Reporter Shen Jiequn of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network.
In the third year of high school who are desperately brushing up on the questions, some "problem students" who seem to have bad grades are really just because of "bad attitude"?Some unspeakable predicaments, can they be seen?
The recently aired TV series "Minglong Boy" tells us a different story of the third year of high school.
"Minglong Boy" tells the story of Lei Ming, Sang Xia and other teachers who set up a new "Class 11 of the Third Year of High School" to help students face the college entrance examination.
Li Ran lost his parents since he was a child, and he has always relied on his grandmother, who dragged his sick body to work, insisting that he be admitted to college to realize his dream of robots. In order to treat his grandmother, the filial Li Ran plans to drop out of school to make money to support his family. Lei Ming did not give up on every student, tried his best to prevent Li Ran from dropping out of school, and recruited him, Cheng Yushan and other students with various difficulties into Class 11.
In this small class 11 that has been questioned, every student is more or less struggling with the "darkest moment" of youth.
From the perspectives of education and psychological counseling, Lei Ming and Sang Xia teach students according to their aptitude, innovate education and teaching methods, guide students to develop good study habits, and help each student face difficulties, improve family relationships, establish an optimistic attitude, and regain their dreams.
What's special about "Minglong Boy" is that this part of the journey that seems to form a group to "fight monsters and upgrade" is not just for "counterattack", but for children to learn to start facing the long and complex "exams" of their lives.
A few days ago, Ding Hei, the director of "Minglong Boy", said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that this drama portrays the state that most senior high school students will experience, but they hope to present the third year of high school as a "starting point" to make everyone think longer and farther things.
Stills from "Minglong Boy".
Life dramas can make the college entrance examination experience like a suspense drama.
Ding Hei has directed dramas such as "Song of Long Hatred", "Police Honor", "The Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full That Year", and this is his first time filming campus-themed works.
Ding Hei said that the script of "Minglong Boy" resonated with him.
People have two reincarnations. The first time was born naturally in this world, and it was completely unpredictable to know what family, parents, and destiny would be. Ding Hei said that the "second reincarnation" is the "second choice of fate" represented by the university entrance examination.
The content and characteristics of the original script made Ding Hei have a lot of imagination about the construction of the story.
"Minglong Boy" is a campus drama, but it makes the audience see the "suspense". The seemingly ordinary school life and interpersonal relationships are full of suspense and reversal. Every "problem student" in Class 11 who has been a headache for teachers and parents is actually experiencing hidden suffering, confusion and pain that only they knowAdults don't know anything about it, and they will behave in a way that the child rejects completely.
For example, there is a boy who attends a dinner party with several students and parents. When he entered, the audience was stunned with him: the atmosphere at the large round table was very eerie, and all the adults were staring at their phones in a daze, with nervousness written all over their faces, and then suddenly returned to normal. When the suspense is revealed, the truth is ridiculous, and it turns out that everyone is grabbing a famous teacher's course.
A life drama can make a life experience of the college entrance examination like a suspense drama, and even have a certain thriller feeling.
The characters themselves also have a sense of mystery. Lei Ming, who leads Class 11 to rush forward in the play, seems to have mastered the secret of clearing the "counterattack", but the audience can see that this character himself has to face and overcome his inner dilemma.
Every teacher also comes from the students. Ding Hei said that the teachers in the play are also constantly "corresponding" and "contrasting" with each other to understand life and human nature.
In the third year of high school, which is more important, the counterattack and the physical and mental health.
Before the start of filming, the team lasted nearly a year, conducted in-depth interviews with more than 300 teachers and students and the families behind them, and visited more than 10 schools.
In the journey of the "11th class of the third year of high school" in "Minglong Boy", the students not only have a thunder that can promote them to study hard, but also the sunny and cheerful psychology teacher Sang Xia also plays an important role.
In the play, Sang Xia obediently becomes Lei Ming's assistant and helps him form Class 11 of "problem students". Different from Lei Ming's educational philosophy of merit-oriented, Sangxia insists on educating people and believes that the way out for students is not only to win the college entrance examination. Sang Xia can keenly notice the negative emotions of each student outside of schoolwork, and better understand and respect the entanglement and confusion that students are unwilling to speak.
