The recent hit drama "Faint Fire" has made the "Uncle Circle" star the focus of discussion among netizens. Ye Zuxin, who plays the criminal policeman in the play, successfully transformed from fresh meat to a tough guy at the age of 40, and was praised by netizens as "very cellar-like", and also became a new male god in the uncle circle.
"Faint Fire" Lin Fanglu|Source: Weibo @Ye Zuxin However, such a popular trajectory is not surprising in the "uncle circle". For example, Yu Hewei, Wang Jinsong, Wang Xiao, Tu Songyan in "Shuquan F4" in "City in the City", Wang Yang in "Wind Chaser", Zhang Songwen and Zhang Yi in "Hurricane...... The "Uncle Circle" actor who has exploded in recent years was almost unknown when he was young, and at the age of about 40, he has become a male god who is loved by the public and "even the pleats are exuding charm". So, what kind of person can be called the male god of the uncle circle? What is the difference between a male god in the uncle circle and a real uncle?
The male god of the uncle circle: double blessing of business ability and his own conditions
First of all, strong business ability is often the characteristic that uncle actors are talked about. Strong business ability is not a day's work. The uncle actors who insisted on acting until they were about 40 years old have all experienced years of acting skills and have excellent acting strength. For example, Ye Zuxin starred in "Love on the Beach" for the first time in 2003, Zhang Songwen starred in "The Strange Son-in-law of the Dragon" for the first time in 2004, and Qin Hao went to Cannes for the first time with the crew of "Qinghong" in 2005 and was nominated for Best Actor...... All of them have about 20 years of experience as actors. In addition, time brings rich experience, which has also become their blessing. After graduating from Beijing Film Academy, Zhang Songwen not only worked as a printing factory worker and air conditioner installer, but also worked as a tour guide in Shenzhen. Having experienced the flavors of life, he played Gao Qiqiang vividly in every stage from a small person to a big man in "Hurricane". Secondly, the blessing of the character halo is also the key to the uncle actor getting out of the circle. Uncle actors around the age of 40, due to the choice of scripts, often play some villains with more complex personalities. Such as the villain brother Gao Qiqiang played by Zhang Songwen in "Hurricane", and He Li, the ruthless and vicious head of the Prime Minister's Mansion played by Zhang Yi in "Man Jianghong". These villains have more room to play, and they have become more and more popular with the audience in recent years. Derek Rucker, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University, found that people preferred the role of "villains similar to themselves" through online tests of 232,500 users and further grouping experiments with 397 participants. In real life, people are limited by "social roles" and must behave in line with social expectations, and some emotions will inevitably be suppressed. And film and television work happens to be a "safe haven" for real life, and "villains provide an interesting window into parts of ourselves that we don't normally explore." People are free to associate their dark side with virtual characters, who are often negative characters who vent their emotions wantonly, and realize the dredging of their emotions through entertainment. In addition, compared to the positive characters who are gradually faced, the complexity of the villain character is also an important reason for attracting the audience. American writer Robert McGee once proposed the Character Arc theory in the field of film and television. According to this theory, the character arc is the development trajectory or change of the character's own personality, whether it is for the better or for the worse. From the point of departure to the destination, the development and change of people will form a trajectory. The most touching moment of a character is what the audience sees that can make the character "sublimated" when the plot "reversal" occurs on him. Zhang Songwen played the fishmonger Gao Qiqiang in "Hurricane", who was a cowardly old man and a good brother with younger brothers and sisters in the early stage, and grew into a villain brother in the continuous struggle. Not only does the character have a complete growth and mindset shift, but it also highlights the different aspects of the character's personality when facing different characters.
