Recently, "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" adapted from Jin Yong's novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was officially broadcast on the video platform. As a popular IP for film and television dramas, Jin Yong's martial arts has produced many excellent works that are both popular and well-known, including a series of Jin Yong dramas at the peak of the TVB film and television industry in the last century, and remakes by CCTV and Zhang Jizhong, which are characterized by sophisticated production and restoration of the original works. "CCTV version". Even Yu Zheng's "renovated" version of Jin Yong's drama, which has been criticized in recent years, is synonymous with ratings and discussion. Compared with these previous works, "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" seems to be very ambitious and not very exciting in terms of the " Iron-Blooded Heart " chapter that has been broadcast so far. But at the same time, "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" still has a certain degree of discussion. Some commentators focused on the idea of "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" adapting the original work of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" by greatly deleting and highlighting the main plot, and called it "Short drama" adaptation.
Guo Jing in "Iron-Blooded Heart" of the TV series "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World"
This comment is accurate in observing the idea of the adaptation of "Iron-Blooded Heart", but calling it a "short drama" adaptation seems to be more ambitious than thoughtful. , I prefer to use the term "fandom" adaptation to enrich the understanding of this adaptation.
The so-called fan-style adaptation is inspired by the observation of adapted works in "fan literature". According to the research of scholar Zheng Xiqing, unlike previous literary types, the core feature that defines "fan literature" is community (community basis) ) and emotionality (emotional projection), rather than the "writing style and textual representation" that distinguished literary genres in the past. Referring to this definition, the basic characteristics of "fan-style" adaptations can be summarized into two points. One is community connection based on similar interests and hobbies, and the other is extended creation based on emotional projection. The idea of adapting the "Iron-Blooded Heart" chapter of "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" in the name of Jin Yong's centenary tribute can be analyzed from these two perspectives.
"Community" Regarding the creation mechanism of fan fiction, fan creation usually relies on a closely connected community. Based on similar interests and hobbies, fan fiction creators connect through some creative platforms to discuss and exchange fan fiction creations with each other. , and get emotional feedback. Based on this, fan fiction creations that rely on adaptations of original works often have a certain acceptance threshold. To understand the beauty of them, you not only need to have a certain understanding of the adapted text, but in some cases, even some fan fictions that are widely circulated in specific circles. Fan works will also become the background for later writers to adapt.
One of the things that has been widely criticized about "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" is the "community" feature of the adaptation. Many complainers believe that "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" has significantly deleted the story background of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". In the original work, Guo Jing Huang Rong first met Huang Rong in the sixth chapter "Martial Competition to Recruit a Marriage". Previously, nearly one-eighth of the book was devoted to Guo Jing's childhood experience, learning skills, and even the family feud between Guo Jing and Yang Kang before they were born. But in the play, the content of the first six episodes is almost covered in half an episode, and in the first episode, the first encounter of the two lovers Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Yang Kang, and Mu Nianci is completely explained. It is presented with even more details than the original. The fast pace makes some viewers who have not read the original work or watched the previous film and television adaptations feel confused, and sometimes even weakens the logic of the story itself. Similar adaptations are not uncommon in the play. This kind of adaptation is the characteristic of fan-style adaptation. After all, a major feature of fan creation is the screening and expansion of the plot of the original work: some foreshadowing plots that readers are already familiar with can only be used as backgrounds, and no need to spend more words; and those What is still unfinished or difficult to understand is the space for creation. This adaptation is more about serving Jin Yong fans than attracting new audiences.
The first encounter between Yang Kang and Mu Nianci in "The Iron Heart"
In addition to the additions and deletions to the original work, some classic Jin Yong film and television adaptations have also become the story resources on which the adaptation of "The Iron Heart" relies, such as the complex uncle of Ouyang Feng and Ouyang Ke. The portrayal of the friendship between nephews (father and son) and the hints about Ouyang Feng's early emotional line are undoubtedly influenced by Wong Kar-wai's classic film "Ashes of Time". "Heart of Iron" even directly references the movie "Ashes of Time". "Drunken life, dreaming and dying from wine" is placed in the story. And some lines seem to imply that there seemed to be some complicated entanglements between the two great masters of East Evil and West Poison in their youth. Fans of Jin Yong who are familiar with the movie "Ashes of Time" will naturally have no trouble understanding the story behind these ambiguous lines.
Stills from the movie "Ashes of Time"
Another manifestation of "community" is the appearance of Yang Guo at the end. The story of "Heart of Iron" ends with a group of children sitting around telling the chivalrous story of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and One of them admired Guo Jing's heroic deeds, but was ridiculed by his companions as "a child from a wild widow's family." When the camera turned, a close-up of the child gave the character's name. It turned out to be the third chapter of the "The Condor" trilogy. The protagonist "Yang Guo" in the second part of " The Legend of the Condor Heroes ". This reference to Jin Yong's other martial arts works will make viewers in the community smile knowingly, but new viewers will inevitably be confused.
If the "social nature" is mainly reflected in the "deletion" of the original work in the adaptation, the "emotional nature" is mainly reflected in the "addition". "Iron Heart" has a total of 30 episodes, which is shorter than most previous adaptations of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". However, at the same time, a lot of plots have been added to the drama, and part of the background of the original work has been deleted. These adaptations free up space. If we look at these additions, they can be roughly divided into two categories. One is the creation of new storylines based on the typical characteristics of the original characters, and the other is the expansion of the original characters to present them with more complexity. Both have strong emotional projection, the former is based on love for some original characters, and the latter is based on empathy for some villains.
