China News Service, March 19 (Liu Yue) "Ten years ago, everyone wanted to strangle An Lingrong to death; ten years later, everyone wants her to be alive." A sentiment from actor Tao Xinran made "villain fanfiction" Jump into the audience's eyes.
In a certain program, Tao Xinran shared the work "The Legend of Zhen Huan: The Rebirth of An Lingrong" written by a netizen.
This novel is based on the drama version of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", but the plot is completely different.
Different from the original work where Wan Yan shared the same sorrow, Zhen Huan, Shen Meizhuang, and An Lingrong ushered in a happy ending.
At the end of the story, An Lingrong looked up at the birds flying over the Forbidden City and sighed: She can see such a beautiful sky every day in the future.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" stills
"Give me a pen and give you a new life."
This type of novel, which takes the villain in the original work as the protagonist and is adapted or re-edited based on the settings of the original work, has been enthusiastically sought after by readers in recent years.
From the hatred and disgust of villains to the expectation of villains' rebirth and reinvention, the evolution of this cultural phenomenon is not only "An Lingrong", but also a more well-known figure to the public-Song Qingshu.
Song Qingshu counterattacks Zhang Wuji
On the Internet, someone once raised this question: If Song Qingshu restarts his life, can he counterattack Zhang Wuji?
Such an imaginative question triggered active comments from many Jin Yong fans. Some netizens arranged a "Guo Jing" script for Song Qingshu: Qingshu boy, before Zhang Wuji, you found the Nine Yang Magic, the Great Shift and other peerless martial arts, and practiced martial arts in seclusion. The cold and heat will not stop, I will definitely be able to crush you in the future!
Some netizens proposed the strategy of "saving the country through curves": Qingshu, ask your father Song Yuanqiao to go to the Emei sect to propose marriage to Zhou Zhiruo.
Wudang and Emei have been friends for generations, and Miejie Shitai absolutely supports the marriage.
When the six major sects besiege Guangmingding, Zhou Zhiruo will not be merciful when he stabs Zhang Wuji with his sword.
More netizens tried their best to persuade: Xiao Song, you are different from others, don’t focus on making trouble.
You have the master Zhang Sanfeng above, and the junior brother Zhang Wuji below. You have to be a good group darling, but the martial arts world won’t let you go astray?
Indeed, it is said that Zhang Sanfeng lived to be two hundred years old.
According to this setting, when Song Qingshu was lying on the board, Zhang Sanfeng was still strong and strong, and it would not be a dream to chew on him for the rest of his life.
2001 edition of "Eternal Heaven and Sword of the Dragon" written by Song Qingshu.
Video screenshot
However, netizens are not the only ones who want to change the fate of "Song Qingshu" against the odds.
Looking at leading websites such as Jinjiang Literature City, Qidian Chinese website, Tomato Novel, etc., there are many works such as "Rebirth of Song Qingshu", "Rebirth of Song Qingshu", "Zhutian: I, Song Qingshu, Changed His Job and Became an Invincible Villain".
In the writings of many authors, Song Qingshu can beat Zhang Wuji violently to win the beauty back, and can beat Zhang Sanfeng violently to become the leader of the martial arts alliance - but in the original work, he is the one who is beaten violently.
In "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword", Song Qingshu went astray, killed his uncle Mo Shenggu and betrayed the Wudang sect, was instigated and almost poisoned Zhang Sanfeng, and was finally executed in Wudang Mountain - this life trajectory is very similar to An Lingrong.
In the drama version of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", the cowardly and gentle An Lingrong became extreme and vicious in the storm of the palace, making wrong steps and finally committing suicide by taking bitter almonds.
An Lingrong's rebirth essay.
Tomato novel website screenshot
The two villains who "received their own consequences" have become popular in fan literature.
Taking Jinjiang Literature City as an example, among the top ten collections of derivative works of "Yitian", there are four works with "Song Qingshu" as the absolute protagonist, while there are only two works with "Zhang Wuji".
According to data from the Tomato novel website, "An Lingrong" rebirth stories account for half of the derivative novels of "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
The question is, why can the character who can be called a "villain" in the original work be "reborn"?
Why could Song Qingshu and An Lingrong "re-start their lives"?
"Appearance is justice" is definitely the key reason for the popularity of "Song Qingshu Literature".
In the original work, Mr. Jin Yong gave Song Qingshu a stunning appearance: seeing his delicate features, and his handsomeness with a certain dignity, it was natural to be heartbroken at first sight.
A young hero from a famous family, Meng Chang with a beautiful face, will be the third generation leader of Wudang Mountain - what a suitable male protagonist for thousands of girls, especially since he is also famous for his infatuation.
