Author | Yao Qi
The heat of "Crazy" is gradually fading, and the real reflection has just begun.
In this drama that unfolds the narrative with the fate of the two male protagonists, there are few female characters, and sister-in-law Chen Shuting is the most colorful of them.
Her image looks completely different from the "big brother's woman" in previous film and television works, no longer just the existence of a vase, nor does she play an obedient good wife and mother. The belt of her coat is her murderous weapon, and her red lips and shiny eye shadow are the externalization of her fierce temperament.
This atypical sister-in-law no longer weakly craves the protection of her eldest brother in the play, but she can give him money and power.
Gao Ye played Chen Shuting in the TV series "Crazy"
She subverts people's imagination of the role of "sister-in-law", because her role is no longer just a vassal. The audience claimed that "the sister-in-law has a face since then" and "whoever the sister-in-law marries is the eldest brother" to express their love for Chen Shuting.
And actor Gao Ye is said to have also got the opportunity to appear in a heroine drama because of his excellent interpretation of "sister-in-law", and has become the most popular candidate for roles such as "Republic of China Kutai, Lady of the Pressed Village, and Rich Wife".
But are things really as rosy as we think? Does sister-in-law Chen Shuting really surpass the homogeneous female image in past film and television works? Is a similar big heroine character really worthy of being so widely and enthusiastically sought after?
Not necessarily.
01
The birth of the "atypical sister-in-law"
At first glance, Chen Shuting seems to be different from those "sisters-in-law" in the past.
In "Crazy", Chen Shuting, played by Gao Ye, is the goddaughter of the underworld boss Chen Tai, she was originally the widow of the dead business tycoon Bai Jiangbo, and later became the wife of the protagonist Gao Qiqiang, single-handedly holding Gao Qiqiang from a former small trader to an underworld leader in Jinghai City.
Chen Shuting's first appearance in the play was after Bai Jiangbo's disappearance, and An Xin and Li Xiang, as police officers, went to her home to inquire about the situation.
It was a backshot shot that scanned from the bottom up, creating the usual sense of psychological oppression. An Xin stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Chen Shuting. Her face was first blurred by the sunlight projected by the window, and then in the dazzling light, her burgundy lips and her cold and disdainful eyes gradually appeared.
Chen Shuting was full of aura when she appeared
The oppression of the appearance almost set the tone of Chen Shuting's image in the whole play.
She was so rich and had powerful backers that she was able to kick her son's toy at the police in high heels and unceremoniously say, "I gave you a face, didn't I?" ”
If you compare other similar characters in domestic film and television works, Chen Shuting's difference can be highlighted more quickly.
One of the most striking examples comes from the femme fatale Shen Jiawen, played by Xu Dongdong in "Residual Sin".
Xu Dongdong played the femme fatale Shen Jiawen in "Residual Sin"
The same black boss woman, but the plot about Shen Jiawen often revolves around her as a symbol of "sex", and the camera camera is fascinated to linger between the body parts of the female character, making her a completely personal object.
Or Li Mei, Liu Huaqiang's mistress in "Conquest", which triggered Liu Huaqiang's pity because of her kindness and weakness, and became the eldest brother's woman.
But such characters usually exist to prevent the eldest brother from becoming stronger, and they become the so-called "soft underbelly" of the eldest brother, so they are hindered everywhere, and eventually just as Li Mei exposed Liu Hua's forced whereabouts, such a role will eventually lead to the annihilation of the eldest brother.
Li Mei, Liu Huaqiang's mistress in "Conquest"
But Chen Shuting is different. When she had long since become a high-ranking person, Gao Qiqiang was just a fishmonger who was bullied everywhere.
And the appearance of this sister-in-law is no longer a symbol of "sex" or a stumbling block that hinders the advancement of her eldest brother, on the contrary, she chose him, gave him money and power, helped him rise to prominence, and eventually became the leader of an underworld group.
