The "poor" portrayed in domestic dramas often seem false and unreal, because life is portrayed too "richly" and is seriously out of touch with the poor background set by the characters. In "The Story of Cheng Huan", Mama Mai, played by He Saifei, was dressed in a "cheap" dress, which gave a resounding slap in the face to these "fake poor" images.
He Saifei plays the mother of the heroine Mai Chenghuan in the play, a typical small housewife in the market. Her family lives in an old-fashioned alley, and her daughter's boyfriend is a low-level "Shanghai drifter" who has no car or house. This already outlines the background of a poor family.
Unlike the wealthy "poor" families in many domestic dramas, the old small room where the Mai family lives seems cramped and cramped, and the furniture is also old-fashioned, full of traces of time. This truly reflects the living conditions of a poor family in the market.
What's more, the "cheap mother's shirts" on He Saifei wore the simplicity of an ordinary market wife. This is in strong contrast with the brand-name costumes worn by many Chinese dramas "The Poor", showing the director's attention to and restoration of the lives of the poor.
He Saifei most often wears pajamas in the play, which cost only a few dozen yuan, with a simple and generous style, without any exaggerated "decoration", which is very popular and practical.
This is completely in line with the aesthetics of a thrifty middle-aged housewife. It's inexpensive, so you don't need to replace it as often.
Even the clothes worn when going out are controlled at about one or two hundred yuan, without any traces of luxury. The price of a well-dressed Chinese-style shirt is only around 200 yuan.
This kind of simple dress not only reflects that Mai's mother has some "face" after all, but also does not exceed the consumption level that her class should have.
It can be said that what Mama Mai presents is the daily dress of the vast majority of ordinary people. There is no appearance of any designer clothes, and there is no illogical luxury.
This kind of simple and close to life dress presents the audience with a real and credible image of an ordinary family mother.
In stark contrast, many domestic dramas portray the "poor" dress. The female characters in "Far from the South" are dressed in big-name luxury goods, which is seriously inconsistent with the background of poverty.
The heroine in "Thirty Only" rents a high-end apartment and wears designer clothes. The heroine of "Dream Back to the Qing Dynasty" also lives in a luxurious house that does not match the identity of "North Drift".
These are seriously detached from the living conditions that the poor class should have, and they categorically cannot make the audience feel a sense of substitution.
He Saifei used her "cheap" mother to dress up and directly slapped this false and gaudy "poor" image in the face. It shows the simple dress that an ordinary housewife should have, allowing the audience to see a real little person.
It also taught many screenwriters and directors who lack life awareness what the daily life of ordinary people should look like.
Of course, dressing up is only one aspect of creating a character. The inner monologue of Mama Mai's nervous children's marriage and worries about her livelihood in "Chenghuan" also made the audience deeply understand the helplessness and strength of an ordinary housewife.
This kind of creative attitude based on the lives of ordinary people can make domestic dramas enter the hearts of the audience.
Otherwise, the empty and gorgeous external packaging can only become the object of ridicule. He Saifei used her "cheap mother shirt" to send a deep warning to the domestic drama industry.
This also shows that an actor with superb acting skills can use subtleties to show the vitality of a character.
He Saifei's simple mother's dress in "Chenghuan Ji" gave many "poor people" who are out of life a resounding slap in the face. It shows the daily clothes that ordinary housewives should have, and allows the audience to see a real image of a little person.
This kind of creative attitude based on the lives of ordinary people is worth learning from all screenwriters and directors. Only with insight into life can domestic dramas further enter the hearts of the audience and present a richer and three-dimensional group portrait of characters.