Can martial arts dramas break through by injecting a youthful feel?
2024-08-10
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◎Li Yu
During the Paris Olympics, the Olympic Games attracted the attention of many viewers, and the performance of summer TV series was a bit dull. However, "Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze", which focuses on "youthfulness" and targets young audiences, still gained a decent popularity. In the context of the current bottleneck in the creation of martial arts dramas, "Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" took a different approach and tried to break through with "youthfulness".
It is true that "Young Man on White Horse Drunk in Spring Breeze" breaks through the traditional template of martial arts dramas with its narrative of group portraits of young people, and offsets the dilemma of the degeneration of martial arts scenes with the visual spectacle of "high martial arts"; however, the "youthful feeling" of the drama ultimately becomes sloganeering, relying too much on the "golden finger", making the growth of the young knights empty.
The generalization of chivalrous spirit in the background of "youthfulness"
"Knight" is the core of martial arts dramas, knights are the most common protagonists in martial arts works, and the spirit of chivalry is the soul of martial arts dramas.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the word "xia" had already appeared, referring to the group of vagrants, assassins, and knights-errant. Sima Qian gave a high evaluation of "xia" in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Knights-errant", emphasizing the knights' integrity, bravery, generosity, and noble character of not seeking fame and fortune. These qualities constitute the cornerstone of early chivalrous culture.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the image of "knights" gradually became richer and more sublimated, incorporating more cultural elements and social ideals. Knights are not just fighters with strong martial arts skills, and they pursue not only personal strength and reputation, but also a deep understanding and practice of morality, loyalty, love and hate.
Jin Yong's martial arts works have pushed the concept of "knights" to a new level, that is, "the greatest knights serve their country and their people." In his works, the heroes not only have extraordinary martial arts, but also have lofty moral sentiments and deep feelings for their country. They are in the martial arts world, but their hearts are with the world, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for the safety of the country and the interests of the nation.
However, a serious challenge facing martial arts works today is that with the continuous development and maturity of domestic film and television dramas, the spirit of chivalry is no longer unique to martial arts works.
In martial arts novels, knights use their superior martial arts to challenge existing rules and authority, seeking justice and freedom. However, in works such as "The Silent Truth" and "Article 20", the spirit of chivalry is reflected in the protagonists using wisdom, strategy and perseverance to break through injustice, realize personal values and promote social progress.
For example, the martial arts spirit of justice, bravery, trustworthiness, and honoring promises is a universal value that transcends time and space and transcends form. On the surface, works such as "Fanghua" are far away from the martial arts world, but the plot design of the knight's growth, friendship, and retirement is actually a modern interpretation of the martial arts spirit, showing the applicability and appeal of the martial arts spirit in contemporary society, and inspiring the audience's resonance with ideal personality and moral pursuits.
On the one hand, the chivalrous spirit is generalized in non-martial arts dramas, and the audience is not limited to feeling the charm of chivalry in martial arts works; on the other hand, the narrative paradigm of martial arts dramas that carry the chivalrous spirit has fallen into the dilemma of being stereotyped and routine, and has hardly escaped the following pattern:
Orphan's Growth Mode. The protagonist is usually an orphan or a child who lost his parents at an early age. By chance, he obtains a martial arts secret book or meets a master's guidance. After experiencing a series of hardships and challenges, he grows into a master or martial arts expert.
Blood and Sea of Vengeance Mode. The protagonist, who carries a blood and sea of vengeance, embarks on the road of martial arts driven by revenge. During this period, he goes through hardships, learns powerful martial arts, makes friends with like-minded knights, and fights against evil forces together. He not only seeks to resolve personal grievances, but also stands up at critical moments to defend the justice of his country.
Jianghu grudge mode. Jianghu is a world full of grudges and hatreds. The love-hate entanglements between characters and the disputes between sects form a complex plot network. Grudges and grudges become the key driving force of "breaking the law with force".
Fighting for martial arts secrets mode. The story revolves around one or several legendary martial arts secrets, which often symbolize the supreme martial arts realm or great power, and heroes from all walks of life fight endlessly for them.
Wulin Domination Mode. Focus on the power struggle between different sects or forces, fighting for the leader of the Wulin or the hegemony of the Wulin, including a large number of battle scenes and treacherous conspiracies...
During the heyday of martial arts, these modes were widely popular due to their distinctive features and strong appeal. However, with the increasing variety of types and themes of domestic dramas and the audience's entertainment choices becoming more diverse, these traditional modes have been severely impacted, and the audience has gradually become aesthetically fatigued with the traditional modes of martial arts dramas.
The injection of "youthful feeling" into the group portrait of young people and the "high martial arts" setting
In previous martial arts dramas, there were of course young protagonists. For example, The Legend of the Condor Heroes is the growth history of the young Guo Jing, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber is the growth history of the young Zhang Wuji, and The Return of the Condor Heroes is the growth history of the young Yang Guo... They not only focus on the growth of the young protagonists, but also depict a complex world of Jianghu, involving many sects, grievances, and struggles of various forces; the characters and events in the story are often closely linked to the historical background, which increases the weight of the martial arts drama. Jin Yong's martial arts dramas are undoubtedly classics, but they have also become an insurmountable peak. Most martial arts dramas that try to copy Jin Yong's model fall into the dilemma of imitating others.
"Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" does not have such a heavy burden. It is a rare martial arts drama featuring young people in the market. The drama features a group of young knights including Baili Dongjun, Ye Dingzhi, Yueyao, Sikong Changfeng, Lei Mengsha, Xiao Ruofeng, etc. as the main characters, and revolves around the growth experience, friendship, love and other interactions of these young people; each young knight has his own personality characteristics and development space, rather than just revolving around one or two protagonists.
The traditional chivalrous spirit usually emphasizes serving the country and the people, and eulogizes virtues such as loyalty, justice, and courage; the young knights' interpretation of the chivalrous spirit is more integrated with modern values such as personal growth and self-realization. In addition to the feelings of family and country, the young knights' protection of their lovers, friends, and brothers is more prominent. For example, Baili Dongjun was not interested in martial arts at first, but later he found that only if he had a skill could he stand up when his brothers were in trouble in the future, and thus embarked on the road of martial arts... Contemporary young people are more inclined to pursue real emotional experiences and the realization of personal values. The efforts of young knights to protect those around them can arouse their emotional resonance, especially the cherishment of friendship, love, and family affection.
The original intention of the young knights to travel the rivers and lakes is also different from that of traditional martial arts dramas. The protagonists in traditional martial arts dramas are often more introverted and humble, emphasizing "forbearance" and "indifference to fame and fortune"; while the young knights are more flamboyant and more enterprising. For example, Baili Dongjun is obsessed with becoming famous, and everything he does is for fame. This not only brings new themes such as personal dreams and fighting spirit to martial arts dramas, but also reflects the desire of modern young people for success and self-realization.
"Martial arts" is another core of martial arts. The "youthful feeling" injected into martial arts dramas by "Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" is also reflected in the younger form of "martial arts".
In martial arts culture, there are concepts of "low martial arts" and "high martial arts" to distinguish the level of martial arts, world view construction, and battle scale in different works. In the "low martial arts" world, martial artists focus on martial arts skills and internal strength training; martial arts performance is closer to reality or slightly exaggerated, such as Qinggong and acupressure, but not to the extent of violating the laws of physics; battle scenes are more realistic, relying on exquisite moves and deep internal strength, and there are fewer "mass destruction" martial arts that destroy the world.
In contrast, in the world of "high martial arts", martial artists have reached a level of transcendence where they can even move mountains and fill the sea, fly into the sky and escape into the ground, and move the heavens and the earth with a single thought. These abilities far exceed the laws of nature. The battle scenes are even more spectacular, with mountains and rivers changing color at any time, and some even introduce the application of advanced laws such as space and time.
Traditional martial arts, represented by Jin Yong's works, generally belong to the "low martial arts" setting, focusing on the detailed description of martial arts movements and moves, and emphasizing the beauty and philosophical thoughts of martial arts themselves, such as the Wudang school's use of softness to overcome hardness, the Shaolin boxing's fierceness and power, the Huashan school's sharpness and exquisiteness, etc., conveying the charm of martial arts as an art through words.
When the "martial arts" in martial arts was adapted into movies and TV series, martial arts scenes became a major attraction of martial arts movies and TV series. During the golden age of Jin Yong's dramas, thanks to a group of directors and actors who were proficient in martial arts and well versed in action design, the works not only displayed superb martial arts skills, but also had innovative action choreography, combining traditional martial arts routines with modern creativity to create action designs that were both in line with physical logic and beyond ordinary people's imagination, with both visual impact and imagination, making the audience feel as if they were in a surreal martial arts world.
However, with the rise of fantasy/xianxia dramas and the rapid development of special effects technology, "low-level" martial arts dramas were soon impacted by "high-level" martial arts dramas.
On the one hand, after the development of special effects technology, martial arts dramas rely heavily on special effects to create visual effects. Although it has broadened the boundaries of visual imagination to a certain extent, it has also led to the dilution of traditional martial arts aesthetics. Real and tough martial arts movements are replaced by exaggerated special effects, losing the original sense of power and reality. This trend not only reduces the artistic value of action dramas, but also makes the action scenes of martial arts dramas become stereotyped, lacking recognition and appeal.
On the other hand, fantasy dramas/xianxia dramas attract a large number of young audiences with their wild imagination, romantic and beautiful love stories and gorgeous visual effects. Fantasy dramas/xianxia dramas build a more grand fantasy world, not only with the existence of supernatural creatures such as immortals, demons, monsters, and ghosts, but also often include elements such as cultivation to become immortals and battles between gods and demons; the characters' abilities far exceed the laws of nature, using spells, summoning mythical beasts, and even controlling the elements of heaven and earth, and their combat power and influence are far beyond the reach of martial arts; the battle scenes are more spectacular, including gorgeous spells, light and shadow, large-scale battles between gods and demons, space distortion and other special effects, reaching another level in the expansion of visual effects and imagination, and the appeal of traditional martial arts dramas to young audiences has further weakened.
