This is also my biggest disgust with almost all the recent palace fighting dramas and Qing palace dramas. It's true that these TV shows and movies, without exception, highlight the struggles of several strong, intelligent, capable, and capable women, but the objects of these women's struggles are other women, and the ultimate goal of these women's struggles is to gain men 's approval. In these films, men transcend the teacup controversy between women. They are the judges who have the final say, and they are also the audience who watch these women struggle for fun. Song Lian, Mei Shan and Zhuo Yun's struggle, their values as human beings, are fully reflected in those red lanterns hanging in front of the house. When the lord goes to you, you are a person; if the lord doesn't go to you, you are not as good as a dog. If a man recognizes a woman, then she has value. And a woman's own struggle and self-realization can only be achieved through a man's recognition of her.
You could also say that was the case at the time. Critical realism is all about exposing problems. However, the essence of critical realism lies in "criticism", which is higher than reality. And the big red lantern hangs high, it can be said that even "reality" has not been achieved. For example, the heroine Songlian, we know that she is a student, and she had to be a concubine because of the poor financial situation of her family before she finished her studies. After Song Lian arrived at her husband's house, she was completely caught up in the conflict of sesame and garlic skin. Her value is determined by the red lantern from the beginning of the film. So what kind of person is Songlian herself? What are her hobbies? She has studied books, what kind of books do you like to read? Before she married into this family, did she have her own dream as a woman? She broke away from "Master", what kind of person is she? We have absolutely no idea.
You base a woman's value entirely on a man's affirmation, which is the most fundamental manifestation of misogyny. The value of several women is not only based on the affirmation of men, but also makes them hate each other, envy and frame each other for this affirmation and for this self-realization. Writing in this way not only denies the value of women, but also denies their humanity. The eldest wife doesn't pay attention, the second wife is eloquent, the third wife bullies others, and the fourth wife is hypocritical and cold. . . In the end, the third wife was hanged, and the fourth wife went crazy. In the end, it was all their own fault. In this compound, there are literally no good people in Hongdong County, and in the end, what we saw was just a group of humble women, like dogs wagging their tails, vying for the leftovers left by men.
Su Tong and Zhang Yimou obviously put men in the position of outsiders, mediators, enforcers, and condescending to see these women fighting like guinea pigs in a labyrinth without any self-awareness. The system of hanging lanterns is simply an incentive program, which is more ingenious and evil than the design of the incentive plan for employees of large companies. But the film itself never questions the system from anyone's standpoint. The characters are not at all able to rise above their own status and achieve the purpose of "criticism". It is like saying that the diary of a madman only stays on the level of "full of benevolence, righteousness and morality", but does not see the "cannibalism between the lines".
Chinese people have a kind of misogyny that penetrates into the bone marrow of women. A movie from more than 20 years ago was about a group of women fighting for the favor of a man, making them die and go crazy. Today, more than 20 years later, we are still enjoying watching a group of women fight for favor. The only difference between comedy and tragedy is whether the heroine finally gets the recognition of a man and realizes her self-worth.
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