Zhang Yiwu: The meaning of "Classmate Zhang" becoming popular
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The short video of "Classmate Zhang" quickly became popular on the Internet, causing widespread concern. This is a very interesting event, his videos are for the current rural life of the real show, meticulous and flavorful, casual but interesting, everything here is the "present" of the here and now life can be felt to present, there is no unique choice, there is no exaggeration of publicity, but the existence of a real sense of reality, the daily ecology of the countryside The ordinary "state" of the real unfolding. This is actually the reason why "Classmate Zhang" immediately attracted everyone's attention. "Classmate Zhang" highlights the phenomenon that short video culture has sunk to townships and villages for many years, and now it has also surfaced from the surface of society, forming a concern for the real countryside. Make the general public feel its strong interest.
In fact, from the beginning of the short video, its "sinking" to the township and rural phenomenon has attracted people's attention. Its charm of presenting life scenes in a convenient and direct way is discovered. At that time, it was mostly relatively exaggerated displays, deliberately pursuing funny comedic effects, often flowing in the form of haha mirrors. Over the years, different "poetic" displays of rural life are also an important direction of video performance, such as Li Ziqi's romantic display of the elegant scenery of the countryside, or the unique life of Ding Zhen's innocence and unrestrained, which are all presentations of rural life and have their own very important contributions, but this kind of contemplation still regards rural life as a special social symbol. They point to a life that some kind of urban middle-income or outsider aspires to, but is unattainable. The countryside here is "poetic", or quiet idyllic beauty, or bold and innocent heroism, which of course has its positive significance, but also for the exploration and display of the beautiful side of the countryside, of course, there is still an "external" perspective, or the result of the choice and cognition of the countryside from the outside, it is quite adapted to the "expectation vision" of the general audience. This is, of course, true, but its reality is unfolded under the confines of a particular perspective.
But the video of "Classmate Zhang" does have an "inner" perspective, which is to show the state of the countryside here and now. Its unfolding is that this seems to be a real "original ecology", this "original ecology" is not a deliberately rendered performance, but a direct presentation of the feeling of the scene in the here and now. "Classmate Zhang" himself is living in such an environment, and his performance is the natural state in this environment, which actually makes us feel that it is not a romantic life itself, but a real situation full of concrete and subtle details and difficult to isolate. These are all presented to us in a very real way, with no cover-up and no deliberate choice. Therefore, the life he presents is full of concrete and perceptible situations, and it is also a real aspect of the image of the current Chinese countryside. It does not have the deliberate attempt to attract people in the past to express these lives, nor is it the romance of choosing some kind of poetic life. It does not project the imagination of others, but only the "Classmate Zhang" himself who lives in the here and now.
This inner perspective, and the general external observation, it is inevitable that the angle of looking down and looking up is different, and it is different from the general head-up, it is the display of its own life, although there are some edits, angle changes and other processing, but its own writing of its own unique true "taste" is difficult to be copied. "Classmate Zhang" actually allows us to see the "same" in the "difference" between the countryside and the city. In fact, the countryside and the city are in the specific daily life, and the specific difficulties and specific pleasures of this life are all connected. This is actually a kind of personal "reality". We will feel that "Classmate Zhang" is actually the same as the general life in the countryside, and it is also connected with urban people. The advantage of its non-"separation" is the natural presentation of a real state.
Such a short video, in fact, played an important function of the short video, that is, through the development of personal fragments of life to connect different lives, let us feel the real taste of life, chai rice oil salt sauce vinegar tea, is the usual life, this kind of display, so that the society has a fuller understanding of their own enrichment, but also let us see a lot of the truth of life, it really touched us, let us get the love for the video of "Classmate Zhang". This is a temporary encounter with others in life, and this kind of life is actually closely related to us. It also shows that the public needs more real, more specific "states", and that there is actually the most "present" power in it. The emergence of "Classmate Zhang" is actually a unique phenomenon in the development of short videos, and it is also our encounter with the unique charm of the real "original ecology" of short videos. This actually promotes our social identity, allowing us to feel the lives of others while receiving a different kind of feeling. This is also the embodiment of the positive significance of short videos.
[Zhang Yiwu: Member of Chang'an Avenue Reading Club, Professor of Chinese Department of Peking University]
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Note: Authorized to publish, this article has been selected and included in the "Chang'an Avenue Reading Club" theoretical learning platform (People's Daily, People's Political Consultative Conference Daily, Beijing Daily, Xinhua Net, Central Video, Beijing Time, the surging government affairs client "Chang'an Avenue Reading Club" column synchronization), reprint must be uniformly indicated "Chang'an Avenue Reading Club" theoretical learning platform source and author.
Editor-in-charge: Chen Jiani; Preliminary Review: Cheng Ziqian; Review: Li Yufan