Desire is the root of man's suffering. It is true that desire can make people happy and happy; but behind this happiness and happiness is suffering, and happiness is to be sad; after all desires are realized, disasters are inevitable. --Yusuf Sibay
No one in life is desireless, some people are addicted to the desire of the body, some people are greedy for power, some people are obsessed with money, etc., some people say that desire is also a pursuit, is the source of hope for a happy life, but desire is different and pursuit, it often makes people crazy and lost.
Once they fall into the abyss of desire, man will be completely reduced to a slave to desire, and there will be no day of liberation, and after that short period of joy, some will be nothing but the sadness and bleakness of happiness and sorrow, a disaster that will never be recovered...
In today's life, people are becoming more and more materialistic, in order to satisfy their inner desires, more and more people, began to bear heavy debts into car slaves, house slaves...
George Bernard Shaw said: "There are two tragedies in life, one is that your desires are not satisfied, and the other is that your desires are satisfied. ”
Are we really happy under the domination of desire?
Released in 1994, director Zhou Xiaowen reflected the phenomenon of materialization of mainland society in the 1990s with a smooth approach, and also alluded to the changes in villages and people's hearts in the process of modernization, even today, we can still find our own shadow from the roles in the film, and the seeds of desire have never been extinguished.
As a fifth-generation director, although Zhou Xiaowen's fame is far less than that of Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and others, his works are unique, and he tells every story in the film through his own lens.
This is a tragic story about a woman, a hard-working and capable woman who, in the abyss of desire, spent her life trying to satisfy the desires of her soul, bought a large 29-inch color TELEVISION that even the county magistrate was afraid of, but squeezed out all the essence of life.
The ancient Greek fable writer Aesop once said that "vanity is the root of disaster", but many times, people will let it grow and devour reason, in order to cultivate the desires of the heart for vanity, we always think that we can win our own glory by getting it, but in the end, we only find that this is a vain, deceptive boring thing, and at this time, we are left with only a thousand holes of confusion...
"The Second Concubine" seems to be an absurd story, but it is like a mirror, reflecting the shadow of our own embarrassment.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > heart is high, life is thinner than paper</h1>
The second concubine is the name of the heroine, the old people believe in giving the child a lowly life to support, and the concubine is such a lowly name, but it is quite historical, the concubine is taken from the ancient four ugly women Of the Yellow Emperor's second concubine, meaning ugly and virtuous.
However, the name is only a synonym, not the image of the second concubine, she looks not ugly at all, even in the Nakamura woman, her appearance is still superior, and she is diligent and capable, and she also supports the whole family with her own strength.
This is a bitter woman, there are too many unspeakable in life, in the early years of her husband in the village actually had some prestige, but later because of the injury to the waist, not only lost the position of village chief, no longer able to do heavy work, the burden of the family fell on the shoulders of the second concubine, and even the man's majesty was lost.
After that, the days deteriorated, and the second concubine became the pillar of the whole family, while the life of the blind man's family next door was diametrically opposed, and the thriving life envied others.
The blind man is not really blind, just a nickname when he was young, because of his small eyes, he was ridiculed by everyone, and now his little eyes are even more far-sighted, not only has the only truck in the village, but also has an enviable television set, and the days are almost unparalleled.
Whoever raises a family, who has an absolute right to speak at home, a man who cannot earn money, the same at home can not stand up straight, even with this village chief who once pointed out the country in the village, the same is the case, becoming cowering, dare to be angry and dare not speak.
However, the house leaked during the rainy rain, and this year the fruit trees were all smashed by hail, so the supply and marketing cooperatives issued a notice saying that they would no longer uniformly purchase the fruit baskets woven by the villagers.
Hearing the news of the second concubine, the eyes of the black, she got up early and greedy, the whole weave a summer of fruit baskets, said not to collect, white hard work is small, an old snack drink Lasa's rhythm of life will also be completely disrupted, qiao woman is difficult to cook without rice, the heavy burden on her shoulders, let her feel hopeless.
The blind man's easy words were a natural sound to her, and the blind man promised to help them pull them to the county town to sell.
Although the man of the second concubine is now living in a terrible state, he still likes to hear everyone call him the village chief, whether everyone is ridiculing or laughing, after all, he can finally give him a little comfort in his heart.
However, the second concubine "mourned her misfortune and was angry with her", and her body still did not get better after the second concubine boiled so much soup and water, and her son Huzi was always okay, running to the other party's home, and was lost by the TV.
The second concubine's heart is higher than the sky, but her life is thinner than paper, and her son and husband are not at all angry, so that she can only work hard and find opportunities to be better than others.
The blind man's daughter-in-law was quite incompatible with her, and when the two of them met, they always had to mix a few words, and the Murano mountain woman did not have the noble quality of cursing people and not revealing them, and stabbed the knife in the heart of the person every word.