On the night that Chen Shuting and Gao Qiqiang met, she intended to find the Gao brothers to take revenge in order to avenge the two brothers for cheating and betraying her.
That's one of the most celebrated scenes. The director originally arranged for Gao Ye to fan Gao Qiqiang a few slaps, but she modified the character's behavior on her own, and when a gang of gangsters buckled Gao Qiqiang for her, she walked up to him, pulled out the coat tie around her waist, and strangled his neck fiercely. In the struggle between Chen Shuting and Gao Qiqiang, lust is bred in the shadows.
With emotions as a foundation, in the next plot, Chen Shuting quickly accepted Gao Qiqiang's request and brought him to the underworld boss Chen Tai, so that he also worshiped Chen Tai as a godfather, and since then he has a majestic backer and successfully completed the advancement of identity.
This positioning of identity makes Chen Shuting easily win the audience's favor, she is unusual, no longer sexy or pure as a character symbol, but looks full of courage.
She is both gentle and cunning, and she can not only handily win Chen Tai's support, mediate between various forces, but also not be afraid to throw her face tantrum at her eldest brother anytime and anywhere.
"Crazy" stills
I have to say that Chen Shuting's image construction is extremely cunning.
In "Crazy", the screenwriter and director take an extremely flattering way to portray the character of the sister-in-law, they make her strong personality color, dare to express her emotions directly, thus covering up the essential stereotypes of the characters.
02
Examining the "sister-in-law"
We should take a closer look at the core content of the image of "Chen Shuting" so that we can understand how this stereotype, wrapped in the appearance of "strong woman", works to work.
The first thing worth questioning is the source of Chen Shuting's power.
If, according to the kind of notion we were previously indoctrinated, Chen Shuting is no longer a foil for male characters, it is difficult to respond to the question of the source of her power, because it is clear that her power comes from Chen Tai, the man she calls "godfather".
Chen Shuting is Chen Tai's goddaughter
How she managed to gain Chen Tai's favor and trust doesn't really matter, because it ultimately points to only the only fact, that is, Chen Shuting is still a woman who seeks support and protection from a patrilineal power structure.
It's just that the story weakens this and instead strengthens her process of empowering Gao Qiqiang.
This is more conducive to showing Chen Shuting's arc as a female character, she appears to be in the upper position, strong and applauded, just catering to the current "sister beauty" aesthetic concept.
"Crazy" stills
Therefore, under the skillful arrangement of the story, few audiences are willing to pay attention to this paradox in Chen Shuting, that is, the power she has is not her power at all.
In other words, if Chen Tai falls, then Chen Shuting will lose her confidence to do whatever she wants.
So the story leads to the next question, which is the question of where power flows. So an absurd but commonplace situation emerged, when Chen Shuting, who took power from the patrilineal structure, transferred new power to her man, Gao Qiqiang.
Chen Shuting introduced Gao Qiqiang to Chen Tai
The answer to whether a female character truly liberates herself lies in these seemingly instinctive choices.
Chen Shuting's choice is to make Gao Qiqiang the boss and become the boss herself.
But in fact, another option was deliberately ignored, that is, Chen Shuting could have made herself the boss and Gao Qiqiang the man who became the boss. But we seem to be used to directors and screenwriters avoiding this option.
Chen Shuting's actor Gao Ye said bluntly in an interview: Chen Shuting is also a big guy
If there is any breakthrough in her, it is that she is no longer regarded as a "sexual" product, but as a "power broker".
But there is no difference between the two.
Even in my opinion, Chen Shuting's final decision to transfer power to Gao Qiqiang is somewhat funny. In this episode, Gao Qiqiang wears an ill-fitting cheap suit, carries a bag of oranges to apologize to Chen Shuting, and takes her children to play.
In just a few glances, Chen Shuting showed her appreciation for Gao Qiqiang, and immediately introduced him to Chen Tai and worshiped the big guy as a godfather.
