The novel "Dragon City Trilogy" (including "Dongni", "Xijue" and "Nanyin") written by the post-80s writer Di An was published between 2009 and 2012. The story takes place in a northern city called "Dragon City", and revolves around the bond of family affection between the three children of the Zheng family, Dongni, Xijue and Nanyin. Dong Ni is the cousin, Xijue is the cousin, and Nanyin is the youngest cousin.

"Dragon City" poster

Recently, the drama series "Dragon City" adapted from "Dragon City Trilogy" started broadcasting. To use the buzzwords on the Internet today, it means "dead memories suddenly start attacking me". As a post-80s post-80s writer who has read almost all the works published by post-80s writers such as Han Han, Guo Jingming, Zhang Yueran, and Di An before and after the new century, the author has an indissoluble bond with post-80s writers during my schooling career. For the topic selection of graduation thesis, I have also specially written thesis reviews of some works, including Dean's "Dragon City Trilogy".

In that paper, published in 2012, the author had nothing good to say about the novel series. In my opinion at the time, the "paranoid women" represented by Dong Ni portrayed in "Dragon City Trilogy" were unreasonable. and decision".

At that time, I didn't understand why female writers portrayed and preferred "paranoid women" in this way, and I could only judge them superficially from the perspective of three views. I wrote at that time, "For the abnormal psychology and behavior of the characters, the writer himself not only does not criticize and correct them, but is eager to find excuses for them, and even praises them, and puts many positive labels on them. And many It is astonishing how indifferent critics and readers have been to such a deformed character!"

At that time, I was still young, and I dared to speak out, but I was also rude and arbitrary. It is always easier to wield a moral stick when dealing with a female phenomenon that I don’t know much about. Fortunately, this was already 11 years ago. The launch of "Dragon City" gave me another chance to examine Dong Ni, and it was also a chance to further think from the standpoint of women.

In the drama version of "Dragon City", Dongni is played by Ma Yili, Xijue is played by Bai Yu, and Nanyin is played by Li Tingting. Dong Ni, who is the core and plays the most important role, is relatively controversial. Many viewers felt that Ma Yili, who was in her forties, started acting as Dong Ni, who was in her 20s, was really a little pretentious. Respect for different opinions, but the author personally accepts Ma Yili's version of Dongni very well. Ma Yili still accurately grasps Dongni's temperament: domineering, selfish, contradictory, and the fragility covered under all these "flaws", and a deep resentment.

Dong Ni (played by Ma Yili)

Although the drama version has tried its best to weaken Dong Ni's "paranoia" in the novel, but the drama version retains many fragments, and the audience can still intuitively feel Dong Ni's strength. For example, she knew from the very beginning that Xijue's girlfriend, Chen Yan, was Tang Ruolin, a female student who had a crush on her uncle (played by Gao Xin) many years ago, but she didn't tell Xijue directly, but let the situation develop. Deep down in her heart, she was more or less like what Nanyin said, she had a mentality of waiting to see Xi Jue's jokes.

West Finals (played by Bai Yu)

Nanyin (played by Li Tingting)

Dong Ni is contradictory again, she is not the kind of decisive bad woman, she really hopes that her family will have a bad life. Therefore, she privately helped Xijue apply for the opportunity to study abroad, and approached Chen Yan, asking Chen Yan to leave Xijue. After Chen Yan and Uncle got together, Dong Ni also stood on the sidelines of the Western Conference Finals, annoyed Chen Yan and Uncle in all kinds of ways. In the play, there are many inner monologues of the Western Conference Finals: She will never allow anyone to bully the Western Conference Finals. Although she herself often bullies the Western Conference finals, this is her "privilege".

Dong Ni can't tolerate other people hurting the Western Conference Finals

In the handling of other relationships, Dong Ni's selfishness is more thoroughly exposed. For example, Sprite is her daughter, but after Sprite was born, Dong Ni threw her to her cousin to raise her. She became Sprite's "aunt" and occasionally took Sprite to buy clothes, that's all. In order to win the support of her family and divorce Fang Jinghui (played by Tu Songyan) smoothly, she also tells all kinds of lies and has shrewd and worldly calculations.

