2023 is coming to an end. After three years of epidemic life, this year I have re-adapted to the familiar daily life, and I often feel in a trance. We tried to piece together some common experiences and emotions from the few words of the year's pop culture.
In this year's large and small holidays, almost all scenic spots are crowded, and "special forces tourism" is on fire. The "Liu Genghong girls" who could only dance and exercise at home before have gone out of the house and checked in the most attractions with the least amount of time. This is probably the most enterprising event of the year. Those who don't want to travel far are opting for City Walk, where they can find new sights in familiar places to live.
Movie theaters, which have been silent for three years, are also lively. The adaptation of real cases is an important label of this year's domestic films, and social news such as the wife murder case, fraud in northern Myanmar, and pig killing have been put on the screen. Films such as "Disappearing Her" and "All or Nothing" have proved with amazing box office that "intimidating the audience" is becoming the new box office password. At the same time, the combination of film publicity and short videos is getting closer and closer, and the audience who returns to the cinema finds that the promotional clips on the short video platform are much more exciting than the feature film, and it is difficult to distinguish between inside and outside the film for a while, who is cheating?
The hit dramas "Hurricane" and "The Long Season" are also realistic themes, returning to the tradition of telling good stories, reflecting the changes of the times with the fate of the characters, instead of focusing on sensational spectacles, but gaining a good reputation.
In the past few years, I have been accustomed to seeing celebrities collapse houses, and this year there is finally a genuine "top stream" who has become the favorite of young people, it is: capybara, a rodent with its unsightly appearance, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, fans have soared, from online stores to physical stores, from advertisements to emojis, it can be seen everywhere. The secret of capybara's popularity is emotional stability and a calm life with the mental state that everyone desires. When it was discovered that "the world is a huge grass platform", the posture of the capybara can be called a kind of heroism.
Yesterday we pushed an inventory of 2023 from the perspective of "relationship", and today this article uses emotions as a clue to review the fleeting pop culture topics of the year. Touch the texture of reality and feel the temperature of life.
Get out there and get moving
Keywords: #特种兵旅游, #city walk, #报复性旅行协会
According to the "Domestic Tourism Data in the First Half of 2023" released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first half of the year, the total number of domestic tourists was 2.384 billion. During the May Day period, there were 274 million domestic trips, with an average of one out of every five people on the road. The demand for tourism has exploded, and the itinerary has been compressed if the holiday is not enough, giving birth to "special military tourism". "Two cities in three days, don't waste a second", some people even posted the amazing results of climbing all over the five mountains in five days, which became popular on the Internet.
"Special Forces Tourism" is not only a strong embodiment of the return of offline activities, but also represents the urgent desire of young people to explore the world and enrich their experiences. According to the article "A Glance at the Mental State of Young People in 2023" in Sanlian Life Weekly, this desire is a response to "uncertainty". "Living a present, productive, action-oriented life is the mental state of many people today. "After three years of the pandemic, what people are most willing to invest in is to satisfy the interest of "here and now". Whether it is the high-intensity "special forces tourism" that became popular in the first half of the year, or the city walk characterized by idle strolling in the second half of the year, this mentality is reflected.
"Illusion", by Daniel Boorstin, translated by Fu Xiayi, New Classic Culture, Nanhai Publishing Company, July 2023.
City walk originally refers to exploring characteristic routes in familiar cities, deeply experiencing the history, humanities, and landscape changes of a city, and feeling the beauty of inadvertently. However, as Boustin argues in "Vision", the modern tourist's journey is filled with pseudo-events, and tourism has become synonymous. Because the Internet celebrity check-in spots that have risen in City Walk have begun to be criticized by nearby residents, they have not experienced the hidden beauty of the city, but have destroyed the original tranquility.
And if you want to be a qualified city walk enthusiast on social media, you have to dress carefully when you go out, if you don't have enough photogenic afternoon tea as a prop, and you don't take atmospheric photos in the designated place, then you can only count as wandering on the street. City Walk eventually became a kind of gesture contest.
As City Walk continues to be commercialized in the process of popularity, more and more people find this "relaxed" lifestyle costly. The "high-net-worth city walk bureau", high-priced early bird tickets and those essential commodities for the film were ridiculed by a large number of netizens. From the explosion to being ridiculed by the group, it reflects the spending power of different groups of people, after all, not everyone can afford to hire a tour guide and have the money to buy a business.
