For Zhong Zhuojian and his friends, this year's Chinese New Year's Eve is very special.
This group of "post-90s" is not at home, but walks into the World Butterfly Ecological Park in the Xishan District of Kunming City. There is a scenic spot called "Little People's Country", where more than 100 "little men" with a height of no more than one meter and three meters lived in their heyday, and they were formed into a performance team to perform "fairy tale life" to the tourists who came here every day.
"We want to use our own lens to make a documentary for the 'Little People's Country.'" Zhong Zhuojian, a graduate student majoring in radio and television at Jinan University, is the captain of the group, as well as the director and post-editing editor of the documentary.
"By documenting the daily life of the employees of the villain country, we explore the problem of 'they use the most mindful defects in their hearts as their only means of livelihood', and call on more people to pay attention to this group and understand their current situation."
The official website of the World Butterfly Ecological Park is a promotional map of the attractions of the "Villain Country".
Most of the existing news reports are mainly curiosities
Zhong Zhuojian said: "At the end of 2015, I saw the villain country for the first time from the documentary on the Internet. At that time, I was very puzzled, why the film could not dig up anything at all, the style was like a travel show, I wanted to see it. ”
So Zhong Zhuojian found tongmen Luole, and the two went to Kunming at their own expense in early 2016. "At that time, we also had a little idea of making a documentary, but more of a curiosity, wondering how the employees in the villain country lived?"
Due to tight funds, the two men's visit in 2016 lasted for two weeks and did not go well. "We first have to spend a lot of time getting acquainted with the people in the villain country." Luo Le told the surging news reporter that the people in the park themselves are very sensitive and will be warned by the management not to "say something that should not be said" with the reporter.
After finding that the material was not enough, the two had the idea of visiting for a second time. They signed up for the "Home Spring and Autumn" oral history video recording program, and also brought in friends from Guangdong University of Technology and South China University of Technology. This time, they were filmed from January 16, 2017 to January 27, 2017.
At present, the special reports on the photography of the villain country on the Internet are mainly films by Hong Kong Television and Phoenix TV. Most news reports are mainly curiosities, and there are few complete records. Zhong Zhuojian sighed, he hopes to understand that the employees of the villain country seem to have the same love and hatred as ordinary people in the body of children, and then from this point of view, they examine the helplessness and their own resistance given to them by society.
"Moreover, we enter the campus as students, and the staff there don't have to worry too much about gaffing in front of us." Coupled with the fact that they have been together for a long time and are similar in age, we can record their more authentic thoughts about this place. ”
Before taking the stage, a group of "villain country" employees were behind the stage. Full text photography: Luo Le
A few years after the opening of the park, the number of employees in the villain country dropped to 36
In the process of interviews and filming, the most important thing for this group of "post-90s" to do is to let the people in the garden let their guard down. Luo Le told the surging news: "Some interviewees have a lot of routines for us, such as praising this park in a slightly one-sided way. Or some very official clichés. ”
"Mainly because they are afraid of the warnings of the management, and their growth environment also makes them more sensitive." As a result, this group of friends continues to get acquainted with the interviewees, making each other accustomed to their own existence, "When they change our identities from interviewers to friends, they will say something from the bottom of their hearts." ”
Chen Jianjian from Sichuan Bazhong has been working in the villain country for 6 years. Because of personnel relations, Chen Jianjian changed from a newly opened and valued host to a marginalized performance supporting role, who could only wear a pink children's short skirt and amuse tourists with his own physical defects on the stage. Chen Jianjian had wanted to get out of here more than once.
Chen Jianjian and his girlfriend Wu Qiuyan were outside the mushroom room during their duty.
There is also an interviewee in the garden named Li Jia, who used to run a night show in Shenzhen before coming to Villain Country. During his stay in Shenzhen, Li Jia learned to blow darts, walk blades, swallow glass, and drink XO for a tip of almost 10,000 yuan until the next day in hospital. After coming to the villain country, although Li Jia wanted to perform the program, she still sighed that "the work of the villain country is easier than the outside.".
Between hosting programs, Li Jia rested offstage.
In fact, when the employees of The Villain Country first enter the park, the park will have different training for their own situation, including hosting, singing, and dancing. After the training is completed, most of the staff will go to the stage and perform twice a day in the morning and afternoon, each performing for one hour. On the stage of the "Villain Country", employees will play different roles such as "Guard" and "Angel".
In this way, the actor's salary is between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan. If it is singing, dancing and hosting, it may be more than 1500 yuan a month. The park ticket is 100 yuan per tourist, and the total number of tourists in 2016 is about 200,000.
