Why is there such a "cliché", and why are Western cartoons so happy with this "cliché"? To discuss this, we will talk about the influence of the Enlightenment on Western culture.
First of all, the cartoon's various symbols and metaphors for enlightenment are very obvious, such as the following: all the primitive people in the
Gollum family
except the Gollum family died, due to curiosity, adventure, lack of caution, etc. , for the Gollum family, especially the parent Grug, to the threat of dying from the new - "the new is terrible".
Does this family think so? Obviously not, the eldest daughter Eep is an exception. She pursues the light and hates the dark. This is very obvious in the part of her rock climbing, she is the easiest person in a family of six to pursue new things.
So without Guy, without this disaster, would Eep complete the enlightenment process on its own? I don't think it should be. First of all, there are six people in this family, and the base is too small. Eep cannot find more like-minded people to exchange and develop their own ideas. Secondly, she was too restricted by the environment, spending most of the day in the cave, and she had no chance to find a way to make the light last longer. In this case, if there is no chance, the Gulu family cannot complete their self-enlightenment. This process is too long. If they don't incest, I am afraid it will be difficult to see the dawn of hope in their lifetime...
To sum up, open The progression of the story, that is, the beginning of this "enlightenment" journey, has two factors, the collapse of the "past" (disaster) and the call of the "future" (the appearance of Guy).
Although there are only six people in the family, it is very representative. Among them, Grug and Eep are two typical ones, namely conservatives and reformers. The description of this conservative is relatively diverse, and Eep is relatively simple, which will be discussed later.
Combining the narration at the beginning and the overall environment, we can conclude that in the previous environment, new things were terrible and would cause death; as time passed, it gradually became clear that new things may not be fatal. , and conservative may not be able to live long. That is, the conditions for enlightenment matured under the influence of these factors.
The Cave
"Suppose some people live in underground caves. They sit on the ground with their backs to the entrance of the cave, hands and feet tied so they can only see the back wall of the cave. Behind them is a high wall, There are some humanoid creatures walking by behind the wall, holding puppets of various shapes in their hands. Since the puppets are higher than the top of the wall, and there is a torch between the wall and the cave, they cast on and off the back wall of the cave. The only thing the cave dwellers see in this case is this 'shadow play'. They've been sitting like this since they were born, so they think these shadows are the only things that exist in the world."
Above It is a section in the middle of "Sophie's World", in which the cave coincides with the plot of the cave in "The Primitive". Primitives go from sunrise to sunset and rest, and everything has to follow the rhythm of the sun. Obviously, what binds them and forces them to "face the back wall of the cave" and cannot understand the outside world is darkness.
The word "darkness" is very complicated, not only the meaning on the surface, but also the fear of the unknown behind it. Please make up your own mind here... Darkness makes people's eyes limited to a small area around them - Gulu's family spends most of their time hiding in caves, and their activities during the day are also limited to flying sand and rocks due to limited sunlight. a small place. Obviously, the scenery in the film is mainly desolate at the beginning, and when their cave was destroyed and they escaped from the place where they lived, the scenery in front of them was extremely gorgeous and colorful, and it was extremely cute, which made the audience sigh.
Of course, the cave in the heart of the Gollum family did not disappear with it. Except for Eep, the initial "enlightenment" of others is a passive process. The world behind them crumbled, and they were fleeing to the mountains because there were caves, it was just the difference from one shelter to another. Enlightenment brings people the awareness and ability to walk out of darkness and pursue light, and the ability to free themselves from the shackles of this "cave". We can say that the background of the disaster is an objective factor, and the subjective factor is the awakening of light consciousness.
Light
is a very positive concept in this movie - no one hates light, even if the rest of the family doesn't show an obsession with light like Eep does, but without it they simply can't come out for food, also cannot survive.
