The family ethics drama, which is jokingly called "mother-in-law drama", is one of the most important types of TELEVISION dramas in China's TV production with realism as the creative concept and guidance. This type of TV series is the most lifelike, and shows the development of society and people's lives with the family as the smallest unit, which is deeply loved by the audience. However, there are also some family ethics dramas that are too bloody and exaggerated to be close to life, especially the conflict between the two generations represented by the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Recently, focusing on the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, while the popularity of the Korean drama "Daughter-in-law Period", which is praised by everyone, the depiction and narrative of the relationship between the two generations is eye-catching, which can be used as a reference for domestic family ethics dramas.
Intergenerational decomposition: different concepts, constant tension
"Daughter-in-law Period" focuses on the transition period of just getting married to become a daughter-in-law, and unfolds on the various distressing problems experienced by the heroine Si Lin as a new daughter-in-law and the in-laws represented by the mother-in-law. The drama has several aspects of the novelty, the first is the perspective, as a new daughter-in-law, the heroine will inevitably experience the run-in with the in-laws, there will naturally be various conflicts and "cultural shocks" appear, which makes the TV series have a natural story. Secondly, in the performance of the story, although it is a comic drama, the drama is characterized by warm feelings and white depictions of real life, not dog blood or exaggeration, and naturally presents the various aspects of life. Third, the TV series does not avoid the various dilemmas faced by the daughter-in-law, and expresses the troubles it faces through the experience and vision of a new daughter-in-law, through the relationship with the mother-in-law, the communication with the girlfriend and the quarrel with the husband, as well as the inner monologue. This relatively new perspective and the natural narrative that surged forward have gained the unanimous empathy of the audience represented by women.
However, if it is only a TV series that shows the plight of the daughter-in-law and accuses the in-laws, "Daughter-in-law Period" is just a million ordinary family ethics dramas. Its unique value lies in the fact that its depiction and narration can not only make the generation represented by the daughter-in-law feel empathy, but more importantly, it can also make the generation represented by the mother-in-law and the man represented by the husband accept and reflect.
Park Ha-hyun plays the heroine
The previous generation and the next seem to have a natural conflict. The previous generation, because they lived long enough and had enough experience, felt that they were more transparent and in the passage of time, more attached or insisted on something, and self-righteously imposed on the next generation. However, as the Japanese actress Kiki Shirin replied to a reporter's question about "what life advice do you have for young people": "Please don't ask me such a difficult question." If I were young, I wouldn't listen to anything the older people said", and the ideas or suggestions that the previous generation wanted to give to the next generation, even if they were correct, the young people did not necessarily want to hear it, so the tension appeared. This is the starting point for film and television dramas to portray the contradictions between two generations to show their dramatic tension.
However, decomposing these contradictions into TV dramas and presenting them is another thing that tests the wisdom and ability of TV drama producers. "Daughter-in-law Period" presents these contradictions through the details of life that people feel accustomed to but feel that something is wrong, with the eyes of daughter-in-law Si Lin. For example, why is it necessary to go to the mother-in-law's house to wash the dishes by the daughter-in-law? Why should the festival be based on the mother-in-law's family first, rather than the mother-in-law's family? Because the new daughter-in-law has to adapt to or rebel against this process, many collisions have arisen in the seemingly ordinary life, and these contradictions are more obvious.
TV dramas that depict the relationship between two generations in terms of the relationship between mother-in-law or son-in-law and mother-in-law are often too tense. The direct reason for this is to create dramatic conflicts in order to make the TV series more interesting. However, there may be two deeper reasons hidden behind it: one is the stereotyping and discrimination against the elderly represented by the mother-in-law - the elderly are either symbolized or appear in a boring image; the other is a criticism of the root causes of the experience and cultivation of the elderly, such as Fan Shengmei's extremely patriarchal mother in "Ode to Joy", Li Juan's mother-in-law in "Double Sided Glue", and Tian Chong's strong mother-in-law in "Upside Down". These images of them are disgusting, but they can also cause people to reflect: how did they become who they are now? It's just that the former is more obvious, and the latter is much more difficult to understand - presumably the creators did not put their minds on why the elderly became such an elderly person when creating. The ingenuity and valuableness of "Daughter-in-law Period" lies in the fact that the plight of the daughter-in-law is highlighted through the experience and feelings of the heroine Si Lin, and the root cause of the character is also found for every character in the play, especially the performance of the mother-in-law, so that the mother-in-law is no longer just a tool for the tension of two generations and an obstacle for young people to be trapped.
