"Biography of Zhen Huan", a cool drama of harem fighting monsters and upgrading, has become a classic among classics, and it has been 12 years since it premiered on November 17, 2011. It's been hot so far. It has become a conversation among many audiences after dinner.
The plot is complex and covers many storylines: fighting, framing, love and hate, companionship, counterattack and revenge, ......
On the surface, all the plots revolve around the struggle between women.
They form gangs, compete with each other, and even kill each other.
The play depicts the friendships that women forge as a result of their struggles, as well as their wisdom in each step.
These episodes are praised as a true portrayal of women's relationships, and they have also become learning material for professionals.
However, in the whirlpool of this feud, what few people have noticed is:"Eye of the Storm"- The Emperor (aka"Fat orange"）。
As the center of the patriarchal structure, the emperor's existence embodies the embodiment of power, but it is portrayed as the epitome of the patriarchal system.
He has absolute control over money, power, armies, emotions, and more.
Director Zheng Xiaolong brilliantly presents a palace struggle in front of the audience, and we hope to analyze the entanglement between the different characters in this story.
In 2023, looking back on this drama again after 12 years, we hope that the audience can go beyond the surface of the cool drama and observe every sad woman in it, and see their situation under the patriarchal system.
The first thing to mention is the instrumentalized female character.
In the analysis of the walk of the up master Yuan Ri'an in the Tai Hospital, the various characters that appear in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" were divided, and four types of instrumental women were introduced.
He mentioned four types of women: plum blossom type, chrysanthemum type, lotus type, and peony type, corresponding to Zhen Huan, Meizhuang, An Lingrong, Hua Fei and others in the play.
But this classification is only superficial, in fact, it is a means for the emperor to use women to satisfy his own desires.
From ladies to cute girls, each character is endowed with different characteristics, as if it is a special product: cute, ** each has its own strengths.
This instrumentalized image of women satisfies various desires: virtuous wives take care of housework, talented women show wisdom, and hot girls satisfy male desires.
But this categorization is not enough to summarize the emperor's view of women.
For the emperor, they were more of a tool to satisfy his sexual and desire.
As Concubine Nian said: "No matter how beautiful this palace is, who will show it." ”
Therefore, these characters are nothing more than the sustenance of the emperor's desires, rather than truly independent individuals.
In this context, the role of women is defined as satisfying the emperor's own desires.
They are not people to be respected and cherished, but playthings to vent about.
Objects will stay with him for as long as he wants; When he doesn't want to, he doesn't have a choice.
Their experiences, ideas, and personal wishes were not important at all, and they were not within the emperor's consideration.
Once it's used up, it's boring, and you don't want to toss anymore, you throw it away.
However, there is also a category of older women, who have been deprived of the color of ** and have directly become pawns in politics or childbirth.
The emperor always likes to be young and beautiful.
Older women have no aesthetic value, no sexual desire, and are loyal to their children.
Zhen Huan's age after returning to the palace just made her the junction of these two types: she was both 22 and 32 years old. To put it bluntly, the emperor wanted both good-looking toys and useful toys.
At the age of 32, she carries the task of political struggle and childbearing, and at the age of 22, she is the object of the emperor's desire to vent in her youth.
Zhen Huan, as a unique existence, can not only cooperate with young teammates, but also cooperate with Concubine Jing and Concubine Duan as a young mother.
In the court, women played a variety of roles, some involved in court fights, others in charge of taking care of children.
These characters include political pawns, such as Concubine Duan, Concubine Jing, Concubine Hua, and virtuous queens, such as Meizhuang and Zhen Huan.
At the same time, there are also fertility-type tools, such as Concubine Qi, Cao Guiren and Fucha Noble.
Is there a perfect person? Can the infinite goodness possessed by the protagonist Chun Yuan be considered perfect?
The definition of perfection varies from person to person, so is Chunyuan's so-called "perfect personality" her self-modeling, or is it imagined by the emperor? The answer is obvious.
Behind the story is a phenomenon of instrumentalization of women.
In this world, women are not respected for their personal achievements, contributions, or experiences, but simply because of "the emperor's favor."
The only criterion by which she was measured was: whether the emperor and the empress dowager liked her.
Isn't this a prime example of women being seen as tools?
The essence of instrumentalization is to gaze at or exploit the other relentlessly, reducing the other to a tool that fulfills a certain need.
The emperor needed Chunyuan to be beautiful, gentle, talented, and virtuous, so he separated her various qualities and labeled them differently.
She is no longer seen as a complete individual, but as a one-sided character who fulfills a certain need.
Chunwon's beauty and purity are used to sexualize her, limiting her beauty to aesthetic and sexual experiences.
At the same time, her repaying grievances with virtue and her talented side were given the roles of "Interpretation Flower" and "Good Wife and Mother".
However, the role that Chun Won carries goes far beyond that, and the female label she puts on caters to the emperor's tastes.
In the emperor's court, women are labeled with various labels, like female remarks in a scumbag's mobile phone, divided and classified one by one: "This girl was born in 02, **loves to play", "That girl is 96 years old, gentle and considerate".
This objectification of women is disguised as "the emperor's favor".
In this functional scene, people tend to look at the women around them from their own perspective, and see if they can meet the various needs of the module.
Whether it is able to satisfy sexual desires, whether it can contribute to childbearing, or whether it can help in political struggles.
Mothers, wives, girlfriends, confidants, third parties, and sometimes even men became the bricks and tiles of the emperor's court, just to meet their various needs.
The so-called "pampering" is actually just a kind of gaze, surveillance, pity, and sometimes even a charity from the superior to the inferior.
In this kind of relationship, there is no such thing as "love" at all, it is just a possible emotional, physical or monetary reward for your efforts, rather than a real respect.
This kind of instrumentalization and attached value labels for women have long permeated our lives.
In some cultures, women's worth is still limited to men's accomplishments, and they are often seen as "appendages to successful men" rather than independent "successful women".
This reflects a feudal man's need for a woman's role, which treats each woman as an appendage to the superior. Such a phenomenon is undoubtedly an injury to women's dignity.
Many TV dramas, ** often show a situation where the value of women is defined by men.
In the TV series "Good Things Come in Pairs", Lin Shuang snatched the property he deserved"Little Three"Team up for revenge. However, she relies on a stronger male character in her quest for revenge.
It is worth noting that the heroine's counterattack is not done alone, but with the assistance of the male character.
Her outstanding performance was recognized by men, and her happiness also seemed to be built on male favors. However, all this is actually still satisfying the superiority of male dominance.
In contrast, "The Legend of Zhen Huan" profoundly reveals the situation of women in a tragic world.
Behind revenge, there is internal friction between women. This mutual harm only makes women fall prey to infighting, while also becoming a means for men to consolidate their dominance.
Women are mired in mutual blame, contempt and vicious competition, preventing them from paying sufficient attention to themselves.
**Ten Thousand Fans Incentive Plan Although it seems that women are united on the surface, behind it is hidden the open and secret struggle with other women.
It wasn't until Concubine Xi returned to the palace that the story gradually shifted the focus from female infighting to Zhen Huan's struggle with patriarchy and imperial power.