How did "The Paranoid Woman" come about? It is easy for the audience to regard the original family as the source of evil, which is also intuitively presented in the drama version.

Dong Ni's father (played by Jiao Gang) always thought that Dong Ni was the "illegitimate daughter" of his wife (played by Shi Ke) and the factory manager of the steel factory, not his biological daughter, so Dong Ni's growth process was full of parents. Exaggerated extremes, quarrels full of hatred and hatred. Every time his father felt uncomfortable, he would bring up Dong Ni's life experience, emphasizing that she was not his biological daughter.

Dong Ni received very little love from her parents, but her parents denied her in various ways, and her background was the most decisive denial: You are not my daughter, you are not worthy of recognition. Dong Ni, who grew up in this environment, can only use strength as a protective color and selfishness to protect his own interests. After she grew up, wandering became the key word in her life. She drifted from Singapore to Germany and then returned to Dragon City. She couldn't find her roots. It was difficult for her to fall in love with others, because she essentially felt that she was not worthy of love. ...

Parents only deny Dong Ni

The theory of native family, of course, has some truth, but it can also be generalized. This time, our "understanding and sympathy" for Dong Ni, in addition to the original family theory, also has a new perception of the situation of women. This is reflected in the contrasting growth experiences of Dongni and Xijue.

From the novel to the drama version, I believe many people will like the Western Conference Finals. In the drama version, Bai Yulai plays the Western Jue, which is also perfect. To use the lines of the characters in the play, the Western Conference "has a distressing face". It just so happens that from "The Silent Truth", "Children of the Qiao Family" to "The Wind Rises from Longxi", Bai Yu has successively portrayed many different characters who share a similar "distressing" temperament. These characters are always so clean and pure, giving wholeheartedly for others, sacrificing themselves to help others, but fate always treats him not so well, and the hearts of the audience are broken for him.

Poor Xi Jue, he suffers all the hardships, and tears are shed for others

This time in the Western Conference finals, it is still the case. His father died of a heart attack, his mother died in love, and he became an orphan; he is a good man, tolerant of everyone, and always thinks from the standpoint of others; Another girl she liked confessed, but the girl suddenly said, "I thought you knew, I have a husband"...

The audience can see the suffering of the Western Conference Finals, and there were many misfortunes in the growth process of the Western Conference Finals. What is certain is that he is also luckier than Dong Ni, that is, Xijue has received much more love than Dong Ni.

Although Xi Jue was adopted, when his parents were still there, he was pampered by them like a little emperor; after his parents passed away, he was left with a lot of psychological trauma, but the three uncles and three aunts who raised him also loved him unconditionally. he. For example, when he got married and needed to buy a wedding house, his third uncle took out his savings to support him, and Dong Ni’s parents also offered him 30,000 yuan; She has a good face and always wants to vent his anger and seek justice for him. Now, he is the only male in the second generation of the Zheng family. He has become the hope of the family. The elders and women of the family love him very much...

Although Dong Ni is not an orphan, her situation is like that of an orphan; Xi Jue is an orphan, and he was loved by the whole family when he grew up. Is this just a coincidence of fate, or does it have something to do with gender? In the process of growing up, a girl needs to go through various trials and struggles before she can obtain certain natural rights. Correspondingly, a boy can obtain it naturally and naturally.

Perhaps this is the root of the resentment in Dong Ni's heart, and it is also the secret motive for her to bully Xi Jue all the time: Why do you keep getting so much? Why can you get everyone's love without breaking a sweat?

