Sun Wukong has a son Sha Monk into a woman, the American version of Journey to the West was scolded, Hollywood can't tell Chinese stories?
Following the classic Danish fairy tale "The Little Mermaid", Disney has begun to "Huo Ho" the traditional Chinese masterpiece "Journey to the West".
At the end of May, an American drama called "Journey to the West ABC" was launched on the streaming media platform Disney+.
This drama is adapted from the theme of Journey to the West, good guy, can be described as a shocking cry ghost -
Sun Wukong had a son, the sand monk became a woman, and Guanyin Bodhisattva wore high heels...
Douban score 5.8, failing.
Obviously, "Journey to the West ABC" is difficult for Chinese audiences to recognize.
Wu Yanzu plays Sun Wukong.
|What are the controversies in China?
"Journey to the West ABC" English name American Born Chinese, ABC is the initial letter of the English name, literal translation is "American Born Chinese". In fact, it is a TV series based on the manga of the same name.
So, what's the problem?
Regarding the slot of this drama, a netizen with an ID of "Zhang Yongxuan Wayne" has a representative evaluation, and it is also a high number of likes in Douban short comments, he said:
"After watching four episodes, it is simply excellent, Chinese mythology and stories are incidental, the main axis is still about the current situation of Asian Americans in the United States, children need to speak out bravely, adults need promotions and raises, just the cliché, political correctness can never escape these old unfolding and rhetoric."
Indeed, in this drama, the background of Journey to the West is only "borrowed" to tell the confusion of Chinese American descendants, and after being adapted from comics to dramas, through the three-dimensional presentation of shapes, plots, characters and other levels, the absurdity in it is revealed. Moreover, because film and television dramas can be better spread to Chinese audiences (more influential than comic books), and compared with the past mainland "Journey to the West", this Journey to the West-themed drama looks more and more "outrageous".
From the perspective of "Journey to the West", it can be said that it is quite magical. Many netizens denounced it as "ruining the plot and three views", and Wu Chengen, the original author of "Journey to the West", may "vomit blood" if he is unfortunate enough to "see".
At the beginning of the first episode, Sun Wukong's rebellious "son" appeared, which was a surprise. When did Monkey King have more "sons"? And who is the "mother" of the "son"?
Guanyin and Sun Wukong's son.
Michelle Yeoh's thousand-handed "Guanyin" went down to find the Bull Demon King, and the crew did not waste Michelle Yeoh's neat skills, so that she fought with the Bull Demon King. However, Michelle Yeoh casually picked up the red cloth and waved it, actually... Transform into a "bullfighter" warrior... Black question mark face!
The play gathers a "trio of scripture takers", in addition to Sun Wukong, there are also Zhu Bajie and Sha Monk, but what is spicy is that the Sand Monk actually changed into a woman.
The sand monk is played by a girl.
However, the domestic audience is not without praise.
A netizen "flew over the madhouse" believed: "said that Wu Chengen is going to be angry to death, Lao Wu has already vomited blood when he watched the big talk about Journey to the West, and he can't survive now, this drama looks, in fact, the screenwriter is iron-Chinese, creativity emerges endlessly, completely unscrupulously released, it is very interesting to watch, and deconstruction and reconstruction are really brain-opening." ”
SuperCap said: "It's quite good-looking, I originally thought that the combination of Westward Journey + Meigao would be very thunderous, but in fact, the fusion is quite good." Set in a real world of Tiangong, the Bull Demon King and Sun Dasheng were once close friends before breaking up to fight for the legendary fourth scroll whose whereabouts are unknown. Although the landing point is still on the struggle of Asian Americans, there is no empty slogan, and the transformation from a play within a play to a protagonist has given a better interpretation..."
Some netizens also suggested: "Put down the original work in your heart, it is a good-looking American drama." ”
Although this is a Westward Journey theme, it is based on a comic and has nothing to do with the original Westward Journey book.
In fact, only the fourth episode of "play within a play" is written as "adapted from Wu Chengen" (structurally similar to a play within a play). In this episode, Sun Wukong tells his son about his experience when he participated in the "Peach Festival" when he was young.
The Peach Gala is like the current fashionable party, with Monkey King's various spit outputs, many satirical metaphors.
Indeed, if you put down the original filter, it is quite interesting.
Some of the dialogue in the play is quite interesting.
|What kind of drama is this?
The original comic book "Meisheng Chinese" was written by Yang Jinlun, a Chinese-born creator born in the United States. Currently, he is also creating a new character for DC, writing Kong Kenan, the Chinese superman in "DC Universe Reborn" - this character was inspired by the Monkey King.
The core of the story of "Meisheng Chinese" applies the characters in "Journey to the West", simply put, a Chinese high school student is actually the "fourth volume" scroll after the Western Heaven takes the scriptures, and Sun Wukong's rebellious son steals the golden hoop rod to find the high school student. The author's original intention is to borrow classic characters to tell the difficult identity of the American "ABC teenager".
How to say it? It is a fanfiction creation of "Journey to the West", which is also similar to "Dragon Ball".
The Meisheng Chinese comic was originally published in 2006, Chinese mainland also introduced, and published by Shaanxi Normal University Press in 2010. However, it has not become popular in the country.
The bottom of the main creative board of the drama version is quite eye-catching.
