"Journey to the West ABC", which was disliked by the mainland, has become a good business

Rhino Entertainment Original

Text|Fat Department Editor|Park Fang

Even viewers who have not watched "Journey to the West ABC" should have learned about this drama in the debate.

In the domestic Internet space, "Westward Journey ABC" has attracted the stigma of "destroying classics" from the first day of its launch, with a Douban score of 5.5; but in North America, Rotten Tomatoes 96%, Popcorn Index 86%, MTC Media Score 73, IMDb score 7.2 points, this result can not be considered bad in any way.

At present, this work has driven quite active social discussions overseas, and the "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration" held by the White House a few days ago also specially invited the main creator to attend and screened the play.

Word-of-mouth feedback at home and abroad can be described as very different, but it is also necessary to see that it is almost normal for such film and television works produced by Hollywood Chinese forces to have feedback differences overseas and at home.

The first impression that brought this impression was "Crazy Rich Asians" in North America for three consecutive titles in 2018, but the film only achieved 11.489 million box office when it was released in China, and the Douban score was only 6.0 points; and another popular Chinese movie, "Instantaneous Universe", which was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 7 awards, received mixed reviews in China, and the Douban score finally stabilized at 7.6 points.

This may be a cultural phenomenon that deserves more interpretation. But regardless of whether these contents have a market in China, including the above two movies, plus "Journey to the West ABC", and previous dramas such as "First Comer" and "Angry Life", Asian productivity in previous years is opening a production line belonging to Chinese people on the basis of Hollywood molding.

And their work has become good business, and it can be said that it is also inevitable.

The Chinese production power blows the rallying cry

In fact, "Journey to the West ABC", a work "created by the original team of "Instantaneous Universe", is actually a coincidence. However, there are indeed quite a few repeat actors in the two works, including Guan Jiwei, who has been in the shadow for more than ten years, and after his re-debut, he connected the two plays.

It is not difficult to see that Hollywood has gathered a group of Chinese-speaking actors with public awareness and professional ability. Not only that, over the years, various types of Hollywood have accumulated a lot of Chinese strength, and the show's director, screenwriter, soundtrack, costumes, action design and other behind-the-scenes jobs are also led by Chinese-speaking personnel.

The crew of "Journey to the West ABC" is at the White House

These Hollywood Chinese people have been participating in and promoting a lot of Asian and Chinese content in recent years.

At present, the first contact with Gene Luen Yang, the author of the original comic of "Journey to the West", was producer Melvin Mar, who also introduced the original work to screenwriter You Chaomin.

Melvin Mar is a previously Chinese-American actor in Hollywood, having worked on longevity dramas such as "Speechless Love" and "First Comer", the latter is one of the most famous dramas about Chinese life, developed for a total of six seasons; He has also served as executive producer of the Jumanji series.

You Chaomin and his younger brother You Chaokai became the screenwriters and executive producers of the show. Yau Chaomin started his career as an actor and began his transformation, having previously won an Emmy Award in 2017 as a producer of the animated series "Happy Burger Shop", and Yau Chaokai has worked on series such as "Westworld" and "The Big Group".

You Chaomin, Wu Yanzu and Melvin Mar

They represent a force, with the increase in the base of Hollywood practitioners, and the entry of Chinese with academic backgrounds, some Chinese Americans are entering production positions and gaining a certain voice in the industry.

For example, Zhu Haowei insisted that the Asian screenwriter Adele Lin re-reviewed the script in the production of "Crazy Rich Asians"; And Wang Qing, the producer of "Instantaneous Universe", also entered the Oscar hall as a producer who Guan Jiayong and Daniel Schnater began to cooperate with since the music video era.

All these provide the possibility for Hollywood to appear "Chinese-made" content. From the perspective of the overall environment, the voice of Hollywood's pan-Asian forces since the 2010s has further smoothed similar attempts.

In the process, the Hollywood Chinese community remained in lockstep. For Chinese practitioners in Hollywood, the value of this gathering and voice is self-evident. Especially in recent years, such as the commercial and award success of "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Instantaneous Universe", as well as the word-of-mouth reputation of "Don't Tell Her", all of which prove that such works are market-friendly.

