It has been 15 years since the TV series "Struggle" started. In the past 15 years, youth dramas have undergone many iterations, but "Struggle" is still there, a vivid and vibrant landmark.
It is not so much that "Struggle" depicts the real life of the post-80s generation, but rather provides an identity for the young people at that time - the full character image surpasses the absurd plot and arouses their resonance. The magnanimous imperfection, the dazed high-spiritedness and the reckless optimism belonged to that era, and also belonged to the youth of the post-80s generation.
Text | Ye San
Picture | "Struggle" stills In the first episode, a group of graduating college students shouted in unison in the last class: "We have to go to work, fall in love, and struggle. This matter is urgent, and we can't wait a day!"
's passionate youth declaration Pointing the question also established the tonality of the entire drama. "Struggle" focuses on several young people in Beijing, showing their lives in the years after graduation, and discusses many topics such as love, marriage, and the conflict between ideals and reality. The screenwriter of
"Struggle" is Shi Kang , who was born in 1968. At the beginning of this century, Shi Kang was known as a youth literature writer for his three novels " Shattering", "Fragmented" and "A Mess", which expressed the life of the post-70s generation.
In 2006, Shi Kang and director Zhao Baogang collected scripts in a hotel on the East Third Ring Road in Beijing. Prior to this, Shi Kang created a number of film and television scripts, all of which were silent except for " Big Shot " directed by Feng Xiaogang in 2001. After some debate, the age of the characters in the play was set as "post-80s", a whole generation younger than Shi Kang's "Youth Trilogy". This comes from Zhao Baogang's persistence.
Shi Kang's "Youth Trilogy" adheres to the Beijing-style narrative style opened by Wang Shuo and . Compared with Wang Shuo's provocative attitude and cynicism, Shi Kang's self-reporting is more decadent, confused and cynical. It was after the enlightenment period of the 1980s, and the post-70s generation used literature as the carrier of self-expression in the low tide of the end of the century. "Youth Trilogy" was once a huge sales volume, but Shi Kang claimed that pure literary writing did not bring him much income, and he went to sea to write TV series to buy a house.
In 1989, " Sixteen-year-old Flower Season " opened a precedent for youth campus dramas in my country, and later " Seventeen-year-old do not cry " and " Eighteen-year-old sky " marked the maturity of this category; In 1998, " will carry love to the end " further established the template of youth idol dramas: from students to social people, out of the campus, to meet love, youth and a broader life.
In 2001, " Meteor Garden " adapted from Japanese manga was a great success, which led to the emergence of a large number of imitations. For a time, the mainland youth idol drama market was filled with various Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese-style suspended dramas.
As a senior director, Zhao Baogang is keenly aware that the market is calling for youth dramas that can provide local resonance. Moreover, the post-80s generation will be the target audience of this TV series compared to the post-70s generation that Shi Kang has written well. With the advent of the new century, the post-80s generation has become the main audience of the TV series.
A few months later, the "Struggle" script was completed. Shi Kang said, "The name of director Zhao Baogang is hidden in every paragraph of the script." Zhao Baogang said, "Now, this is a TV series that can bring happiness to people. I think this is very important." Zhao Baogang's initial judgment was accurate. That year, "Struggle" ranked first in the Beijing area with an average viewership rate of 6.3%; several leading actors were on fire, and several lines were organized into a collection of golden sentencesIt was circulated on the Internet and became the mantra of the audience; young people imitated the hero Lu Tao , put up the collar of the polo shirt, and gave the whistle to the girlfriend as a birthday gift... "Struggle" became a phenomenal TV series of that year.
Shi Kang summed up the theme of the show like this: the meaning and value of life. "I'm very happy that I can tell people these serious issues through entertainment," he said, "to get people, especially young people, to think positively about who I am, what kind of life I want to live, What life is meaningful to me. I must combine myself, identify my life goals, and then strive for it (Shi Kang: Understanding oneself is the eternal theme of Struggle, China Youth Daily, , 2007).” In the first episode of
, a group of graduating college students shouted in unison during the last class.