Gao Qiqiang|Source: Weibo @狂飙官微 In the delicate interpretation of the uncle actors, the role of the villain shows a complete path of character transformation, which can often arouse the empathy of the audience and drive the uncle actor who plays the role to gradually get out of the circle. It can be said that the uncle actors have achieved wonderful villain roles, and the villain roles have also made uncle actors. Of course, after the explosion, the uncle actors are no longer limited to just playing villain roles, and have begun to dabble in some "pan-boss" roles such as presidents, lawyers, and criminal investigation captains, and this kind of role has always been the audience's favorite. From the perspective of facial features, men around 40 years old may be more suitable for this kind of role than Xiao Xianrou. Research has shown that people have the ability to reason about face-based traits early on, that is, the ability to judge the personality traits of a target object based on their faces. Alexander Todorov and other scholars at Princeton University have found through experimental research that the process of human processing facial information and cognitive inference is very fast and accurate, and it only takes 39 milliseconds to complete the preliminary cognition of the target object and form a more accurate inference of personality characteristics.
Effect of facial exposure time on the correlation between credibility and affective assessment and its non-shared variance|Source: Reference[4] Specifically, individuals with babyfaces were perceived to be more enthusiastic and relatable. Individuals with high facial maturity faces, on the other hand, come across as more capable and dominant. Just like Ye Zuxin during the period of "Step by Step", he is still a typical cream student, with round eyes and a baby face, which fits the image of the ten elder brothers who are eccentric and have no intention of winning the heir, and only want to eat, drink and have fun. During the period of "Faint Fire", Ye Zuxin lost the milk on his face, his cheeks were more contoured, angular and angular, his cheekbones were prominent, and he also grew a beard, and he had no sense of disobedience when he played a criminal policeman.
Ye Zuxin's face shape changes|Source: Screenshot of "Step by Step" (top), screenshot of "Faint Fire" (bottom)
The difference between the male god of the uncle circle and the real uncle
It is by no means easy to enter the "uncle circle". In addition to the age threshold of about 40 years old and superb acting skills, the male gods in the uncle circle often have strong sexual tension. Different from sensuality, sexual tension contains both inner desires and restraint of desires, it is a contradictory attraction that radiates from the inside out, and it is an atmosphere full of infinite reverie and possibility. The characters created by the "male god of the uncle circle" are often elegant or tough guys on the one hand, dressed tightly, and moderately restrained in their gestures; On the other hand, it has its own hormonal temperament, showing the sexy charm of a mature man, and any look can be "drawn". For example, the "poisonous bee" Wang Tianfeng played by Liu Yijun in "The Pretender" licks the lollipop, and the killer Mark played by Zhang Zhen in "The Mouth of Heaven" smokes, etc., their appearance is mature and cold, and the occasional small movements and small eyes immediately make people think about it.
Mark smoking|Source: Screenshot of "Heaven's Mouth" Characters with sexual tension are especially loved by the audience because they provide a deep level of emotional engagement and psychological satisfaction. According to the theory of reward expectation bias, this contradictory "sexual tension" creates a wealth of uncertainty and expectation for the audience. Since the audience cannot predict when or how the character's inner emotions will explode, they are always curious and interested in the character's interactions and behaviors, and have a strong expectation of the character's final behavior and emotional release. And this anticipation activates the reward system in the brain, especially the release of dopamine, which strengthens the emotional experience during the drama chasing. When a character's behavior eventually exceeds expectations, a reward expectation bias is generated, triggering a strong emotional response. Positive deviations (e.g., emotional breakthroughs that exceed expectations) bring satisfaction and happiness, while negative deviations (e.g., expectations not being met) can also increase the tension and discussion of the plot, making the characters more engaging. Therefore, the kind of uncle who has no desire at all and is as indifferent as a chrysanthemum from the inside to the outside is unbearable; At the other extreme, it is difficult for the audience to look forward to it if they are not restrained at all and write their desires on their faces. In addition, body shape can also affect character attractiveness. Evolutionary psychology believes that this is a judgment of a potential partner's health and reproductive potential. According to a survey of the influencing factors of sexual attractiveness by Stephen Whyte, a scholar at the Queensland University of Technology, and more than 7,000 residents of Australia, men and women felt that the importance of body shape scores were 0.33 and 0.05 standard deviations higher than the average score for all nine traits.
