In mid-May, the new drama "Back Wave" starring Zhao Lusi was broadcast.
This drama is not simple, it undertakes the heavy responsibility of "promoting Chinese medicine" - the core of the plot revolves around "Chinese medicine", and Zhao Lusi plays the role of a inheritor of traditional Chinese medicine.
However, judging from the feedback of some viewers, although "Houlang" has spread Chinese medicine culture, it is still insufficient.
Why?
-Outrageous plot-
In the first episode, there was a bridge that was off the big spectrum.
Sun Tooutou, played by Zhao Lusi, is a delivery boy who was returned by the actor Ren Tianzhen (played by Luo Yizhou) because he was more than ten minutes late. However, instead of apologizing and striving for understanding, Sun Toutou threw the takeaway on Ren Tianzhen's head - the handsome male protagonist was poured into "green vegetables and soup chicken" (it seems that it should be noodle soup).
This scene looks stupid to many people. Even some netizens believe that this is suspected of insulting the reputation of the takeaway brother.
Of course, this is to lay the groundwork for Sun Tou Tou and Ren Tianzhen to target each other later. But the starting point of this conflict is quite unclever, both deliberate, boring, and even more inconsistent with the logic of the characters - although there are indeed similar cases in life, Sun Tou Tou is set to be an orphan, who has been crawling at the bottom since childhood, and should definitely not be so willful and sloppy like the eldest miss, extremely abrupt.
Since many subsequent dramatic conflicts are based on this, it is conceivable that the play was in a collapse from the beginning.
There is still an outrageous plot.
After that, Sun Tou Ren Tianzhen and the two met. One night, at midnight, by the lake, Ren Tianzhen, in retaliation, induced Sun Tou to get drunk and abandoned it.
Think about it: a beautiful girl, unconscious in the middle of the night, in case she falls into the lake or is plotted by bad people, if there is a three long and two short... The male protagonist is the murderer.
This "young line" looks frivolous overall. Coincidence is illogical, the characters are abrupt, and there are various deliberate bridges... These plots that cannot withstand scrutiny, conflict for the sake of conflict, and have no "real sense of drama" - are the common problems of many suspended national dramas.
From the point of view of dramatic conflict, it is quite low. It's hard to imagine that the screenwriter is Liuliu, who has written dramas such as "Double Sided Tape" and "Snail House".
What's even more puzzling is the basic setting of the entire show.
In the play, "Jiang's Acupuncture", as a well-known school of traditional Chinese medicine, needs to be inherited, so Ren Xinzheng, a professor of traditional Chinese medicine played by Wu Gang, found the unstinting Sun Tooutou as the "inheritor", because she is the founder's "bloodline".
Coincidentally, recently, there is also a case in reality - a doctor in Tengzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Shandong Province filled in the "ancestral" academic qualification, which caused controversy. In fact, if the doctor had indeed been taught by his grandparents, and had been extensively practiced and nationally recognized, it would have been fine – but even so, it had aroused widespread skepticism in society.
On the other hand, in "Houlang", Sun Tooutou was sent to a welfare home since he was a child, and he was not taught by his fathers, did not have any medical foundation, and could not see that she was this piece of material, and at the beginning she was not interested in Chinese medicine, so why bother to pass on the so-called "bloodline"?
According to Article 42 of the Chinese Medicine Law on the mainland, "the competent departments of traditional Chinese medicine of the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall organize the selection of academic inheritance projects and inheritors of traditional Chinese medicine within their respective administrative regions for the theories and technical methods of traditional Chinese medicine that have important academic value, and provide necessary conditions for inheritance activities." From this regulation, it can be seen that there are no restrictions on the status of "inheritors".
In fact, it is.
On the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Network", we randomly searched for a representative inheritor of "traditional Chinese medicine osteopathic therapy", Sun Shuchun (chief researcher of the Orthopedic Hospital of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine), who studied under the famous contemporary orthopedic doctor Liu Shoushan, rather than from the "ancestral tradition".
It can be seen from mainland regulations and actual cases that there is no requirement that the "inheritor" must be a close relative. The reason is very simple, you do not have a blood relationship, you can automatically "inherit" medical knowledge.
In "Houlang", forcibly letting Sun Tou be the inheritor, there is no basis in reason and law, there is only one reason - to make the story reasonable. Drama is reinforced, but rationality is lacking.
What age is it, why do you have to hold on to the inadequate?
The mysteries of Chinese medicine are not described, and the dregs are a basket.
