On the eve of the 2016 CCTV Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Monkey, almost the whole network was shouting: "I hope that the six-year-old child will go to the Spring Festival Gala, and I want to hear him shout a word about the old grandson coming!" ”
At that time, the status of the six-year-old child in the hearts of netizens was quite high, and the reputation was relatively good, some people called him "old drama bone" and "old artist", and some people praised him as "moral and artistic double Xin".
However, in the following years, the reputation of the six-year-old children fell off a cliff, and the stems of "six learning", "strategic back-up", "Sino-US co-production, and two blossoms of style" were hot.
Once sought after by everyone, but later ridiculed by everyone as "late festival is not guaranteed", and even some people ridiculed him for "relying on only one role, eating a lifetime, but also worshiping himself as a classic".
In fact, throughout the entire show business circle, there are many actors who can eat a lifetime by relying on only one role, such as You Benchang, the actor of the most classic "Jigong".
Many years ago, he became popular all over the country with the role of Jigong, and his Jigong appearance has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
So until now, when we mention the role of JiGong, the first thing that comes to mind is the appearance of You Benchang's version. Correspondingly, when it comes to Sun Wukong, what comes to many people's minds must be the appearance of a six-year-old child.
A classic in one lifetime, you can eat for a lifetime with only one character.
For the six-year-old and You Benchang, this is the glory of an actor's life. But the same is "relying on a role to eat a lifetime", why are six-year-old children ridiculed for "late festivals are not guaranteed", but You Benchang is praised as "virtue and art double Xin"?
Next, we put the two of them together to see, the same old artist, the gap came out.
First, let's talk about six-year-old children.
The original name of the six-year-old boy is Zhang Jinlai, and many people have the impression of him as the classic monkey king Sun Wukong in the 86th edition of "Journey to the West".
But in fact, as a veteran actor, the six-year-old child has also starred in many film and television dramas such as "New Year", "Monkey Baby", "Wu Cheng'en and Journey to the West" and so on.
Among them, Hua Tiegan, who he played in the TV series "Lian Cheng Tiao" in 2003, can also be called superb acting skills, which is impressive.
However, in recent years, the six-year-old child has been obsessed with "boasting" and "Sun Wukong orthodoxy", as well as his "six learning" terriers, so that the already high-gloss "Sun Wukong" image has covered the light of all his roles.
But at the same time, it also made his reputation plummet.
The controversy over "Sun Wukong orthodoxy" actually happened many years ago, but the reputation of the "old artists" of the six-year-old children in that period still existed, and no one believed in those "black materials".
Around 2018, videos and remarks of six-year-old children who present themselves as "Sun Wukong orthodox" have been constantly exposed.
For example, he will play the role of Sun Wukong in almost every university speech with the image of Zhou Xingchi in "Journey to the West".
At the same time, he will imitate Stephen Chow's actions in the film and criticize him for acting like a little, which is a waste of classics.
During this period, he will also reprimand others for the adaptation of "Journey to the West", saying: This adaptation is simply a spoof, "the demons do not distinguish", "right and wrong are reversed", and need to apologize to the audience.
But in fact, over the years, there have indeed been many film and television dramas filmed in the name of Journey to the West, and the quality is also uneven.
However, In the hearts of many fans, Zhou Xingchi's "Journey to the West" is as classic as the six-year-old version, but the content and angle expressed in the two works are different.
The vast majority of the audience liked both versions at the same time, but the six-year-old child constantly criticized other people's creations on various occasions as "making up" and was ruining the classics.
This has caused many netizens to complain, also based on Wu Cheng'en's works, why is your orthodox, and others are "destroying classics"?
And this, it is discussed whether "Journey to the West" is unique to six-year-old children.
As we all know, "Journey to the West" is the work of Wu Cheng'en, when director Yang Jie filmed the 86 version of the TV series, all the staff of the crew paid their hard work.
At that time, the equipment was rudimentary, the funds were limited, and many actors played multiple roles by one person during the shooting, trying their best to make the work the best.
Therefore, "Journey to the West" can become a classic, not the credit of a six-year-old child alone. And the role he plays in the play is not a character unique to him.
However, his performance is to make people feel, "All the Sun Wukong played must be based on him as the standard, and only his version is the most authentic monkey king image."
As a result, many netizens mocked him for "bragging", "adaptation is not nonsense", "international movie star", "strategic back" and other stems are from the various remarks of six-year-old children.
Later, what directly made him spit on the whole network was the propaganda incident of the Sino-US co-production version of "Journey to the West" that he said.
At that time, he first promoted the film at the memorial service of Yang Jie, the director of "Journey to the West", and left a "six learning" meme that spread for a while, and "Sino-US co-production, two blossoms" has been ridiculed to this day.
Later, in various scenes such as the death day of actor Yan Huaili, he could always turn his words around and take the opportunity to promote his movies.
In that period, the stand-in incident, the monkey salute incident, and his grudge with director Yang Jie and the past of scolding netizens were also exposed by netizens one by one, and his reputation fell again and again.
All of the above, the piles of "black material" are overwhelming, the six-year-old children have become the "late festival is not guaranteed" in the population, and the image of the old artist "virtue and art double Xin" in the past has also become a laughing stock.
Coming to this point has a lot to do with his own "unconsciousness". There are many actors who have lived a lifetime on one role, but few have been as "exclusive" as he is and completely denies the works of others.
Actors should know how to be separated from the role, especially some respected actors, but also know how to be careful in words and deeds, cherish feathers, so as not to be ridiculed like "Panzi".
