Text: Lele
Edited by Extroverted Grapes
"There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, but I hope that in the eyes of a thousand people, there is only one Monkey King. ”
When Liu Xiaolingtong said this, he definitely didn't expect that one day in the future, he would have to pay the price for his "arrogance".
At the beginning of 2024, You Benchang, who was dazzling in "Flowers", gave a good "lesson" to the six-year-old children.
Wong Kar-wai has been sharpening his sword for ten years, and even the supporting role of the waiter is the Academy Award actress, which shows how much attention he has put into this drama.
And the "uncle" played by You Benchang has become the most eye-catching existence.
With resourcefulness, vision, and story, You Benchang portrays the profundity of "Uncle" very well, and a look full of tears and disappointment is enough to impress the audience.
Some people say that Wong Kar-wai's most clever move in filming "Flowers" was to invite the veteran actor You Benchang to take charge.
At this time, some people also regret that if there were no past events, the status of the six-year-old child in the rivers and lakes would not necessarily be lower than You Benchang, and it would not have fallen to the point where "everyone shouts and beats" today.
01
The biggest similarity between Liu Xiaolingtong and You Benchang is that they both interpret a mythical character, and they have become classics that are difficult to surpass.
Although he became popular by playing the role of "Monkey King", Liu Xiaolingtong was not the first choice.
Back then, when director Yang Jie decided to shoot "Journey to the West", he found the "six-year-old child" Zhang Zongyi and asked him to play the role of "Monkey King".
Although it is a monkey opera family, Zhang Zongyi's age is there, and it is obviously unrealistic to follow the crew around, so he recommended his son Zhang Jinlai to the director with the principle of "being virtuous and not avoiding relatives".
Zhang Jinlai is the original name of the six-year-old child.
However, the old man's recommendation to his son is not just selfish, but that the six-year-old child really has the talent and experience in this area.
From the age of 6, he began to learn art from his father, and later was admitted to the troupe, specializing in martial arts.
In the Kunqu opera "Borrowing Treasure from the Dragon Palace" and "Wukong Borrowing a Fan", the six young children all played the role of "Monkey King" and have a certain amount of experience.
After receiving the invitation of "Journey to the West", the six-year-old child was really attentive enough, and did a lot of homework and preparation in order to present the image of the Monkey King.
First of all, the prototype of the Monkey King is a monkey, and when playing this role, the six-year-old child spent a lot of time observing the monkey's actions.
For example, the monkey's legs are always bent and always ready for rock climbing jumps.
In the TV series, no matter how he walks and jumps, Sun Wukong's legs are always bent, showing the flexibility of the monkey itself.
In order to better understand the small details of the monkeys' daily life, he will even go to the zoo to live with the monkeys.
Of course, I have also been to the mountains to observe how wild monkeys forage for food and escape.
As the heir of the monkey opera family, the monkey's movements are naturally difficult for him, and what really makes the six-year-old child embarrassed is the Monkey King's "fiery eyes".
There is no concrete thing on the one hand, and his 600-degree myopia and astigmatism are another obstacle.
In order to practice "fiery eyes", the six-year-old child chooses to look at the goldfish every day.
The fish's eyes don't turn, his eyes don't turn either, and sometimes after a long time, even the eyes will be bloodshot.
But in the end, Liuxiaolingtong turned his myopia into an advantage, and his "fiery eyes" seemed to be able to really penetrate everything.
When "Journey to the West" was released, the audience loved Monkey King almost overwhelmingly. The favorite childhood game of that generation was to use a bamboo pole as a golden hoop stick.
I believe that more than half of the children have shouted the slogan "My grandson is here".
But it's too popular, which is not a good thing for Liuxiaolingtong and "Journey to the West" itself.
02
As the popularity of "Journey to the West" continued to increase, the actors also became the "top stream" at that time.
Not only did he continue to be invited to perform commercially, but he also appeared on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and even received invitations from abroad.
When receiving an invitation to perform in Singapore, director Yang Jie was very happy.
She wants to go abroad with "Journey to the West" as soon as possible, and wants audiences around the world to know that China's "Journey to the West" is a mythical story with cultural heritage, not a Japanese spoof.
When Director Yang Jie told the actors his thoughts, what was waiting was that the four masters and apprentices frequently asked for leave and shirked, and they couldn't even see the figure for a while.
After many inquiries, I learned that after the four people who were the protagonists became popular, more and more commercial performances came to the door, and they had already begun to perform outside with the director behind their backs to make money.
Yang Jie filmed "Journey to the West" to let the Chinese people see cultural self-confidence and inherit classical culture.
When she learned that the "Tang monk and apprentice" were wearing the clothes of the crew and standing on the stage to advertise and sell, she was annoyed.
But at this time, the four masters and apprentices no longer looked down on Yang Jie.
Whether in the crew or in the party, the four masters and apprentices are often proud of their achievements and blatantly isolate the director.
Even the six-year-old child said bluntly when facing the performance: Yang Jie goes, I won't go.
Seeing the actor who became popular with his own hands treat him like this, Director Yang Jie was also heartbroken.