In the director team, there is Desten Criston, the director of the Marvel movie "Shangqi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", who will also direct "Avengers 5", and the future is limitless; The other director is actress Liu Yuling, who is very familiar to Chinese audiences, and this time, she did not participate in the performance, but was only responsible for directing one of the episodes.
In terms of actors, Michelle Yeoh, who won an Oscar this year, plays Guanyin Bodhisattva, Wu Yanzu plays Sun Wukong, and Guan Jiwei, who partnered Michelle Yeoh in "Instantaneous Universe", played the male number two.
Other roles are played by many well-known Chinese artists. For example, Malaysian actress Yang Yanyan, as well as Lu Yan, an old Chinese actor born in Beijing, and Liu Jing, a young actor who played Lin Xinru's son in "The First Lantern", and Xu Weilun, who became popular with the old version of "Meteor Garden" in 2001.
It's a big coffee gathering.
Michelle Yeoh said that the show gives an interesting perspective to learn about different cultures, perhaps related to our own cultural history, and some interesting mythological characters, and it is exciting to bring the two worlds together.
Of course, first of all, Michelle Yeoh feels a real honor to play Guanyin, "because she embodies all the goodness we can think of, right?" ”
|What do Americans think of this show?
Compared with the 5.8 points on Douban, the American film review website gives this drama a much higher score.
On Rotten Tomatoes, "Journey to the West ABC" received 96% freshness from professional film critics and 86% popcorn index for general audiences. The Metacritic website has a score of 73 and IMDB has a score of 7.1. Overall, the US Open has a good reputation.
Unlike the Chinese audience, the American media did not skimp on praise.
News24 posted that this TV series is a perfect blend of Chinese classics and fantasy movies.
The New York Times considered adapting the comic strip "Meisheng Chinese" into a series a "feat," albeit at high risk.
Entertainment Weekly praised the show for its "blend of heartfelt humor and uplifting action," and USA Today described the series as "a projection of reality in a fancy style, digging into the male's predominantly white high school and struggles with immigrant parents and the Chinese community."
CNN has certain reservations, "The main creator intends to pinch the three main lines, even with Michelle Yeoh's participation, the action scenes, fantasy components and plot of the show are not well integrated." ”
Judging from the opinions of the American media and audiences, the acceptance of "Westward Journey ABC" is good.
Before the official broadcast, the drama also had a special screening at the White House, and US President Biden spoke after watching it, saying:
"The show tells a coming-of-age story in a different world and finds ways to bring them together. When I read this story, I thought of the courage it took for the ancestors of many of you to embark on a journey in the Americas. ”
That's a high compliment.
Related images posted by Biden on social media.
|Hollywood can't tell Chinese stories?
Judging from the evaluation of the American media and audience, "Westward Journey ABC" faces the situation of "two heavens" between China and the United States.
So, can't Hollywood tell the Chinese story that satisfies Chinese?
From the perspective of past works, it is not easy to deduce such a conclusion, after all, the Chinese theme in American films is still a masterpiece recognized by Chinese and foreign audiences.
As far as 1937's "The Earth", this movie adapted from Pearl Buck's original work, with a Douban score of 8.8, Louise Reiner, a veteran Hollywood actress who lived for 104 years, also won an Oscar for playing a Chinese woman in this film.
As recently as the 2008 cartoon "Kung Fu Panda", Douban scored 8.2 points, and the subsequent two films also had a good reputation. The 2022 fire "Youth Metamorphosis", this cartoon directed by Shi Zhiyu, a girl from Chongqing, also takes into account the Chinese theme and watchability well. "Instantaneous Universe", which shined at this year's Oscars, tells the story of Chinese descent, which is more or less a Chinese theme.
However, in recent years, there have indeed been some unsatisfactory works, such as Disney's Liu Yifei's version of "Mulan" launched in 2020, and Chinese audiences complained about it, with Douban only 4.9 points.
Hollywood is not bad at making foreign cultural film and television dramas, including China, and the cases mentioned at the beginning (and more similar works) have shown that they have this ability.
It's just that they will choose the expression they want, rather than catering to the aesthetic of Chinese. As a result, a culture clash is created – and this conflict is likely to be deliberate, challenging the audience's feelings and even feeling "insulting".
As for the real sense of bad films (the kind that audiences all over the world scold) - then it is not a matter of culture conflict, but shoddy production, and another matter.
Back to the drama "Journey to the West ABC", in fact, the main audience is still the Chinese community in the United States, as well as Western audiences who are interested in Chinese themes. Of course, Hollywood does not know anything about the perception of non-native culture, but this does not affect them to remake the traditional culture of other ethnic groups according to their own understanding.
Chinese mainland if the audience feels uncomfortable, they can scold. Although there is freedom for criticism, it needs to be clear that "Journey to the West ABC" was not filmed for Chinese at all; It must also be known that this drama is not adapted from Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West" original, but based on comic works similar to the same humanities.
In addition, the series is not launched in China, but only broadcast on Disney's streaming media platform Disney+, which means that everyone is watching pirated copies.
Of course, this will not be the last Hollywood film and television series with a Chinese theme.
On June 18, the Netflix version of the drama "Three-Body Problem" released an official trailer, what will this work that has also attracted the attention of the Chinese people?
God knows?