Summary table of participants' ratings on the importance of nine traits associated with sexual attraction|Reference[5] Martin J. Tovée, a scholar at the Institute of Neuroscience, University of Newcastle, UK, has found that the ideal male body for both sexes is a waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) of about 0.7 and a relatively high BMI (about 26). This figure has a relatively large body, with a V-shaped upper body and a narrow waist and hips, which is what we often call a broad-shouldered and thin waist. In "Man Jianghong", Zhang Yi's "green sleeves and thin waist" that netizens talked about, and Liu Yijun's "back killing" that is popular all over the Internet, all have this characteristic.
Liu Yijun "Back Kill"|Source: Screenshot of "Goodbye Ferris Wheel".
Zhang Yi "Green Sleeves and Thin Waist"|Source: Weibo @ Movie Man Jianghong In the end, a man is a teenager until he dies, and it is best to describe the male god of the uncle circle. Different from the real uncle, although the male gods in the uncle circle are old, they can often show a young mentality and play with young people. In "All the Way to the Sun", Li Guang, an atypical "boss" played by Wang Yang, is cautious and anxious in the face of love, looking forward to a response, and says to Li Mujia "Please, consider me". Such a sincere and equal view of love forms a strong contrast with the domineering image of the appearance. Such an equal way of showing love and the concept of love, even if he and the 24-year-old Li Randi group CP, it does not violate the harmony.
Li Guang shows love|Source: Screenshot of the TV series "All the Way to the Sun" In the play, Yu Hewei, who is either bitter and bitter or cunning, named "Jiahe" CP (Lei Jiayin & Yu Hewei) with netizens outside the play, and played games with young actors without putting on a show, and his cute, sincere, and shy performance increased his personality charm.
于和伟参与综艺游戏互动｜图源：《快乐大本营》截图年轻心态，不爱说教，这不仅打破人们对中年男演员的刻板印象，让叔圈男神们拥有立体丰富的形象，成为备受喜爱的“娱乐圈活人”，也让他们比大爷少一份“爹”味，和年轻人之间少一条代沟。 参考文献[1] 罗伯特·麦基.故事：材质·结构风格和银幕剧作的原理[M].陈铁东,译.天津：天津人民出版社，2016:103. [2] Todorov, A., Pakrashi, M., & Oosterhof, N. N. (2009). Evaluating faces on trustworthiness after minimal time exposure. Social Cognition, 27(6), 813–833. [3] Little, A. C., & Hancock, P. J. B. (2002). Using composite images to assess accuracy in personality attribution to faces. British Journal of Psychology, 93(1), 111-124. [4] Todorov A,Olivola C YDotsch R.Social Attributions from Faces:Determinants,Conseuences,Accuracy,and Functional Significance[J]. Annual Review of Psychology,2015,66(1):519. [5] Stephen Whyte , Robert C. Brooks , Ho Fai Chan, & Benno Torgler. (2021). Sex differences in sexual attraction for aesthetics, resources and personality across age. [6] 王毅,王立明,刘钾,周馨茹.人脸社会感知影响职业匹配效应机理探究——基于面部特征个性推断中介作用的实验印证[J].中央财经大学学报,2023,(06):121-128. [7] Haselhuhn, M.P, Ormiston, M.E., &Wong, E.M. (2015) . Men's facial widthto-height ratio predicts aggression:A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE,10 (4),e0122637[8] Krause, R. J., & Rucker, D. D. (2020). Can bad be good? The attraction of a darker self. Psychological Science, 31(5). https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620909742[8] Crossley, K. L., Cornelissen, P. L., & Tovée, M. J. (2012). What is an attractive body? Using an interactive 3D program to create the ideal body for you and your partner. PLOS ONE, 7(11), e50601. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050601
Author: Zhang Nan
Editor: Tennessee
Duty Editor: Min Min