In the eyes of the audience, I only feel that Chinese medicine is not enough to keep pace with the times, conservative and backward.
And the overall plot is like a shell of martial arts - although the protagonist is from a famous family, he was displaced at a young age, ran into trouble everywhere, and after being accepted by the master, studied hard and practiced, and finally became a inheritor.
This kind of plot setting that mixes and matches the general plot of martial arts novels really confuses the audience and makes people even more suspicious of Chinese medicine.
It's hard to imagine what kind of people this show will attract.
What is the target audience for TCM enthusiasts? Since they trust Chinese medicine, they don't need to publicize, they will want to see a solid and calm drama, and they will only feel spicy eyes for a plausible plot like "Back Wave", right?
If the target audience group is not a believer in Chinese medicine (attracting these people to face Chinese medicine squarely), I am afraid that watching such a plot will only be further away.
Probably, only young actor fans are attracted - they don't care about TCM, it's enough to see idols appear on the screen.
The goal of promoting Chinese medicine is to enable more people to correctly view the valuable value of this traditional medicine, rather than complaining.
Therefore, the "Houlang" full of slots is for Chinese medicine to recruit black, right?
-Bad acting-
Judging from this drama, in addition to her appearance (it cannot be denied that she almost grew up on the public's aesthetic point), Zhao Lusi's acting skills are almost remarkable.
Carefully studying the character of the heroine Sun Totou in the play, it is definitely not what Zhao Lusi presents. After becoming a famous family, due to family changes, he had no father or mother since he was a child, dropped out of school after junior high school, and wandered into society. This character, which should have been full of inner drama, was interpreted as a proper little sister.
If you do personality analysis for the character, you can find that she must have the following characteristics:
Leather.
Because he came out of society very early and experienced the "beatings" of various lives, his personality is of course leather, and he will be worn away by the ruthless time. Therefore, in the first episode, Sun Toutou was reasonably returned by consumers (late, lying) and threw takeaway, which is really unimaginably sensitive.
Of course, this plot is the pot of the choreographer, but Zhao Lusi's treatment is also the opposite of the character - it feels like an arrogant young lady who came to experience the sufferings of the world, and completely lost the tone of the character itself.
Based on the characteristics of "leather solidity", you can explore the personality composition of Sun Tou Tou inward.
After being "lured" by Ren Xinzheng to the medical hall, in front of many doctors, Sun Tooutou was told that he was the inheritor of "Jiang's Acupuncture", look at Zhao Lusi's performance in this paragraph - the feeling of "hanging er langdang" came to his face, standing without standing and sitting without sitting.
Yes, this character will have a "cynical" side in his heart, in fact, because he has been displaced since childhood, he has created a sense of sadness that "the world is not worth it" - but it is by no means "hanging". If it is interpreted as a punk-like "hanging erlangdang", it will monolithize or even distort the characters.
It is said that the performance should be heartfelt, but it is a pity that the image of Sun Toutou was created by Zhao Lusi very carelessly - perhaps he couldn't understand the inside at all.
It is no wonder that when she used to promote starring in the TV series "Hutong", she confused the era in which the story took place - just like CCTV.com said without naming "desperate illiteracy", and Wang Yibo is really a pair of "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chicks".
Even if Zhao Lusi does a little bit of Sun Toutou's character biography, it will not be so superficial.
In terms of expression details, Zhao Lusi either squeezed her eyebrows or widened her eyes - in addition to her appearance, she really had nothing.
The acting is so bad, but it goes smoothly. In 2022, Zhao Lusi has three dramas to be broadcast, and in 2023, in addition to "Back Wave", there are three more to be broadcast. The high production proves that she is still very popular on the production side. Of course, there is no need to elaborate on what capital values.
In the play, Ren Tianzhen, who confronts Sun Toutou, is played by Luo Yizhou. Is the name both unfamiliar and familiar? He was actually a "supporting role" in Yi Yangqianxi's examination and editing incident last year, when he was admitted to the National Theatre with his four-character brother and Hu Xianxu. After Yi Yangqianxi withdrew, Luo Yizhou Hu Xianxu entered the system as he wished.
His performance in "Back Waves"... emm, how to say it? Let's still take the first episode of throwing takeaway as an example. Whether this plot is reasonable or not, since it happened, it is actually an opportunity for the actor to play.
When a person is drenched by takeaways, there will be several emotions that emerge at the same time in an instant: 1, unbelievable, 2, regret this list, 3, angry at the delivery man's unreasonableness, 4, report immediately, 5, whether to catch up with the theory, 6, a very dirty sentence floats through the mind.
