If film and television creation is a "mirror city" of the real world, then it can be said that since "Thirty Only" and "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", it has already shown its eyebrows. With the industry background of "middle-aged actress crisis",
tells reliable female stories on the screen, which seems to be both a barrier for domestic dramas and a narrative field that needs to be developed urgently.
And this year's Korean drama, which has a lot of action, recently unveiled a masterpiece of female themes, that is, "Postpartum Treatment Institute".
says it is "big" because the show takes into account the various practical problems faced by modern women-which is more important than family and workplace, how to coordinate self-identity and motherhood, and the conflict between feminine consciousness and maternal consciousness. A social field survey report with a rather experimental style.
is based on the black comedy, brisk and funny tone, and the plot is advanced, as if the facts of the tense are presented, and they are combined into a daily invisible female parenting wonder. If it is said that "the public sphere is masculine", then the men in "Postpartum Treatment Institute" are actually reduced to supporting roles in an absolute sense.
Women’s "half-human half-mother" dilemma
As some netizens said: "It's hard to be a man, it's hard to be a woman, and it's even harder to be a mother. It's even harder for a professional woman to be a mother." The heroine of "Postpartum Treatment Institute", just Have all the above identities and experience.
On the day when he was promoted to the youngest director of the company, 40-year-old Wu Xianzhen went to the hospital for an examination and suddenly became an elderly woman. She couldn't open her arms. Why? The story of
bury a burden at the beginning, suspend the truth and falsehood of death, and recount the first half of this woman's life with Wu Xianzhen facing the illusion of the messenger of the underworld.
Since childhood, she has super-motivated, and therefore appears "out of place" in front of her peers; when she was a student, the family went bankrupt, and the burden of debt repayment fell on her alone; when she applied for a job, South Korea became "the best of Asia" because of football. "Light", the whole country is in madness, but she prepares for exams in isolation; after work, even if she is satirized by colleagues, she will spare no effort to "see the upper position."
is as strong as Wu Xianzhen, and it is not easy to change to a man to get to where he is today. So, in terms of gender, Wu Xianzhen is actually quite neutral.
At the same time, as an individual, she must continue to give in order to obtain (not normally obtained) satisfaction and sense of value. The essence of her life is scarce.
and pregnancy stopped all this, and it was obviously more difficult to deal with. Therefore, the operating table at the time of labor became Wu Xianzhen's devil's door.
In her subconscious, she imagined the process on the operating table as a road to hell. Although the strong will to survive has pushed away the messenger of the underworld, the suspense at the opening turns into black humor, but the new situation in reality still waits for Wu Xianzhen to face. The birth of
means her life will be transferred.
, as a working woman, she had a full personality, glamorous and respected before; but after pregnancy, she first lost her sense of dignity. First, on an important work occasion, the amniotic fluid suddenly broke. Wu Xianzhen appeared calm, but she couldn't help calling an ambulance in embarrassment. After being hospitalized,
must go through five stages: "humiliation period", "beast period", "painless heaven period", "crazy party period", and "must be happy period". In the meantime, physical pain, physical shame, and emotional ups and downs took turns. Compared with work, this is a proper "dimension reduction blow". The most tragic thing about
is that after giving birth to her son, Wu Xianzhen was completely used as a tool by her mother-in-law's family. The family smiled at the newborn, and only the mother said on her behalf, "My daughter has experienced life and death."
However, after a short period of joy, everyone quickly returned to daily life, leaving only Wu Xianzhen and the young husband. Face "this strange and unfamiliar world" with new family members.
For Wu Xianzhen, the free life of drinking ice American style is a thing of the past, and the seaweed soup and out-of-shape figure are the biggest reality. Z1z
, a former strong woman in the workplace, must compromise her mother's identity. Although it seems to be at home and work, personal freedom and maternal love and dedication, self-persistence and self-defeating, etc.Between the opposing projects, Wu Xianzhen actually has no right to choose. As a case, she reflects the dilemma of a considerable number of independent women.
