Just like the problem of a large number of supporters of identity politics today, "The Magic Boy" is anti-discrimination on the surface while discriminating against other groups of people. The depiction of the subject of discrimination and anti-discrimination in the film can be said to be a very ironic and perfect depiction of the contradictions of contemporary identity politics.
"Magic Boy" should be the most mature animation film in China today. Its big sales are more like a sign that the Chinese animation industry is moving towards the industrialization of Hollywood, and I should be delighted about it; but it is also a test that considers the acceptance of the ideology of Hollywood genres in the Chinese mass market—and this time The results of the test left me a little confused.
The main criticism of "Magic Boy" is still to abandon the anti-patriarchal ideology of "deboning to the father, cutting the flesh to the mother" in the old version of "Nezha Naohai" from the US Studio. Some people also refuted that the anti-patriarchy is not the story of Nezha. Eternal theme, but once given by the times. So after watching the screening, I have actually been thinking about a question: What characteristics of the narrative of our era does "Magic Boy" reflect?
The most obvious point should be the return of the image of contemporary fathers and the shaping of core family values, which faintly reflects the call of "returning to the family and promoting family virtues" in the real society-do you think I am satirizing the country? No, I'm actually talking about the United States.
Father, as an image closely related to power and authority for a long time, was missing for a long time in Chinese revolutionary literature and film and television works, or became a representative of power and stood directly on the opposite side of revolutionaries. "Hai" has become a representative of anti-patriarchy. However, since the beginning of the past few years, there has been a large number of "finding fathers" trends in China, the most typical one is the variety show "Where are you going to dad": this trend can be understood as calling for the return of patriarchy, and it can also be interpreted in the opposite direction as precisely because The absence of the father and even the collapse of patriarchy led to this call, or both, depending on the specific work.
As far as "Magic Boy" is concerned, my personal understanding is that Li Jing and Nezha represent the absence of fathers in the growth process of the post-80s, and Taiyi has the characteristics of the "spiritual father" in the ideals of the post-80s to a certain extent: Being able to communicate with their children on an equal footing, and even lower their faces to play with the children, without any parental pretensions. Nezha finally understood Li Jing’s difficulties, which meant that the post-80s generations finally chose to reconcile with their fathers when they became adults, but should they be further understood as "reconciliation with patriarchy"? To be honest, I don't know.
In fact, Li Jing's image of a father who "has difficulties and is not understood by his children and silently supports the family" has become popular in post-neo-liberal Hollywood in the United States. The father-son family that is finally reunited after suffering is also a manifestation of American traditional values. Therefore, after the disintegration of the grand narrative, the pursuit of personal happiness and the construction of a new type of family imagination have become mainstream narratives. This is not the case at home and abroad.
"Magic Boy" does represent the narrative of such an era. But it is worth questioning whether the values of the nuclear family (or atomic family) expressed in "Magic Boy" are really the answers found in China today? Or is it a homework copied from Hollywood?
In fact, after the disintegration of the traditional family, contemporary Chinese movies are indeed indispensable for the discussion of family values. Many contemporary directors have filmed them, and even Western-style nuclear families like "The Magic Boy" will appear, but there are often two views of family in the middle. Repeated entanglement and the fragmentation of values under constant changes in society also confirm the confusion of our time. The problem with "Magic Boy" is that the answers it gives are too clean. This is also a difficult problem in China's current filming of family carnival animations. Whenever family and family themes are involved: take a deeper shot, afraid that the child will not understand it. It's shallow, but it's just a copy of Hollywood homework. (Digression, so Hayao Miyazaki is too strong)
The second feature that may not be so obvious is that class politics gives way to identity politics.
The anti-patriarchy of "Nezha Naohai" is anti-authoritarian. It is not a gender issue but a class issue. The theme of "Magic Boy" turned into "anti-discrimination" has actually evolved into the most popular identity politics on social networks today. Issue-Nezha encounters discrimination because of his identity as a demon, which is essentially the same as the discrimination faced by women, LGBT, ethnic, and professional groups today because of various identity tags.
Class politics is an issue that is constantly being watered down in today's mainstream culture. Turning to discussing identity politics is politically correct and relatively safe, I don't think that political correctness is entirely wrong. The good thing about "Magic Boy" is that there is a clear awareness of the rise of women in today's cultural creation world, and Mrs. Yin has been portrayed as a modern woman with independent thinking and anti-traditional husband and child.
But just like the problem of a large number of identity political supporters today, "The Magic Boy" is anti-discrimination on the surface while discriminating against other groups of people: obese and stuttering patients. There are a lot of jokes about the physical defects of these people in "Magic Boy", and if you think about it carefully, it is obviously malicious to the brawny "mother" who may have problems with gender perception. This is undoubtedly related to itself. The theme of is quite conflicting-I can accept Wupin's jokes, but you can't engage in discrimination under the guise of anti-discrimination. This is too double standard.
This is often a common issue of identity politics issues such as women, LGBT, and race on social networks today: What many disadvantaged groups actually oppose is the damage to their own interests, but they will unconsciously do evil in the face of other disadvantaged groups. Just as many blacks oppose only being offended, they don't even think about racial discrimination when they make jokes about Asians. The depiction of the themes of discrimination and anti-discrimination in "The Magic Boy" can be said to be a very ironic and perfect depiction of the contradictions of contemporary identity politics.
In retrospect, the two points of "The Magic Boy" are actually the mainstream ideas of contemporary liberalism, and may also be regarded as the inheritance of the ideology in Hollywood movies.
Now that "Magic Boy" has become a phenomenon-level movie, there are still many things worth discussing. Whether you or I support or oppose it, it reflects the characteristics of the narrative of our time, such as the "abdication" of the masses of people, their power and authority. Because of the limited time, it is not convenient for me to continue the development.
Someone might criticize me. It's obviously a cartoon. Why are you talking about so many ideologies?
I borrowed a sentence from Zizek that I just saw not long ago to answer: The pursuit of happiness is the most vivid ideology of the moment.
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