A group of graduates of the School of Drama ushered in the first turning point in their lives. They are about to step into society from campus and start to break into the entertainment industry.
For Wang Ke, who has just turned 20, the first work she received after graduation was the anti-Japanese war-themed TV series "Wolf Poison Flower", which gave her a good start.
Wang Ke loves acting by nature and is full of enthusiasm for his first role. She portrays the war doctor "Huiwen" she plays in detail, showing amazing acting potential and idealism.
The director and the audience are full of praise for Wang Ke, and they have predicted that she will become the leader of the new generation of powerful actors.
In this way, Wang Ke started his journey in the circle of anti-Japanese dramas. At first, she was full of longing and anticipation for her own development prospects. In the context of that era, anti-Japanese dramas were popular, and many actors accumulated popularity from this type of work.
Wang Ke thought, maybe this is her natal type and performance direction.
However, Wang Ke has not yet realized that there will be a lot of uncertainty in the road of anti-Japanese dramas. It can quickly bring popularity, but it can also make people lose themselves.
Under the commercial operation, many anti-Japanese dramas have embarked on the old road of routines and entertainment. If you can't break the box, it's not easy to get a foothold here for a long time.
Compared with Wang Ke, Zhou Yang of the same class has made a good name a few years after graduation. She collaborated with the popular student Li Guangjie in "Special Mission", which is a work that combines spy warfare and action.
Zhou Yang performed well in the play and received attention. This also prompted her to further choose the anti-Japanese drama as the direction of development.
At that time, the performance of Wang Ke and Zhou Yang undoubtedly inspired more newcomers to join this section to test the waters. The anti-Japanese drama ushered in the first wave of climax, and countless new and old actors wanted to show their skills here.
They don't know that there are too many uncertainties behind this craze, and they need to use the ups and downs to slowly feel and comprehend.
Around 2010, anti-Japanese dramas entered a peak period. A group of professional households such as Wang Ke and Zhou Yang have become well-known in this circle and have accumulated rich experience in interpretation.
They were able to frequently appear in various anti-Japanese works and play different roles.
At first, Wang Ke was happy that he could gain a firm foothold in the anti-Japanese drama. She feels a sense of participation and is also practicing her acting skills. Wang Ke thought that if he kept a professional and serious attitude, he would definitely be able to break out of the world here.
But with the passage of time, Wang Ke gradually felt the tendency of such works to be routine. Many of the plot settings are far-fetched and mishandled with historical details. However, this type of drama tends to be more appealing to the audience, and the producers especially like it.
Wang Ke is in a dilemma, on the one hand, she wants to stick to her acting ideals, and on the other hand, she is facing the pressure of commercialization.
Similar to Wang Ke, Zhou Yang, as a representative of anti-Japanese drama actresses, also faces the same dilemma. The audience just likes those scenes full of dramatic tension, even at the expense of logic and historical authenticity.
For the sake of box office and popularity, they have to cooperate with such a wind direction.
In those years, the number of anti-Japanese dramas surged, and it almost became a beautiful scenery on the TV screen. It perfectly fits the aesthetics and needs of the audience. For a while, the "drama fever" swept across the Davids, and actors such as Wang Ke and Zhou Yang were also immersed in this craze and could not extricate themselves.
They have become the promoters and beneficiaries of this wave. Frequent performances and the accumulation of popularity have helped them become famous in the circle, and also laid the foundation for subsequent development.
There are even many newcomers who are vying to imitate them and join this gold mine to seek opportunities.
However, they have also gradually become accustomed to this entertainment and market-oriented model, and no longer reflect. Driven by commercial interests, they form a mutually beneficial and symbiotic system with the producers.
This made the anti-Japanese drama more and more distant from the original face of history, and Wang Ke and others gradually lost their original intention of acting.
Since 2015, the theme routine of anti-Japanese dramas has begun to become obvious. Many plot settings have been detached from historical common sense and exist only to cater to the audience's tastes.
For example, in a hit drama, female soldiers fight in bewitching military uniforms, with neatly groomed hair and exquisite makeup. This was a serious violation of the fundamentals of the war years, but it still attracted a large audience.
The producers are also happy to cater to this kind of demand, and the screen operation in the anti-Japanese drama is becoming more and more bizarre.
Wang Ke, Zhou Yang and other actors were also deeply involved and had to cooperate with such a wind direction. They gradually lost the pursuit of their acting skills, and just mechanically repeated similar script patterns, becoming the driving force of this reversal.
In 2020, as a representative of the anti-Japanese drama actors, "The Battle of the Nu River" starring Jia Qing premiered. In the play, the female soldiers are dressed in neat new military uniforms, their hair is permed with big waves, and their makeup looks as if they are going to a banquet.
