Text | Li Houchen
Dark Glory S2
The popularity of the Korean drama "Dark Glory" has made revenge dramas a new "genre film". This genre is especially marketable in South Korea, and the hearty stories of evil and evil retribution allow many non-Korean audiences in cross-cultural regions to deeply empathize with the characters in the drama and feel this refreshing feeling.
Whether it is "The Penthouse" for revenge of the chaebols, "Sky City" for the college system, or "The World of Husband and Wife" for the relationship between husband and wife, no matter what kind of social establishment your grievances come from, you can almost find a corresponding Korean drama to complete the revenge on this issue for you.
Viewers not only appreciate it as a play, but also bet on real emotional preferences for the plot design. For example, "The Little Son of a Chaebol Family" starring Song Joong-ki a while ago, because the ending failed to show the process of trampling the abuser under his feet after revenge, and ended with a dream awakening, which attracted ridicule from the entire Internet. The controversy surrounding revenge dramas and revenge genres is a topic worth paying attention to.
1.
A revenge theme that spans the globe
In recent years, the revenge genre has of course not only been popular in South Korea, but also in American movies, there has been a burst of revenge, especially the middle-aged male stars who have taken a back seat, all of whom have regained attention with revenge dramas.
Denzel Washington played a retired soldier in 2014's "The Wrongdoer", avenging the young prostitutes of Russian gangsters; Keanu Reeves in the "Fast Pursuit" series, revenge for his puppy; "Coquette Lawyer" starring Bob Odenkirk, also plays a retired agent in "Little People", launching a revenge pursuit against the gang.
"Fast Pursuit"
This only involves the two main film and television drama markets in the United States and South Korea, in fact, Indian film and television dramas have also launched many revenge movies such as "Omnipotent" or "A Mother's Revenge".
Although the core is extrajudicial revenge, different markets still have their own distinctive characteristics. For example, in the United States, the general revenge protagonists are retired soldiers, retired agents, retired killers and other "martial" characters, the revenge process is a hearty gunfight action scene, the main characteristic of the protagonist can complete revenge is excellent killing skills.
In East Asia, most of the protagonists of revenge are born poor, but talented and intelligent people, and the opportunity for revenge has fantasy plots such as soul piercing and rebirth, and the characteristics of revenge are mostly through business warfare and high IQ suspense.
If summed up simply, American-style revenge emphasizes "killing", while East Asian revenge should be "cursed". American-style revenge is on the gun, suddenly sweeping thousands of armies, East Asian revenge contains more forbearance and patience, grass snake gray line, fine weaving a huge web of revenge.
Revenge to revenge, this difference in mood is very noteworthy. East Asian style of "heart" revenge, in which the sadistic tendencies are perhaps higher than the sadistic tendencies in "Chainsaw", and a society showing emotional sadistic tendencies is not a too healthy thing.
2.
A new era of contradictions
One thing is obvious, the large-scale emergence of revenge dramas is a typical result of the intensification of social contradictions in various countries around the world.
The revenge drama of American-style veterans can even be traced back to "First Blood", but the social contradictions at that time were still very simple, basically pointing to the problem that veterans were difficult to adapt and integrate when they returned to China. But recent revenge dramas have added a lot of elements to emotional shaping, such as the contradiction between middle-aged people and young generations, the contradiction between Americans and immigrants, and the contradiction between traditional values of honesty and the new corrupt way of life.
Revenge dramas can be said to be a panorama of social contradictions and justice sensitivity. The contradiction between this traditional American martial spirit and modern multiculturalism embodied in the American revenge drama directly reflects the American "manifest destiny" that Trump voters need to recall, and there is a strong nostalgia of middle-aged people behind it.
However, East Asian contradictions are more of an "individualistic" type of revenge, and there are not many common social collective values to take care of, showing a more lonely color and characteristic, first of all, reflecting a more atomic, less social consensus and support of the life situation.
Secondly, the American cool drama mainly reflects the helplessness in the face of violent crimes, the conflict between gangsters, sex, drugs and other criminal groups, which reflects the inability to shape justice and order; South Korea mainly reflects the gap between the rich and the poor, and the contradiction between the chaebols and the common people; India is more about political darkness, bribery, and corruption. But it is worth noting that behind this presents a completely different "sense of powerlessness".
