It’s been too long since we’ve seen a believable love story. "Bouquet of Love" (Douban score 8.6, hereafter referred to as "Bouquet"), which will be released in 2021, has been mentioned again because of news of a remake, and has triggered a craze for secondary creations on social media. "Tokyo Love Story" (Douban score 9.4, hereafter referred to as "East Love"), which premiered in 1991, has been reintroduced to the streaming platform to encourage people to have the courage to live in the cold winter.
Behind the two works is screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, known as the "Master of Japanese Dramas". In the conversation with director Hirokazu Kore-eda, Sakamoto Yuji mentioned a photo he had seen: behind a kissing man and woman, a car was burning. This made him realize that "even a love story cannot be established only between a man and a woman" and is also related to a broader social background.
In the 30 years from "Eastern Love" to "Bouquet", young people's love patterns have undergone earth-shaking changes, and they have also experienced the pain of social changes.
Falling in love will also lead to consumption downgrades
It is also a love story for young people, but "Eastern Love" is much more pure than "Bouquet". Every minute and every second of "Eastern Love" talks about love. Men and women fall in love and fall in love, whether they are sad, happy, successful or not, they are happy. Just 30 years have passed, but the love in "Bouquet" has become unclear and blurred due to the erosion of consumerism.
The consumption symbols piled up in "Bouquet" are more high-profile than love itself. From Converse canvas shoes and Nintendo game consoles to Oshii Mamoru's movies and Imamura Natsuko's books, the whole story of the relationship between the protagonists Kouki (played by Arimura Kasumi) and Mai (played by Masaki Sugada) is run through. These consumption symbols construct their identity of self-worth and shape their imagination of their ideal partner.
They are used to communicating through symbols and have no idea of each other's true feelings and thoughts. When Kouki was frustrated in her job search, Xiaomai comforted her that the interviewer must not be able to read "Picnic" by Natsuko Imamura, so she didn't need to worry about the "not my kind" comment. Later, Xiaomai was scolded by a customer, and Xiaojuan would only use the same words to comfort him. This lack of empathy is both ineffective and a missed opportunity to build deep links.
At the same time, symbolic identity is also dynamic and unstable. As Ilosi said, people will continue to refine their tastes to achieve self-transcendence, and their value evaluation and choice of ideal partners will also change accordingly. "If it is difficult for both parties to participate in the same leisure field and occupy the same objects, it will be difficult to organize intimacy and desire."
This situation will lead to the end of the relationship. When Xiaomai went against Xiaojuan's lifestyle due to work pressure, they tacitly broke up. Neither of them tried to break through the illusion of symbolic consumption and reflect on and coordinate their real value conflicts. Because under the consumption logic of the free market, the path with the least resistance is the most preferred.
Ilos believes that "unlove", which is characterized by escaping from relationships, reflects the profound impact of capitalism on social relations. "Quiting and breaking up are ways for people to resolve unconscious goal conflicts and maintain their autonomy and self-worth." Even if they cut off their attachment to others, they will do so. Breaking up can solve all problems, including the problems you don’t know what the problem is.
Even at the beginning of relationships, people “already anticipate their end and closely monitor relationships with this attitude, which leads actors to adopt risk calculation, risk aversion, and other strategies that lead to preemptive exit from relationships. "
Kouki once expressed her position through the mouth of her favorite opinion leader: "Love is like a party, it will end one day." This has to be reminded of the motto of Rika (played by Suzuki Honami) in "East Love": "I I always regard every love as the last one."
From unconditionally delivering an independent and complete sincerity, to breaking up in advance, calculating expenses, and maintaining a balance of income and expenses, the love in Yuji Sakamoto's works has experienced a cliff-like consumption downgrade.
The more narcissistic you are, the weaker you are.
Love reshaped by consumerism ultimately points to the self."Actors regard their own interiority, that is, their subjective experience, as the only real and sensible plane of existence, allowing them to regard various forms of autonomy, freedom and pleasure as guides to action that guide their interiority."
in According to philosopher Han Bingzhe, the disappearance of the other itself is the key factor leading to the crisis of love. This process is accompanied by people's excessive focus on themselves, which can also be said to be narcissism. Unlike self-love, the subject boundaries of narcissism are blurred. Like the Narcissus boy in Greek mythology, he sees the whole world as a reflection of himself. "The difference in others cannot be perceived and recognized. The only thing that can be perceived repeatedly in any time and space is 'self'."
