Author: Yang Hui
In the sea of various TV dramas, idol dramas always have a place on the list of preferred genres for female audiences. Idol dramas often talk to the audience in a delicate and relaxed way, giving the audience a romantic imagination like being in the clouds. The character settings and plot arrangements of idol dramas in different eras are not exactly the same. Different “idols” and different “idol emotions” reflect the love peach blossoms of women in different eras, and some changes and changes in self-awareness and psychology. .
Stills of the TV series “Canglan Jue”
Stills of the TV series “Summer Flower”
In recent years, whether it is the freshness and healing of “Going to a Windy Place”, the fervent courage of “It’s Just Love”, the romance and charm of “Summer Flower”, the twists and turns of “Cang Lan Jue”, idol dramas still use exquisite facial makeup A little love, using delicate plots to stir the mood, and create a little bit of longing for romance in the hearts of the audience, especially the female audience. Idol drama is a daily dream, which has an alternative use and satisfaction for the audience, just like experiencing the soul-stirring of a romantic story. However, some elements in popular idol dramas are different from the past. What kind of emotional yearning do they carry for contemporary people?
Male and Female Roles in Idol Dramas: Strengthened Female Independence and Male Tenderness
Although male characters in idol dramas often constitute the object of love for female audiences, in fact female characters are also crucial. As the “incarnation” of female audiences, the portrayal of female characters in idol dramas of different eras, especially heroines, requires the ability to resonate with the audience. Although many female characters in idol dramas in recent years still have the traditional “Cinderella” and “lady” images, more and richer female images have appeared in love stories. He Ran’s proactive attack on love in “Summer Flowers” and Liang Youan’s smart and capable career in “It’s Just Love” are all concrete manifestations of female images responding to female audiences’ needs for independent and active personalities. Even if it is a relatively limited costume idol drama, there are still Cheng Shaoshang in “Splendid Stars” or Xiao Lanhua in “Cang Lan Jue” with a certain Cinderella color. It still forms a certain resonance with the psychological needs of modern women.
Another important factor in female image is the weakening and exit of female competition in love stories. Vicious supporting actresses and love triangles are gradually reduced in the shaping of female images in idol dramas, and more of them are replaced by sisterhood among women. Mutual help and understanding. Although the female independence and female friendship in these works are sometimes so simple and beautiful that it is suspicious, they are currently unshakable highlights of the audience.
Correspondingly, male characters as the emotional projection of female audiences, and even the representation of some ideal opposite sex, also show a more modern treatment. No matter how machismo itself is in the classical social gender order, it needs to integrate more modern gentleman, gentle, considerate and other qualities in front of women to keep pace with the times. Dongfang Qingcang, who is a variant of “Overbearing President” like “Canglan Jue”, is also “steel-strengthened into soft fingers” in front of the woman he likes, and Ling Buyi, who bears the traditional social order and responsibility like “Xinghan Brilliant”, has always been Show care and respect in front of the object of admiration, and the multi-faceted master in modern society, such as Xie Zhiyao in “To a Windy Place”, is always kind and considerate while being willing to help others in many ways, not to mention “It’s Just Love”. Song Sanchuan, under the jacket of a passionate athlete, is delicate and gentle with caring for every detail of the wound on the hand of the woman he likes. Generally speaking, the portrayal of male roles in idol dramas in recent years has reduced the discipline of women, emphasized respect for women’s personalities, careers, and dreams, and projected female audiences’ desire for equality between men and women and their understanding of emotional relationships. and support needs. The corresponding male images with too strong traditional gender concepts of men and women are easily resisted and rejected by the audience as “greasy”.
Love Narrative in Idol Drama: The Exit of “Love Brain” and “Mary Su”
Idol dramas often center on love, and audiences in different periods have different definitions and understandings of romance. In the love stories of more and more idol dramas in recent years, the centralism of love has gradually faded, and the consummation of love is no longer the sole purpose of some stories, but a kind of beautiful reward for the heroine’s growth and life experience. The concept that lovers are all important is gradually rooted in the hearts of the people in many stories.