In the original work, the six sects were imprisoned by Zhao Min in a high tower. When life and death were at stake, Song Qingshu asked Zhou Zhiruo to escape quickly; after the lion-slaying meeting, the Emei sect turned their backs and refused to recognize anyone, and sent Song Qingshu, who was seriously injured, back to Wudang without any resentment. .
2019 edition of "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword" written by Song Qingshu.
Video screenshot
I love you deeply for no reason, and my infatuation is no greater than Song Qingshu.
The double superposition of "good looks" and "affectionate" gives the creators the motivation to deconstruct the character.
In addition, as the loser in the original work, Song Qingshu experienced a dramatic process from being a favored son to being ruined. At a time when online readers are advocating the "rebirth" and "counterattack" streams, the gap in creating with him as the protagonist is even greater. The "feeling" is stronger.
Wang Longlin, a professor at the School of Liberal Arts of Capital Normal University, told reporters that there are three types of interpretations of classic literary characters in fan literature: positive reading, counter-reading and misreading.
The "Song Qingshu phenomenon" is actually a misunderstanding.
There are many precedents for this kind of misunderstanding in history, such as Zhang Sheng and Zheng Heng in "The Romance of the West Chamber". In "The Romance of the Western Chamber" and "The Romance of the Western Chamber", Zhang Sheng became a dandy like Zheng Heng.
Wang Longlin believes that this type of fan literature emerged and became popular because it is very different from the original work and can arouse people's curiosity.
So why not use a more thoroughly bad villain like "Cheng Kun" as the protagonist?
——"It has been concluded that Cheng Kun is too bad. Song Qingshu is the son of Zhang Sanfeng's disciple, and he has performed well before, so there is more room for rewriting."
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" stills
Characters cannot be completely bad, which is also the key to the popularity of "An Lingrong Literature".
Terms such as "Understand why An Lingrong turned black" and "An Lingrong is my Internet mouthpiece" frequently appeared on Weibo hot searches. In the interpretation of netizens, An Lingrong is "a hateful person but there is something pitiful about him." .
She was of humble origin and plain appearance, and was bullied at will after entering the palace.
The suffocation of her original family, the low self-esteem and darkness in her character, and the helplessness of her father being imprisoned all make her depravity traceable.
Netizens sympathize with An Lingrong, not because they sympathize with her for hurting others, but because they sympathize with her sensitive character and the sadness of her childhood that she spent her entire life unable to heal.
Therefore, in these fan works with "redemption" as the key word, An Lingrong has his own dreams and pursuits, and is constantly growing and changing.
Both "Song Qingshu's Counterattack" and "An Lingrong's Rebirth" reflect contemporary readers' concerns about individual growth and self-salvation.
At the same time, netizens are also re-examining those characters who were once labeled as "villains" - are they really outright bad guys?
“I’m slowly starting to understand the characters I hated when I was a kid.”
In recent years, it is not uncommon for villains to have a reputation comeback.
Netizens have discussed many times: When I was a child, when I watched "Another Dream", I felt that my sister Ziling was innocent and innocent, while my sister Luping was gloomy and vicious; when I grew up, I was overturned by the famous line: All you lost is a leg, What Ziling lost was her love!
When I was a child, I watched "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and thought that the leader of the Moon Worshiping Cult was psychopathic and killed innocent people indiscriminately. When I grew up, I discovered that he just wanted to prove that the earth was round, but everyone said he was crazy...
In addition, there are Aunt Xue in "Love in the Rain", Gao Yao in "The Myth", Murong Fu in "Dragon"... The public puts aside the "black and white" view, Start thinking about the stories and motivations behind the “villains.”
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" stills
The re-deconstruction of "villain characters" often strongly impacts the traditional values of the original work.
Wang Longlin proposed that the emergence of this "whitewashing" phenomenon is not only the author's success, but also the result of readers' substitute superficial reading: "The absence of readers' self-awareness will lead to lost reading, that is, without distinction, everything is based on the author's The concept of right and wrong is the criterion." He agreed that the public should exercise caution and critical thinking in this regard, and believed that such villains are original characters created by the author by borrowing the names of the original characters. They are very different from the original characters and cannot be said to be harmful. At most, they provide A whole new perspective.
However, "lost" seems to be limited to film and television dramas and contemporary online literature, and it is difficult to fall into classic works.
The understanding of "Murong Fu" will not allow Duan Yu to be criticized; the emergence of "Song Qingshu Literature" also failed to affect the public's understanding of Zhang Wuji and the story of "Yitian".
""The Legend of Heaven and the Dragon Slayer" is a classic work and has a certain influence. "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is an adaptation of history by modern people. There are too many gaps and omissions left in it. Rewriting can easily change people's views." In Wang Longlin's view, The nature of the original work determines the consequences of "deconstruction": "Just like how successful "Dang Kou Zhi" is, it can't offset the influence of "Water Margin", villain fan literature can't eliminate the influence of the original work." (End)