The second concubine is most taboo to be scolded as a widow, and the blind daughter-in-law is stronger than anyone, but she did not give birth to a son, and was criticized, the women of the two families are that I see that you are not obedient to you, you are jealous that I live better than you, and I can be pinched in minutes.
Although the two women often pinched, it did not prevent the blind man from always wanting to help the second concubine, and for the blind man, why did the second concubine not admire it?
The blind man drives a car to and from the county, and the TV at home is also the favorite of the whole village, compared with the other party's doorway, their home can be described as a door.
At night, listening to the sound of television coming from the blind man's house, laughter, laughter between husband and wife, etc., the second concubine had countless fires bubbling out of her heart, so she could only put on her clothes and get up, and vent all her energy on making twist noodles.
Life always has to be a little rushed, buy a bigger TV for my son, so that the whole village envy the idea, in the heart of the second concubine spontaneously.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > sanity swallowed up by vanity</h1>
In the film, this woman is like clockwork, always has endless energy to vent, why not have a fire and nowhere to vent?
In the lens, there is a detail that is very intriguing, that is, the second concubine is always using her feet and face, which is counterintuitive in the eyes of ordinary people, after all, it is not a disabled person with a broken arm, and the face should be the obligation of the hands.
Here with feet and faces, in fact, the director's own intentions, really implicitly hinted at "sex", in sexual culture, men have foot fetishes and traditions since ancient times, and the three-inch golden lotus is the best evidence.
In the film, the second concubine is a carrier of desire, but as a traditional woman, when the body cannot be satisfied with desire, it can only achieve another kind of satisfaction through transformation, and the television set becomes the transfer point of her desire.
Through the head of the basket seller, the blind man took the second concubine to the county town to see the world, whether it was the statue of the street policeman, the car on the road, or the ubiquitous portrait of a foreigner, etc., all of which made her feel new, and there was also fullness and horror about the unknown.
The second concubine has a special love for the big TV set in the county town, which even the county magistrate can not reach, and thinks that if she can have such a TV set, her life will become extremely complete, and many regrets and pains will also go away, so she began to make twist noodles desperately to make money.
Of course, it is always necessary to take the blind man's truck, and between the two people, the relationship between the two is also quietly changing, and even the blind man generously invites the second concubine to leave the restaurant.
The two people who had eaten and drunk enough returned home, but in the face of the second concubine's husband's inquiry, the second concubine instinctively lied that the two had not eaten, and the relationship between the second concubine and the blind man had also changed its taste, and the husband of the second concubine and the blind man's daughter-in-law had detected the cattiness earlier, but because she did not have the economic power, she dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, and could only knock on the side.
This did not face the four large bowls of noodles brought by the second concubine's husband, the second concubine and the blind man could only eat it hard, and the village chief, who stood on the moral high ground, finally raised his eyebrows and exhaled again, so that the two could only knock out their front teeth and swallow.
But this does not prevent the blind man from wanting to please the heart of the second concubine, the blind man in the county town of the hotel for the second concubine to find an errand, do a livelihood is the second concubine is good at twist noodles, but the hotel is using a machine, not only save energy but also make money, the second concubine listened to the pleasure of the bad, did not care about the advice of the husband, insisted on embarking on the road to work.
When vanity and desire swallow up reason, you may get a moment of pleasure, but everything will go in an unforeseen direction.
In the restaurant, the second concubine worked well with her excellent craftsmanship, but soon, a colleague in the back kitchen caused an accident due to improper operation of the dough machine.
Colleagues were crushed hands, too much blood loss, urgent need of blood transfusion, and the second concubine just happened to be the same as its blood type, helplessly donated blood, the rural women did not see, once frightened face yellow, but looking at the unexpected harvest of a reward, the second concubine seems to open a new door to make money, hate can not immediately sacrifice a body of blood, to exchange for the big TV.
Finding a way to make money, the second concubine was even more clockwork and began to make money desperately, afraid that the TV would be bought one day.
The desire to make money is growing, but why is the desire of the body not clamoring? On the way to and from the county seat, the second concubine and the blind man were in frequent contact, a husband was incompetent, a wife could not give birth to a son, how could these two lonely men and widows not provoke a little right and wrong?
On the way back this day, the blind man scraped down a donkey cart on the side because he frequently looked at the second concubine, although the donkey was not a big problem, but the uncle who drove the donkey touched the porcelain, and he was stunned that the blind man was five hundred.
This money can buy a new donkey, but I don't know whether the blind man is kind, or absent-minded, unintentionally entangled, very happy to pay to understand the matter.
In the blink of an eye, night fell, but the blind man stopped the car on the side of the road, saying that the car broke down, and today it was not repaired, but the person directly pounced on the second concubine.
The two broke through the bottom line of morality in the middle of half pushing and half pushing, and the next day until the sun was three poles, the two woke up in a deep sleep, and the second concubine who was a thief did not dare to go back with the blind man.
