At the 2024 Spring Festival Gala, British-Chinese actress Jiang Shimeng co-performed the sketch "Can That Be the Same" with her partner, which was shocking, polarized, and had mixed reviews.
As an audience, after watching this sketch, I only felt extremely embarrassed, this is definitely one of the most failed Spring Festival Gala sketches I have ever seen.
1. The failure of the performance: the embarrassing performance has no content
As a professional actor, Jiang Shimeng's performance this time can be described as a failure.
This "embarrassing performance" not only made the audience dumbfounded, but also stunned the audience in front of the TV.
The sketch looks stiff and contrived from the beginning, and the two actors speak incoherently on stage, whimpering and whimpering throughout the whole process.
There is no laughing point in the whole sketch, and it feels more like a self-congratulation between the two.
The most surprising thing is that the audience did not react much, but Jiang Shimeng on the stage laughed to herself.
This contrast is puzzling and adds to the sense of embarrassment.
It is said that this sketch was not fully performed at all, and the picture was changed in a hurry.
This may also reflect the director's disappointment and helplessness in its quality.
The basic elements of a skit should contain storytelling, humor, and subtext, but this skit is almost useless.
As an actor who graduated from Beijing Film Academy, Jiang Shimeng should have been more professional.
But the performance of this Spring Festival Gala seriously exposed her shortcomings in performance.
The whole process seems very contrived and deliberate, and I can't see the state of entering the play at all, but I have a strong feeling of "acting" on the stage.
This is a far cry from the sense of integration that the audience expects.
2. Confusion of choice: The director's level is doubtful
Although all the responsibility cannot be put on Jiang Shimeng's personal head, the director's choice and aesthetic problems are also confusing.
The stage of the Spring Festival Gala has always represented the highest level, why did the director choose such a sketch?
Is it because of Jiang Shimeng's popularity?
Or do you really think there is merit in this sketch?
This is all puzzling.
The director is responsible for all the programs, and if he is not satisfied with the quality of a certain sketch, he should replace it in time, rather than embarrassing the audience to watch it.
As netizens commented, this is definitely an obvious director's dereliction of duty.
Whether a director's work can be called successful or not, the most important criterion for judging is the audience's response.
This time, however, it was the opposite, with the self-congratulatory on stage contrasting sharply with the embarrassment of the audience.
The director clearly ignores the real feelings of the audience as an "audience".
Perhaps the director hopes to convey some kind of ideology through this sketch, but the effect does not seem to be ideal.
Because the failure of the performance has completely overshadowed the meaning of the sketch itself.
3. The Death of Burden: No More Wonderful
We know that the format of the sketch requires a rich language baggage and a subtle sense of humor to support it.
But this time the skit is clearly insufficient for both.
Many of the classic sketches of the Spring Festival Gala in the past are impressive.
For example, Zhao Benshan's sketches are particularly delicate and nuanced, and the nature of the performance does not seem to be "acting" on the stage.
The audience is captivated by the humor of its language and the delicacy of its characterization.
Many of his sketches have become classics of the Spring Festival Gala.
The key to why these sketches have become classics is that the story is strong, the style is novel, the language is sharp, and the actors are also in place.
In contrast, Jiang Shimeng's sketch this time can be described as having no baggage.
The two actors on the stage seem to be talking to themselves, with very little dialogue and no idea what they are expressing.
No wonder some netizens directly commented that this sketch is "drama fragments".
Performing sketches on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala requires not only rigorous acting skills, but also excellent language organization skills.
This time, Jiang Shimeng's sketch failed in both aspects, which was a big surprise.
Fourth, the embarrassment: the reputation is worrying
This time, Jiang Shimeng's sketch received tens of thousands of bad comments on the Internet, and the word "embarrassing" almost became the main opinion of netizens.
I felt the same way after watching this sketch myself.
The two actors on the stage also obviously felt embarrassed, because the atmosphere of the whole skit was obviously a little incongruous.
But the most surprising thing is that Jiang Shimeng herself didn't seem to realize this, but laughed without scruples on stage.
This contrast adds to the awkwardness.
I asked my family and friends how they felt about the skit, and they expressed similar awkward experiences.
Some viewers even said that the embarrassment of this skit was so strong that they could barely watch it, and changed the channel after only a few glances.
Such a sketch is placed on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, which is indeed incredible.
We don't know if the director and actors realized they were creating embarrassment.
But at least in my opinion, this is definitely one of the most embarrassing sketches of the Spring Festival Gala over the years, with almost zero laughter, but it can be described as "superb" in creating embarrassment.
Finally, I have to mention the issue of letting a foreign actor participate in the Spring Festival Gala.
Although Jiang Shimeng studied in a Chinese university, she became a British citizen after graduation.
Let a foreign actor appear on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and the reasons for its consideration are worth exploring.
The Spring Festival Gala is the most important literary and artistic event in China, mainly hoping to show Chinese culture and the style of the Chinese.
There is no intention to belittle the talent of foreign actors, but they are not Chinese after all, and it is difficult to accurately express the connotation of Chinese culture.
If foreign actors are allowed to go on stage just to pursue gimmicks, it is contrary to the original intention of the Spring Festival Gala.
epilogue
Whether the cause of this incident is a problem of the director or the actors themselves, it should cause us to reflect.
The stage of the Spring Festival Gala has always represented the highest level of Chinese literary and artistic creation, and each program will go through layers of screening, hoping to present the best works.
This time, however, the situation was disappointing.
This, in turn, shows that the current literary and artistic team may have certain problems in choice and aesthetic ability.
Of course, there will be times when both the director and the actors make mistakes, but the key is to learn from their failures.
Only by facing up to one's own shortcomings can one improve in future creations.
I think that this event is first and foremost for the director team.
They have to reflect on their own criteria when choosing a show and actors.
It is necessary to take into account the preferences of the audience, and at the same time pay attention to the ideological and moral effect of the work, and cannot ignore the quality.
Secondly, it is also a reminder for the actors.
We must always maintain a humble and serious attitude towards learning, and constantly enrich ourselves.
Even if he is already a well-known actor, he can't have the slightest slack and luck, and he must treat every performance as a new test.
Finally, the criticism of the audience should also be listened to by literary and artistic creators.
Only when the work is in the hearts of the audience can it be regarded as a real success.