Dong Ni has always had an urge to "bully" the Western Conference Finals

This is an inequality that is widespread but not necessarily universally perceived. For example, when a girl grows up, she often gets more "harsh" evaluations than men. It's normal for men to be sloppy, and it's normal for men to be naughty, but if women are sloppy or naughty, people worry that they will become rude or become "bad women" in the future; Falling behind, people often say that "girls' grades often fail when they reach junior high school, and they will be overtaken by boys"...

Under various harsh conditions, many girls have been in a sense of intense competition and crisis. They have to work harder to get everything that a boy can naturally get. Take Xuebi for example, when she lived with Dong Ni, she was well-behaved, sensible, and cautious. She was afraid that she would be driven away if she made a mistake; even Nanyin, who was loved by thousands, was not allowed to wear beautiful skirts. Imprisonment.

Nanyin's parents are full of confidence. Little did they know that overprotecting Nanyin made her want to break through the shackles.

We don't deny that the Western Conference Finals is already a very good person, but if you look closely, his goodness cannot be said to be "natural". Since he was a child, he has been a candidate for the position of "father" in the Zheng family, and he has gained too many "benefits" from this status invisibly, which has allowed him to grow into a more healthy and fraternal person. The West Finals also took the initiative to undertake the mission of protecting the family, although this mission is also very heavy. Just imagine, if Dong Ni could get everything that the West Finals got from a young age, wouldn't she become a "paranoid girl"? Wouldn't her relationship with the family be inseparable?

Xi Jue is a poor man, but Dong Ni is also very unfortunate

Moreover, even in such a perfect Western Conference, when he consciously becomes the backbone of the second generation of the family, he will also sacrifice the interests of women in order to protect the interests of the family. An impressive plot in the play is in episode 11, Dong Ni plans to do a paternity test, because only by making the mystery of her life experience clear can she have the possibility of reconciling with her father and truly accepting herself.

Ke Xijue tore up the identification documents for the reason: "Sister, have you ever thought that uncle has called you a wild child for so many years, but he has never taken you for a paternity test. Once it is confirmed that you have nothing to do with this family , then the two of them are finished. Do you know what it means to be finished?"

Xi Jue told Dong Ni never to get the results of the paternity test

Dong Ni also asked Xi Jue: "Do you know, how many years have I been tortured by this matter? I have been thinking for so many years that if I don't figure this matter out, I will not be able to live in peace. Who is together, do you know?"

The mystery of life experience has always troubled Dong Ni

This "secret" has always troubled Dong Ni. It is the root cause of Dong Ni's inability to "normally" enter the relationship between the sexes, and it is also the main reason for Dong Ni's paranoia. But Xijue still doesn't let Dong Ni settle this knot, because the "integrity" of this family is more important than Dong Ni's knot. His decision to sacrifice Dong Ni to protect his family turned out to be such a subconscious reaction. In the growth process of a woman, such "sacrifice" may be lingering and lingering, and many people also take it for granted and are used to it.

From this point of view, "paranoid women" and those famous "crazy women" in the history of literature have the same goal. Their existence is not an argument that women are naturally worse and women are naturally more insane, but an illustration: In a world where the genders are unfair In society, girls who have been treated unfairly for a long time are more likely to become paranoid or crazy. Their existence is a sharp accusation. It is easy to criticize them morally, but it may also be careless. It is to stand up and talk without back pain, and to stand on the side of vested interests. We are not rationalizing bigotry, but just want to emphasize that stigmatizing bigotry is not the way to alleviate it.

I don't know whether the novel and the drama version are really aware of Dong Ni's tragic roots, or they have portrayed all of this carelessly. However, judging from the follow-up trend of the drama version, "everyone gradually realizes that the warmth and persistence of the Western Conference is the true meaning of home", and the plot may use the set of family and everything to fool women's trauma In the past, it seems that for the sake of the overall situation of the family, women's tolerance and forgiveness are virtues.

If family traditions are worth preserving, they should first and foremost be guarded equally for all, whether it is a girl Toni or a boy Xijue. Otherwise, anger is a virtue.