In the past few years, Gongdouju has formed a monopoly on the types of costume dramas. Costume dramas are only reserved for fantasy and Gongdou. There is no diversification. Vulgar works monopolize the market and occupy absolute advantages in capital, market, and platform. However, the prevalence of cultural rubbish is not the most terrifying. The most terrifying thing is that the cultural elites abandon their cultural stance. Gongdou Opera has prevailed over the years. Where is our cultural criticism and literary criticism?
Recently, the delisting of Gongdouju has once again aroused heated discussions among netizens. Observer.com interviewed well-known screenwriter Wang Hailin to reveal the reasons for the popularity of Gongdouju and the industry ills exposed by Gongdouju’s dominance. The following is the full text of the interview.
[Interview/Observer Network Ma Mikun]
Observer Network: Do you understand the scale of this wave of "restricted ancient orders", whether it is for individual works or works of the same subject?
Wang Hailin : I don’t know the situation either. At present, it’s mainly for TV stations, and the video sites have not been removed. Last year, we have been proposing uniform standards for network stations, but it seems that they have not yet been implemented.
picture from Sina Weibo
Observer Network: In recent years, restrictions on Gongdou Opera have been in existence. What is the specific situation?
Wang Hailin : There is a ratio limit, requiring that the total number of episodes of costume dramas broadcast each month and year should not exceed 15% of the total. Some TV stations, such as Jiangxi Satellite TV, are not exhausted, and some stations broadcast a TV that exceeds the standard.
also has a limitation on the playing time period. Putting it in the "non-yellow file" seems to be unlimited. But there are no golden files and "non-yellow files" on the Internet, so it is equivalent to unlimited.
In fact, the censorship department or the competent department has always discouraged or even restricted the content of the palace fight. Around 2004, I once reported on the Dugu Queen project, and I was beaten back directly. At that time, it was not called Gong Dou, it was the story of the harem.
also stipulates that no traversal content is allowed. In fact, "Scary Step by Step" and "Gong" are adapted from the novel of Traversal. It cuts out the part of the passage at the beginning and packages it into an ancient costume story, but the traces of the passage in the plot are still there.
Observer Network: Under the restrictions, why are there still a large number of Gongdou dramas appearing, and how do they operate behind them?
Wang Hailin : Our review system is very flexible. Probably in 2009, I contacted the leaders of some platforms, and they said that it is absolutely not allowed to do cross-cutting content. But after half a year, they began to broadcast the drama of crossing. I don’t think he lied to me, because from a policy perspective, he knows exactly what’s not allowed to be broadcast, but if the producer says it’s done, and if there are gaps to drill into, why not the TV station? , So that he can also have more advertising revenue, so from their perspective, they still hope to break through some restrictions.
Gongdouju was broadcast because the production company and broadcast platform worked together to circumvent restrictions. To this end, they have to go to camp, use various relationships, and do a lot of work to mediate. Therefore, despite the explicit prohibition, even though there is such a consensus in the industry, this play cannot be done, and some people have been doing it.
We have a big problem in this aspect of management. However, first of all, Gongdouju is not a question of whether it should be broadcast or should be removed from the shelves, but if it is not allowed by regulations, then everyone cannot do it. Or when it is allowed, you should tell everyone that you can shoot. In actual operation, there is too much space inside, which is easy to breed corruption.
Observer Network: What do you think of the embarrassing situation of the competent department in this regard of "disabling chaos as soon as it is released, and death as soon as it is caught"?
Wang Hailin : I feel that the competent department is quite efficient in handling specific issues. For example, if there is a problem with a specific drama, it allows you to delete it, prevent you from starring, or even remove you from the shelves.
Regarding censorship, did you say that the competent authority did not control it? In fact, these dramas have been subject to certain restrictions during the release process, and they are all controlled. I think the managers have been trying to make them broadcast as much as possible. Our regulation is It’s dynamic and there are no issues of principle. You are allowed to broadcast it. You can watch the social reaction at any time. If the public opinion reaction becomes large, you will be restricted. The current situation is that all aspects of society are dissatisfied with and disgusted with Gongdou drama, whether it doesn't work, now it is controlled, and the broadcast is stopped, and there are voices in public opinion: Are you interfering too much? This is the difficulty of management under the new situation.
