A few years later, if we look back at the suffocating images of "superior mothers" on the screen, in addition to Fan Shengmei's mother in "Ode to Joy", Su Mingyu's mother in "Everything Is Good", and Fang Sijin's mother in "Settle Down", we have to look back. Remember to include Li Yijin's mother in "Fireworks".
"Fireworks" poster
If the previous image of the "best mother" was partly due to the preference for sons over daughters, the "best mother" in "Fireworks" has a different form. She and her daughter "love and kill each other." The relationship between mother and daughter who love and kill each other is more often expressed in literary and artistic films, such as "Send Me to the Clouds", "Spring Tide", "A History of Tenderness", "Goodbye, Nanping Evening Bell", etc. Although "Fireworks" does not fill the gap in the theme of the screen, it does have the effect of "one is worth ten" - the power of this "super mother" is as powerful as ten.
What are the creative significance, limitations and solutions of "Excellent Mother"?
The form of "the best mother"
"Fireworks Family" is adapted from "She and Her Islands" read by Douban, telling the story of a group portrait of women in a family. Yang Xiaopei, the show's artistic director and chief producer, has assembled a strong lineup for the show. The Meng family has one mother and three daughters. The mother is played by Song Chunli. The three daughters are played by Xu Fan, Liang Jing and Li Xiaoran. The three sons-in-law are played by Li Chengru, Liu Jun and Song Ningfeng respectively. The three daughters each have their own families and have daughters, two of whom The adult granddaughter is played by Ma Sichun and Sun Qian...
Last year, the female-themed drama "Good Things Come in Twos" produced by Yang Xiaopei was also adapted from a niche online article read by Douban. After the broadcast, it had excellent results and was continuously searched for. The plot of "Fireworks" contains various hot search elements throughout the whole plot, but it is much lower-key in hot searches. This may be related to the fact that the series is broadcast simultaneously in the prime time of CCTV. Of course, the fact that there are few hot searches does not prevent viewers who follow the drama from having their breasts stimulated.
The play is a group drama, but the main plot revolves around the mother-daughter relationship between Meng Mingwei (played by Xu Fan) and Li Yijin (played by Ma Sichun). This mother and daughter "love and kill each other", and their expression is "control and being controlled". In the first 25 episodes, whenever there was a plot involving mother and daughter, the frequently used word on the barrage was "suffocation". Although Li Yijin is almost thirty years old, her mother still controls her at all times, in all directions, and without blind spots.
Meng Mingwei (played by Xu Fan)
Let’s briefly list some of what Meng Mingwei did to Li Yijin “in the name of love”:
Although her daughter was almost thirty years old, Meng Mingwei still insisted on buying clothes for Li Yijin that she thought Li Yijin would like, and asked Li Yijin to get a haircut, "Look at your long bangs, squinting your eyes, and looking listless. Who can appreciate it?" Later, Meng Mingwei directly cut off her daughter's bangs and cut them into a doll's head;
Meng Mingwei cuts Li Yijin's bangs
Meng Mingwei wanted to express his concern for his daughter, but he must use derogatory words, asking why other people's children are so outstanding, and why you can't be as outstanding as that person;
Often comparing others to Li Yijin and belittling Li Yijin
She never trusts her daughter. She wants to control her daughter in big and small matters, but also wants to break the casserole and ask the truth. After Li Yijin answers, she always looks disdainful and disbelieving. She insists on insisting on the answer she believes in and believes that Li Yijin Not a word of truth;
Are you allowed to say it or not?
Growing up, Meng Mingwei did not give her daughter any privacy. When she was a child, Li Yijin was rummaging through her schoolbag, and Li Yijin was still rummaging through her bag when she was almost 30 years old. During a video call with Li Yijin, she found that her living environment seemed to have changed, and she asked Li Yijin to The video must be taken and shown to her;
Interfering in Li Yijin's love affair, not liking Li Yijin's boyfriend, and calling him directly to warn him to leave and stop delaying Li Yijin, otherwise she would not just make a phone call;
Call and threaten Li Yijin’s boyfriend
When she learned that Li Yijin had broken up with her boyfriend, she began to press for marriage in every possible way and devalued Li Yijin's value: she thought that her daughter was old and had an average job, so no one wanted her. Ordinary, but worried about whether Li Yijin "had such a blessing"; in order to get Li Yijin to go on a blind date, he deceived his daughter that she was not feeling well and asked her to rush over immediately;
Picking a partner for your daughter without permission
When he found out that his daughter didn't listen to him, he flew to the city where Li Yijin worked and lived with his daughter. He often showed up at Li Yijin's workplace and started arguing with Li Yijin regardless of the occasion. As long as he was angered by Li Yijin, he would He directly slapped Li Yijin in the face; interfered with his daughter in various ways, and called the company personnel on his own initiative to tell Li Yijin that he wanted to resign;
He often goes to his daughter’s workplace to cause trouble
She is jealous of the people or things her daughter loves, and is afraid that her daughter will be "robbed" of her beloved things. When he learned that his daughter might live abroad with his suitor, he immediately opposed this relationship; he thought that his daughter was more interested in the bottles he collected than him, and wanted to sweep his daughter's collection into the trash can...
