The "Novelty" and "Difficulty" of "Female Psychologist"
The attention and discussion caused by the TV series "Female Psychologist" stems largely from the various attempts made by the series around "novelty" and "difficulty".
"Novelty" is related to the subject matter. Psychological themes have always been a scarce commodity in domestic film and television dramas, compared with crime, suspense, thriller works that are involved in criminal psychology, perverted psychology, etc., showing ordinary people's psychological problems and psychological counseling are even fewer. For a long time, psychology has always been a hazy veil of image, on the one hand complex and mysterious, on the other hand, it faces many prejudices and misunderstandings, and the psychological problems, mental diseases, psychological counseling, etc. related to it are even more so. Adapted from Bi Shumin's novel of the same name, "Female Psychologist" breaks the problem here, whether it is the curiosity brought by the new theme of the test, or the closeness formed by its hooking up with realistic issues, the appeal of the series is self-evident.
"Difficulty" is also related to the subject matter. As screenwriter Zhu Li said, opening the door of psychology will find yourself facing a vast ocean. It is like crossing the ocean in a leaf boat, not only to avoid the wind and waves from overturning the boat, but also to do everything possible to explore the mysteries of the blue. For the series, how to truly and professionally represent the psychological counseling industry and properly balance the relationship between the reality of life and the reality of art is the first problem.
In addition, bringing a novel published 14 years ago to the screen is also quite thoughtful about how to fit the present while being faithful to the original work. The original work takes the psychological counseling cases contacted by the psychological counselor Horton as a clue, and the stories are connected by different "visitors" to form a picture of the psychological dilemma of modern people. Film and television adaptations must deal with the "very fierce" and "gray area" content of the novel. At the same time, if film and television dramas want to gain audience recognition, they must closely follow the pulse of the times, observe the psychology of the times, and reflect the problems of the times, so the cases in the original work also need to make more universal and current adjustments.
In addition, psychological counseling to the counselor and the client in a fixed environment dialogue as the main way, under normal circumstances, psychological counselors can not take the initiative to contact the client outside the working environment, which is also a big test for film and television adaptation.
Some film and television works have tried to use fixed scenes that are generally more inclined and suitable for stage presentation, and promote the development of the plot through dialogue. "Interrogation Room", co-produced by Britain, France, Germany and Spain, limits the scene to the police interrogation room, focusing on the fierce inner attack and defense between the police and the suspect. The American drama "Heart Consultation", which is remade from the Israeli drama "Consultation", is more similar to the scene of psychological counseling, and in the dark and quiet room, the psychologist talks with several fixed visitors and his own supervisor, uncovers his heart, and combs through his life.
Psychology has become a "background board" for male and female protagonists
In contrast, "Female Psychologist", which positions itself as an urban heart-warming healing drama, obviously does not take the same path.
In addition to psychological counseling itself, it needs to be "urban" enough. The series opens with a set of voiceovers about suicide data, and a three-minute long shot is aimed at the endless downtown. All kinds of characters walk in front of the camera, facing their own chicken feathers, behind them is a cloud of colorful fog symbolizing bad emotions. Cases involving mental illnesses such as panic disorder, flattering personality, binge eating disorder, and bipolar disorder also focus on urban hot topics such as parent-child relationship, intergenerational contradictions, native families, and women's workplace dilemmas. From the scene to the story, they strive to get closer to the target audience.
It also needs to be "heart-warming and healing" enough. In terms of visual effects, it is completely different from the dim rooms and rainy weather in "Heart Consultation", and the series is full of green, warm and bright scenery and minimalist design rooms in Hainan, and open and bright floor-to-ceiling windows. Horton's "fire brigade" has successfully "extinguished the fire" again and again, and all the "bitterness" in the play can become "sweet". With a heart-warming tone, Horton also has an indispensable sunny and cheerful boyfriend Qian Kaiyi, a beautiful and kind girlfriend Tang Lili, in the process of solving the problem of visitors, she continues to heal others, and will also heal herself. From the environment to the mood, they all strive to make the audience feel warm and comfortable.
However, this setting also brings corresponding problems. In the limited volume and various restrictions, if you want to achieve "several hands to grasp", it is often difficult to "several hands are hard", and finally it is inevitable to become "eyebrows and beards to grasp". Grasping hot topics means grabbing the audience's scarce attention to some extent, but the large number of cases and the greatly compressed psychological counseling time make many problems only stay on the spot. Qian Kaiyi, who is full of mysteries, and Tang Lili, who has problems in their original families, have room to unfold, plus the bright line of the visitor and the dark line of Horton's own problems, the clues are complicated and fragmented, and the content is too saturated. Although the creator said that the emotional line of Horton and Qian Kaiyi only accounts for 30% of the whole drama, the romanticized plot and shooting methods are still full of idol drama texture. In terms of narrative, there is a gap between the actual perception and perception of the visual suspense style and the "heterogeneous space aesthetics", and there is a certain sense of separation.
What's more, the episode's emphasis on the core of the story is unbalanced. Challenging the "difficult" field of psychology, there is no doubt that through artistic and entertaining ways, it is necessary to help psychology "disenchantment" to a certain extent, guide the audience to correctly understand psychology, and be able to seek better solutions when needed. "There are inevitably gaps in life, but paying attention to mental health and timely healing is like shining a beam of light at the gap in life." Setting the male protagonist's occupation as a radio anchor and running a spiritual talk program with the female protagonist, broadcasting has become the most direct way to output the theme, which is undoubtedly the most obvious embodiment of the topic "warm healing".
The series also has the signs of shaping the characters into the so-called "big heroine" and "big male lord". Bi Shumin once said that her novel hopes to create a particularly hard-working, particularly strong, especially loving to learn, and growing female psychologist image, but Horton in the play is like a person in the "strong woman" set from the beginning. Show professionalism relies on walking with the wind, resolute eyes, blunt tone, and has "super powers" such as downwind ears and excellent memory, as if it can do anything. Qian Kaiyi not only fell in love with Horton at first sight, saddled before and after the horse, but also had both literature and martial arts, and his appearance was extraordinary. Popular science psychology knowledge, soothing people's hearts and healing have become the background board to set off the male and female protagonists, and the psychological game between the counselor and the visitor is rarely seen in the play, which has become a "Horton Biography".
Touching the folds of ordinary people's lives can be "credible"
What realism needs is not documentary truth, but perceived credibility. When the audience feels "credible", the work can produce a transformation from empathy to identity, so that the concept conveyed by the work may be internalized into the audience's self-awareness. The sufficient necessary conditions for achieving "credibility" are not that the protagonist is invincible, the story is gimmicky, and the narrative is overflowing, but more importantly, it really touches the folds of ordinary people's lives, resonates with the cruelty and gentleness of reality, and leaves room for thinking and a long afterglow.
At present, "Female Psychologist" has basically passed the professionalism, such as the crisis intervention of suicide in the first episode has been recognized by many practitioners, and the details such as the layout of the psychological counseling room are also carefully studied, which has played a role in popularizing psychological knowledge to a certain extent. It can be said that "Female Psychologist", which does not do professional dramas but emotional dramas, provides an exploration of film and television dramas that open up psychological themes. The story of Horton and the visitors is still on the way, and it is expected that the follow-up episodes will open up a broader space, as the creators hope, so that more light shines in and illuminates the richness of human nature.