But before Guy appeared, the light of the Gollum family was given by nature, they had no ability to change the slightest, they only had the consciousness of obeying, but not the consciousness of pursuit. Their state is "there is light to live", not "I want to live, I want to have light". The core part of the change that Guy brings is that he makes fire. The role of fire runs through and through. Fire, sun and light are interconnected and form the main line of the entire film. There is even an image of fire in the title of the film.
The relationship between light and wisdom is also obvious. Guy's biggest feature is his wisdom, and he is the only one who can start a fire at the beginning. He can be described as a moment of fire in the Gollum family, playing the role of "enlightenment", and he is the subjective factor in the occurrence of enlightenment. The point of making fire is to act without the constraints of darkness, and the point of wisdom is to act without or less of the constraints of disadvantage. What these two points have in common is that man has since become "free".
The entire enlightenment process in the film is also closely related to light and wisdom. The Gollum family went from being completely primitive to being able to make fire and use tools, and use skills to avoid risks. This is an Aufklärung, a process of rational awakening. The scene where Dad Grug rode alone on "The Sun" is undoubtedly the climax of the whole film, which is a very typical expression of self-consciousness.
Looking back at history, in order to cover up my historical IQ of catching chickens, let me quote Du Niang's words:
"Under the impetus of the Renaissance, great progress has been made in natural science. Scientists have revealed many mysteries of the natural world. Many teachings of the church are self-defeating. People have more self-confidence. With the development of capitalism, emerging assets The desire of the class to get rid of the feudal autocracy and the oppression of the church is becoming stronger and stronger. First, the struggle against the feudal autocracy and the ideological bondage of the church was launched in the ideological field, which set off a vigorous and unprecedented ideological emancipation movement, which is called in history. Enlightenment.
In French, the original meaning of "enlightenment" is "light". Advanced thinkers at that time believed that until now, people were in darkness, and the light of reason should be used to dispel the darkness and lead people to the light. They wrote books and said that , actively criticizing despotism, religious ignorance and feudal privilege, and propagating freedom, equality and democracy.”
The various plots in the film correspond to the above statements. Enlightenment thought has always been proud of the West, which is why, similar plots will be put on the screen again and again, and even the audience will feel a little old-fashioned.
Next, let's talk about the characters in the text. The almighty Du Niang told me that the positioning of each human role in the poster is: Grug - long-winded father; Eep - rebellious girl; Guy - new and new human beings; Ugga - -Modern Mom; Gran - Crazy Granny; Thunk - Stupid; Sandy - Wild Child.
After careful analysis, the above statement seems too simple, too naive...
These 7 people can be divided into three categories, Grug, Guy and others. You read that right, Eep isn't the most special person in the family. She's not even a "lead star". why?
Let's first observe the biggest conflict in the whole article - this is not a story of a young boy and girl breaking away from the family bondage and eloping, nor is it a story of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea and showing their magical powers, this is just an open and secret battle between two G men.
Grug's greatest feature is not long-winded, but his authoritative position at home. He has the power to decide the family's actions (when to hunt, when to go home), the power to control public opinion (storytelling before bed), the power to restrict the way of life of family members (sleeping must be stacked together), the power to make rules of power (big red mudra). Why does he have such power? Because the family's way of life has always been like this, Eep mentioned at the beginning: "The reason why we survived is because of Dad's credit." In this family, Grug is the most capable person to be a leader, and he is also a qualified ruler. Before the accident happened, without Grug, the Gollum family lost their backbone. And they wouldn't think that apart from Grug's absolute authority, there are many other ways to maintain the stability and unity of the family until this state is broken.
Guy's name is special, and its pun intended hilarious effect is no doubt the reason for the choice. But when you think about it, there is another meaning. Guy is the only one who has a rational mind from start to finish, that is, only he is the real Guy all the time. He intervenes in their lives from the weakest point in the family, which is not Eep, but their lack of wisdom. The description of the difference between Guy and the primitive people is very facial. The primitive people have well-developed limbs and a strong body, their teeth are not neat but very sharp, and their heads are relatively small compared to their stature; while Guy's appearance is close to that of modern people. , the body is thinner and the head is larger. The characteristics of both sides are obvious at a glance.
