Cover news reporter Li Yuxin
When faced with career promotion and the choice of having children, how should you balance as a working woman? When independent women who firmly choose "Dink" to pursue their careers, under the pressure of the world, can they stick to themselves and be independent? Will family and career choices become a shackle to women in the workplace? Are stay-at-home moms not independent enough? ...... These thoughts and dilemmas have long existed in women's workplaces. Recently, with the popularity of the iQiyi TV series "I Really Love You", the discussion of women's rights revealed in the play has once again spread these topics under the sun and set off discussions among netizens.
Since July 19, the TV series "I Really Love You" starring Liu Tao, Du Chun, Li Nian, Wang Yuanke, Yuan Wenkang, Wang Tianchen, Dai Xu and Sui Lan has landed on iQiyi and officially met with the audience. The play tells the story of three women with different identities and backgrounds, facing pregnancy, career, and family, each going to a different life path. At the moment when the female group portrait drama has shown a "blowout" trend, the drama will focus on the discussion of women's workplace pregnancy, which really allows the audience to find a hint of novelty and uniqueness in the "aesthetic weakness".
"In fact, through this play, what we want to express is a kind of call. I hope that the audience can pay more attention to the topic of women's workplace pregnancy, so that the society can give them enough attention and understanding. In an exclusive interview with the cover news, director Lu Xing said. In Lü Xing's description, we can see the pressure and challenges of directing female group portrait dramas as male directors, and how to reflect and balance the realistic theme of how to depict the "pain points" of society.
First time directing a female group portrait drama
"It was a real jump out of comfort zone"
Speaking of director Lu Xing, many viewers familiar with him may first think of "Undocumented Crimes", which won a high score of 8.1 on Douban and was praised by netizens as the "Light of Online Drama". In September 2017, the crime suspense drama "Undocumented Crime" directed by Lü Xing made the audience shine with a dark horse, and it was evaluated by the media as a cinema movie. Therefore, when Lu Xing appeared four years later as the general director of the female group portrait drama "I Really Love You", many viewers would have some doubts.
Director Lu Xing
But a closer look at Lu Xing's directing history can also figure out why he is the general director of the play. "I Really Love You" will focus on the current situation of women's survival in the workplace, and the topic of women's workplace and fertility difficulties will be revealed at the beginning, which is the fusion of workplace dramas and female group portrait dramas. Previously, Lu Xing's "Ordinary Glory" was launched in 2019, as an urban workplace theme, although it has its own focus with "I Really Love You", it also has overlaps, and it also belongs to the category of workplace dramas.
"When I first received this play, there was really pressure, and this was also a work that I jumped out of my comfort zone, and I needed to do more preparation and homework." Lu Xing said that entering a new field, it is natural to worry. As a male director, in order to vividly show the discussion of public topics such as women's workplace situation, marital emotional confusion, and women's reproductive rights in the play, he not only requires him to think differently, but also needs to have a deeper understanding of women. In addition, the protagonists of "Ordinary Glory", which is also a workplace drama, are mostly male, showing the workplace from a male perspective, so they cannot fully learn from previous experience.
"I discussed it with the screenwriter many times in private, and I also saw a lot of cases in the early stages. In addition, I myself will ask the female friends around me to understand what problems they will encounter in the workplace, and how to view and solve the problems encountered by the characters in these dramas. Recalling the early stage of creation, Lu Xing bluntly said that it took a lot of effort, although leaving the comfort zone will have a lot of worries, but he hopes to call on more people to care about women's reproductive freedom through the broadcast of the series.
"First ride" with Liu Tao
"She is an atypical big heroine"
A simple and neat suit, with a capable short and medium hair, the protagonist of the play, Xiao Yan, as soon as she appears, she can feel her powerful aura as an independent woman in the workplace across the screen. Strong in the heart and in the workplace, or a determined Dink family, no matter from that point of view, Xiao Yan's personality is like the "big heroine" image that has appeared on the screen in recent years, and Liu Tao's performance matches the character temperament and setting.
It is worth mentioning that the play is the first cooperation between Lü Xing and Liu Tao, and it is also the first cooperation with other leading actors in the play, such as Du Chun, Li Nian, Wang Yuanke, etc.
"The actors are in good shape." Lu Xing said that although it is the first time to cooperate, everyone is a mature actor and has made sufficient preparations for the role. Especially Liu Tao, the role of Xiao Yan, played by her in the play, is herself as a Dink, but because of the work transfer, she has to face the baby and the mothers, which makes her anxious. In the midst of the crisis, the protagonist must face the growth and awakening in the workplace, and must bravely live out of himself and find a firm direction.
"In fact, during filming, Liu Tao's state also has similarities with the characters in the play." Lu Xing said that in the interval between shooting, Liu Tao will also think about the future development of his career and where to go next. Whether it is an actor or other profession, the bottlenecks and challenges faced by women in the workplace also have similarities. "She's also very well-controlled with the role."
In recent years, there has been a blowout trend with the female group like a drama, and of course, there are so-called "big heroine" dramas. The setting of the protagonist Xiao Yan is actually in line with the audience's positioning of the big heroine - strong, sober and independent. However, the popularity of this type of theme has led to the frequent emergence of homogeneous works, how to highlight the differences in the character setting, not the same, Lu Xing said, with the development of the plot, the audience will be able to find something special from the character of Xiao Yan.
"You can tell from the back that she is also a very 'comedic' person. She will also have her own small emotions, and she will also be afraid and complain. She is very vivid, not the so-called "big heroine" in the public stereotype. ”
Directly hit the pain point or sell anxiety?
"May more people pay attention to the issue of women's pregnancy"
What can the audience see through "I Really Love You"? Can see the heroine Xiao Yan is a prominent figure in the workplace, but also Dink's decision, to face the world's pickiness and squinting; can see Chen Jiaorui suspended to give birth to a child but suffered from postpartum depression, return to the workplace she has to face career pressure, and the responsibility of child-rearing; can see the full-time mother Yuya dedicate all her body and mind to the family, when preparing for the second child, her husband's career is at a low ebb, but still firmly self-independent brilliance... It can be said that the play nakedly shows the pain that modern women have to experience in the family and workplace, more or less, real and clear, without the slightest concealment.
It is precisely because the drama touches on the most real survival issues of women at present, so in the Network, the discussion of whether the drama "sells anxiety" also appears from time to time. Lu Xing said that he would often watch the comments of netizens, and he also noticed such voices.
"I don't quite understand how to define 'trafficking anxiety.'" In Lu Xing's view, what is shown in the play is the difficulty that women really experience in the workplace and family life, and the choices made by the characters in the play can give the audience a reference and thinking. "The problem of fertility is a 'pain point' in the current female theme. I hope that through this drama, more people will care about women's pregnancy and call for a more loving social environment for them. ”
Of course, Lu Xing also said that the current episodes have not yet been fully broadcast, and when the audience watches all the episodes, they will also change some of their impressions of the characters in the play and see a more complete logic of character growth and narrative. "I hope that women can get empathy when watching the show, and men can understand women's difficulties from it."
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