Intergenerational understanding: Compassion because it understands
Kwon Lu plays the male protagonist
Unlike the general cliché family ethics drama, the values of the elders are infinitely amplified and shaped, but they do not reveal the reasons and logic behind them, or they shape the daughter-in-law into a vicious woman who loves money and is bitter for no reason, and a very important creative breakthrough in "Daughter-in-law" is to let people "understand". This understanding is not only the understanding between the characters in the play, but also the audience's understanding of the characters of the TV series, and the latter is its more important orientation, so it is more accepted by the audience of different genders and ages that is generally consistent.
The so-called understanding between the characters in the play is through continuous story development and contradictions and conflicts, so that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the TV series can understand each other through the sons who are connected among them. The plight and distress of the daughter-in-law are not to be spoken of, only the mother-in-law. There is a detail in the play: after the mother-in-law asked her daughter to sweat steam and was rejected, she came to ask the second daughter-in-law Si Lin. Si Lin took her husband along, so in the filial piety words of her son and daughter-in-law, who were envied by others, the mother-in-law received great psychological satisfaction. In fact, young people like mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have nothing more than some ostentatious and vain psychology, and the daughter-in-law also sees through the key to this. This is the same reason as in the TV series, the daughter-in-law of the eldest son is more independent and modern, dares to rebel against the mother-in-law without participating in the preparation of the sacrificial meal, the mother-in-law is ridiculed by the little uncle and is depressed, and cannot raise her head in front of the rest of the family.
The understanding between the characters in the play and the audience of the TV series is a more important layer. This stems from the fact that the TV series makes everyone's plight and the suffering they face between the two generations objectively and without exaggeration. The mother-in-law and the father-in-law are sad because the eldest daughter-in-law is unwilling to participate in the sacrificial labor because they have to bear the eyes and ridicule of others; the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law are unwilling to do the sacrificial labor, because the sacrifice work has always been only done by the woman and the man is sitting on the success, which is unfair; the son is willing to help with the sacrifice work but the mother-in-law opposes, so the son better honors the mother-in-law as compensation for his wife. But even so, every sacrifice or family event can become unpleasant. Different viewers have a sense of identity through the dilemma of each character in the family and generation, so the TV series takes care of and appeases every audience to the greatest extent, so that everyone understands, and also allows every audience of the corresponding role to reflect on self-examination, thus avoiding the problem of simply instrumentalizing the character image and not revealing the reasonable legitimacy of the number of people, causing the problem that the characters and the audience and the characters cannot "understand" each other.
Intergenerational reconciliation: Seeking common ground while reserving differences, long live understanding
Intergenerational conflict is inevitable, but the TV series blindly renders and depicts the tension between generations, which can only increase the contradiction between generations and deepen the "gap" between two generations in modern society, which is undoubtedly of no benefit to the family for intergenerational and society.
However, intergenerational reconciliation should not be instrumental and ending in terms of the performance of the TV series, but should be developing and in relationships. The three sons and daughters of the family and the mother-in-law (mother) have different modes of getting along, and accurately and somewhat type provide the audience with three intergenerational versions. The eldest family, with the daughter-in-law in full dominance and the eldest son fully supporting the wife, lives completely according to the modern atomic family and handles intergenerational relations in a very Westernized way. They do not participate in ritual activities that represent traditional family ethical relations and inheritance, and to some extent represent rebellion against the previous generation. This is undoubtedly in line with the imagination of modern young people, but under the Confucian culture that attaches importance to the ethics of family affection, it is inevitable that people will be a little sad. In the second family, the daughter-in-law is gentle to some cowardice, and the second son is extremely filial, although he is also considerate and gentle to his wife, but he wants his wife to be a daughter-in-law who meets the expectations of her in-laws. As a result, the second daughter-in-law constantly suffers from various things that make her miserable in her in-laws' house, such as constantly working, serving men and sisters-in-law, and eating leftovers with her mother-in-law. Although it warmed the heart of the in-laws, what the daughter-in-law suffered and experienced also made people feel infinite sympathy. As for the daughter's family, the husband is incompetent, and the daughter always returns to her mother's house and is reluctant to go to her in-laws' house.
The intergenerational mode of coexistence embodied in these three typical and somewhat typed families reflects the conflict and agitation between the traditions represented by Confucian culture and the modern culture represented, and the existence of the three models naturally has its rationality, but none of them is a healthy way of getting along between generations. The most successful thing about "Daughter-in-law" as a family ethics drama that shows the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is that the TV series increases each other's understanding through the communication between the characters and the exchange of positions, so on the basis of seeking common ground while reserving differences, find a balance point, so that each other can compromise within the acceptable range, so as to reconcile. This reconciliation is naturally a reunion, and it is also what the audience expects. But for tv viewers, reflections on intergenerational reconciliation, planted in everyone's heart — young or old, male or female — are the greatest value of "Daughter-in-Law". This is undoubtedly worth pondering by the creators of domestic family ethics dramas.
(The author is a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
Author: Lü Peng
Editor: Zhou Minxian
Image source: Douban