This sparked heated discussions at the time and became the last straw that overwhelmed the ship.
In the same year, another anti-Japanese drama "Thunder Fighter" was also urgently removed from the shelves due to many unreasonable episodes. **Under pressure, the regulatory authorities had to intervene in the ecology of such works and carry out a comprehensive rectification.
For a time, the works of actors such as Wang Ke and Zhou Yang were nowhere to be seen. They may not fully agree with this kind of plot treatment, but they can only obey their lives for the sake of work. Now not only is the drama difficult to deliver, but their acting careers have also stalled.
Over the years, they have become accustomed to the model of anti-Japanese dramas and rely on it to maintain their popularity. Suddenly losing such a stage, Wang Ke and others fell into confusion. Maybe they need time to reflect and reposition themselves on their acting path.
At that moment, they suddenly discovered that it was difficult to go long-term just by relying on the popularity of anti-Japanese dramas. It can quickly set fire to fire, but it can also make people lose themselves.
If you want to gain a long-term foothold, you also need a broader vision, rather than being trapped in a corner.
The decline of anti-Japanese dramas has made these once-popular actresses fall into contemplation.
Wang Ke seems to have reached the peak of his career, but he has gradually lost himself. She abandoned the ideals given by the School of Drama and simply repeated similar roles mechanically. Now after reflection, Wang Ke realizes that he should not be limited to the small circle of anti-Japanese dramas, but should expand a broader way of opera, taking into account both business and art.
Qu Zhazha once relied on Zhang Zijian's works to be a smash hit, but after all, he could not escape the fate of a supporting role. Behind the glamorous, she understands that it is difficult to maintain a false name. This incident made her realize that it is difficult to go long-term with only a momentary popularity, and it needs deeper acting skills as support.
Zhou Yang and Jia Qing were also deeply implicated. They could have become powerful actors, but their aura was covered up by commercial packaging. Now that their popularity has calmed down, they have discovered the emptiness in their hearts.
Maybe you shouldn't have taken this path simply for hype in the first place, and you should stick to your original intention of acting.
After reflection, they understood that it was difficult to sustain the popularity of anti-Japanese dramas alone. It can bring short-term popularity, but distorting history, misleading the audience, and eventually poisoning the road of acting.
Only by returning to oneself can we develop our strengths and avoid our weaknesses.
Looking forward to the future, not only the actors must adjust their positioning, but the entertainment industry as a whole also needs to guide the audience's perspective. Producers shouldn't just cater to tastes and create gimmicks. They have a responsibility to spread positivity.
Only by presenting more authentic and simple works of the Anti-Japanese War can the audience get the enlightenment of history.
Perhaps after this baptism, the public will have a more sober and rational understanding of the anti-Japanese theme. They will understand the greatness and hardships of the War of Resistance, and not just use it as a consumer entertainment.
This requires the joint efforts of all parties in the industry to turn the tide and open a new page.
Time flies, years change. The limelight of anti-Japanese dramas has gone, and the actresses have gone their separate ways.
After a short period of low ebb, Wang Ke rediscovered his acting direction. She let go of the burden of being an actress and turned to work behind the scenes to become a screenwriter.
Wang Ke's script was well received, and she also found new spiritual sustenance in it.
Quzhazha, which was once popular all over the screen, has gradually faded out of the line. She chose to take a back seat and start a studio focused on nurturing new talent. Qu Zhazha is no longer obsessed with fame and fortune, but wants to inherit his acting knowledge and give back to the society.
After Zhou Yang was disappointed in his career, he completely changed his lifestyle. She gave up her life of chasing heat and lived a low-key and introverted life. Zhou Yang opened the window of his heart, learned to talk to his heart, and found a new meaning in life.
After deep reflection, Jia Qing chose to return to the development of stage plays. She is no longer plagued by the ecology of the television industry, but has regained her love for the performing arts. Jia Qing started again and bloomed a second spring on the stage.
They have all experienced the hustle and bustle and transformation brought about by the anti-Japanese drama. That craze has gone up in smoke, but each actor has found new meaning in their own path.
They looked down on fame and fortune and lived a life with a soul.
Now that I occasionally think about it, the anti-Japanese drama has also left a special memory for them. It was the years of striving to pursue dreams, and it was also a process of confusion.
Although it twists and turns, it records the years of their youth.
There are no ifs in life, and all kinds of things in the past have become footsteps. Whether it is the popularity brought by the anti-Japanese drama or the bitterness of the decline, it will be turned into their precious experience.
On the road of acting, they will continue to move forward, but the direction has opened up again.