Li Yijin has the habit of collecting bottles, Meng Mingwei wants to throw them into the trash can
In short, Meng Mingwei's love/control over Li Yijin leaves almost no breathing room.
The creative intention of "Excellent Mother"
The original intention of the series to portray "the best mother" is not to be difficult for the audience or to deliberately cause trouble for the audience, but it has its own creative intention.
From the perspective of resonance, such mothers with extreme personalities and behaviors do exist in reality. The portrayal of "excellent mothers" can give audiences with similar experiences a sense of empathy.
From the perspective of conflict construction and dramatic tension, extreme characters can create strong conflicts and dramatic tension, attract the audience's attention, and increase the ratings and topicality of the drama.
From a more profound perspective of revealing and criticizing social issues, "Excellent Mother" attempts to allow the audience to see her psychological causes, life experiences and social structure, and to arouse public reflection.
Although the starting point of Meng Mingwei's terrifying desire for control in the play is her love for her daughter, it is also closely related to her original family, life experience and the structural dilemma of women.
The "Meng family" where Meng Mingwei lives is a large family with a strong desire for control. Meng's mother looks like a sensible old lady, but in fact she is also the incarnation of the "big patriarch". For example, she set a rule: after the daughter of the Meng family gets married, she can only go back to the Meng family to celebrate the New Year. No one can break the "rules"... She arranged Meng Mingwei's life. Meng Mingwei was used to being controlled. Facing Li Yi Jin unconsciously repeats this pattern and becomes her daughter's controller, thereby gaining a sense of security.
Mrs. Meng "harmed" Meng Mingwei in the name of love
Of the three daughters of the Meng family, the second and third daughters are all successful in their careers. Only Meng Mingwei has not been admitted to college. The sisters compete openly and secretly, and Meng Mingwei has a deep inferiority complex. She placed all her hopes on Li Yijin, hoping that Li Yijin would stand out and help her feel proud. She repeatedly stimulated Li Yijin to improve through criticism and belittling, and was repeatedly disappointed and angry because Li Yijin failed to meet expectations. Also because of her low self-esteem, Meng Mingwei had a low sense of self-worth, and she unconsciously reduced her psychological burden by belittling Li Yijin.
Meng Mingwei also reflects the structural difficulties faced by women. As Chizuru Ueno said, "Most Asian women live in repressive environments, and their daughters are prone to the idea of 'not wanting to be like their mothers'... For daughters, their mother's life is a known condition, and they do not She can choose, but she doesn’t understand why her mother leads such an unfortunate life.” After years of thinking, Ueno Chizuru realized that “her mother’s misfortune was not her responsibility, but a structural problem.”
Meng Mingwei has always adhered to traditional society's expectations for a "daughter", "wife" and "mother". She has no self. For example, even if she is bullied by her husband in various ways, she chooses to swallow it... She is not only worried that Li Yijin will repeat his fate, but also does not want to Consciously requiring Li Yijin to follow the traditional female path and become a "good daughter" or "good wife".
Meng Mingwei is also a pitiful person
In the previous 20 episodes, many of Meng Mingwei's actions made the audience feel suffocated. However, as her life experience unfolded, the audience also discovered her "pitiful" aspects. She is an unfortunate woman.
The Limitations of “Excellent Mother”
However, many viewers were angered by "The Best Mother" early on. When there are too many similar "super mothers" on the screen, it is obviously not conducive to showing the diversity and complexity of female characters, and the endless extreme plots also make the audience feel aesthetic fatigue. Therefore, the "superior mother" who "prefers sons over daughters" has been relatively rare since "An Jia".