In the course of the film, we often feel that Guy and Grug stand together as a judgment, rather than each has its own merits. Grug has been trying to maintain his authority with violence since Guy's arrival, but has to compromise again and again. The reason for this is that, over time (development), the authority of the past has been questioned and challenged, and one day it no longer applies to the current situation, and it falls apart. And the advantage that Guy represents in a more suitable way of dealing with new things is that old things do not have, and it will naturally appear much smarter (if the disaster hadn’t happened, Guy might not have done better than Grug in the original environment). Okay). This also has many similarities with the fall of feudal autocracy.
In the movie, Guy is able to tell more interesting stories, build fires, and use tools to get through difficult situations... all of which are necessary to survive in a new environment and maintain family harmony. Unlike Grug, Gruy provides these facilities to his family, not at the cost of obedience, and his means of rule are not violence and authority, but profit.
Here we come to why I say that Eep is not the protagonist of this story, she is at best a narrator. Why was Eep attracted to Guy? Not because he's handsome, not because he's strong, but because he can create light, he can make things that she never dared to imagine become reality. Can this feeling count as love? Whether this feeling is strong enough to push the plot forward, I don't think so.
In fact, Eep is the same as the other members of the family, but she is less afraid of new things and more eager. Why did the rest of the Gollum family get along with Guy so quickly and not "loyal" to Grug? Because Guy provides them with benefits - they have shoes, transportation, can easily hunt game and eat hot meat, they can enjoy much more than before, they are limited by the environment Desires are satisfied. This is something Grug cannot achieve with brute force.
Because of the appearance of Guy, the small society of primitive people began to move towards modern times.
Grug faced Guy's challenge and has been using violence and resistance to solve it. He tucked Guy into a tree trunk to restrain him. He consciously feminized Guy.
Let's take a look at the composition of the Gulu family. There are 2 males and 4 females, and the son Thunk is a coward. He is a very feminine image. Grug can be described as the only "kind man" in the family. In the title I mentioned the patriarchal ideology of this movie - the whole movie is just a confrontation between two men. And women (Thunk is also half), always have only the right to choose which man to follow. The performance of their thoughts in the film is vague, and we can even conclude that they are driven by interests. In the Bible, Eve was tempted by the snake, coveted the "benefits" depicted by the snake and stole the forbidden fruit, and was finally punished. This shows that women are easy to be lured creatures, but also easy to obey others. In the film, their "smart actions" were all done under guidance. Guy taught them to wear shoes, walk on stilts, and use horns, and they did so; Under the guidance, he learned to disguise, and Thunk walked out of the maze with the company of Douglas. They have never completed their self-enlightenment through their own thinking. Speaking of which, they are just a foil for two men.
Naturally, although Guy is a man, Grug hopes to feminize him in various ways and make him his vassal, but fails, because human minds and thoughts cannot be bound by violence.
So Grug faces authority over and over again, starting from the moment the primitive man sees the fire, and it becomes apparent when Guy tells stories and everyone doesn't want to sleep next to each other - the family starts to disobey Grug. In the course of the subsequent story, Grug was gradually marginalized because he couldn't do it and insisted on the state he couldn't do. The most obvious plot of this state is Guy and other family members in the tree, brightly lit, with a peaceful and warm atmosphere; while Grug is alone under the gray tree.
The next episode can be described as Grug's self-transformation. We can divide it into three stages:
In the beginning, Grug was just looking for a way to restore his authority at home - so he made all sorts of outlandish inventions, hoping he would grab more attention than Guy. And he can highlight that these inventions are his -- Grug's work, as evidenced by the fact that he names them that rhyme with his own. Grug uses "wisdom" as a tool to maintain rule, but because of its inherent inconsistency, and the practical impracticality of the invention (not benefiting family members, but causing a lot of trouble), so the effect is very poor . This stage can be described as the primary stage of enlightenment - people have the consciousness of the pursuit of wisdom, but this pursuit is only Mittel zum Zweck, that is to say, at this stage, the essence of enlightenment has not been comprehended.