From the perspective of the national cultural policy, this is a cultural strategic issue, but our competent authorities seem to be powerless. They have already worked very hard. Do you know how high the number of works filed every day, let alone review one by one, it is just that the opinions of the members of the review committee may not be accepted. They have a lot of trivial writing work, and then you let him take care of strategic issues, and you can't do it at all.
Many times, our cultural strategy is not very clear. For example, can we shoot "Wolf Warrior" again? For a while, we say that we can shoot, and then we say that we can’t shoot; for a while, "Awesome, My Country", and for a while, it won't be broadcast. What is our cultural strategy?
Once, I chatted with a producer, and he said that "Iron Man 3" has invested in China and added a section of acupuncture and moxibustion for Iron Man. Then the Americans asked for this section to be removed. They thought it was a promotion. Chinese culture also held a large hearing, and invited the best Chinese medicine practitioners in China to give them pulse and acupuncture on the spot.
"Iron Man 3" stills from the Douban movie
can be seen in the cultural field, Americans are highly vigilant, this political consciousness to maintain the mainstream values of the country comes from the heart, this is where they are better than us, they People in key positions are like this, what can be broadcast and what cannot be broadcast, they will take the initiative to do it, and they will do better than we thought.
Observer Network: There is a not-so-good trend in public opinion right now, that is, the removal of Gongdouju can easily lead contradictions to the censorship system, thus obscuring some real problems, such as lack of innovation leading to homogenized competition Deteriorating the industry environment, I would like to ask you to analyze these problems.
Wang Hailin: The core problem of Gongdouju is that it is the worst part of Chinese culture when it explores themes. In fact, the harem has no culture at all, it is a place where the philosophy of slavery prevails. Of course, there is no forbidden area as a creator's subject matter. If you can dig deep into human nature and make some criticisms, it can be considered valuable. However, we see these works, which are not critical in themselves. Instead, they are promoting some dross. What
promotes is the philosophy of escalation and fighting monsters in the harem culture, which is actually a very naive and simple interpretation of socialization. What's more, it highlights the evil part of human nature, such as there are many bridges where each other is drugged and aborted. Then there is the fight for favor. The women in the harem are actually fighting for the right to mate, and they are all worthless fights. The dramas of these heroines are the biggest irony of feminism and feminism. It is describing a living space that is absolutely insulting to women, and is still enjoying it.
Gongdou plays on fire for almost ten years. Like Yu Zheng, he doesn’t write anything except Gongdou. Every day, he excavates these messy things in the harem of various dynasties, especially the recent "Hao Lan Biography" as a creation. How the author writes is your right, but what have you turned history into? So I said that for the interpretation of history, the elite has the elite interpretation, and the grassroots has the grassroots interpretation. His interpretation is an insult to history.
Zhao Ji’s story is legendary, but historically, she has no other value. I think she is a confused woman. She was only involved in some important history and had relationships with some important historical figures. You have to say what positive role she has played in history, what conscious will she has, and what shining humanity she has, I am afraid there is nothing. In other words, from the perspective of the story, there is no meaningful or exciting plot. I don't see any historical or literary value in such a drama with her as the main heroine.
Stills of "The Legend of Hao Lan" Pictured from Douban movie
It uses the so-called inspirational way to package itself, but what is this inspiration? Isn't it just changing from a handmaid to a concubine, and finally becoming a queen, and this process is still all male-focused, it caters to or guides the audience's low-level taste and life values. Just like now it is very popular to call Wang Sicong her husband, is it because of his personality? It is just regarded as a symbol of wealth.
In our previous literary works, there was a fairy match, and the Weaver Girl fell in love with the cowherd, and the cowherd is a low-level working people who herd cattle. Until now, such an image is no longer allowed to be the protagonist, because under the guidance of existing literary works, our audience believes that the heroineYou can't fall in love with a cowboy or a long-time worker.