The former type of adaptation adds a lot of details of the interactions between Guo Jing and Huang Rong. These interactions are based on their very distinctive character characteristics in the original work, which makes up for the readers' feeling that they are familiar with the "candy" in the book but still have unfinished content. For example, before the two met Qi Gong for the first time, Huang Rong invited Guo Jing to play Cuju with her, and Guo Jing replied: "That is what Gao Qiu played. My ancestor is the hero Guo Shenggong of Liangshan. I will not touch that." Huang Rong said: "Gao Qiu played it." People are bad, so this Cuju is bad? I just want you to play with me." This plot is not only a reasonable representation of the two tutors, but also shows their closeness. Similarly, the old naughty boy's coquettishness, Huang Yaoshi's arrogance, and Hong Qigong's heroism are also presented in a larger space. These characters are Jin Yong's characters that are deeply loved by readers, so efforts are made to portray and even exaggerate their character charm. In comparison, the presentation of Ouyang Feng, Yideng, etc. is not satisfactory.
Huang Rong in "Iron-Blooded Heart"
The most typical adaptation of the latter type is the rewriting of the story lines of Yang Kang and Mu Nianci. Yang Kang is portrayed as a tragic figure who wavers between good and evil. This is true in the original work. It is present to a certain extent, but it is undoubtedly amplified in the film and television drama adaptation. In the film and television drama, the opposition between good and evil based on national identity in the original work is dealt with in a more complex manner. In the original work, Yang Kang's decision to close the coffin was to "recognize thieves as fathers." After he became a loyal and good man, he chose to be a good man because he could not let go of his yearning for glory and wealth. Continuing to be the "little prince of the Jin Dynasty" clearly reflects Jin Yong's clear nationalist identity narrative in his early years. But in film and television dramas, this choice is dealt with more complicatedly. On the one hand, the drama uses Yang Kang to say, "I have been named Wanyan for eighteen years, and none of you have said anything about Yang Tiexin." "It's my dad" strives to present more of the deeper reasons behind his entanglement, and at the same time pave the way for many plots and accidents for Yang Kang's transformation and "blackening", making his choice between good and evil more complicated.Regarding the plot of Yang Kang letting Wanyan Honglie go in the original work, the film and television drama also focused on exaggerating the confrontation between Yang Kang's two concepts. Unlike in the original work, he was only attracted by glory and wealth. Here, there are more factors that influence his choice. , there is the yearning for justice, and the entanglement between adoptive relatives and biological relatives. The adaptation of Qiu Qianren and Ouyang Ke in the play basically follows this idea and presents the complexity behind the villains.
It is worth mentioning that these adaptations themselves were also affected by discussions in the Jin Yong martial arts fan community. "Heart of Iron" is not the first adaptation of Yang Kang. In 2008, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" starring Hu Ge has strengthened the shaping of Yang Kang's role. Among them, Yang Kang's transformation is not only due to his desire for glory and wealth. Obsession, with an added layer of twisted jealousy towards Guo Jing. At the same time, it has long been a trend in discussions around Jin Yong's works on major forums to re-examine many characters in Jin Yong's martial arts from a more modern value standpoint and provide many reversal conclusions. Yang Kang's "recognition of thieves as fathers" has been given more explanations Space is just one example. In addition, there is a more classic discussion on the images of Guo Fu and Guo Xiang. Compared with the original work and traditional understanding, Guo Fu is given more sympathy by netizens.
Compared with the martial arts ambitions outlined in "Jin Yong's Martial Arts World" in the name of paying tribute to the centenary of Jin Yong's birth, people's attention to it is obviously not satisfactory. Although Jin Yong's martial arts was once the "common language" among Chinese groups at home and abroad, for the new reading group, Jin Yong's martial arts has gradually lost the magic it once had. The majority of people who read Jin Yong's martial arts are no longer, let alone " "Common Language", "Heart of Iron" has been sluggish in terms of ratings and discussion this time, not only due to its own quality problems, but also the manifestation of this general trend. An indisputable fact is that it is difficult for Jin Yong’s martial arts to reap rewards solely from the IP itself. Simple copies of the original works or low-quality adaptations should have disappeared long ago. Therefore, although the production of "Heart of Iron" is far from excellent, and there are various flaws in the script adaptation, and overall it cannot be said to be a masterpiece, it also provides some new ideas for future Jin Yong dramas.
From the perspective of fan-style adaptation, the problem with "Iron-Blooded Heart" is not its adaptation, not its "deletion", but its incompleteness (of course, the "creation" may be more reflected in other units of the play) ), because it still retains the slickness of leaning against the big tree to enjoy the shade. It is conceivable that there will be fewer and fewer Jin Yong fans who require the reproduction of the original work. After all, repeating an already familiar plot, no matter how ups and downs the plot is, will inevitably lead to aesthetic fatigue, not to mention the fact that there is Zhu Yu in front of it. The way out for future adaptations of Jin Yong's dramas lies in creations like the vigorous vitality of fan fiction writing in online communities, allowing the emotions and spirit of Jin Yong's martial arts to be created and extended on their own without restraint. The plot of Jin Yong's martial arts is dead, but the vivid personality and spiritual temperament of the characters are the real vitality of Jin Yong's martial arts that has been engraved in the bone marrow of a generation and will last forever.