Without the shackles of the moral bottom line, the second concubine began to indulge in desire and never returned, and after people lost their minds and became slaves to desire, they were doomed to cast the tragedy of life.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > the doomed tragedy of being a slave to desire</h1>
The second concubine and the blind man who often run between the county towns have since become a happy dew couple, and the second concubine who is physically and mentally satisfied has more inexhaustible strength, usually working overtime in the hotel, and taking time out to go to the hospital to sell blood in her spare time.
More times, the second concubine has also learned to be proficient, always before drawing blood, drink 3 large bowls of salt water, it is said that the water and blood will be uneven and do not hurt the body, but she did not know that such a frequent blood draw, her body will still be overwhelmed.
With the money she had exchanged for her health, the second concubine also looked like a city person, learning to apply cream, wear a bra, and buy snow-white shirts for her husband and son at home, and her biggest goal was still the big TV in the mall that even the county magistrate could not afford.
On a peaceful day, until the blind man found out that she was selling blood, waves began to appear, and it turned out that the reason why the second concubine took more than others in the hotel was actually the subsidy that the blind man quietly gave her.
Although the second concubine is poor, she is by no means taking all the money, she has at least self-esteem, she thinks that her face is worth thousands of dollars, after learning the truth, the second concubine, who is desperate to make money, does not hesitate to return all the money to the blind.
The second concubine actually had true feelings for the blind man, so she did not mind having a relationship with him, but in the face of the blind man's attitude of being willing to raise but not wanting to marry, she felt that she was insulted, so she quickly cut the mess, ended the relationship, and also ended her work in the county.
However, after calculating everything, I did not expect that in the village, the gossip about the two people had already flown all over the sky, and under the squeeze of the blind daughter-in-law's words, the two people fought and let the whole village see the joke.
The frail village chief did not dare to squeak at home, or the blind man who rushed home completely separated the two, no matter how difficult the day was, life had to go on, and in a messy time, the TELEVISION set became the biggest obsession in the second sister-in-law's heart.
She still got up early and rushed to make twist noodles, and then took it to the county to sell, thinking of saving money to buy a TV, but unlike in the past, the second concubine never hitched a ride with the blind.
Once the two met by chance on the road, they were no longer intimate, but the bits and pieces of the past could not be erased so easily, and the blind man told the second concubine: You are a good person, I am not a good person!
Soon after, it was rumored in the village that the blind man was playing with women in the county town, and was seriously injured by the goon, and others did not know the reason for it, but the second concubine knew that the blind man was to whitewash her, and he had a bad reputation.
However, society is tolerant of men, but it is harsh on women, and men are nothing more than a reputation for falling into a feud, but women, everyone is eager to immerse them in a pig cage to forbid them.
For the sacrifice of the blind, the husband of the second concubine was happy to see it, the blind man was no longer as beautiful as before, and he also washed away the green grass above his head in the eyes of the villagers, and he could also stand on the moral high ground at home and take the limelight. But the blind man's daughter-in-law could only cry and touch the earth, but instead became closer and closer to the second concubine, and the two families were no longer as intolerable as before.
Kung Fu pays off, under the hard work of day after day, the second concubine finally saved enough money to buy a TV 7,000 yuan, in the era of a shirt of 10 yuan and a donkey of 500 yuan, the TV set is undoubtedly a luxury film that ordinary people do not even dare to think, but the useless TV is the only obsession in the heart of this woman with four walls.
So the two families went to the big TV in a lively way, the dilapidated house, the narrow door could not smoothly welcome the TV into the door, and finally it was difficult to move in through the window, but this poor family, not even a tv object, had no choice but to put it on the kang.
The people in the village came to her house to join in the fun, and there was always a flattering word for the husband of the second concubine, and the village chief seemed to have returned to the glory of the past, and his spirit was soaring, on the contrary, the blind man's home was deserted, and the situation of the two families was exactly 180 degrees reversed, and even the blind daughter-in-law could not help but encourage the blind man to change to a big TV.
However, the hilarity is someone else's, and the second concubine who bought the TV to get what she wanted seemed to have been sucked away and became haggard and weak, she leaned on the TV set like a statue for everyone to watch, and her life was once again confused.
She tried her best to buy a TV, and in the end she was left with a dilapidated body, which became a joke in everyone's eyes, and when we became slaves to desire, life was destined to be a tragedy.
People are vain because of comparison, and indulge in desire because of vanity, but desire is often the bane of life's misfortune, just like the second concubine, at the end of the film, the goal is only a snowflake in the TV, you have nothing.
As I heard a story, the couple worked hard to buy a sea-view villa, hired a nanny and security guard, and raised a dog, but in order to get more and more busy with the mortgage, there was no chance to stay in the villa to enjoy, but the nanny and security guard lived in their villa, slipped their dog, and talked about sweet love, life was not comfortable!
In the context of the times, many people plunge headlong into the abyss of desire, covet pleasure, indulge in materials, but happiness and happiness should be the main theme of people's lives.