"Little People"
Behind the American revenge is a conflict of values, and the audience of these films can integrate themselves into right-wing and conservative political activities and elections, and this repression can be truly lifted, and Indian-style revenge is more directed towards political reform and purification of the judicial system, and there is also a practical "social agenda" that can accommodate such emotions.
But East Asian forms of revenge present a sense of despair that is almost impossible to resolve. Class differences, from the economy to the overall crushing of social status, do not seem to have an actual "social justice agenda" that can encompass such sentiments.
Although the East Asian revenge dramas we provide today are typical Korean dramas, it cannot be ignored that this revenge impulse and contradiction are still very significant in our society, and even more direct and rough responses to these similar contradictions can be found in the original short dramas presented on various short video platforms.
3.
Cathartic tension: Take the Greek tragedy as an example
Of course, as a play, it does not necessarily need to be truly connected to some kind of social agenda, and as a pure catharsis, it is perhaps the most direct role that a play can play. In fact, since the tragic era of ancient Greece, the main role of the play may be catharsis. From ancient Greek tragedies to today's online literature, we can find the shadow of this social emotional catharsis.
But no one should think that the catharsis of ancient Greek tragedy is the same catharsis as the catharsis of online literature. For example, the traditional male harem web text, of course, catharsis for men to socialize with the opposite sex pressure and dilemma, but we can all agree that this catharsis is unhealthy and contemptible, and this catharsis is even cultivating the bad tendency to objectify women and objectify women's sexuality.
By examining the cathartic meaning of the ancient Greek tragedy, we can reflect on what kind of catharsis it today, especially the East Asian "heart" revenge drama.
In Aristotle's claim of tragic "catharsis," the following elements are what he values most: pity, fear of fate, epistemic turns, and individual tragic defects.
The first thing we can know for sure is that the ancient Greek society in BC was no safer and fairer than the environment we encounter today, and the Athenian city-states and the Greek city-states fought for many years, often fell into social contradictions and political turmoil, and even later encountered confrontation and conflict with the Persian Empire.
Aristotle believed that tragedy fosters compassion because the characters in the play always encounter dilemmas and sufferings that they should not have, or that the predicaments he encounters are disproportionate to his own problems.
The source of this dilemma is often not because of the evil of others, but fate and chance, which makes the audience invest pity for the characters in the play, and this compassion also exists largely in the lives of the Greeks, causing them to have a fear of fate, lest similar problems befall themselves or those around them, which shapes their religious piety and the virtues of the community itself.
But is the emotional core of modern revenge dramas pity or hate? Are they mainly projecting pity, or are they projecting hatred and release of evil in revenge? After watching the show, what is the awe?
"Oedipus King"
Aristotle believed that the key to the plot of tragedy lies in the tragic hero's "cognitive moment", just as Oedipus decided to gouge his eyes, which means that the tragic hero begins to accept fate and begins to make different life decisions, which leads to a change of self. The plots of revenge dramas are all "extroverted", that is, the protagonist accepts grievances and dilemmas, and he does not need to change his understanding of grievances and dilemma itself, but needs to transform them into the will to accept grievances and hurts.
This step is actually very critical, because one always has to face fate, and the Greek tragedy demonstrates the actual process of how one accepts fate. As analyzed above, although the plot of ancient Greek tragedy does not have a realistic "social agenda" to undertake the pressure and contradictions in the play, there is a "life agenda" that allows the audience to face fate in a similar way. This paradigm and "agenda for life" is the key to the catharsis of tragedy.
The happy revenge in modern revenge dramas is unlikely to bring about a change in life choices and a change in life agenda in real life, so this "refreshment" is mostly short-lived, an almost pleasure experience, but it is difficult to be an effective "catharsis".
Aristotle also emphasized the "tragic flaw" of the characters' sinking, that is, ancient Greek tragedies rarely portrayed "perfect victims". Oedipus's own arrogance, impulsivity, and violent tendencies were all key to his tragic fate, so the ancient Greek tragedy was not purely external force or chance. How to see the characters in the play recognize individual responsibility and recognize their own mistakes, which greatly increases the emotional impact of the tragedy and promotes the audience's cathartic experience.
This may be the difference between "catharsis" and "venting", under which modern revenge dramas may be closer to a "venting" experience. Of course, modern people have the right to vent and there are reasons to vent, but the possible backlash to venting is worth noting.
4.
Life after venting
Just as harem texts may shape prejudices and misleading, venting revenge dramas also have such problems, and I think the sequelae of this problem can already be clearly felt in life, especially on the Internet.