In "Bouquet", Xiaojuan and Xiaomai obtain the "100% in sync" love through the answer. Just a repeated affirmation of self, without a desire for the other. They indulge in a comfortable and familiar sense of security and never tire of it, and are ready to leave at any time if they notice signs of pain, unfamiliarity, and uncontrollability. They guard themselves so carefully, yet their egos are so weak.
Lixiang likes Wanzhi, so she is willing to understand Wanzhi's world. She would look through photos of Ehime Prefecture with interest, listen to Haruji tell interesting stories about her school days, and even start planning a field trip. Even though Wanji couldn't make the trip with her, she resolutely put it into practice alone - traveling all over Ehime Prefecture and carving her name on the pillar of Wanji's school. Li Xiang had no regrets when she solemnly bid farewell to Wan Zhi.
In fact, narcissism can make people fall into isolation and isolation, making them feel nervous and anxious, causing what Han Bingzhe calls "melancholia". The excessive self-affirmation of the merit society has domesticated people into "omnipotent" self-exploiters, aggravating the symptoms of depression.
Eros exists outside the principle of performance. It has the vitality to overcome melancholy because its essence is to admit "powerlessness" in front of others. "A feeling of weakness hits the heart of a person who falls in love, but at the same time a feeling of getting stronger follows." Lixiang finally admitted that she was powerless in front of Wanzhi, but she was not frustrated by love, but became Be abundant.
What is fading is the faith of love.
Philosopher Gilles Deleuze once said: "The truth of today is that we no longer believe in this world. We don't even believe in things that happen to us, love, death, etc. None of it has much to do with us. It’s not that we’re making bad movies, it’s that the world looks like a bad movie… Only faith in the world can restore the connection between man and what he sees and hears. Movies must go on. , but not the world, but the belief in the world, which is our only remaining bond."
In the 30 years from "Eastern Love" to "Bouquet", it is not only love that has withered, but also the belief in love. There are various motivations behind it that affect profound changes in society, and they are also closely related to the specific atmosphere of the times and people's living outlook.
"East Love" was born in 1991, which was the last afterglow of Japan's bubble economy. People still believe that the future will be better, and Lixiang's backpack still contains "love and hope." Young people who come to Tokyo to pursue their dreams yearn for modern urban love, and are willing to devote all their spare time after work to falling in love, refusing to let it go.
If we use the language of flowers that Yuji Sakamoto is good at as an analogy, the symbol of "East Love" is the cactus that Lixiang bought home and carefully planted. The language of flowers is "love that will not wither"; the love in "Bouquet" has a shelf life of only one week at most. , commercially packaged bouquets are rootless and decay quickly. However, for today's young people, no matter whether love is still pure or not, it is enough for it to bloom for a while.
Yuji Sakamoto knows how to tailor his work to suit the needs of his audience. He accurately captured and presented the decline of this belief, which resonated with young people. "There are many works that can make a 10-point happy person become 100-point happy, but I hope that people with negative numbers can at least return to 0, even if it is -3 or -5."
A lonely 100-point person Lixiang seems to have stayed in the last century forever. People in the new century long for love but no longer believe in love, and have no energy to practice love.Love here is not limited to love, but all forms of intimacy. As more and more private spheres are assimilated and invaded, love is no longer our bulwark against social reality, but has degenerated into an ancient belief.
Will it, like metaphysics and other traditional elements of mysticism, experience a revival? No one can be so cruel as to give a negative answer. Because humans are creatures that survive in connection with others, Mu Xin, a pessimist, also firmly believes that “love is what matters in the end.”
Reference materials:
1. "The End of Love"丨Eva Ilos
2. "Death of Eros"丨Han Bingzhe
3. The style of a professional: To you who are struggling to survive - Screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto丨NHK
4. "Three Degrees" "Killing" Supervisor Kore-eda, Sakamoto "それでも、生きてゆく"" are influenced by "とは"?丨世といまを考える1
5. Emotional Soul Catcher Yuji Sakamoto丨KUSO
6. Interview with Yuji Sakamoto: I am 54 years old, but I still love writing love dramas丨KUSO
7. "Love like a Bouquet": a symbol The tragedy of love in the context of consumption丨Cai Yichen
Written by: Brie
Planning: Ideal New Media Department
Pictures: "Love in a Bouquet" and "Tokyo Love Story"