In terms of martial arts design, "Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" adopts the setting of "high martial arts" - since you can't beat the martial arts special effects of fantasy fairy tales, then add it. The various fights in the play are full of colorful light, and the light and shadow effects are extremely rich. As the characters move and release skills, light beams, halos, light waves, etc. interweave in the air, sometimes spreading in ripples, sometimes in the form of shock waves. The collision of light and shadow will produce an explosive effect, as gorgeous as fireworks.
Although the fighting scenes in the play retain some traditional martial arts elements, such as the names of moves and martial arts movements, there is almost no real fighting, and most of it is completed by relying on modern special effects technology. In this way, "Young White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" achieves a visual effect comparable to fantasy fairy tales, bringing a brand new viewing experience to young audiences.
The emptiness of "youthful feeling" and the prevalence of "golden fingers"
"Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" attempts to inject a "youthful feeling" into martial arts dramas: it uses a group of young people to highlight the young people's will, ambition and their protection of the people around them, and the visual effects of the martial arts are more gorgeous... This makes the martial arts drama not only grand and heavy in form, but also reflects a light, smart and lively side, which is closer to the growth experience and aesthetic experience of young audiences.
From the perspective of creative thinking, "Young Man Riding a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze" is feasible, but from the perspective of specific practice, it is conceptual and slogan-like. A fatal flaw is that under the blessing of the "golden finger", the teenagers have emptied the connotation of "growth".
The so-called "golden finger" refers to some extraordinary ability, item or condition possessed by the protagonist. These special advantages can usually help the protagonist easily overcome difficulties, solve problems or surpass other characters. "Golden fingers" can be specific items, such as artifacts and panaceas; they can also be skills, such as photographic memory and super combat skills; or they can be advantages in background settings, such as being born into a powerful family. In the field of online literature, "golden fingers" are very common. The protagonist relies on these special abilities to overcome all obstacles and bring a sense of pleasure to readers.
In "Young Man on White Horse Drunk in Spring Breeze", every young man in the group has a "golden finger".
For example, Baili Dongjun was born into a noble family. His grandfather was Baili Luochen, the Marquis of Zhenxi, his father was Baili Chengfeng, who killed Qianli Wuxing instantly with one sword, his mother was Wen Luoyu, the beloved youngest daughter of Wen Lin, the poison doctor and head of the Wen family, and his uncle was Wen Hujiu, the poisoner who poisoned the world...
Baili Dongjun was born with martial veins, which is an extremely rare physique. People with this physique are born with extremely high martial arts talent and potential for cultivation. On his subsequent martial arts journey, he met various top masters. He first met the Confucian Immortal Gu Chen by accident, and learned the famous Western Chu Sword Song from him; then, he arrived at Tianqi City, and no matter what kind of test he had to go through, he was able to win, and successfully worshipped Li Changsheng, the world's number one, as his teacher; in a short period of time, he climbed to the top of the Liangyu List and easily became famous all over the world...
It's not just Baili Dongjun, Ye Dingzhi, Sikong Changfeng and other main characters. They can learn anything at once. Various unique skills are more like "equipment" in the game. They can be used immediately after they come into contact with them, and their martial arts power will increase rapidly...
There is a sense of satisfaction, but various drawbacks follow. Young knights always rely on the "golden finger" to solve problems, so they have no chance to overcome difficulties through their own efforts and wisdom, which weakens the arc of character growth; over-reliance on the "golden finger" makes the story predictable, and every time a problem is encountered, the same means are used to solve it. The plot development lacks ups and downs, reducing suspense and surprises, making the story more bland; when the "golden finger" is too powerful and unreasonable, there is no story logic to speak of, and the credibility is greatly reduced. The world is like a child's play, and the young knights walking in the world are more like a light "game"; in real life, people often need to face various challenges and gradually overcome difficulties through their own efforts. The existence of the "golden finger" simplifies the conflict resolution in the story and makes it difficult to resonate with the audience...
"Youthfulness" injects fresh blood into traditional martial arts dramas. However, the real growth of a young knight is not only about the improvement of martial arts, but more importantly, the inner maturity, the shaping of values and the assumption of responsibilities. When the "golden finger" becomes the main driving force for the development of the story, growth seems empty. The creator should focus on the inner growth process of the young knight, and through delicate emotional descriptions and profound psychological portrayals, let the audience feel the hardships and joys of the character's growth, so that they can resonate with the character on an emotional level. Only in this way can the young knight truly become an eternal hero in the hearts of the younger generation, and "youthfulness" can bring new vitality to the martial arts drama. Picture from the Internet
(Source: Beijing Youth Daily)