The part where Grug and Guy fall into the oil, I think it's just a bridge. Because it should be a longer process from the initial stage of enlightenment to the advanced stage, and it is impossible for the movie to show it completely, so it makes up for it with emotion (Guy tells that he is an orphan). This passage shows Grug's approval of enlightenment itself, which may be a bit far-fetched because it's hidden behind the emotional line. But the result was very clear. First, Grug had to be convinced by his interests in the end—Guy's wisdom saved their lives; second, in the process, Grug also played to his strengths and gradually learned to open his own wisdom. , played an important role in the survival process for the team. This can be described as the intermediate stage of enlightenment. People seek wisdom for themselves, which requires the catalysis and guidance of many factors.
Seeing this paragraph, I said that the main event behind must be Grug's self-enlightenment. Think back to what Grug was thinking when he faced danger alone? "What would Guy do?" This is fundamentally different from the female characters in the film - all they do is follow, not create their own way. And Grug started his own exploration of wisdom without a guide. Guy here symbolizes human rational thinking and wisdom. We found that Grug did even more brilliantly than Guy, he not only escaped himself, but also came out with a group of animals like the righteous Noah. And the brilliance of his vehicle is unparalleled, with fire, even Guy says "he came riding on the sun" (again, the interconnectedness of wisdom, fire, sun, light). This is the advanced stage of enlightenment. People can consciously open up the light of their own wisdom for humanity itself and benefit others.
Speaking of a lot of animals brought by Grug, we can talk about the topic of pets. Pets are associated with wisdom. At first, only Guy had pets. For primitive people, animals are used to eat, not to eat. Used to raise; and later, everyone has pets (mounts). Pets are the external symbols of people becoming real people in the film. Everyone can domesticate animals, which symbolizes the civilianization of wisdom—this is also a necessary condition and inevitable result of enlightenment.
Take a look at the shape of the small society of the Gulu family at the end - a harmonious scene where everyone is equal, Dad's rights are delegated, and everyone has the right to explore new knowledge and exert their ingenuity... Compared with the slightly lifeless scene at the beginning, It can be found that the whole story presents the transformation process from feudal society to capitalist society.
Last question, where does Guy come from? He appeared like a savior and changed the fate of the family. His mind is centuries more modern than the primitive family, is he a traveler? I don't think Guy is alone, even though his name is Guy.
A little association: Guy appeared in the form of a wild boar. It can be said that the boar's disguise is Guy's disguise; and the name Guy is his own disguise.
Guy is not a name, but a symbol. This image is to concretize the core of Enlightenment thought, make it appear in the form of a person, and reflect its rational characteristics.
So why do I think Eep is not in love with Guy? Because they are not the same kind...
Going back to the clichéd plot mentioned at the beginning - "the initial harmony - the first conflict - the change as an opportunity - the accumulation of contradictions - the second conflict - the outbreak And Change - Happy Ending (Final Harmony)" is the basic pattern of the enlightenment or enlightenment-like process. Why does the West always make this kind of film? In order to demonstrate the various advantages of their enlightenment ideas, they are especially highly praised to young members of society.
The common problem of cartoons is to say things too beautifully, and "Crazy Primitives" is inevitably too much to promote enlightenment ideas. After all, how can human enlightenment be completed in just a few days? Where did such an ideal environment come from to vigorously promote the generation of wisdom? Besides, why did the disaster end when they fled to the mountains? Why did all the contradictions disappear after being enlightened, just like walking into the Garden of Eden? This is obviously very unrealistic, one-sided and temporary.
That's the downside of the Enlightenment propaganda - it portrays it all so beautifully that people tend to ignore its dark side.
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