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Zhao Baogang described Struggle like this: "The previous generation struggled hard, but the post-80s struggle happily." The word "happy" is remarkable. Lu Tao, the first protagonist of
"Struggle", is a talented architectural design graduate. In the first episode, Lu Tao's friend Gao Qiang jumped off a building and committed suicide amid the accusations of his parents because he didn't get his graduation certificate.
Heavy death followed by intense love. Lu Tao and his girlfriend Mi Lai 's friend Charlene fell in love at first sight. The two fell in love with each other involuntarily. The betrayed rich girl Miley left the United States sadly, while Charlene gave up studying in France and stayed in Beijing for Lu Tao. Lu Tao wanted to make great achievements in the construction industry, but he had no chance. It was at this time that he met the biological father of a wealthy businessman who returned to China. He hesitated in front of the two life choices represented by his two fathers: success by any means (biological father/rich dad) And abide by the principle of poverty (stepfather/poor dad). Like Lu Tao, the other young people in the
play have just entered the society and face different situations and problems. "Beijing Drift" Lulu's dream is to set up a foothold in Beijing and bring her family by her side; Xiang Nan and Yang Xiaoyun, who are married and separated, have no big ambitions, they just want to live a good life; Hua Zi is very loyal to her friends, but she is confused about love and marriage; Mi Lai, a wealthy girl, is obsessed with her love for Lu Tao and cannot extricate herself... This is the picture of young life presented by "Struggle".
Shi Kang once said in an interview that what he understands is that the struggle of the post-70s is the pursuit of material wealth, and the post-80s are self-realization. As a result, rich dad/poor dad (good dad/bad dad) are artificially opposed as symbols of the two ideologies . Under the impact of the commodity tide, the intellectuals' reflection on the order of money worship was given to the characters, which constituted Lu Tao's "struggle" and assumed the main narrative task. The young people's life picture in "Struggle" is from bottom to top, with different social classes corresponding to different "struggles", which confirms Maslow's hierarchy of needs: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), social needs (friendship), respect and self-actualization.
This picture is a mixture of reality and fiction. It is true that after the university expanded its enrollment, it became more and more difficult for graduates to find jobs. Xia Lin, a design major, went to a nightclub to make a job (guest model walking on the stage); Xiang Nan and Yang Xiaoyun lived in a large courtyard after their marriage, and Yang Xiaoyun dropped her mobile phone into the squatting pit of a public toilet; Lulu, who broke up with her boyfriend, has nowhere to go but sleeps on a stone bench by the street... These are real and credible details of life. However, apart from Lulu, several of the young people in "Struggle" are all Beijingers who "have nowhere to live, so I live with my parents ("Bastard", Cui Jian ), and they go abroad if they want to, saying Start a business. Because of Lu Tao's loss, Charlene rejected the big house and his marriage proposal and went to France. Yang Xiaoyun opened a boutique in the big hotel, Huazi sold a barber shop and a cake shop, and finally made a fortune by opening a restaurant. With the blessing of the two fathers, they easily earned 20 million.
Lu Tao and his biological father,
, their struggles are too pleasant, and success at the mundane level comes too easily.Standard answer test paper.
Compared with the success of a child's play, the "Heartbreak Utopia", a settlement for young people, swept past the ideal and directly reached the symbol - in the play, this spacious and bright, very petty bourgeois Loft is dedicated to this group of people dreaming Groups, games, drinking, chatting when blocked, "intermittent pain". This is the most romantic stroke in the whole play, similar to a fairy tale. The ending of
"Struggle" is that after tossing away hundreds of millions of funds, Lu Tao called his stepfather "Dad" for the first time, indicating that he finally chose to stick to his original intention and principles, and the rich businessman's biological father ended up alone. Charlene returned to Lu Tao after he had nothing left again, and their self-realization ultimately came down to love. Yang Xiaoyun "made" Xiang Nan to run and begged to come back. Xiang Nan, who had fallen in love with someone else, remarryed her out of a sense of responsibility. The two had a new understanding of marriage. Lu Lu gave up her love and married Zhutou who could provide her with life security, realizing her dream of family reunion; Hua Zi lost Lu Lu because of hesitation about marriage, but she met a new love object. After recovering from his brokenheartedness, Mi Lai returned to his family and left the United States once again.