In "The Theory of the Leisure Class", it is written: "The reason why elegant clothing can achieve the purpose of elegance is not only because it is expensive, but also because it is a sign of leisure." It not only shows that the user is able to consume a large amount of wealth, but also that he only consumes and does not produce. "Behind the finer life is the high cost.
We use our actions to pursue "instant life", but we don't seem to have the mental determination to "live in the moment". Whether it's running wildly chasing poetic distances or posing for photos near vanishing neighborhoods, there's no adventure or leisure, and it's somewhat regrettable that these activities end up becoming a ritual on social media. Perhaps we need to find our own path and perspective, rather than following the trajectory of others and pretending to live an enviable life.
Animals play my mental state
Keywords: #卡皮巴拉 (capybara), #吗喽
Travel is always short, and we have to deal with Xi and work most of the time. Every migrant worker has a set of self-soothing emojis. There is no shortage of animals among the elements of this year's memes, among which the capybara is the undisputed champion.
"If you die, you die, and if you don't die, you live. "Capybara has become a spiritual totem of the new generation of the Internet by virtue of its core stability. The popularity of capybara can be seen as an extension of last year's discussion of "mental internal friction" and "relaxation". In addition to swinging rotten and going crazy, we were pleasantly surprised to find a third option: to live at your own pace like a capybara.
Footage from the NHK documentary "Natural Wonderland".
The capybara's state of being out of the way without desire is similar to the buzzword "Buddhism" in the previous two years. Many people don't like their current jobs and don't know what they want to do, or they have been working hard for various exams for a long time but have never been able to achieve results, and they are confused while trying hard in the face of great uncertainty about the future. In this case, emotional isolation and indifference are the best ways to protect yourself. So we see capybaras facing crocodiles and jaguars without being alarmed, lying down directly after being pecked by birds, and being bitten by anteaters without delaying eating, feeling extremely comfortable.
If the capybara is an idol, then it is the case that the capybara (meaning horse, the dialect pronunciation of the Liangguang region called "monkey") is the case. This year, "Mo" has become synonymous with migrant workers on the Internet. "The life of the meme is also the life", the emoticon of the meme shows the bitterness and humility, and the word social animal has a specific image. Psychologist Wang Fang pointed out in "Why "Good Students" Are More Likely to Encounter Workplace Bullying" that objectification in the entire modern work environment, especially self-objectification, is particularly noteworthy. "While we are used as a tool by others, we sometimes actively ignore our own humanity, ignore the side of ourselves that have high-level psychological needs to be satisfied, and dwarf ourselves into a tool. "However, research has found that this self-objectification does not fulfill the function of self-defense, and the more we dwarf ourselves, the more painful we feel on the mental level, and it does not serve the role of protecting emotions as we think." ”
The desire to be seen
Key words: #正式确诊为, #质疑, understanding, becoming
In this year's buzzword, "officially diagnosed" has become a new way of self-labeling, using exaggeration and humor to convey a certain conclusion, and share one's mood and situation. "Officially diagnosed as Keyun" (falling into madness), "Officially diagnosed as An Lingrong" (tired), "Cantonese people were officially diagnosed as Yiping" (drenched in heavy rain), "Fujian people were officially diagnosed as Monkey King" (high temperature resistance)...... Everything can be "diagnosed". Only by being familiar with the character characteristics of the "diagnosed as" can it be easier to understand the expressiveness of this connection in seconds and smile heartily.
The article "Top Ten Mental States of 2023" released by psychology self-media KnowYourself is released, which can best summarize your year" pointed out that behind the expression of "diagnosed" and "diagnosed" is everyone's desire to be seen and understood. Use a certain feature and experience of the avatar to convey our feelings, and establish a sense of substitution and identity. The trivial troubles in life are not clear in one or two sentences, and everyone has limited time and energy, and it is difficult to have the patience to listen to each other fully. simply give a well-known, distinct and specific role and image, which is naturally understood by those who see it, and it is easier to find resonance in the crowd.
Screenshots of the network.