And the same old artist, the same "rely on a role to eat a lifetime", we put the six-year-old child and You Benchang together, the gap is clear at a glance.
You Benchang has played 79 roles between the filming of "Jigong".
He began acting in dramas at the age of 23, but he has participated in many works but has always been unknown, until he played "Jigong" at the age of 52. And this role has become his label.
Over the years, Chen Haomin, Zhou Xingchi and others have remade "Jigong", and most of the character images in the play are based on the You Benchang version as a reference, or in other words, the imitation of You Benchang.
It can be seen that the image of Jigong played by You Benchang has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the saying that "You Benchang is Jigong, and Jigong is You Benchang" is not a lie.
Why is the "Jigong" played by him classic? I think it has something to do with his acting experience and professionalism.
Decades of experience in the drama stage have made him pay more attention to the portrayal of characters, so we see that whether it is the hats of the characters in the play, clothes, and broken fans, they are all designed and prepared by himself.
Holding a broken fan in his hand, a gourd wine pot, and singing in his mouth, "Shoes are broken, hats are broken, and the robes on the body are broken", a witty and humorous image of Jigong, vivid and vivid.
And during the filming process, the experience of having to eat stinky meat because the weather was too hot was praised by the audience, he could not have eaten, but he still chewed it for the sake of the shooting effect.
If nothing else, this kind of professionalism alone is not comparable to some of today's young actors who pride themselves on their dedication wherever they break and catch a cold.
And You Benchang deserves the title of "Virtue and Art Double Xin", not only because of these.
At that time, after the "Jigong" fire, You Benchang also became a well-known actor, and many people praised him after watching his performance, "bringing Jigong to life".
However, after the "Jigong", everyone found that few of his works appeared, as if they had "disappeared".
It wasn't until later reports that we understood that there were many scripts that came to the door after You Benchang exploded, but he did not lose his consciousness, but treated the script more strictly.
Many scripts that wanted to rub the heat of "Jigong" and the scripts with poor quality were rejected by him one by one, in his view, "literary and art workers are serving the audience, serving the promotion of truth, goodness and beauty, not serving the renminbi."
Therefore, even if he may offend some people, he is not willing to blaspheme art and deceive every audience who likes him, which is his bottom line as an actor.
And this also stems from the role he played as "Jigong".
If you have to say whether You Benchang is affected by the role like a six-year-old child, I think, strictly speaking, there is, but he is very different from the six-year-old.
The six-year-old has always been addicted to the role of "Sun Wukong" and cannot extricate himself, so he has done those "absurd things", but You Benchang is different. He once said in an interview:
"For more than 20 years, the role of (Jigong) has never left me, and I have been understanding and benefiting me endlessly."
"My relationship with Ji Gong is not a simple actor and role, because I met this role, this role has tempered me, and all I get from him is positive things."
Do not consider gains and losses, adhere to the bottom line, abide by their duties, do not harm others and self-interest, selfless altruism for the sake of the world... The excellent qualities of these "Jigong" have been fully reflected in the moment when You Benchang refuses to deceive the audience.
Not only that, over the years, many actors have played the role of Jigong, and when the media asked You Benchang's opinion, he only said, "As long as it is to persuade people to be kind, Jigong is good." ”
The same is to create a role that is difficult to surpass, put his calmness and cultivation, and the "persistence and truthfulness" of the six-year-old child together, is the gap out?
Today, You Benchang has long since been ordained and immersed himself in the study of Buddhism.
Occasionally, he will appear in dramas and guest appearances in some film and television dramas, and he will be featured in the 2021 "Lie Detector". At the same time, he also shoots small videos and says encouraging words.
Many of them are Jigong who once again holds a broken fan in his hand and wears a torn robe, nearly 90 years old, but he is still the crazy and lovely Jigong.
Netizens praised him as "kind" and praised him as "virtuous and artistic".
But in the comments, no one said that You Benchang was consuming the classic role. Six-year-old children who also rely on one role to eat for a lifetime are treated very differently.
The fact that we talked about him being spat on by netizens earlier is on the one hand, and on the other hand, he who has eaten the role of Sun Wukong for a lifetime is still clinging to the feelings of Journey to the West.
The meme of "Sino-US co-production" is rarely mentioned, and in the first two years, he pulled Wang Yue, Ma Dehua and other "Journey to the West" actors to co-produce a movie "Money Fan", but it was hurriedly removed after only 3 days of release, and the box office was only 140,000.
Come to think of it, the audience has long stopped paying for his feelings, and finally failed at the box office and was once again ridiculed by the group.
It can be seen that compared with You Benchang's "live out of self, live freely", the six-year-old child Chengye Monkey Brother, "defeated" also Monkey Brother, he trapped himself in the role, deeply tired.
Looking at the two of them together, you can see a big gap, but I don't want to deny the six-year-old, he has acting skills, and the sun wukong played is also very classic.
Now, he has been questioned and ridiculed, and he can only say that he and You Benchang have different choices.
One of them is obsessed with fame and fortune, the other is not happy with things and not with their own sorrows, two different attitudes to life, representing different life choices, which determines the different evaluations they receive.
Therefore, as an old artist who has already achieved fame, it is very rare to be able to live like You Benchang, not tired of worldly fame and fortune, and free and free.
The same is to rely on a role to eat a lifetime, some people are ridiculed "late festival is not guaranteed, eat the old book", but some people can keep the title of "virtue and art double Xin", this is the gap in the attitude of life.