Heartbreak Utopia torn down, everyone has grown, established their own lives, and in a sense completed their own struggles. The reflection on the order of money worship ends the plot with a very ambiguous attitude of refusal and welcome.
In the whole "Struggle", the characters who really paid the price and tasted the bitterness of struggle, maybe only the Lulu who did not have a Beijing hukou, and Lulu's younger brother, a deaf-mute boy who did not have any competitive ability. Able to open a speechless and innocent smile to the big city. Like Heartbreak Utopia, this figure is more symbolic than anything else.
Lulu
who did not have a Beijing hukou wrote "Struggle", Shi Kang said that the post-80s generation in his mind "are mostly only children, and by the standards of the previous generation, they are more selfish." The young people in "Struggle" do. By the standards of 2022, the behavior of the young people in "Struggle" is completely nonsense.
They cheat, get divorced, have abortions, fight and drink alcohol, do whatever they want, and are extremely self-centered. Each of them has obvious shortcomings, Lu Tao is arrogant and arrogant, Xia Lin is proud and stubborn, Xiang Nan is lustful and cowardly, Hua Zi evades responsibility, Yang Xiaoyun is tacky, Mi Lai is hypocritical, and Lulu is vain. But at the same time, these characters also share the common characteristics of the young people of that era: they are full of loyalty to their friends, eager to get rich and contempt for money, they have no resentment, despise self-pity, and they beat themselves up: "The more people laugh at the dream , the more valuable it is to realize." The characterization of
"Struggle" relies almost entirely on its carnival and game-like language style. For example, Mi Lai said to Xia Lin, "I am so jealous of you. You are poor, beautiful, and talented. I am so jealous." When Yang Xiaoyun and Xiang Nan quarreled in the divorce office, they argued that the other still loved Self: "I'll tell you, I'm your first love, I'm your favorite, and I'm the marriage you can't leave"; after Xia Lin and Yang Xiaoyun had an abortion, they ran to Beijing City University on Xishan Shouting: "No matter what difficulties I encounter, I have to live according to my wishes. I will definitely work hard and be happy..."
Yang Xiaoyun and Xiang Nan quarreled in the divorce office
The creator keenly grasped the time The values and ethos of young people. In the airtight, Shikang-style dialogue, the figure of the youth who is "hierarchical, cathartic, subversive ("The Creation of Rabelais and Folk Culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance", Bakhtin)" stands up : They have a strong sense of subjectivity, are loyal to themselves, and at the same time are very confident, pursuing individuality and rebellion.
has audiences describe "Struggle" in this way: a post-60s screenwriter, a post-50s director, and a post-80s youth drama played by the post-70s. The story of the post-80s generation in "Struggle" combines the observation, speculation and imagination of the screenwriter and director. For young people who did not have the right to speak at that time, the pursuit and criticism of "Struggle" are part of self-expression. Not so much the depiction of "Struggle"After reading the real life of the post-80s generation, it is better to say that it provided recognition for the young people at that time-the vivid and full characters surpassed many absurd plots and aroused their resonance. The magnanimous imperfection, the dazed high-spiritedness and the reckless optimism belonged to that era, and also belonged to the youth of the post-80s generation.
In 2007, whether in pursuit of wealth or self-realization, young people still have confidence that they are worth working hard for - "As long as we keep working hard, maybe one day our ideal will be realized." This is the fundamental reason for the success of "Struggle" back then.
Zhao Baogang was 51 years old when "Struggle" was filmed. After the success of "Struggle", he successively filmed " Who is the master of my youth" and "Beijing Youth", which interpret the post-80s generation. These three TV series became Zhao Baogang's "Three Youths" part".
is not only Zhao Baogang. In 2009, "Dwelling", which directly addressed the problem of "post-80s" buying a house, was launched; in 2011, " Naked Marriage Era ", adapted from the novel "Naked Marriage - The New Marriage Era of the Post-80s", was launched; " Beijing Love Story " was launched... Since "Struggle", with "dream" and "struggle" as the core, the creation of TV dramas focusing on hot topics and the personal growth of the post-80s have emerged one after another, and almost every one of them has aroused social enthusiasm discussion.