At the beginning of the play, Cheng Yushan, a smart and beautiful girl, encountered many troubles at home and at school. Instead of accusing her of being weak and not directly revealing the scars, Sang Xia told a story that happened to her, thus comforting and encouraging Cheng Yushan.
It's not your fault that you're violated because your skirt is worn short;Because you are open-minded, independent-minded, or emotional, but it is not your fault that you are ostracized;It's not your fault that you're still weak and can't resist yet;The people who are supposed to protect you and love you didn't do it, and it's not your faultAs a girl, it's definitely not your fault. In the play, this line of Teacher Sang Xia aroused strong empathy from the audience.
Screenwriter Chen Shu mentioned that in the process of collecting and researching, it was found that psychology teachers are a very important position in many middle schools.
Chen Shu was deeply impressed by a post-90s psychology teacher in a middle school, "She is very young, beautiful, lively, and full of enthusiasm for her work."
Chen Shu found that the middle school attaches great importance to the mental health of students, and there is an entire floor of a building full of mental activity classrooms, which are very large, and there are "secret tree holes" for studentsThe school uses psychodrama and meditation to help students regulate their psychological conditions every semester.
Some of our details and feelings about Sangxia's character come from the various psychology teachers we met in our actual research. Chen Shu pointed out that Sang Xia is the kind of "little sun" who can shine on her own no matter what others do to her. "In the second half of the journey, there was a transformation and integration of Lei Ming and Sang Xia's educational concepts. One of them is a 'wolf', advocating the theory of fractions and success;One cares more about the perfection of students' personalities, more about students' growth experience, what students want, and whether they are happy or not. The two of them made a very subtle transition and fusion. ”
Prepare for exams that will run through our lives, and stay behind.
Many netizens commented that the "child's perspective" of "Minglong Boy" is worthy of recognition. When the TV series focuses on the students of Class 11, the camera does not focus on them in an objective way, but directly turns the camera to a private gaze, allowing them to gaze at the rules of the entire adult world from the perspective of minors.
The main creator really stands with these ignorant children who have experienced the key nodes of their lives from a perspective, figuring out and examining the "adult world".
A "preface" is set at the beginning of each episode of "Singing Dragon Boy". This small prologue unveils the "corner" of the hearts of many characters in the play. There are many types and styles of this prologue, some of which are more realistic, showing their true memories of childhood, such as Li Ran witnessing his father's funeral when he was a child, Cheng Yushan recalling his mother's remarriage, and Yu Yang always remembering the previous Chinese class that caused him to stutter badly.
The prologue also has a surreal interpretation of the "hypothetical perspective" of a small theater, such as a "rap + stage", hinting at the double-sided lives of Bian Xiaoxiao and Jiang Qinglang. There is even a prologue of a "costume drama", where Mr. Lei Ming and the students perform in costumes, asking the master "What is it to learn without thinking".
Ding Hei said that the "prologue" is the spiritual connotation and emotional core of each episode, which not only expresses the theme, but also is a metaphor and even a foreshadowing of fate.
A post-95 viewer told reporters that this TV series was filmed as "real in the world", for example, the students' response to the incentive of "fighting chicken blood" was mediocre, and they couldn't control their dependence on mobile phones.
This kind of collision and discussion is also very interesting: for children whose family and environment cannot provide support for their own growth, is the college entrance examination the only way to escape from the situation at that time?After being really admitted to the 'Qingbei' that everyone is fascinated by in the play, can their predicament be resolved?Are there a conflict between vocational education and general education?Should the educational path be considered according to the realities of the students and their families?”
In the play, Teacher Lei Ming has a golden sentence: "If you fail to win the exam you were born in, it's not your fault." You can treat the college entrance examination as a make-up exam, and I won't let you lose this time. ”
And Ding Hei feels that looking back from a more far-reaching perspective, the biggest significance of this experience is not whether you can be admitted to a certain school, but that you finally understand one thing: we have been taking exams all our lives.
Prepare for exams that will last our whole lives and strive to stay untouched. In Ding Hei's view, it is more important to know how to shape and improve yourself.
*: China Youth Daily client.