Gao Qiqiang gave Chen Shuting a bag of oranges, in exchange for Chen Tai's promise to give him the entire platinum han.
How easy would it be to win the hearts of strong women? How easy is it to get started?
After playing the role of "power mediator", the narrative necessity of Chen Shuting's character has been greatly weakened, and whether she continues to exist or not does not affect the continuous advancement of the storyline.
At this time, when we look at the existence of Chen Shuting, we can see more clearly the maternal burden she bears.
"Crazy" stills
After becoming the eldest woman, all she needs to do is such a series of things: match the boss with clothes to make his career go more smoothly; When the boss and the younger brothers were drinking, they broke into the KTV to throw a tantrum in their faces, and then took the boss home; Take your son, supervise your son to play the piano, and find your son.
Whenever Chen Shuting's son was lost or kidnapped, she would instantly lose her rationality and would only shout loudly and cry in vain.
Her image as a strong woman can be said to be full of flaws, how to investigate the whereabouts of her children, how to take revenge on the initiator of the crisis, all of which require the use of strategy rather than emotion, but she does not even seem to understand the twists and turns, she just still longs to be helped, longs to be redeemed.
There is also a plot in the play that impressed me deeply, Gao Qiqiang's killer Lao Mo brought his daughter Huang Yao to Gao Qiqiang's home to receive the task, and Huang Yao touched Gao Xiaochen's music box toy while playing with Chen Shuting's son Gao Xiaochen.
The boy then arrogantly rebuked Huang Yao and warned her not to touch his toys, but Gao Qiqiang asked Huang Yao to take the music box away.
Afterwards, Chen Shuting lost her temper with Gao Qiqiang for this, saying that she would never allow her son to suffer such grievances in the future, "Men want face outside, and boys want it." ”
"Crazy" stills
Language is conceptual, and Chen Shuting is suffocatingly rigid.
03
Is it really fresh
The handling of the characters of Gao Qiqiang and Chen Shuting in "Crazy" is very worthy of in-depth study, and the reason why this relationship drama has won such a strong love can largely be attributed to this atypical treatment method.
They have created an image of a husband who is only a wife and a wife who seems to be in a position of power, which seems to be refreshing.
Gao Qiqiang obeyed Chen Shuting
But in essence, under the ingenious design, the typical division of male and female roles in the narrative of film and television works has not fundamentally changed.
In 2015, the famous scholar Dai Jinhua gave a lecture at Hainan Normal University, analyzing in detail the new strategy of patriarchal narrative in film works, and her criticism of works covered Chinese and foreign countries, involving a series of prestigious themes such as "Interstellar", "Forrest Gump" to "Return" and "Where Did Daddy Go".
What she wants to warn us of is precisely this hidden phenomenon: that a stereotype that we are aware of has and will make us loose in more cunning ways.
As we begin to realize that there is an age-old conceptual tradition that binds our culture and our entire social life, a desire to break free of the shackles spreads more widely, driving us to identify and reject backward definitions.
But when we lack imagination of the new world, and we cannot accurately understand and discover ourselves, that conceptual tradition may change clothes and become friends with us with a smile on their faces.
"Crazy" stills
This "friend" is likely to in turn reshape and solidify our imagination of women, thereby deepening our prejudices.
This is the biggest dilemma facing the female image in our current literary and artistic works.
In fact, the real question left to us by thinking about "Chen Shuting" is: what kind of female image do we need?
This is a difficult question to answer. Shao Yihui, the director and screenwriter of "The Myth of Love", once talked about her creative concept in a podcast, saying that it is difficult to write about women, and it is even more difficult to write about awakened women.
Screenshot of the movie "Love Myth"
Compared with the full discussion of male characters in many historical documents, there are only a few records and analyses of female characters that we can obtain.
How we recognize and face up to our own femininity is still a question, and further, there is still a long way to go to explore and build women's ideas and personalities.
Edit | Wu Qing
Typesetting | Eight pounds
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