all successfully formulated the formula of "making the age younger".
But "The World" still has its scarcity at the moment, first of all, it confirms the failure of the "explosive formula".
In the past ten years, "IP adaptation + traffic star" has been regarded by some film and television producers as the golden key to pry open the market, and has gradually become a "law" covering the industry.
Grabbing IP fever, fan marketing, watching dramas at double-speed, and smashing performances are all the rage, but in exchange for a large number of low-quality pipeline products and unsustainable production costs.
Although young audiences used to be the main consumers of the "popular formula", compared to movies, the time and cost that audiences pay for TV dramas has doubled. When they are tired of eating the same fast food, they will naturally want to enjoy a nutritious and exquisite meal. .
Even if you don't discuss the blessing of acting, and you are used to seeing the immortal Xiuxian Palace, the line of moss on the corner of the old street may be more fascinating.
This requires that the producer must return to the law of drama creation, and temper the ability from "eye-catching" to "intentional".
High-quality realistic TV dramas such as "Awakening Age", "Shan Hai Qing" and "Sweeping Black Storm", which were highly sought after last year, have all done "stupid work" here - not acting for the sake of drama, but the drama is in it.
"The World" once again responded to this creative trend.
It is not "dog blood" at all, and even deliberately excludes plots that may increase the ratings burst.
For example, in the portrayal of the Zhou family, compared with the curse of the "original family" commonly used in domestic dramas or the routine of the family breaking the head for the house ticket, the Zhou family can be described as a clean family, and the sister and brother are willing to sacrifice themselves for each other's future. Become a family atmosphere that many people yearn for.
But it was in the deep still water that the drama was quietly brewing. Once the wind surged, the scene in which Zhou Bingkun was questioned and abused by his father would make the audience's scalp numb, and then swipe the screen. People exclaimed in their hearts: I understand him, I am him.
"The World" has always maintained this prudent sense of distance, neither deliberately expressing identification with the characters, nor whitewashing their fate, but just letting the characters float and sink their lives in the ups and downs of the situation, calm and cruel.
It is this sense of distance that creates a sense of reality and the resulting immersion, which makes people feel that life is impermanent, and cause and effect are not false.
If the "anti-routine" can make young audiences "see through", how can they "sit down" with 58 episodes and a 50-year span of time and space?
Indeed, some people criticize the slower and slower pace of "The World", as if they don't care about the "3-second patience" that the audience has cultivated in short videos.
Director Li Lu said: "Only a story with depth can better recall the past."
As a work that aims to tell the "fifty years of Chinese people's life history", it connects many major events: educated youth jumping into the queue, third-tier construction, workers, peasants, soldiers, college students, educated youth returning to the city, resumption of the college entrance examination, reform of state-owned enterprises, "going to the sea", layoffs, The renovation of shanty towns... Undoubtedly, there is a deep gap in time between the memories of these eras and young people. How to achieve the aesthetic resonance of the works and the audience?
"The World" has done one thing to the extreme: the ultimate sense of landing, the ultimate fireworks.
In the world, there must be fireworks, and after filming it, it is not difficult for the audience to find parents, relatives and friends, and even their own shadows from all kinds of life.
For individuals, the grand narrative and the big era are only the depth of field, and the real people are the focus of the foreground.
Through ordinary characters landing sound rather than chicken feathers, it is necessary to not only have the ability to accurately describe the art of each era, but also to transcend the specific historical events. In addition to narrating, extract a "golden line of value" that dominates the whole play: big The personal choices of the times and the brilliance of ordinary people's characters have shaped the endless Chinese spirit.
The world is changing, but life remains the same; the appearance of life is changing, but the human heart remains the same.
The creators sincerely believe in the power of civilian epics and try their best to complete their work and life, and such people should earn respect.
Are young people not living in a new era?
Why not dream and stumble?
Why can't the wisdom of life acquired by the previous generation in the course of life give young people inspiration and confidence?
Rating analysis pointed out that shortly after the launch of "The World", the drama led to a significant increase in the ratings of people of all ages, especially the enthusiasm of young and highly educated people to chase the drama.
The ratings of 15-24 year olds in the central city increased by 149%, the 25-34 year olds increased by 112%, and the ratings of those with a college degree or above increased by 149%, which confirms Liang Xiaosheng's words: "Don't underestimate any generation of young people."
Mr. Qian Mu said in the "Outline of National History": "The so-called people who know a little about their own country's past history must be accompanied by a kind of warmth and respect for their own country's past history." This is where the inspiration comes from: the subject matter is heavy, not heavy; the brushstrokes are light, not frivolous, with a heavy era, light expression, to provoke more people's emotional resonance, and gather more people's eyes to look back.
(Author: Lv Fan, Deputy Director of the TV Research Center of Peking University)