In 2018, Zhao Baogang started filming the new drama "Youth Fight". He has done a lot of work for this TV series that tells the story of the post-90s generation. It is said that during the filming, as long as the lead actor Zheng Shuang said, "We young people are not like this at all", the script will be revised according to her opinion. It has been 12 years since
"Struggle", but young people are still the source of traffic, the main consumer and the target of the market. But the young people at this time are no longer post-80s but post-90s. Zhao Baogang knew clearly that he had to approach them. In 2007, when
was broadcast on "Struggle", video games, Internet cafes, and online chat software began to penetrate into the daily lives of young people, making their social life shift to the virtual world. The life experience of the former Internet, not too big a generational difference, gives the creators room to work, and the lifestyle of young people in "Struggle" still has practical significance: drinking big wine together when depressed, playing billiards and bowling together when happy , daily entertainment is self-driving, outing; people are physical, communication is face-to-face, and desire is implemented into the body to execute.
Lu Tao and Mi Lai
However, 12 years later, a new generation of young people has grown up with consumerism and the fast-expanding Internet, the Internet is the reality. They do not have any pre-Internet life experience to call, and they no longer look for recognition and inspiration from TV dramas, but treat them as pure entertainment fast-moving consumer goods.
Since 2016, under the influence of the IP adaptation boom that swept the entire film and television industry, " Smile is very alluring ", " The Summer Solstice has not yet arrived ", " Summer of Bubble " and other "suspended" youth adapted from web articles Idol dramas have become the new mainstream of ratings, and then, as audiences are tired of online text routines and youth pains, the adaptation of IP online texts has declined, and youth dramas have entered the "youth +" type subdivision stage, youth + sports, youth + military, Youth + science fiction... and other sub-categories appear one after another.
In 2019, "Youth Fight" was broadcast, and the ratings were not good. The poor Beijing accent and inspirational slogans no longer resonated with young people. The 64-year-old Zhao Baogang wanted to feel the pulse of the post-90s generation, but it was too difficult for himself.
The social and cultural environment that nurtured Struggle and made it successful has disappeared. The creative model of personal growth with the audience and mass production is no longer suitable for the market. The lifestyles, ways of thinking and values of young people have long been out of the control of creators who grew up in the pre-Internet era.
If it is said that the youth of the post-70s is Shi Kang's novel trilogy, and the youth of the post-80s is Zhao Baogang's TV series trilogy, then the presentThe youth of young people cannot be summed up, and they refuse to be endorsed. They live in particles on the Internet, expressing and writing themselves in various languages, full of ridicule and self-destruction. Outside the Internet, in the real world, they bear real pressure. Many people tend to retreat to their inner beauty and vulnerability.
Love, career, marriage, the gap between reality and ideals, the issues discussed in "Struggle" are still universal, and every generation of young people has to face them, but now, these issues can't help but be stripped of entertainment products. be sharp. Is there still a rich girl Mi Rai who is jealous of Charlene's poverty and talent? Standing in a 20 million mansion, will there still be a girl who insists on spiritual equality and refuses to propose? In today's age when classes are solidified and gender issues are becoming more complicated, should Lulu, who kneels and make a wish in front of the night sky every night, be sympathetic or despised? Or turn his head and show a speechless and innocent smile, just like the younger brother.
once said that the post-90s were tricked into coming to Beijing by "Struggle", "Watching TV series, a group of friends rented a factory to live together, named the factory "Heartbroken Utopia " , we eat and drink together every day, I I like this state of life very much" - the result of this expectation is of course disillusionment, but in "Struggle", they once had the opportunity to try.
has never had an era of youth idol dramas iterating so quickly - or it can't be called iteration, but elimination. Looking at it now, only a dozen years later, "Struggle" has only had textual value and lost almost all of its practical guiding significance. It can no longer offer any encouragement, anticipation, or consolation, but instead has become a wistful, even heart-piercing, ancient memory. For young people in 2022, in big cities, in shared houses, in factories, in schools and villages, and on the Internet, there is no more urgent matter, everyone is and only their own Heartbreak Utopia.
"Heartbreak Utopia" in the TV series
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