Even in ancient puppet dramas where women’s careers are relatively limited, whether it is Cheng Shaoshang’s insistence on himself in “Bright Stars”, or Xiao Lanhua’s heart of common people in “Canglan Jue”, love has begun to lose its uniqueness of charm. The struggle of women in “Please Call Me Director” and the ups and downs of the workplace in “It’s Just Love” constitute another important aspect of these urban dramas besides the interaction between the male and female protagonists. Female audiences need to obtain some kind of alternative satisfaction of love through idol dramas, and need to “eating CP” to obtain some imaginary experience of love psychology, but even in fantasy, there are also women’s desire for personal value, independent identity, etc. These are more and more reflected in the setting of idol dramas and the corresponding feedback and evaluation of the audience.
In the love process of idol dramas, the “love brain” of female characters is gradually fading, and the “Mary Su” model is gradually becoming unpopular. Many women’s falling in love does not affect their independence and integrity of personality, and they do not need the encirclement and blessing of men, especially many men. This is the case for Xu Hongdou who went to Dali, and Liang Youan in Shenzhen. Although He Ran in “Summer Flowers” faces the heartbeat with enthusiasm and forge ahead, the work is also given settings such as youth and terminal illness, which fully paved the way for his “love brain”. Love is a kind of cherishing limited life. The way of time to rationalize his obsession with love.
Dramatic Meaning of Idol Dramas: Love Fairy Tales of Sweetness and Abuse and Real Temperature Differences of Hot and Cold
The basic logic of idol dramas is still love fairy tales, while the sweet pet style has become more and more popular in recent years, and sadomasochism basically only stays in costume idol dramas. The sweet pet and sadomasochism of idol dramas are two tastes that lead to the same goal by different routes, and the core theme is high-purity love writing. Whether it’s sweet pet or sadomasochism, the dramatic conflicts often come from the outside, and it has nothing to do with the hero and heroine’s determination to identify each other. Whether it is as sweet as honey or as sad as sad, the core remains the same as the love fairy tale of “life is full of love and infatuation”.
“Unconditional love” is in full bloom in the doting plot. Ling Buyi in “The Brilliant Star Man” firmly guards and expresses his love for Cheng Shaoshang in countless moments when Cheng Shaoshang needs it. Dongfang Qingcang in “Cang Lan Jue” is cold to Xiao Lanhua Zhire’s careful care, Song Sanchuan stood up again and again for Liang Youan in “It’s Just Love”, which is an eternal aesthetic of “chivalry”. And the plot of sadomasochism often has propositions of emotional dilemmas, which contain not so much a test of the lover, but a direct evaluation of love. At both ends of the love balance in idol dramas, what is worth mentioning together with love to discuss trade-offs, on the contrary, brings out the grandeur of love. “Life is precious, love is more expensive” that often exists in idol dramas is a classic valuation. It seems that love cannot be unforgettable without experiencing life and death.
In the idol dramas of ancient costume fairy tales, the other end of the balance of love is often the greater weight of life such as family, teacher, world, common people, etc., to force lovers to make choices and trade-offs, which is undoubtedly infinitely magnified The weight of love and epic tragedy. Of course, under the fairy tale tone of idol dramas, the difficult problem of “there are two ways of safety in the world, and you can live up to the Tathagata and you” often does not constitute a problem, and it is not uncommon for “true love to dissolve everything” to become the ultimate answer of the universe. The fairy tale texture ensures that the audience can not only experience the soul-stirring aesthetic level, but also avoid the painful psychological trauma after watching it.
Sweetness needs to be distracted, abuse is not biting, the love of today’s idol dramas is becoming more and more “light”, and it is in contrast to the “heavy” pressure of work, starting a family, parenting and other pressures faced by marriage and love in reality. The current idol dramas cleverly form a temperature gap with the relatively negative concept of marriage and love. The main creator chose to abandon heavy realistic topics, and instead chose to provide an emotional experience lightly, so as to form stronger compensation and replacement value. Therefore, unlike realistic TV dramas or themed TV dramas, idol dramas are not so intuitively “down-to-earth”, but to a certain extent, they also carry the cultural ability and cultural effect of dialogue with the real psychology and situation of some audiences. After all, the current idol drama is still a type of drama that is closely related to the audience’s longing for beautiful feelings. It stays at the level of becoming a virtual love sugar substitute for the audience to experience life. The richer and richer taste experience makes sweetness have lingering sweetness and love has an aftertaste. It has become a life model or love guide that audiences can touch and learn in real life. It is worth exploring by idol drama creators.
(The author is an associate professor of the Department of Cultural Industry, College of Liberal Arts, Capital Normal University)
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责编：崔益明 ]