Prison Break reboot: Why is it fascinating?

In April of Chun and Jingming, the American drama "Prison Break" made a comeback.
Prison Break's reboot is thanks to The CW's comic-book superhero series The Flash. In 2014, Wentworth Miller and "his brother" Dominic Purcell were invited to guest star in the first season of "The Flash" as a pair of villains in the "Rogues". The two brothers haven't seen each other since the end of "Prison Break" in 2009. This time, the reunion after a long absence made them talk about each other and naturally mentioned the restart of "Prison Break". Subsequently, the brothers communicated this intention to their old club Fox, and after several discussions, in June 2015, Fox officially announced the restart of "Prison Break".

On the surface, the restart of "Prison Break" benefited from the American drama "The Flash" inviting "Prison Break Brothers" to make a cameo. In fact, the show's reboot should be credited to streaming platform Netflix. In recent years, with the prosperity of streaming media such as Netflix, some old dramas have also revived their second spring on these platforms, and are again sought after by audiences. It was the audience's renewed interest in watching that gave the "Prison Break Brothers" hope and contributed to the restart of "Prison Break". Not only that, but "Prison Break"'s relapse also extends to Europe. In 2013 Netflix decided to enter the Dutch market. Prior to this, they developed a related strategy, carefully studying the content of illegal download sites in the Netherlands. Through this method, Netflix discovers people's preferences and viewing trends, and decides to provide Dutch local users with content that they are interested in. While reducing illegal downloads, it can increase the related income of genuine film and television works. In the process, "Prison Break", which was produced by Fox, entered the attention of Netflix. This series seems to have been forgotten on the mainstream media platforms, but it is in the limelight in the BT download chart in the Netherlands, so Netflix decisively made the American drama "Prison Break" as a heavy weapon on the Dutch platform. Facts have proved that this move not only helped Netflix successfully conquer the city in the Netherlands, but also paved the way for the comeback of the drama "Prison Break".


"Prison Break" in 2005 is an enlightening American drama for many Chinese drama fans. The protagonist in the play is full of flowers and embroidery and is wise and talented. This kind of polarized setting and many supporting characters are full of personalities at first glance, especially the climax of the climax plot, which makes fans in mainland China unable to stop. . According to foreign media statistics, the show attracted nearly 130 million people in China to download and watch it through the Internet that year, which is almost ten times that of another popular American drama "Desperate Housewives". In addition, the sales of pirated DVDs of the show are also very impressive. Correspondingly, various foreign drama translation groups and sharing websites have entered a prosperous stage. People began to widely accept the spiritual and cultural products of this unofficial behavior, and more British, American, Japanese, and Korean dramas began a stage of cultural fusion through the Internet.


"Prison Break" from the United States has achieved success in the worlds of the East and the West, and the show's success in the TV industry is comparable to "The Shawshank Redemption" in 1994. Subsequent series of similar themes, such as Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black", have also been well received. Prison escape has become a cultural phenomenon through the success of film and television works. In fact, during the formation of American culture, "escape" or "escape" has always been an interesting concept, a concept with historical precipitation and cultural extension.


In the early seventeenth century, gold-seeking colonists established the Virginia Company, which gave rise to the indentured labor system in the North American colonies, which continued until 1917. Indentured laborers were not allowed to marry without the permission of their masters and were often subjected to humiliating corporal punishment. Female laborers are especially hard-pressed, and the law says they must extend their contracts if they become pregnant. Workers, both male and female, were victims of violence, sometimes beaten to death. Due to the harshness and unscrupulousness of the contract system, indentured laborers often run away because of their bitterness and anger. Newspapers often feature fugitives with wanted bounties that can be apprehended by both the police and the general public. According to records, the founding father of the United States, George Washington, used indentured labor, and in April 1775, he offered a reward for two escaped white indentured laborers.


At the same time, American serfdom, which also originated in Virginia, is forcing people to seek freedom and escape. Unlike slaves, indentured laborers can also be promised eventual release. The serfs are the dark days of the generations. These intermixing and biochemical changes have further stimulated the emergence of the escape culture. Such descriptions of fugitives seeking freedom abound in literature, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Toni Morrison's series. . As things changed at any time, labor contracts and black serfdom gradually became obsolete, and escapees from prisons gradually became the protagonists in legends and stories. Of course, these prison escape characters are all kind people in the absolute sense, but they are often rebels, with uninhibited souls, and are not willing to be swayed by the spirit and the body of a certain class. They are either forced or framed by others, and they are indistinguishable from the heinous people in terms of connotation and denotation. Americans who are still free especially dislike being in captivity. Seeing people regaining their freedom, especially their freedom and being able to redress their grievances, has touched a similar cultural and emotional resonance to a large extent in literary works and film and television works.