"To our surprise, Pi Faun, who has been praising the villain country in front of the camera, has applied for his resignation years later. We interviewed Lao Pi and learned that he had been working here for 7 years, but he had always been the minimum wage, which was very disappointing. Coupled with his old age, the garden was still worried about his physical problems, so he dissuaded Lao Pi. Zhong Zhuojian told the surging news reporter that in the years since the opening of the park, the number of employees in the villain country has dropped to 36.
There are also "intrigues and fights" in the villain country
According to the general manager of the Villain Country Park, the number of tourists in the Villain Country every day is extremely unstable, from 4,000 people a day to as few as a dozen people, which is still a medium-to-low park size in Yunnan Province.
"In an interview with us, the manager said they plan to strengthen the theme of the dwarf kingdom, and may also build miniature landscapes such as police stations and hospitals." Zhong Zhuojian said, "When the transformation is completed, the manager is confident that the park will have more market prospects." ”
"You will find that the park is talking about business, managing this group like a business." However, the employees of the villain country come from a special growth environment, which is incompatible with the general business management method. Many dwarfism employees in the park have always stressed to us that the money they receive is not a salary, but a relief fund. ”
In the past, the first show at the beginning of each performance was always a collective performance of "Grateful Hearts" to thank the tourists for their charity through tickets.
"We also asked the park management, are they charities or enterprises? But they didn't answer positively, explaining only that the park's business purpose is to sustainably help more dwarfism groups and empower them with confidence and skills. Zhong Zhuojian told the surging news, "The general manager of the park also admitted that he could understand the doubts of the outside world, saying that these doubts had certain obstacles to the visit of tourists in the park." ”
In addition, there are many "regulations" in the park. Deng Honghua, an aerial photographer majoring in digital media arts at Guangdong University of Technology, said that for example, Teacher Yu, who manages "dwarfs", does not allow this group of employees who are actually adults to fall in love freely, and for example, the park stipulates that people in the "country of villains" cannot interact with people in the "country of adults" too well.
"And we also found that the 'intrigue' in the villain country is very serious." Deng Honghua said that employees can "increase wages" by making small reports to management.
"Because of their innate reasons, they have suffered from white-eyed ridicule, are more sensitive and vulnerable, so it will be more difficult to communicate, and living together will also produce many contradictions." Coupled with the fact that the management of the park is like a kind of school-style management, there will be small reports, groups and the like. Luo Le said.
For such school-style management, the park management party said that "the special method of managing this group is summed up as a method of communication."
"The reason why communication styles are poor is due to the IQ factor of this group." Zhong Zhuojian shook his head, "But when we contacted it, we thought that the IQ of most employees was no problem." ”
Before going to work in the morning, male employees are buying time to wash up.
"To a certain extent, the villain state is caused by us"
Li Qingyun, who has a bachelor's degree in communication at South China University of Technology, was responsible for interviewing this group of friends. What makes her feel uncomfortable is that on weekends and holidays, employees of the villain country have to pay for people to take pictures in the park.
"It made it feel a bit like being in a zoo. There are also tourists who often ask them how old they are and how tall they are. In the long run, they are naturally very disgusted. ”
"The people who ask may be inadvertent, but we do lack understanding of this group." Zhong Zhuo insisted that when he arrived in the villain country, he did not know that the employees in the park had different classifications, according to the employees, there were pocket and dwarfism employees. "The biggest physical difference is that pocket people are not fertile. But they have no problems with cartilage development, and their height will generally be slightly higher than that of dwarfism employees, and some can reach 1 meter 3. Dwarfism employees are mainly hypochondriasis, hands and feet are mostly curved deformities, but generally can have children. ”
"Initially we thought the park was a very inhumane place. But as we learn more, we will feel that this is a helpless move, and the hostility to the park is not so deep. Zhong Zhuojian told the surging news reporter, "I now feel that this form is problematic." But this park does have its own value. Behind this value is the reality of poor employment environment of this group. ”
Luo Le said: "I hope that everyone can correctly look at this group, to a certain extent, the villain country is caused by us, because the different vision of society has led to their group, similar to being 'captive' to carry out a hunting performance." But in addition to the physical defects, they are the same as us, and I hope that we can not look at them differently, and be more tolerant and caring, so that they can live normally. ”
Li Qingyun also sighed: "There are always people living in ways you never imagined. In fact, whether it is a dwarfism employee, or some other vulnerable groups in society, including the disabled, LGBT groups, etc., they need more voice, and everyone can enjoy the same resources in the common land and live the life they want through their own efforts. ”