The venting revenge drama has shaped, or echoed the current sadistic culture, which can be simply interpreted as "murderous heart". Whether in online violence, in the live broadcast of online games, or in the imagination of international politics, you can find that this is not only criticism, not only victory, but also a sadistic tendency. Enjoy the culture of causing suffering, especially humiliation, to others, and play with that humiliation.
The sensitivity of manipulation and the professor of manipulation can see from the PUA, the concept of gas lamps, and on the contrary, the Internet's interest in "communication" and "interpersonal management", which is shaped or echoed by revenge dramas, a basic imagination and expectation of interpersonal relationships that we have today, that is, interpersonal relationships are a type of relationship that is either manipulated or manipulated. Therefore, while we are wary of the manipulation of others, we try to be a person who is good at controlling and manipulating others. This kind of content simply pervades the Internet today.
Dark Glory S2
Finally, it is a culture of self-addiction and narcissism, and the revenge drama is a two-way self-addiction, which is not only the focus and repeated play of the status of self-victimization and the grievances of victimization, but also the expectation that this grievance must be released in a revenge way, and enjoy the pleasure of conquest, domination, and complete manipulation in turn. Behind this is a strong reinforcement of self-importance and the shaping of a sense of self-superiority.
From these perspectives, this trend of sub-revenge dramas may bring increasing challenges to our actual social and interpersonal relationships. Because as a kind of substantive "traffic password", similar content will only increase.
5.
The barrenness of the audience's customized story mode
This is also a problem today, the Internet brings very fast audience feedback and contact with creators, and this feedback is fast and intense, becoming a way for audiences to domesticate creators. Literary and artistic works that cannot satisfy the audience will quickly receive a lot of opposition and criticism, while creators who master the "traffic password" and can output the most "cool" content of the audience will get a quick return.
This kind of creative ecology has been seen not only in plays, but even in the ecology of almost all media. The most direct result is the huge supply and homogenization of the content behind the "traffic password", and the technology in turn determines the content.
Today's creators are also increasingly finding it difficult to control the risk of this public opinion, trying to offend the audience as little as possible and cater to the audience's tendencies in their works, which can make it difficult to think and approach new ideas.
As a result of this atmosphere, we should be able to learn a very direct lesson in the field of short video. The lightweight creation mode of short video has a variety of creative individuals in it, and many people may not have a strong utilitarian impulse. In this context, it stands to reason that the short video paradigm should bloom and constantly innovate, but the actual result, in an environment where the attention and time of the audience are so scarce and intense, what we gain is a rapid narrowing of diversity.
The same technicality has led to a loss of diversity, and the homogenization and duplication of content is the field of web literature. Readers' evaluations can begin to directly affect and shape writer behavior, not only by attention, but even by online violence, I am afraid that this doom will be difficult to escape in any field.
What we see is sensational and superficial, very interesting and quickly fading. I'm afraid that if this continues, the field of movies and TV series will also move towards the end of short videos and online articles. Where should we go when we lose more spiritual food?
End.
In my opinion, the Thai movie "Genius Gunman" is also an East Asian revenge movie. This film accommodates some of the commercial techniques and plots of cool dramas in a more sophisticated way, and also frames the social class contradictions and conflicts faced by cold geniuses. But the treatment near the end of the movie is so unique and deep.
"Genius Gunman"
The existence of this movie reminds us that the opposite of revenge cool dramas is not didactic art movies, and we are not facing a binary dilemma of choosing between cool and boring. The drama framework of genre film elements, revenge plots, and social contradictions and deeper revelation and thinking are not indispensable contradictions. But I think the key to this problem is not the creator, but the audience's expectation and tolerance.
After all, today is an era when audiences can rely on their gathered evaluations and even violent kidnapping and decision to create, and the Internet has given audiences the depth and possibility of this influence. Then for the question of how to shape literary and artistic products, every audience also needs to have better thinking and action, which is a brand new problem for the environment where traditional creators are active and audiences are passive.
*The original name of this article is "East Asian Contradictions, East Asian Revenge Drama, East Asian New Problems", which states: The views of the article only represent the author himself, do not represent the position of the ideal platform, welcome to provide different opinions of discussion. Article picture: "Dark Glory", "Fast Pursuit", "Little People", "Oedipus King", "Genius Gunman" Editor: L, Executive Producer: Cat Ye.