" The Mistress " reveals the characters' emotional changes, resistance to fate, pursuit of self, and longing for ideals through the complex description of a specific era and specific background. After thousands of years of changes, these emotions are still the same. The essence of "humanity" that moves contemporary people. Among them, the powerful and gentle brilliance of humanity bursts out, which deepens the practical significance conveyed by the entire drama and provides new ideas for the innovation of film and television drama themes.
Female themes are one of the most popular categories in the film and television drama market in recent years.
Especially last year, female themes reached a creative peak. From the female-oriented variety show " Sister Riding the Wind and Waves " to the TV series " Twenty Not Confused ", " Thirty Only " and the web dramas " Skyscraper " and " The Rumored Chen Qianqian ", from age to Difficulties, workplace crises, family life, women's mutual help and the awakening of women's consciousness, a kind of drama series has triggered heated discussions in the market and public opinion, further promoting the rise of "her power".
However, since the beginning of this year, female dramas seem to be in decline. As several female-themed dramas have failed one after another, the industry's definition of "independent women" has become more and more consistent. A large number of plots focusing on marriage, love and childcare are seen as selling women's anxiety. The market for female dramas urgently needs to break through industry pain points such as role tooling, labeling, and plot suspension.
Under the public opinion, the industry is also thinking about what should be the focus of female-themed dramas?
Recently, the female drama "Mother of the Household", which was simultaneously broadcast on iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku, answered this question. Although the play is set in the Qing Dynasty, it is truly based on a female perspective. By exploring individual growth and awakening of consciousness, it deeply demonstrates the survival difficulties and individual values ​​of women in feudal society.
At the same time, the play also deeply integrates traditional Chinese culture such as Kesi and Kunqu opera that have been passed down from ancient times to create a sample of female dramas while also taking into account the social value and significance that film and television drama creation can bring. , which has set a good example for the future development of the industry.
The core of the story of empowerment of traditional culture,
"Mother of the Household" focuses on a new perspective of women
Can women also be matrons of the house in ancient times? "Housewife" left the audience with such a question at the beginning of the series.
In the past, due to the dual influence of the patriarchal system and the feudal system, ancient women were often victims of family interests and hierarchy. However, in "The Mistress of the House", Shen Cuixi, who learned tapestry from Mrs. Ren at the age of nine, began to learn to manage an account in her teens, and became the mistress who supported the family business as a child bride, broke the industry's expectations of traditional women. The stereotype of and gives the play a different and differentiated color from the character setting.
Different from previous female characters, Shen Cuixi was spotted by Mrs. Ren because of her talent in tapestry. In a helpless background, due to her own efforts and ability in business and housekeeping, Shen Cuixi became the successor to her husband Ren Xuetang in charge of the house. The role of the matron of affairs. Although the play focuses less on the character's growth process when she was young, it uses a narrative technique that combines forward and flashbacks to show her female strength and grace as the head of the house. At the same time, through her influence on the values ​​​​and way of doing things of another female character Shu Fang, it also reveals the emotional core of female mutual assistance, and incorporates in-depth insights into female power from the aspect of character creation.
Another important female character, Zeng Baoqin, reflects the psychological changes and growth process of women in difficult situations, from being a husband to being a self, and then to being a family.
In the early stages of the series, Zeng Baoqin’s character relied on the love of the Xiao family as the core support. However, when Ren Xuetang disappeared and the Ren family was in turmoil, Zeng Baoqin was able to abandon his ego and work together with Shen Cuixi and Shu Fang to complete the three-dimensional The character's emotions and the sublimation of the character's value fully demonstrate the mind and magnanimity of women that transcend personal emotions.
It is through meticulous plot setting and emotional rendering that "The Housewife" has created a group of vivid female portraits, showing the emotional encounters and female consciousness of women who grew up in various class backgrounds and social life. It explores the budding awakening and growth changes, and explores the resonance between the independent emotional values ​​​​of characters with different growth backgrounds in emotions and marriage, and the awakening of women's independent consciousness under the trend of female thought in contemporary society, thus completing "The Housewife" "A genre innovation and breakthrough in female-dominated film and television dramas.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that, as a female group drama set in ancient times, the drama relies on its unique age advantages to innovatively focus on traditional cultures such as ancient Kesi silk and Kun opera.
Different from previous dramas that simply used culture as the background of the story, in "The Mistress of the House", whether it is the birth of Kesi works, the development of Kesi business, or the changes in the music of Kun Opera, they have all become factors that promote the development of the plot of the drama. key point. Take Kesi as an example. The first complete Kesi work to appear in the play is "A Wishful Wisdom for Ten Thousand Years" produced by Qiaoer. The production process of this work not only demonstrated the exquisite Kesi production skills, but also promoted Shen Cuixi's artistic conception. It exports the value of "hoping women to be self-reliant and self-reliant", attracting young audiences to pay attention to traditional Chinese culture, and at the same time contributes to the dissemination and expansion of influence of traditional culture in modern society.
restore character settings in depth,
makes female actors fearless of the "middle-aged" label
In addition to dramas, with the explosion of the female drama market in recent years, female actors have more opportunities for growth, and have become a The focus of the industry. However, among them, the choice space left for middle-aged actresses is still relatively narrow.
