1905 Movie Network Special Article The gold content of "When the Mountains and Flowers Are Blooming" is still rising. This TV series, which is based on the deeds of Zhang Guimei, the winner of the "July 1st Medal", has received enthusiastic social repercussions since it was broadcast in September, soaring from 9 points on Douban to 9.4 points at present, becoming the first domestic drama score on Douban in the past five years.
Another work "The Determination to Runaway", which also debuted in September, is based on the real-life story of Aunt Su Min's self-driving trip, and since the Mid-Autumn Festival was released for a month, the Douban score has also continued to rise, from 8.6 to the current 8.9 points, becoming the first Douban score of Chinese drama films since 2020.
"When the Mountains Are Blooming" and "The Determination to Runaway" both have women as the core protagonists, and both set high scores in the same time period and won a high reputation.
This is not a coincidence, both works have a creative attitude of speaking out for women and daring to speak out, which truly and accurately reflects the plight faced by the female group, which makes many audiences resonate and empathize, which is one of the important reasons why they can get such a high and positive evaluation in the current domestic public opinion field.
In "When the Mountains Are Blooming", the situation encountered by the village girls is: Gu Yu's father forced her to marry for a bride price of 30,000 yuan; Cai Guizhi dropped out of school because she was worried about her father's domestic violence and wanted to protect her mother at home; Liu Xiying wanted to change her destiny by marrying someone after graduating from junior high school because of her backward concept; Ning Hua's grandfather was patriarchal, which caused her to have a cognitive bias in gender.
If they do not continue their education, they are "sacrificed", married early, or face domestic violence, or become a reproductive tool for family generations. Zhang Guimei's original intention of founding the girls' school was to let them receive education on an equal footing, be admitted to universities, go out of the mountains, and truly change their future destiny.
"I see how many girls drop out of school, give up their futures, and work outside to support their older brothers and younger brothers in the family, and you may not be unaware of such things." "It was her freedom to go to work in the foot-washing city, not a reason for her to be bullied." "You have long hair and short hair, you wear pants and skirts, that's your own freedom."
As Zhang Guimei's lines show, this series' brutal revelation of the inequality in the treatment of women from the countryside to society, as well as the expression of values of full love and respect for girls, have been affirmed and praised by the audience.
Screenwriter Atomic Bomb said: "We do not emphasize and intensify the antagonism between the sexes, but try to express the various female dilemmas we see and feel in life, including menstrual shame, drinking table culture, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, etc., showing women's mutual assistance in different situations, as well as special cases caused by some extreme situations." ”
In the play, Gu Yu, as the first student in Huaping Girls' High School, returned to her alma mater to teach after graduation, and followed Zhang Guimei to change the fate of more girls. Li Hong in "The Determination to Runaway" has a similar growth background to Gu Yu, but she did not meet "Zhang Guimei" and went to the opposite life.
Li Hong had excellent grades when she was in school, and she dreamed of being admitted to university and seeing a broader world, but because she was the eldest daughter, she gave up the college entrance examination under the pressure of her father and worked early to take care of the whole family. After getting married, he was subjected to incomprehension and verbal violence by his husband day after day.
In the Douban hot comment of "The Determination to Run Away", he wrote: "He knocked on the glass to ask for a plate of vinegar, and you stabbed yourself twice and didn't want to return to life." He can shake the soot with his fingers, and you haven't hit an umbrella in the rain for half your life. "I didn't deliberately create gender antagonism, because my dad was." "Jiang Wu's role, my dad can play it better."
It can be seen that the movie's portrayal of the role of the husband fits the male image of many real families, Su Min and Li Hong's self-awakening out of the predicament makes many female audiences empathize, and there is a message in the Douban comment: "I recommend every Chinese woman to watch and bring your mother to watch", which was highly praised.
"The Determination to Runaway" once caused controversy because of the original undecided title "Dear Mother", and netizens criticized this title for binding Su Min to the family identity of "mother", and completely failed to respect Su Min's personal subjectivity, resulting in disgust with this movie.
It wasn't until after its release that the film boldly exposed the real plight of women and ignited women's courage to live their own lives that it regained the hearts of the audience, and the changed title was also recognized, which was in line with the content and ideas that the film wanted to convey.
Some viewers may question that the artistic quality of "When the Mountains Are Blooming" and "The Determination to Run Away" itself does not get such a high rating, and it is the female audience's momentary enthusiasm for women's narrative and feminist expression that has boosted their evaluation.
However, this is not the case, and the high scores of these two works just reflect that the current domestic mainstream audience is showing their thirst and support for this kind of work with a stronger and more powerful voice.
A few days ago, it was officially announced that the new film "Good Things" will be released on November 22, attracting the attention of a new wave of audiences after the release of the finalized trailer. In the trailer, the heroine is a single mother played by Song Jia who is sober and independent, and her ex-husband played by Zhao Youting staged a "feminist performance" of "oral ligation", competing for masculinity at the dinner table, and the scene is absurd and interesting.
As a parallel chapter to "The Myth of Love", the audience expects this film to have vivid characters like "The Myth of Love", and upgrade and discuss various subversive topics in the emotional relationship between the sexes.
When making works with female themes, we must be more vigilant about using "gender antagonism" to seek the "dividend" of correct public opinion, but create from the perspective of the complexity of human nature.
"When the Mountains Are Blooming" does not put all men on the opposite side, and creates vivid and plump male characters such as deputy county magistrate Ma Yongqiang and education director Zhou Shanqun. "The Determination to Runaway" also does not portray women into a glorious and correct appearance, the daughter in the film not only understands her mother's desire to run away, but also can't escape her motherhood, and has no choice but to fulfill her life by sacrificing her mother.
Of course, not limited to gender themes, the Thailand movie "Grandma's Grandson" introduced and staged in the summer file won a high score of 8.9 on Douban, and many comments pointed out that the golden line in the movie "Son inherits property, daughter inherits cancer", which is very subtle to explain the long-standing problem of preference for sons in traditional Chinese families.
In the current domestic film and television works, especially the creation led by male directors and screenwriters, there are still many things that instrumentalize female roles, exploit women from the perspective of "male condensation", and have a "daddy" outdated concept.
The high scores given by the audience to "When the Mountains Are Blooming" and "The Determination to Run Away" indirectly show that such works have been rejected and rejected by the current era, and more and more audiences will look at a work from the perspective of gender equality.
Art reflects the heartbeat of society and the pulse of the times. No matter what genre it is, whether it is a male or female creator, you should seriously think about the position and image of female characters in your work, and make a work that truly understands and respects women, otherwise it will be more likely to be swallowed up by negative evaluations.