This article was first published on the public account: overhead (jiakong2017) text / Fang boss
When "Black Panther" and "The Shape of Water" were controversial because of the forced output of consciousness, the two giants BBC and Netflix joined forces to get things done, and silently taught these two masterpieces a lesson. Yes: How to express political correctness intelligently.
This is the suspenseful British drama "Collateral Injury" jointly invested and filmed by Netflix and the BBC , which is also translated as "Mortgage". The show's main creator is luxurious, with a script written by two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter David Hare and "The Great Gatsby" actress Carey Mulligan starring.
Actress Carey Mulligan was five weeks pregnant when she signed on to join the show, and the writers had to include her physical condition into the plot.
The story of Collateral Damage revolves around the murder of a pizza delivery guy who is shot and killed, triggering a runaway butterfly effect involving numerous characters.
Adhering to the characteristics of British dramas such as small number of episodes and fast rhythm, this suspenseful work with only 4 episodes has an explosion of information in just five minutes at the beginning:
Abdulla, the delivery guy of "Imperial Pizza", delivered the delivery instead of his colleague who was on duty. Abdulla rushed to the destination and handed the pizza to a young mother who was struggling with a baby. After receiving the pizza, the latter threw it in the room. corner. Abdulla took the tip and was shot dead as soon as he left the house.
Straight to the point, straight to the point, such a neat and cold expression is very British.
Near the scene of the crime, an Asian woman who was addicted to drugs happened to witness the shooting. This was followed by a thoughtful white woman who appeared in the empty church at midnight.
In order to protect themselves, witnesses withheld key clues that the murderer may be a woman from the police.
The police began to investigate the case.
At this point, most of you think that who the murderer of this case is is the biggest suspense. If you guessed like this, congratulations you guessed wrong, because the murderer made an appearance at the first time.
It's this cool-looking soldier lady.
It seems that the answer to the mystery has been revealed early, but the first episode is not yet halfway through. How to maintain the sense of suspense?
Don't worry, even telling you who the murderer is, you're still far from the truth.
At the same time, in the ultra-fast narrative rhythm, several special character relationship lines have gradually become clear.
In the initial investigation, the police found that the "death order" of the deceased Abdullah was randomly arranged by the duty manager, and the customer's behavior of ordering pizza was also a routine operation, and there was nothing suspicious about it.
But heroine Inspector Kip refused to believe the murder was a senseless act of random violence.
The duty manager temporarily changed his decision and sent the deceased to deliver the goods, making her a suspect list by the police.
Kip learned from the deceased colleague that Abdullah was a Syrian refugee.
As the investigation deepens, the case becomes more complicated: the Asian witness at the crime scene is currently black in London due to the expiration of her visa, and her same-sex couple is the pastor of the local church; the young mother who ordered pizza brought her two The child's father was a member of Congress, and the case happened in his constituency. He also unknowingly sponsored the school for the Asian witness; the deceased Abdullah had two refugee sisters, who smuggled here. After arriving in the UK, they have been hiding in Tibet, and the sisters kept their mouths shut when they were questioned by the police; the manager of the pizza restaurant and another delivery man Mike seemed to be keeping a close eye on Abdullah's death...
see it? There are so many people involved in this case, not only that, but they involve refugees, illegal immigrants, Catholics, LGBT groups, politicians, soldiers... They are all sensitive, and everyone brings their own topic traffic.
How many political elements can you see in this poster?
At first it seemed like everyone who was forced to be involved was innocent, "I just ordered a pizza out of habit" "I just made a temporary decision to replace him with pizza delivery". And when various clues quickly emerged, almost all typical social problems exploded on these people one by one. These seemingly unrelated and innocent people are actually inextricably linked to this murder.
The duty manager Laurie is also inextricably linked to the case.
It can be said that this joint operation of BBC and Netflix not only brought the rhythm to the sky, but also used a murder case to reflect the social phenomenon of all classes in the UK. The pattern shown in 4 episodes is beyond imagination.
When "Black Panther" and "The Shape of Water" were used as negative teaching materials, "Collateral Injury" also embarked on this difficult road, and in the performance of this type of subject matter, it showed that it is different from other controversial works. Completely different look.
In "Black Panther", Wakanda is powerful and developed by vibrating gold, and King T'Challa's throne obtained by blood seems to have raised a hand of colored people, but it has become a different meaning inside. "Racial discrimination" (see: Disagreement, Black Panther is also a spokesperson for racial discrimination ).
"Black supremacy" is the most ridiculous expression against racism.
Recently, the Oscar's best film "The Shape of Water", which has a serious reputation, is also doing its best to beautify when dealing with various marginalized groups. But these characters almost all appear in the film with different symbolic meanings, which are not substantively helpful to the discussion of gender and ethnic inequality (see: "The Shape of Water": Compared with other Oscar best, it is really a bit "water" ).
The gay painter in "The Shape of Water" contracted one of the few funny scenes in the film.
But Collateral Damage is different.