Although Meng Mingwei in "Fireworks" belongs to the new category of "falling in love and killing each other", for more than 20 consecutive episodes, he repeatedly exaggerated and stacked the various top behaviors of the "top mother", leaving the audience in a negative, depressed, and indignant state for a long time. In the emotional state, it is difficult for the audience to enjoy the process of watching the TV series, and thus they feel tired - many people rely on the "love line" between Sun Qian and Chen Jingke to support them.
This branch line contributed a lot of sugar
If "Fireworks" can show Li Yijin's strong resistance to his mother in the early plot, it will at least provide the audience with emotional relief. Unfortunately, in the first 25 episodes, Li Yijin showed almost no substantive resistance to his mother. She is always compromising, being soft-hearted, and blaming herself (thinking that although her mother is unqualified, she is even more unqualified as a daughter). The audience originally sympathized with Li Yijin, but if Li Yijin remained submissive despite being controlled for a long time, the audience would also develop sympathy fatigue for her situation and become "angry" at this endless control.
Yes, we can understand that the process of controlling and being controlled is often long, and children's resistance is indeed difficult, etc., but the meaning of artistic creation lies precisely in this: it is not to reproduce reality or surrender to reality, it is not only to show problems, It is more important to explore solutions to the problems through in-depth analysis of the problems, or at least guide the audience to think about the solutions to these problems; otherwise, the work only displays the problems without providing solutions or enlightenment, and the audience will feel disappointed, depressed and powerless.
This is the impression given by "The Best Mother" in "Fireworks": the audience has been pissed to death by changing the problem in a different way for more than 20 episodes, while the characters are still talking about "making dumplings".
The way out for "the best mother"
After finally waiting for episode 25, Li Yijin finally made a cruel move in her life. She decided to get back together with her ex-boyfriend, who was the son of a murderer. When Meng Mingwei heard about it, she fainted and woke up crying and begging Li Yijin to break up. . Li Yijin was categorical: "No matter what happened in the past, I will not let you or allow you to affect my future life."
Li Yijin finally "got ruthless"
Li Yijin woke up, and the audience finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, the script is a bit "light" in resolving Li Yijin's dilemma. After she awakens, Meng Mingwei's "extreme" behavior also restrains. The plot misses out on the daughter’s awakening, the continued “game” between mother and daughter, and how the daughter avoids compromising after the game—this should be the focus of the plot and what the audience is more curious about.
Although "Fireworks"'s portrayal of "the best mother" has deviations in key points - it is obsessed with exaggerating the problem and downplaying the solution; but no matter what, it still points out the way out.
A mother like Meng Mingwei is reminiscent of Chizuru Ueno's answer to the question "What are parents to you?" She blurted out: "Disturbing trouble." Chizuru Ueno's reason was, "Children cannot choose their parents. Any kind of parents are 'annoying troubles' for the children who are forced to become their children. Strong parents are strong troubles, and weak parents are weak troubles."
What should we do in the face of such "powerful trouble" as Meng Mingwei? Many children have been unable to escape control because of their feelings of guilt and guilt. I hope Chizuru Ueno's answer can bring courage to some children. She said: "Statements such as 'I want to have grandchildren' and 'I don't want to have no children' are tantamount to asking my daughter to sacrifice for the family like herself. If her daughter's Independence is selfish, and it is also selfish for a mother to force her daughter to get married and have children... If a mother says to her daughter, "I made sacrifices for you," it will only make her daughter bear an unreasonable sense of guilt, which will only It will constrain her daughter's life. If she wants her daughter to be free, the mother herself must also live free."
The focus of the plot at the end of "Fireworks" shifts to how to set "mothers" free. The two scumbag sons-in-law of the Meng family (who are more disgusting than the "Excellent Mother" in the whole process) will finally be kicked out; with the support of her family, especially Li Yijin, Meng Mingwei will finally get rid of her miserable marriage, and she will gain " "Freedom" and give "freedom" to Li Yijin.
Li Yijin supports Meng Mingwei’s divorce
In movies and TV dramas, the mother-daughter relationship of "love and kill each other" is becoming more and more common, and there are also many "best mothers". We hope that there will be explanations that do not stop at exaggerating the problem, but point out the way out - if the mother is not free, try Let's help her get freedom; if my mother insists on not wanting this so-called "freedom", our generation must at least get our freedom back.
Please use this idea to create boldly!