In the years that followed, as long as Yang Jie saw "Journey to the West" on TV, she would immediately change the channel, and even said sadly:
I'd rather "Journey to the West" didn't work out.
Don't forget to dig wells, the meaning of this sentence is not understood by Liuxiaolingtong, which also lays a mine that will "explode" at any time for him in the future.
03
Because of insufficient funds, the plot of "Journey to the West" was compressed a lot.
After seeing the good broadcast effect and having it in the account, Director Yang Jie received an order from his superiors to shoot a sequel to "Journey to the West" to make up for the regret of insufficient funds.
When the crew of "Journey to the West" issued an audition statement again, the four people who had eaten up the role dividends returned to the director again, and their attitude of admitting their mistakes was called sincerity.
Naturally, as a result, we have all seen that the six-year-old child has become "Monkey King" again.
After becoming popular again, Liu Xiaolingtong completely forgot his original intention of playing the "Monkey King" and was completely fluttering.
With the label of "Monkey King", Liuxiaolingtong received more and more commercial performances and interviews. But no matter where he goes, he will declare his "absolute sovereignty" over Sun Wukong.
Whether it is an interview or a performance, he will definitely show his "unique skills" of playing the Monkey King, which seems to have been reminding the audience not to forget his "Monkey King".
Similarly, as long as the role of Monkey King has been played on the screen, including Stephen Chow, Zhang Weijian and others, they have all been criticized by Liu Xiaolingtong.
He even said that "Journey to the West" should apologize to the people of the whole country.
is also creating a classic role, but Jigong's actor You Benchang is not.
When many netizens ridiculed Guo Degang's "Jigong" as a spoof, the main game Benchang said:
As long as the heart is pious, you can act in any way, and the Buddha is full of appearances.
Whose realm and cognition are higher, there is no need to say more!
But the absurdity of the six-year-old child is far from over.
04
In order to make more people recognize that he is the only Monkey King, Liu Xiaolingtong has "worked harder".
In addition to acting, he also began to write books, and under the name of "Journey to the West", he went around promoting and selling books.
As for whether this is promoting "Journey to the West" or accumulating fame for himself, it is unknown.
After his role as the Monkey King was recognized, Liu Xiaolingtong began to take advantage of the fame of the original author Wu Chengen.
In Wu Chengen's former residence, a photo of a six-year-old child was hung at the door to declare sovereignty.
After walking into the courtyard, there are portraits, sculptures and so on of the "Monkey King" played by the six-year-old child everywhere.
I didn't know that I thought it was to the "Six Little Children's Exhibition Hall", not Wu Chengen's former residence.
After a long time, the audience also became resistant to the six-year-old boy who kept eating the dividends of the role, and he himself did experience a period of low period.
During this time, Liu Xiaolingtong remembered that he was an actor and tried to find a way to return to the showbiz.
But his treatment of Director Yang Jie back then has long been well known in the circle, and the style of "draught against well diggers" has caused many people to dare not use him at all.
Even if he had the opportunity, it would be difficult for him to be recognized.
When filming a scene, the actress who played with the six-year-old child kept laughing, and only after asking the reason did he know:
I always think that he is the Monkey King, it's too funny.
Although it sounds like a joke, it can also be seen that under the marketing of Liuxiaolingtong day after day, the audience has long been "labeled" for him.
The turning point of events happened in 2016.
When CCTV was preparing for the 2016 Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Monkey, it prepared a program called "Monkey Troubles in the New Year".
Due to various reasons, the six-year-old children were not invited in the end, which also caused a lot of "public indignation", and even said that "if there are no six-year-old children, they will not watch the Spring Festival Gala".
Some people really want to, some people follow the trend, and some people just join in the fun.
But no matter what the starting point is, the final result is that Liu Xiaolingtong once again saw the audience's recognition of himself, and officially announced that he was "out of the mountain".
After that, he played the Monkey King again in "Havoc in Tianzhu", and became active again, participating in interviews, commercial performances, and so on.
But what really made him fall into controversy again was at the memorial service of director Yang Jie.
Although they were a little unhappy with each other before, the Si people had gone, and as a former colleague, Liu Xiaolingtong also came to the scene.
It's just that in his speech at the memorial service, he neither remembered his friends nor reminisced about the past, but spent a lot of space promoting his new film.
Since the "Lingtang Selling Films" came out, the popularity of the six young children back then can be said to have been completely exhausted.
Since then, the actors and characters, Liu Xiaolingtong and Sun Wukong, have a clear dividing line in the hearts of the audience.
Epilogue:
Liu Xiaolingtong, like You Benchang, both have created classic mythological characters, but the two have made completely different choices.
A person is conceited and self-respecting, as long as others play the Monkey King again, they will be labeled as Dong Shi imitates and misinterprets spoofs.
And when You Benchang is faced with any form of Jigong, he can respond to everything with the sentence "Buddha has no appearance".
It is no wonder why the 90-year-old You Benchang was invited by Wong Kar-wai again to become the soul of "Flowers".
And the six-year-old child is trapped in "Journey to the West", drawing the ground as a prison, and a character becomes a label for a lifetime.
——END——