In addition to the desire to be understood by others, self-understanding is also constantly renewed, so the sentence patterns of "questioning", "understanding" and "becoming" have become popular. In the article ""Questioning", "Understanding" and "Becoming": The Real Life of Adults, Different Paths to the Same End?", the author Pazilia believes that people use this sentence structure to express themselves under the influence of emotional preferences, and the starting point and final destination of this identity are always emotional expressions.
As life reaches a certain point, some mentality and choice are turned over and transferred unexpectedly, and finally reconciled with it, which is an inevitable experience in our growth, and it is also the reason why this sentence is widely used. These buzzwords seem to make it easier for people to understand each other, but they also limit real expression. Because those concrete, subtle feelings are left out when forming sentences. Our clichés about the pain of the skin may win a short period of attention, but the emotions that really need to be understood are also annihilated.
"It's almost impossible to be a good woman"
Keywords: #文化名人被指控性骚扰, #女足世界杯 "Kiss the Door", #"Barbie", #"Imperfect Victim"
Compared with emojis and buzzwords, film and television works present emotions more completely. "Barbie" is undoubtedly the hottest feminist film of the year, setting a global pink wave, setting the highest box office record in the history of a female director, and sparking heated discussions on gender issues both inside and outside the film. "Barbie" points out to everyone that "patriarchy, of course, is being carried out, but it is better hidden." Some criticized the slogan for being "straightforward," while others thought it was too mild. Regardless, it creates an opportunity to look at gender issues in all its aspects.
Film scholar Dai Jinhua said in a podcast reported by GQ that "Barbie" is a work in the "post-feminist" era, which makes patriarchy the object of criticism, and at the same time compresses many issues. Film critic Yan Cheng pointed out in the article "When Entering the Real World: Not Only Cool Films and Mouth Substitutes" that we seem to be in the golden age of feminism, and many words are too much, like chewing gum excessively, but the reality is that the shadow of patriarchy has always been the elephant in the room, and we can't mistakenly think that all visions have been realized just because some concepts have become "clichés".
Stills from the movie "Barbie".
Real-world scandals prove that women are still in limbo. In April this year, Fan Xin, the founder of the publishing brand "Yipage Folio", and Shi Hang, a well-known screenwriter, were accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment one after another, causing shocks in the cultural industry. After the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, forcibly kissed Jennifer Hermoso, a member of the Spanish women's football team. Hermoso repeatedly expressed his discomfort and disrespect after the incident, and said in a follow-up statement: "Over the years, this attitude has become part of the daily life of the national team. ”
Sexual harassment is a common problem in every country and in all fields, because it is undermined by unfair distribution of power and stereotypical gender stereotypes. The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues in The Fortress of Pride that the long-standing tradition of objectifying women and despising women has cultivated a kind of arrogance about gender in men. And the existing power structure makes it easy for these men to escape accountability. Eradicating this chronic disease will require a resolute, long-term effort on the part of all.
The domestic drama "Imperfect Victim" is a feminist masterpiece on the issue of sexual violence this year. It shows in depth and three-dimensionally the male superiors who are alienated by power behind the sexual assault cases, and the women who are under siege. The chairman of a listed company played by Liu Yijun not only has wealth and power, but also has an advantage in image and charm, and takes the pleasure of seducing and conquering the opposite sex. He is arrogant, but not violent, and takes everything for granted. The "imperfection" of the victim in the play is epitomized by vanity, self-contradiction, and the fact that he has accepted a luxury gift from the perpetrator, and who once decides to give in out of fear. These moral flaws even make it difficult for the audience to sympathize with the victims.
Stills from "Imperfect Victim".
Although the main creator wants to criticize the "perfect victim" as a demanding requirement that should not exist, Yang Rui, the author of "Look at the Ideal", also reminded in the article "Douban 7.6, Still Underestimated" that labeling victims as "imperfect" is not conducive to social acceptance of them, but may exacerbate moral judgment. "As long as the purpose of the judgment is to prove the innocence of the perpetrator, then the victim must be doing something wrong. Therefore, the default way to defeat the 'perfect victim' is not to admit that all victims are 'imperfect', but to redefine the ethics and morality of sexual assault and harassment by taking the victim as the subject. "Only by living better is the moral standard of the victim-oriented. ”
"Snap your fingers in resonance"
Keywords: #"Hurricane", #"The Long Season", #"The Three Teams"
In this year's domestic dramas, the works that have aroused cross-circle discussions all have one thing in common: outlining the times and revealing their fate. In the drama market of fantasy and ancient puppets in recent years, realistic works are particularly precious. These two dramas deal with realistic themes, and neither focuses on spectacle, but does a solid job of detail, focusing on realism. This is in stark contrast to this year's theatrical films.
