At 00:00 on April 7, the costumes of Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu in the "Mountain and River Order" were auctioned online, and although the organizers called for "rational bidding", after more than 10 hours, the costumes starting at 1 yuan had been auctioned for sky-high by crazy "mountain people". The red robe that Lao Wen has worn many times in the play has exceeded 210,000, and the bid for the blue robe that Zhou Zishu only wears once has reached 100,000. (April 8, Red Star News)
It is not unique for fans to spend high prices to buy costumes worn by Aidou. As early as 2017, a fan bid for 180,000 to buy the costume of "Blood of the Machine" starring Ouyang Nana. In the same year, the costumes in the TV series "That Year the Flowers Bloomed and the Moon Was Round" starring Sun Li also sold for a high price of 21,400 yuan, setting a record for the highest price in the domestic costume auction at that time. Not only domestic fans are willing to pay for Aidou's costumes, but also foreign fans. Actress Debbie Reynolds sent 600 of her costumes for filming in 2011, including a white cocktail dress worn by Marilyn Monroe and starring in the movie "The Seven Year Itch," which was auctioned for $4.6 million.
Is it that the fans are too crazy to chase the stars, or is the value and meaning of the costume itself really worth the money?
A costume was auctioned for a sky-high price, and I believe many people felt incredible. However, it is understood that the costumes auctioned in this event are all handmade, the production cycle is as long as one month, and the quality can be described as excellence, and Zhou Zishu's blue robe and Wen Kexing's red robe have special significance in the play. For the "mountain people", getting these two costumes is undoubtedly a memorable and meaningful thing. Also take Sun Li's costume in "That Year the Flowers Bloomed and the Moon Was Round", it is from the famous designer Ye Jin's hand, the design sense is excellent, graceful and luxurious, and the colors are bright. It is understood that the person who filmed this costume with heavy money revealed that he would use this costume as a toast for his fiancée, which means "spend a good full moon".
For the sky-high price of the costume, it cannot be simply boiled down to "the madness and irrationality of the fans", and we must see the intrinsic and external value of the costume. Just as the so-called "love of beauty is everyone", the external shape and design beauty of the costume need not be said, the time-consuming long-term, the fine craftsmanship, and the hands of famous artists all show that the costume is attractive enough externally. The meaning, symbolism, and expression of the costume in the play, as well as the clothes that were once worn as aidou, are also of great commemorative value to fans.
At present, China has entered a diversified society, and the high-priced purchase of costumes by fans is the manifestation of the diversification of cultural consumption. As long as it does not harm the interests of others and is not far beyond its own economic ability, this kind of behavior is actually beyond its own beak. For the sky-high price of the costumes worn by Aidou, we should not just take the meaning of "fan fever consumption" out of context, but should take a long-term look at the value and significance of the costumes, as well as the trend of diversification of cultural consumption.
Text/Xinyang Huang (Guangxi University)