Among all kinds of emotions, there is no "calmness". A bowl of hot noodle soup poured over your head, it is impossible to calm down.
And see how Luo Yizhou handled this performance——
It is still similar to the cool expression when he said "chargeback" before throwing the takeaway, with the cold appearance of a domineering president, and his eyes seemed to say "I will fire you immediately", although Zhao Lusi had already rushed away.
Change to you and me in life, and the delivery man throws the food on the head, it is estimated that it will go crazy, right? Ren Tianzhen is so calm, what the hell is he thinking?
In the plot before and after, except for the green vegetables and soup on the head, Luo Yizhou's performance is not much different.
Of course, the life experience of being attacked by a takeaway chop is extremely rare, and it is indeed difficult for a young actor, but how many of the six emotions can show one or two can work?
I want to ask, why did Luo Yizhou enter the National Theatre? Is it by appearance?
Today's film and television industry is indeed like Jackie Chan sighed when he promoted "Dragon Horse Spirit" a while ago - "How good kung fu is useless, now you must look good, you don't need to make a scene, just stand there." ”
It's a pity that a few real old drama bones for Zhao Lusi in "Back Waves" - it is also fortunate that Wu Gang, Xi Meijuan, Jiang Shan and others are in order to barely hold the scene - but it is also difficult to save the collapse in the bones of this play.
-Value confusion-
Some netizens said that seeing that the screenwriter is Six Six, they know why the plot is so outrageous and the values are so confusing.
More than ten years ago, from "Double Sided Tape" to "Snail House" to "Heart Technique", Six Six has unparalleled its grasp of urban themes.
However, these three are all the screenwriting works she can get her hands on so far.
Ten years later, she is best known for defending Wu Yifan's words:
"The woman is also cheap, obviously a cannon friend, and she wants to sleep out of a young history to leave a name... Don't look at yourself, can you sing and dance well, or Qinqi calligraphy and painting? Are you a peerless Tianjiao? Or red sleeves? If you don't have anything, you want to get on the top, scare us mortals, and ruin the welfare of many female fans in the future! ”
That's what she said during the Little Gna incident in 2016.
After Wu Yifan was arrested at the end of July 2021, in addition to apologizing for the above remarks, Liuli also said that he felt "unbelievable" about Wu's detention.
However, the value confusion deeply rooted in the bones is actually difficult to completely "correct the chaos" with apologies or so-called reflections.
What kind of connection does this misplaced value have with the plot of "drunk girl thrown by the lake in the middle of the night" in "Back Wave"? We don't know. But for netizens, most of them are from their origins.
Why can June Six fight 10 years ago? Dramas such as "Double Sided Tape" and "Worm House" have similar themes, and they all sell to reveal the ugliness of urban life - in other words, Liuliu is good at "daily blackening".
But "Houlang" is different from "Snail House", the core is to promote traditional Chinese medicine, under this theme, Liuliu seems stretched. She is completely incapable of dealing with such a "grand" proposition, let alone finding a balance between tradition and current context.
This kind of left and right makes the plot fragmented, one moment idol drama, one moment martial arts drama, one moment family drama - only can not be from the beginning to the end, integrated. As a result, values appear as ethereal as they swing in the wind in chaos.
Therefore, on the whole, it directly led to a result: such a drama that expresses traditional Chinese medicine culture has no sense of heaviness.
Of course, this is not the fault of six or six alone. As a "propositional composition" (this play is a key project of a province), the director also has an unshirkable responsibility, but relatively speaking, he has been "disoriented" at the script stage.
There are not many Chinese medicine film and television dramas, and 2001's "The Gate of the Mansion" tells about a Chinese medicine family, which can be regarded as an example, because of the good script and explosive performance, it has become a generation of classics. More than 20 years later, "Back Wave" should have recreated the classic, but unfortunately, the main creator did not grasp this theme.
In fact, there are N ways to make it look good and have an endless aftertaste -
For example, using all powerful actors to create strong conflicts (rather than bloody bridges) with the collision of traditional Chinese medicine and contemporary medical concepts may become a serious and topical drama.
However, in the end, he chose the method of "traffic star + brainless conflict", thinking that in this way, he could please young people? Think that in this way, you can do more with less?
In fact, in the case of quick success, the result is exactly the opposite.
Written by | Xiao Dong didn't understand much
Curated | Editorial Department of Entertainment Spring and Autumn