"God of the Immortal" (1955) stills The identity of the protagonist of the film and television works of
has changed. In 2003, an investor repeatedly emphasized to me that he said that my protagonist must be a prince, not even a nobleman, and he is not bullish enough. At first, he can be the appearance of the low-level people, but in the end he has to discover that his true identity is actually a prince. He said that there is a reason why there are princes and princesses in western fairy tales, so stop writing stories about the heroine falling in love with the cowherd and the blacksmith. This also reflects a lack of cultural confidence. The cultural transformation of
was more obvious after 2000, when the previously criticized emperors and generals became the protagonist and returned to the center of the stage. The
costume drama is actually about emperors and generals. Now the central characters of TV dramas and online dramas are basically rich second generations or princes, instead of telling stories about commoner heroes. This is a big problem for the whole society, especially for the guidance of young people. This is also one of the main reasons why harem dramas are produced in large numbers and are pushed to the center of popular culture. It reflects the changes in the consciousness of the entire society.
Observer Network: Gongdou dramas appear in groups, and plagiarism and imitation are abundant. What is the reason for this?
Wang Hailin: I have seen someone interpret that it is risky to create under the current review system, so one play succeeded. It at least shows that this type is safe. For safety reasons, everyone will follow the film in a swarm. There is some truth to the explanation from this perspective.
However, the more important reason is that the original spirit is not enough, or that our entire market has a serious lack of understanding of diversification. Not only creators and producers, but also platforms and film buyers. Everyone is afraid of new genres and hope that others will try it out. Then I just follow him. I feel that the current policy environment and cultural environment do not encourage new types. As a result, whether it is for safety or profit considerations, everyone should follow suit.
Gongdouju has formed a monopoly on the types of costume dramas in recent years. Tang Guoqiang's complaint that the platform rejected "Yan Zhenqing" is not accidental. Costume dramas are only reserved for fantasy and Gongdou, without diversification. They are vulgar works that monopolize the market and occupy capital and market. , The absolute advantage of the platform.
Cultural fast-selling products and even the prevalence of cultural trash are not the most terrifying. The most terrifying thing is that the cultural elites abandon their cultural standpoint. The cultural elites worry me. The palace drama has prevailed over the years. Where is our cultural criticism and literary criticism? Screenshot of
Sina Weibo
Observer Network: When content innovation is not driven enough, are there any production models that can guide content innovation?
Wang Hailin : There are problems with our buying and selling mechanism. I think that the mechanism of American TV shows is more scientific. With TV dramas as the center, there will generally not be a lot of copying and imitation. For example, if someone shoots "Prison Break", others will not shoot again, because the platform will not order this project.
"Sex and the City" was written in New York, so "Sex and the City Chicago" and "Sex and the City Los Angeles" will no longer appear in the United States. However, after the release of "Tokyo Women's Guide", we immediately published "Beijing Women's Guide Book" and "Shanghai Women's Guide Book". If we continue to shoot like this, there may be "Shijiazhuang Women's Guide Book" and "Harbin Women's Guide Book". series. This is not a creative thinking at all, but a capital thinking.
The current situation of capital involvement in the film and television industry is very serious, and it does not fully reflect the value and ability of the producer.
Producers like Wu Yi are always looking for breakthroughs and new possibilities. "Soldier Assault" and "My Leader My Group" are relatively new types, which are not available in the market. If you put him in the United States, you will be a big producer, and some money is chasing him, but this is not the case in China, and everyone will think that his approach is risky, and it is better to follow the trend and copy.
Producer Wu Yi Pictured from Sohu Entertainment
I think the difficulties encountered in "The Legend of Ba Qing" and "Ru Yi's Biography" are the consequences of this follow-up. And in the past, following the trend was to see which genre was popular, and I immediately took one, short and fast. Now the following has become a huge series, which is too greedy.
