◎ Han Siqi
"People will lie even in diaries written only for themselves."
This line written in the opening of the Korean drama "Anna" is like a prophecy, running through the life script of the protagonist Anna in the story. She is a habitual liar and is vain and inferior, but her vanity instills her determination to be among the upper class at any cost - "Whatever you make up your mind to do, you must do it."
Anna, the only daughter of a wealthy family who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, was born in Rome (terminal), an art student at New York University , and later studied Asian art history at Yale . "Art" is the most expensive thing in Anna's body. clothing". Later, she entered college to teach. Her husband was a newly wealthy man in Seoul, and his career was expanding from a business empire to politics.
This is the life story script "stolen" by the fake Anna.
In the first twenty years of her life, her name was Yumi. A high school diploma student who failed to enter college after three years of repeated studies. His father runs a tailor shop in the countryside and his mother is mute. From Yumi to Anna, rather than saying that she "stole" the real Anna's life, it is better to say that she lived a life by stealing other people's identities.
"Fake Anna" Yumi worked as a housekeeper for the "real Anna" and stole her passport and academic certificate. She used this to forge her resume and successfully got a job tutoring children from upper-class families. From then on, her life began to take off, and this forged identity became her ticket to the upper class society. With her strong learning ability, she can learn and sell her knowledge now, and she has really trained students who have passed Yale. As her career rose, the principal introduced her to a new IT upstart in Seoul. Through her husband's connections, she was transferred to the most popular department of the university as a professor. Through marriage, she completed another jump in class.
This is exactly the plot of the Korean drama "Anna". "After the vanity in my heart was ignited, I used vanity as a driving force and lies as a sharp edge to plunge into a class that did not belong to me." Yes, the lens of Korean dramas has once again focused on the sick "evil woman". Anna, a vain woman suffering from Ripley Syndrome, is caught up in the desire to improve her status and keeps telling lies, so that in the end it is difficult for herself to distinguish whether it is truth or a lie, a personality disorder formed in fantasy.
Although it is directed by a new female director, the presentation of "Anna" has a sense of subtlety that is different from the works of newcomers. It is an obvious "copying" of and Bong Joon-ho's style, with cool restraint and undercurrent.
Anna ANNA, a word that is like a mirror image, is just like the life control group of real and fake Anna.
Because the fake Anna was born at the bottom of the class, she constantly felt "a sense of deprivation" as she grew up: her beauty was like a talent, but this "talent" caused her to be targeted by a male teacher in high school. After being discovered, the other party "passed the blame" and was forced to transfer to another school. She saw the man's ruthlessness. She is also smart enough and hard-working. When her father cancer passed away, she completely lost the person who could explain her willful choices. Forced by life and poverty, she needed to work several jobs at the same time, but she soon discovered the differences between classes. The gap between people is difficult to fill with hard work.
came to Seoul from the countryside. Her beauty, hard work and even a little bit of intelligence could not reach the threshold of the upper class. The rules of the game pursued here are not struggle, civilization, or she no longer believes in the myth of hard work - even if she burns desperately, she can neither shake anything nor bring anything. For a low-level commoner like her, having a little bit of beauty or talent is quite embarrassing. There will be countless moments when I have the illusion of standing on the first step, thinking I have caught a glimpse of the sky.
Therefore, she wanted to be Anna, living in high spirits, just like the exquisite metaphor mentioned by Marquez when writing "The Autumn of the Patriarch", having the same rights as "a vibrant Saturday" - relaxation, Relaxation, energy, and the excitement of thinking you can do anything.
The irony is that when Yumi tries to resist the fate of being constantly deprived of the bottom, for her, the effective way is to become the upper class. Even though it was an identity she "stolen", even though it required her to surrender her dignity, suppress her emotions, and wear a "poker face" mask semi-permanently - this was what a US military officer's wife taught her in her childhood.
Apart from Anna's mirror life design, the story of "Anna" is also hard not to remind people of "The Fictional Anna", another drama adapted from a real case this year. This "created" Anna has a similar life to the protagonist of the Korean drama "Anna":
Between 2013 and 2017, Anna Delvey (pseudonym), who was in her early 20s, disguised herself as a German with a 60 million euro trust fund A wealthy heir, he announced that he would establish a private art gallery and a high-end art social club in New York. With a series of false appearances, she entered the upper class of New York, mingled with bankers, hoteliers and real estate tycoons in Manhattan, and deceived most of the art world. It was not until 2017 that she was finally imprisoned on multiple charges.
As the media viciously commented: "Looking at the soul of New York, Anna realized that if you attract people's attention with shiny things, large amounts of cash, and symbols of wealth, it is almost impossible for them to see anything else. "The Korean drama version of Anna also used the same deception, taking advantage of the snobbery and short-sightedness of the upper class, and severely overstepped the false reputation of the so-called "upper class".
Of course, saying "Anna" is exquisite does not mean that the story logic is exquisite, but that the characters and plot are exquisite. The logical behavior of lying and lying, theft and substitution of life, this process is not perfect. Even, as netizens joked, Anna's misappropriation would not be established if there was a "Xuexin.com" in South Korea. It can be said that "Anna" and " parasite " share a similar logical "Achilles heel" - in the logic of opposition between rich and poor classes, rich people are very stupid, and the real Anna is "flat" and has no ambition. Although it is a by-product of her privilege and good background, her stupidity and incompetence in the play are also real.
Can’t viewers who follow the drama find these plot bugs?
certainly isn't.
But they still chose to continue this story, partly because "Anna" is a cool drama script imprinted with the flavor of the times - the people at the bottom, moving forward all the way, and finally reaching the top. The process may be disgraceful, but it is satisfying and satisfying.
Therefore, some viewers wrote sincerely about their thoughts on watching the show: "The fake Anna is smart, capable, strong and hardworking, and keeps everything going at every step. Of course, what she does is deception, but if she benchmarks her abilities against those honors, she will be more capable." I am qualified to be the real Anna. In this society where the upper class monopolizes most of the resources, the fake Anna is like a thief who breaks out the stupidity of the upper class and carries the hope of the lower class. Of course I will not. I want to learn from her, but I admire her and sincerely hope that she can succeed and be happy."
If the scripts of Korean drama heroines ten years ago were still the world of "little white flowers with flawless morals" - the story of "Anna" must be "true." "Anna"'s version of revenge. She was impersonated by an evil woman and changed her life secretly. Through the love and rescue of the perfect male protagonist, and after some love and growth, she took back everything that belonged to her. Today, ten years later, this kind of essentially winner-takes-all story - a rich and leisurely class love story wrapped in " romance " where money comes with morality and where love and career are balanced, is no longer the case. Can be paid for and believed by the current audience.
The reason why "evil girls" have become the new traffic password is also because of the complexity carried by these characters. They have a "fighting" spirit - a three-in-one combination of persistence, determination, and action, and they always rely on themselves. The "evil girls" have torn apart the "transaction logic" packaged in the ultimate romantic love story in " Menghualu " - the woman's efforts and standing up in the story are not so much about not relying on men, but for "Think you can lean on a better man without sacrificing your self-esteem." In comparison, the "evil girls" may have gone further.
The inspiration brought by "Anna" is of course not only about how the stories of "Annas" are imagined and told, but also reminds us to pay attention to the era when the stories of "Annas" are fictionalized and told.