From this perspective, "The Housewife" has brought new industry hope to middle-aged actresses to a certain extent.
First of all, the main characters of the play cover multiple age groups, including Zhang Huiwen born in the 90s, as well as actors born in the 60s, 75s, and 80s Hui Yinghong , Jiang Qinqin , Yang Rong .
Secondly, unlike previous female group dramas that focused on traffic and not on acting, from the perspective of the connection between the actors and the characters, the drama also tried its best to seek the correlation between the characters and the actors themselves in casting, and strived to be among the powerful actors. Find the best actor for the role.
For example, Jiang Qinqin, who represents the "Mother of the House" Shen Cuixi, has played roles with different growth backgrounds in " Qiao Family Courtyard ", " All Dreams Bloom ", and " Jiuzhou·Hai Muyun Ji " The female character itself has the attributes of an independent woman, self-improvement and self-confidence to a certain extent, and has certain similarities with Shen Cuixi, the "head of the family" in the drama.
On Douban, Jiang Qinqin’s acting skills were also well received. Some netizens said: "The role of Shen Cuixi played by Jiang Qinqin is different from others from the beginning. She knows the world but is not sophisticated. She is not uncommon in the calculations of women in the house. Her courage, responsibility and courage are far better than ordinary men." Jiang Qinqin's acting skills are obviously different. He was in a runaway state at the beginning, but after the uncle disappeared, he gradually started to work seriously on his career. "
In addition, focusing on middle-aged actresses also gives "The Housewife" great practical significance. and value, showing the current trend of the film and television drama market becoming mature. It not only gives outstanding actresses such as Jiang Qinqin, Yang Rong, Hui Yinghong, Huang Yi, etc. a stage to truly show off, breaking the stereotype of middle-aged actresses playing roles in the industry, but it also brings broader creative ideas to the industry. , that is, at a time when film and television themes are becoming more and more diversified, the age restrictions for actors in film and television dramas should be relaxed more, so that the characters and the actors' images are as close as possible, thereby improving the content quality of film and television dramas.
From women to all living beings,
explores the core value of character creation
It is true that the description of female group portraits is often the biggest highlight in female dramas, but the value and significance of "The Housewife" also goes far beyond showing female growth.
From the perspective of character creation, in addition to the three-dimensional protagonists such as Shen Cuixi and Zeng Baoqin, the play also depicts a lot of flesh-and-blood characters.
For example, the eldest son of the Ren family, Ren Xuetang, is Shen Cuixi's husband. Although his heart has long been devoted to Zeng Baoqin, he hesitates to choose between the two women due to family interests and his cowardice. The necessity of being the master; the second master, Ren Rufeng, is a "prodigal son turning back" character. He plays an important role in analyzing the growth of the male perspective in the play, from being a playboy in the early days to gradually showing that he is filial to his mother and considerate. The wife's side finally wakes up after experiencing right and wrong and helps Shen Cuixi to take care of the family business together.
Wei Lianggong, who came online in the later stage, is also a relatively special character. Wei Lianggong, who appeared after Ren Xuetang disappeared, acted as a "confidant" and understood all the pain Shen Cuixi had experienced, and insisted on being with her despite the rumors. From his perspective, we can see the sad other side behind women's resilience, which also plays an important role in promoting the emotional direction of the plot.
In addition, small characters such as the honest and loyal Shu Yan and Ruyi who dare to pursue her own happiness also have clear growth paths in the play. They create their own value in the whole story in their own way, making the whole play more full. , diverse.
On the other hand, when shaping the image of women, many female dramas on the market focus too much on the independent growth of women, which ultimately leads to the suspension of the plot and the loss of the foundation of life. "Mother of the Household" understands well that in any era and in any social background, men and women coexist as "human beings". While emphasizing that women can be the masters of the house, from the perspective of gender equality , It expresses the new values ​​​​that men can also focus on family without shouldering the burden of career and choose the life they want to live.
is intertwined with many aspects, and through the description of the complexity of a specific era and specific background, it reveals the emotional changes of the characters, the resistance to fate, the pursuit of self, and the longing for ideals. After thousands of years of changes, these emotions still make contemporary people human. The root of the touching "human". Among them, the powerful and gentle brilliance of humanity bursts out, which deepens the practical significance conveyed by the entire drama and provides new ideas for the innovation of film and television drama themes.
And we also hope that with the successful demonstration of this drama, the future film and television drama market can break the limitations of the existing drama situation, start from human nature itself, and unearth more differentiated and excellent content about the exploration of self-awareness, and provide the entire The film and television drama market brings more practical significance and social value.