When someone else was shooting a harem scene, he saw that this type was very good, so he took itIn this mode, I have invested a lot of money to shoot and put the best resources in all aspects. I feel very sad. This is because the producer didn't pursue it, the platform didn't pursue it, and in fact the broadcast was not successful. The same is true for
, including the big IP in previous years. I gave them the best resources in the country, but what was the result? This is neither a director’s problem nor an actor’s problem, it just means that this IP is simply not working. Those directors and actors are serious, but they can't save the IP, which is equivalent to giving him the best doctors and the best medicine in the country, just can't save them. They are running wildly on such a hopeless road with such a high mortality rate. It is said that capital is profit-seeking. I don't think it is profit-seeking. They are repeating mistakes very crazy.
Korean drama is not a play-centered system, but it is centered on the screenwriter, and the screenwriter has more power to speak. Some of the new Korean dramas that I see now, such as "Signal", are different from the previous Korean dramas. They all start from creation, and its purchase and sale mechanism encourages new creation.
Buying movies is a great power. Now there is such a monopoly trend in our country. What to buy, what not to buy, and how much the price is, is the matter that the buyer or boss of each platform solves in a WeChat group. They It's all one.
In our content-centric industry, there has never been a content-centric mechanism. There are big problems now, including the high pay of actors. This is why we really need to reform. The mechanism to the purchase and sale system must be reformed.
Observer Network: You and some screenwriters have called for the implementation of a drama-centric system for so long. Has it produced any impact? If reforms are carried out, when will they be implemented?
Wang Hailin: The president of Disney in China said that whoever takes the lead in implementing the drama-centric system will take the initiative in the next stage. How to be the most efficient and the lowest cost? People made the choice under more fully market-oriented circumstances. This is Disney’s experience and it has been very clear.
In China, this also involves an interest structure and power structure. The play-centered system is the screenwriter as the project leader. The domestic understanding would think that this is the screenwriter who wants to grab power, because this power is really too big, once he has the control of the project, he will benefit a lot. The screenwriter of
proposed that the central system of the drama is the most scientific, but we cannot initiate reforms ourselves. The reforms must be carried out from the top to the bottom.
Observer.com: You said that you are optimistic about the works with the main theme in the next few years. Last year was the 40th anniversary of the reopening, and this year was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I thought there would be many related works coming out, or at least looking forward to more realism The subject matter works, but the actual situation seems to be unsatisfactory. What do you think of this?
Wang Hailin: Although the state has arranged relevant plans, it is of no use. It is not that they are deliberately resisting, but they are still buying and arranging films in the way they think the market is. Therefore, in our key positions, the key rights holders are a group of people who have no dreams, sense of responsibility, and even no shame. They are completely profited.
Many people think that I am talking about the management department. No, I am talking about the film purchase platform and some decision-makers in production organizations. You are so rich, why don't you shoot something you want to pursue? These people have a strong ability to use resources, including the ability to break through policy restrictions, but they break through policy restrictions only to shoot lower things. We are disappointed with the entire industry here. Who will do the
breakout? Some talented and creative creators who had original ideas quickly surrendered under this kind of impact, and even took refuge in some interests. I don't think those benefits are so great. It seems that in their minds, the status of creation itself is the same.
Observer Network: Only a creative team that creates content with heart and cooperation with reliable producers can produce excellent works. At least I see you and the team have made many positive attempts, like last year's "Patriot". success.
Wang Hailin : Yes, my current situation is like this. I criticize them too much, and now all platforms are more wary of me. And some people’s channels are completely unblocked. For example, Yu Zheng, he has a balance with several major broadcasters.Taiwan has a long-term cooperation agreement, as long as it is his play, he will buy it, so he doesn't have to worry about the market, he just needs to concentrate on writing the script. So I said that the interests of this industry are highly consolidated, that's it.
Observer Network: To say a joke, then your sacrifice is still quite large.
Wang Hailin : That's okay, I can always find a way to survive. I think this is an air problem. If I don’t say it and everyone doesn’t say it, everyone’s breathing will become difficult.
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