A still from "Instantaneous Universe"

Then to "Journey to the West ABC", its special thing is that the original author to the producer, screenwriter including the costume designer are all Chinese, and six of the seven directors are Chinese (Destin Criston is of mixed Japanese descent), which can be said to be an attempt led entirely by Chinese.

That's why Yau says that if successful, the show "will be a game-changer for Asian-American practitioners." It is not difficult to understand the assembly of Hollywood Chinese groups in this play, including Lu Yan, Wu Hanzhang, and long-known stand-up comedian Qian Xinyi and Ouyang Wancheng all came to make guest appearances; Liu Yuling, who has been famous for a long time, did not star, but participated in directing the sixth episode.

But in the face of this work at a critical node, domestic audiences are very unbuying.

Who did you hurt by filming "Journey to the West" like this?

The current domestic reputation of the play, the self-media spread in the early stage should be responsible for at least half. If they hadn't thrown out the premise of "adaptation of "Journey to the West" earlier, the domestic audience might not have been so angry.

The production of "Journey to the West" really has a lot to be desired. The special effects makeup and art construction of fairy characters and scenes are very rough, with a B-grade film aesthetic before the 80s; The clues that show the lives of Chinese teenagers and the two clues of fairy stories also lack some chemistry.

But if you think that the play is "nonsense", it may be a bit rude. This is actually just a dream of a Chinese boy, facing ubiquitous implicit discrimination and traditional family discipline, trying to overcome his own timidity and isolation, while the bizarre mythological elements are more akin to an imagery metaphor.

These settings basically come from the original work of the play "Meisheng Chinese".

The book is the first graphic novel to be shortlisted for the National Book Award, and is credited with influencing the growth of a generation of Chinese teenagers. Author Yang Jinlun recalled that as early as 2007, he actually approached Hollywood about adaptation, but found that the other party was completely trying to rub the hot spots of the Olympics, so he also realized that to get the public interested in the story of Asian-Americans, it needed "a change in the world".

After 17 years, he waited for this opportunity. This is a capture of the favorable overseas cultural environment, and it also represents that the Chinese community has begun to speak out boldly in mainstream American society. Combined with the industry story and market situation introduced above, it is not difficult to understand that the adaptation of this book as the leading content of the Chinese community is the best and smartest choice at the moment.

However, for domestic audiences on the other side of the ocean, these contents, which mainly describe the living conditions of ethnic minorities, are obviously not small deviations from their expectations based on cultural homology.

It is undeniable that from the original book of "Journey to the West" to the series, its way of thinking and the cultural aesthetics conveyed are all Westernized, which is inevitable for its ethnic group.

Including the original work, there are indeed many mixtures and misinterpretations of Chinese elements. For example, the chaotic entry of elements such as Jigong and Shiji Niangniang is actually not difficult to find a substitute in the "Journey to the West" story; In the original manga, the god who subdued the monkey is not Buddha but "He-Who-Is", and the image is an old man with long hair and a white shirt, apparently Yang Jinlun's own Catholic family background is at play.

However, the sound of judging this as "milk" may be excessive. On the contrary, Chinese creators will be very cautious in trying to present the image of the ethnic group.

Kwan had thought that his character "shouldn't be in 2023" (a ridiculous little Chinese man in a comedy), but the team told him what it meant to present such stereotypes in the play and how much it would affect children like the actor Wang Jin, before he agreed to star.

It is worth mentioning that the show has been deliberately adjusted during the adaptation process, such as Sun Weichen, the son of Sun Wukong (I don't know how to come) in the original work, is from Taiwan, China, but it is not mentioned in the play, which has also attracted some criticism that Disney caters to mainland audiences.

It should be thought that, like "Crazy Rich Asians" in the past, these works do not try to establish a sense of identity from the cultural level, but focus on the contemporary and seek more practical value. At this level, domestic audiences may also need to adjust expectations based on cultural homology.

When the play received applause from overseas Chinese and received attention and positive feedback in the mainstream media, its value has been realized. Behind the scenes, a Hollywood force dominated by overseas Chinese is showing a stronger and stronger sense of presence after being verified by the market, and "Made by Chinese" has gradually become a good business. The resulting changes may manifest themselves on more levels.