The hit drama "Hurricane" at the beginning of the year became a national topic drama in less than a week after it was broadcast. The article "Why has it become the greatest common divisor?" of "Daily People" believes that the success of "Hurricane" lies in the fact that it shows 20 years of social changes and depicts the era of China's rapid economic and social development and rapid progress in the past 20 years.
"Hurricane" poster.
The play virtualizes a second-tier city of Jinghai, as a microcosm of the development of Chinese mainland cities, showing the social ecology, power structure, grassroots politics and other aspects we are familiar with. The story begins in the year 2000, at the turn of the century, when China had just joined the WTO, Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, and the rapid economic development, everyone felt that the future was full of hope. Director Xu Jizhou said in an exclusive interview with The Paper: "In 20 years, when the epidemic occurred and the global economy went down, looking back on the past, you will find that fate is actually full of uncertainty and accidents, and some of the choices you made have pushed you to where you are today." He wanted to use this drama to express the unresistibility of fate and the constant resistance of people to fate.
Perhaps it is no accident that Xin Shuang, the director of the hit drama "The Long Season" in May, expressed a similar original intention of creation. Xin Shuang has said in interviews many times: "What we want to tell is not even the story of a person's life, but the story of a generation's life." "Both dramas are borrowed from the shell of genre dramas ("Hurricane" is a police drama, and "The Long Season" is a suspense drama), wrapping the core of the times and fate.
Stills from "The Long Season".
Although the story of "The Long Season" takes place in the late 90s, it extends forward to the development of heavy industry in the 20th century. The protagonist Wang Xiang is the epitome of the Northeast workers during the heavy industry period, and he comes from a high-flying steel factory. It was a period marked by collectivism, a planned economy, and the industrial machine. The stories of "Hurricane" and "The Long Season" are set in the south and the north, with the millennium as the middle line, showing the rapid economic growth after the beginning and the withering of heavy industry before it.
Many viewers like the villain Gao Qiqiang in "Hurricane", because he is a successful person from the grassroots, and he is well versed in all the methods of human society, China's grassroots ecology and various human weaknesses. The director positions him as a strong utilitarian, opportunist, and also represents the desires of many people. Looking at it with a Mu Qiang mentality, it is easy to like this character. But such a life also comes at a terrible cost, because every step of the way is a bargain with the devil.
Contrary to Gao Qiqiang's life trend, the murder trio in "The Long Season" (Wang Xiang, Gong Biao, Ma Desheng) are all from dignified superiors, who have encountered changes and declined all the way. But as frustrated people, small people, they are always optimistic. Xin Shuang wants to affirm and convey this optimism and kindness through this drama.
"The Long Season" is a typical Northeast story. "The Northeast is a metaphor. Understanding the 'Northeast' means how to understand and face up to the dignity of ordinary people. (Huang Ping and Liu Tianyu, "Northeast Literature and Art Renaissance - "Northeast Renaissance" Discourse Analysis", "Contemporary Writers Review") These two dramas can become popular this year, not only because they are real, but also because we and the people in the play face the same confusion and loss.
Articles mentioned in this article:
1. "In 2023, a list of young people's mental states", Sanlian Life Weekly
2. "The "Top 10 Mental States of 2023" is released, which can best summarize your year", KnowYourself
3. "Chat with Dai Jinhua", GQ report
4. "When Entering the Real World: Not Just Cool Films and Mouth Substitutes", Youthology
5. "Douban 7.6, It's Still Underestimated", look at the ideal
6. "Why has it become the greatest common divisor?", Daily People
7. "Director Xu Jizhou: Fate and Rebellion against Fate", The Paper
8. "The Northeast is a metaphor", the ideal country
Author / Lotus
Editor/Wang Han
Proofreading / Wang Xin