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Since the first article of this official account was published in June 2016, a lot of content has been published intermittently for five years. I would also like to find an opportunity to explain why this public account is called "Guanshiying". Five years later, I have waited for a film that can be used to talk about things. This is the spin-off drama launched by Marvel in 2021: "Wanda Vision".
Let me give a brief introduction to those unfamiliar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wanda, the Scarlet Witch in the Marvel world, was born in a fictional country: Sokovia; Vision, originally an intelligent robot created and derived by Iron Man, has superpowers under the action of the Mind Gem. Also has humanity.
One is the strange flower of Langyuan, the other is Meiyu Wuxia (mind gem), and I met him again in this life. Wanda was originally one of the most capable leaders of Hydra, the biggest villain organization in the early Marvel Universe. During a battle, Vision defeats her, but saves her from danger. So, thunder and fire, a woman and a robot fell in love.
The show begins after Avengers 3 and 4. In 3, in order to stop the ultimate villain Thanos' plan to destroy the universe, Vision asks Wanda to remove the Mind Stone from his forehead, hoping to sacrifice himself for overall victory. Wanda endured the grief and did so. Who knows, when Thanos came, he used the time gem to go back to the past, killed Vision and took the gem in front of Wanda. That is, Wanda witnessed the death of her lover twice.
With super powers, Wanda is still a woman who is soft and longing for happiness. Vision's death is a pain that she can no longer bear in her life.
Sokovia is a fictional country, but the real prototype may be the former Yugoslav Republic, and Wanda's childhood was set in Eastern Europe. The tit-for-tat political movement, the tragic civil war, the interference of foreign forces, and in the incomparable chaos, the childhood Wanda sits and watches the parents die.
She lives with her twin brother, Quicksilver, and was absorbed into the Hydra organization, where she also acquired superpowers. The two then turned their backs on evil and became members of the Avengers, and Quicksilver soon died in battle. Now, Vision is dead again.
Suffering takes more courage than death, Napoleon said. No matter how powerful a superhero is, he can't overcome his inner pain.
Ordinary people face pain, most of them choose to escape. There are various ways to escape. Some people find love again and devote themselves to it quickly, some choose alcohol, drugs, and sex to numb themselves, and some even choose to pass on the pain to others, and choose to take revenge on the world and others.
After Vision's death, Wanda saw the corpse broken into a pile of parts, and the pain couldn't be more severe. She drove aimlessly to Xijing Town. Here, she and Vision purchased a property, where she was planning to build a family and live a good life. Now that things are different, Wanda is in a state of ruin and depression, and seeing the sadness of things, Wanda, who is distraught, can't stand the torment in his heart. She also chose to escape pain.
Unlike ordinary people, she has Chaos Magic, a super power that can control the mind and consciousness of people. In an instant, her magic spread throughout the town, and the residents of the town were controlled by her. At the same time, a living vision was born in her hallucination. All the residents began to accompany her and Vision to live a happy life.
The film is called "Wanda Vision", and the English name is Wanda Vision. First of all, according to European and American marriage traditions, this is Wanda's name after marriage, which represents Wanda's desire for a happy family. Secondly, Vision also means "illusion", and the name can also be translated as "Wanda's Illusion". Third, TV station in English is TV Station, and Wanda Vision corresponds exactly to it, implying the meaning of "Wanda TV". This TV series presents the "Wanda TV" constructed by "Wanda's Illusion" to the audience in the form of a drama within a play.
At the beginning of the plot, it was a sitcom co-starring Wanda and Vision. They are a newly married couple who have just moved into the middle-class neighborhood of Westview. Facing the new life, they have to re-adapt, coexist with neighbors, friends, and colleagues, and cover up their superpowers, so there are all kinds of ridiculous bridges.
It's easy to understand that Wanda expects a happy family life. So why is it a sitcom? For those who haven't seen the show, let's give a little more spoilers, this sitcom is still in black and white. Why is it so strange.
The hallucination is actually a building, and the material for constructing the hallucination, like everyone's dream, must come from reality.
Wanda came to the United States only when he was an adult. After arriving, he also got along with the Avengers every day. In fact, he lacked understanding of the life of ordinary people in the United States. But in her childhood Sokovia, her father often brought home some DVDs, most of which were American sitcoms from the 1950s and 1960s, and the content was basically the daily life of a middle-class American family. In the play, the husband and wife sing along, and it is peaceful and happy; outside the play, the family of four eats simple food and enjoys all kinds of burdens and jokes. All in all, in the back of Wanda's memory, the scenes of sitcoms and dramas used to be her happiest family life.
The show has also evolved over time, from black to color, from families with no children to two (and they are twins like Wanda and Quicksilver), from small towns without children to full of children. Wanda has gone from newly married to a busy housewife, and is really a happy family.
But the material of memory always has some incongruous, even totally incompatible elements with this optimistic and positive atmosphere.
Therefore, there are also advertisements interspersed in the TV series, and the products in the advertisements are "Stark" and "Hydra". Tony Stark is one of the founders of the Avengers, and his Stark Industries is where Vision was born.
It's not just these that are surprising. Colored helicopter toys that suddenly broke into black and white images, strangely dressed people emerged from the sewers, suddenly someone called Wanda's name on the radio, strange sounds from outside at night...
Obviously, both Wanda's inner mind and the interference of the external world are destroying this huge illusion. In the end, after various internal and external struggles, Wanda finally realized that hallucinations are hallucinations after all, it is only a compensation for pain, and cannot really solve the pain.
The only way to escape is to face the cruel reality and let time take away everything... As for how Wanda got out of the hallucinatory dream, the specific details and process will not be spoiled one by one. If you have time, you might as well watch this TV series carefully.
Now back to the question at the beginning, why is this official account named "Guanshiying".
The name of course comes from the most famous deity in Buddhism: Avalokitesvara. I do not dare to think that I am a Bodhisattva, but I hope to imitate the actions of this Bodhisattva. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's most famous act is "rescue suffering" and "respond to requests". Naturally I cannot do such a great devotion.
However, there are actually two kinds of suffering in the world: one is an irresistible disaster from external forces, and the other is a tragedy caused by one's own paranoia and complex. But both of these are like thunder in the sky, which will leave a long-lasting echo in the heart, and people will be afraid, cowardly, or lose their inner balance, wantonly destroying the world and hurting others as resistance.
The story told in WandaVision is a vivid example. The life hardships faced by superheroes are exactly the same as everyone's, and most people also choose to walk into their own fantasy world, write, direct, and perform a TV series by themselves. The people around also need to take care of this person's feelings, cooperate with the performance, and feel Wanda's inner pain all the time, just like the controlled town residents in the play.
At this time, external power is needed to break the illusion and return to reality. Viewing the world is to do such a thing. "Diamond Sutra" has a saying: "All conditioned methods are like dream bubbles. They are like dew and electricity, and they should be viewed as such." The phantom of the world, just observe it calmly and objectively, and then break it in one fell swoop.
This is just the first step in saving life from suffering. Not everyone likes the disappearance of hallucinations and dreams. After all, the real world is very cruel. Therefore, Guanshiying's work may not be liked by everyone. But I am willing to do this until I escort the dreamer to Avalokitesvara...
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