The symbolism of "Postpartum Treatment Institute"
If "postpartum" is the first stage, then "Condition Institute" to Wu Xianzhen is like a system restart. Since entering this environment, she has lost her name. In a symbolic sense, she has a sense of existence only because of her own children.
The mothers here refer to each other by their child’s fetal name. They are only interested in the sex of the fetus, the number of births, whether it was delivered by a cesarean section, formula feeding or breastfeeding... In short, everything is centered on childcare. This is a "very special world".
Age, education, and experience are completely useless here. The conditioning institute has its own rules. The most typical one is that "the normal delivery despise the C-section, the breastfeeding despise the milk powder, and even the full-time wife despise the working", it is like a "hierarchy" and "chain of contempt" of the snow country train. The fathers who live in
also have a set of codes of conduct. They must be on standby at all times. The first choice for dressing is an inconspicuous tan that blends with the earth. It is best to go for a walk when breathing, and it is best to have zero presence. The hostess's husband was like-minded with a senior father whom he met accidentally, and even developed a sympathy of sympathy.
has a well-respected parent who claimed that “women’s real friendship begins after they become mothers.” The role of mother seems to be deprived of the second sex, only motherhood is the core and dominating Sexual identity awareness.
At first, Wu Xianzhen was adored and praised for the incomparably superior environment of the nursing home and the women who nurture their children with all their heart, but when she saw that the inmates must compare their prenatal education and recipes, she felt that she was not in harmony with this place. .
When everyone was following the "absolute power" in this world, Wu Xianzhen fell into a swing. She is like entering a closed dystopian space. On the last seat of this train, she hopes that the best way to raise children will give her inspiration.
If the nursery school has demonstrated the unprecedented complex landscape of parenting, its greatest function and persuasiveness lies in its acceptance of the role of two supernumerary mothers.
is a young "cool mom". She broke all the rules of perfect mothers. Not only did she dare to confront the dean, she also drank and ate fried chicken privately. It was later confirmed that she was Wu Xianzhen's career fan and gave the latter a strong spiritual backing.
"Cool Mom" helped her out in time when she was embarrassed by the "Absolute Power". It shows that to a large extent, the nursing home is enough to accommodate heterogeneous intruders and give them the opportunity to integrate into the mother group.
Another one is the "monster" here, the former national goddess. Because of her weight gain, she never saw anyone. Before coming in, she overeated through pregnancy; after coming in, the nursing home became a safe shelter.
The media's cynicism and unrecognizable appearance make it completely without confidence in a comeback. It was Wu Xianzhen's sincerity and everyone's encouragement that gave her the courage to pursue her career again.
To some extent, "Postpartum Care Center" is like a collective advertisement for the Korean Confinement Center. The display of the conditioning house in the play is very orderly. Everyone took the trouble to tell Wu Xianzhen that "This is heaven", even full of religious meaning. In other words, all mothers can find a home here.
Let's look at some side stories. Outside the nursing home, when Wu Xianzhen's husband bought a baby stroller, his budget price instantly rose from 300,000 won to 4.5 million due to the salesman's strong business ability.
When Wu Xianzhen was buying coffee, the scrutinizing gaze of the clerk and strange customers forced her to switch from a full glass of ice American to a full glass of exotic juice. Not to mention, the husband's family was particularly overjoyed at the birth of the eldest grandson. From society to family, the freedom of life of Wu Xianzhen and the gender of the fetus are always being carefully screened and stared at.
Although South Korea became the first country with a zero birth rate last year, childcare is still like an immaculate myth and constitutes an organic part of Korean society.
is based on Wu Hyunzhen being the heroine and even the directorShe is also a woman, and "Postpartum Treatment Institute" actually has ample female perspectives and positions. According to the current trend of the story, this drama seems to be biased by the myth of fertility from the beginning.
【Text/Panda】
The End