The Hollywood film and television industry has always had a tradition of praising "anti-heroes", and prison escapees are the representatives of anti-heroes. In addition to the famous "Shawshank Redemption", from the 1932 film "Desperados" to Paul Newman's "Blood Behind the Bars" (1967), from Steve McQueen's classic "The Great Escape" (1963) From the star-studded Escape to Victory (1981), from Escape from Yakara (1979) to Prison in the Air (1998), from Eddie Murphy's Life (1999) to Escape Three Wang (2000) can clearly see the inheritance of this concept.


On the other hand, fleeing or escaping is a manifestation of resistance, freeing from shackles and crossing barriers. The ups and downs of the whole process are full of danger and unexpectedness. The film and television work "Prison Break" has a strong sense of immersion. It stimulates the audience's adrenaline with thrilling tension. At the speed of the heartbeat, the concentration of hormones such as dopamine and endorphins rises rapidly. To some extent, these states of excitement and trance greatly inhibit the real suffering of people's lives. This feeling of admiration and nostalgia traps the audience bit by bit in the plot, unable to pull away or extricate themselves.
"Prison Break" successfully integrates multiple factors such as historical memory, cultural extension, emotional resonance, industrial shaping, and physiological stimulation. As the main location for the development of this type of storyline, prison also plays an extremely important role. As a violent product of the state apparatus, prisons have a bleak and mysterious aura to law-abiding citizens. Through these works, people have a glimpse of the leopard, which to a certain extent satisfies the curiosity.


Through film and television, especially through the length of TV dramas, the audience can be relatively meticulously informed about the specific social impact that prisons, as a special form of social coercion, have on special groups of people who are subject to the law. These special groups of people eat, live, grieve and anger, and they live and get along with others. Although the atmosphere is special, it is also a microcosm of a microscopic world. It is also mixed with fish and dragons, with social hierarchies and divisions of power. People also need to socialize and trade with each other. Therefore, spiritual activities relative to politics and economy are formed. And its activity product --- culture. The boundaries of this culture are not high walls, but only among prisoners, law enforcement officers, guards, related workers and visitors.
As a product of the legal system of power, prisons are naturally full of all kinds of outlaws. These people disturb the normal social order and cause various threats and damages to others. They are either marginalized or shunned by ordinary people. The regulatory structure between the guards and the prisoners seems to be very clear, and the power of the law basically means the absolute authority of life and death. But it's not the case. It can be clearly seen from "Prison Break" that the prison system is its own norm. Here, the law of the jungle that the weak eats the meat and bullies the weak is still in operation. Tyranny and toughness are kings. Everything is based on violent behavior, psychological control, coercion, inducement and even emotion. Relationships, controlled by and controlled by others, are not eternal. Law enforcement or guards may also be controlled by prisoners. All superficial relationships may collapse overnight. And after the power struggle is won, you will naturally get better material enjoyment, bed, food and sex partners.


Generally speaking, prisons are set up according to the same sex, so the role of T-Bag in the male prison in "Prison Break" is also common in the United States. Likewise, similar homosexuality in Orange Is the New Black is the norm. Under the general trend of diversified culture and humanistic care, people understand the existence of same-sex relationships, and such plots in film and television are more and more accepted and tolerated by the public. In addition to sexual relations, alliances are also necessary, especially for newcomers, choosing a suitable group is beneficial to their own strength. The groups advance and retreat together, and share humiliation and glory. After forming an alliance, the protection of alliance members and the blows to foreign enemies increase exponentially. The success of the escape of Michael and others in the play is not unrelated to the correct alliance.
In recent years, there have been many rebooted classic American dramas, including "24", "Heroes", "X-Files", etc., but very few can really rekindle people's enthusiasm for viewing. Not long ago, due to Bao Xiaoqiang's absence, the ratings of the reset version of "24" fell repeatedly. However, unlike "24", Fox recalled the original team to create "Prison Break" again this time. At the same time, it was timed to start a new season while the streaming media platform was revived.

Public number: Ding Shendeng