All the special groups that appear in the play have an inevitable reason for their existence in the work, not just a symbol of political correctness.
First of all, the discussion of sensitive issues in "Collected Damage" naturally comes out of the characters' mouths.
When discussing immigration, the play goes like this:
Laurie (pizzeria manager on duty at the time of the incident) seeks help from Jane (church pastor), she sees Jane's same-sex relationship with Linh (witness, Asian).
Jane told her: "It's been tough and the authorities are doing a lot of work on foreign students."
The scene also explores religious, LGBT and immigration issues.
How ridiculous. Authorities are very tolerant of refugees, but they have to clean up foreign students.
When discussing the issue of religion and homosexuality, the audience can also learn from Jane's conversation with David (Member) that Jane is not only a homosexual in the church - even the bishop himself has a boyfriend.
The infiltration of the LGBT community into the church is well known.
In addition, criticizing the government's inaction towards the bottom people is also imperceptibly.
Laurie's mother is dying and lives on oxygen every day. As the duty manager of the pizza restaurant, she was exhausted by working hard every day to earn money to support her family in order to take care of her mother. The government has also done something for this family in difficulty, but no matter how much money or effort, the government can do very little for this family.
The people have lost confidence in the government.
In addition to the government's inaction, Sandrine (the killer) also complained to his colleagues when referring to the more sensitive issue of sexual assault in the military, which is not an exaggeration to call it a national scandal, how widespread this phenomenon is in the military, And the powerlessness of female soldiers in the face of sexual harassment by their superiors.
In a patriarchal society, even tough female soldiers who have gone to war are so isolated and helpless.
Secondly, at the end of the play, each special character in the play makes a break with their identity.
This is the most important way that Collateral Damage expresses its thoughts.
No matter "Black Panther" or "The Shape of Water", those works that emphasize political correctness tend to focus too much on the protagonist, and others around them serve and only serve the protagonist. At the end of the story, the protagonist may have a happy death, or his ambitions have not been fulfilled, but he always has his own destination. And those who play support, no one cares about their end, whether their situation has improved.
Collateral Damage is different.
for example.
Sandrine, who shot Syrian refugee Abdullah, suffers from severe mental illness. While on a military mission in Afghanistan, her best colleague and friend Elizabeth is blown to pieces in front of her eyes, and a deeply stimulated Sandrine suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after leaving the battlefield. Directly created the Abdullah tragedy.
Sandrine had received psychotherapy, but she still failed the final test, so she was not allowed to return to the mission department and deployed as a colonel, but could only do mechanical functional work, facing the annoying boss every day .
Of course we won't tell you what the mentally tortured female colonel went through before she decided to kill a Syrian refugee she never knew. After all, "what was the murderer's motive?" This is the core suspense of the story.
At the end of the story, Sandrine, who learned the truth, chose to commit suicide. Although the end is tragic, for a character with a special status like her, death is not necessarily a relief.
Kip is powerless to save the desperate Sandrine. She left a suicide note accusing everything.
Similarly, the homosexual and pastor Jane finally decided to compromise with the system; Congressman David recognized his puppet status, gave up carefully considering all kinds of complicated relationships, and reached a reconciliation with himself; while the pregnant female policewoman Kip used herself With all the wisdom and courage, using the "mortgage", he took the risk to help refugees and "second-generation refugees" obtain residency in the UK.
By this point, the lives of every character in the show are in the dust.
And the views that this show wants to express to each ethnic group, and even the treatment they think they should get, have been successfully perceived by the audience.
The most important thing is that the communication of all concepts is not blindly imposed, but a matter of course.
Just like Inception, it takes 4 hours to let a non-native concept be accepted naturally.
To be able to do all this, first of all, of course, it must be attributed to David Hare , the writer of the script of the play . The acclaimed screenwriter was nominated for two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Moment" and "The Reader."
Hare's most important identity is that of a screenwriter, but it is his role as a screenwriter that makes him famous.
Unlike well-known British screenwriters such as Steven Moffat who wrote "Sherlock" or Reece Shearsmith (two volumes) who wrote "The 9th Secret", Hare has a strong preference for political themes, and is especially good at depicting contemporary Britain and its history. A rich and extensive holographic picture of government agencies.
His work often reflects political issues from a personal, civilian perspective. As a social follower and discussant, most of his eyes are on the British Isles where he is. This may be his limitation, but it is also the strength and characteristic of his creation.
It is this keen touch and precise capture of politics that gives "Collected Damage" a unique experience of watching the show. The clever way of expressing political positions cannot be boring because of its calmness.
This is exactly what the BBC and Netflix do well.
The streaming media giant Netflix has produced a large number of film and television boutiques in recent years.
As a national TV station, the BBC itself does not rely on advertisements to make money, nor does it place advertisements. Their source of income mainly depends on the viewing fees of users, so they do not care much about the ratings, which also makes the BBC not so strong to please the audience. , the attitude when making the drama is even colder, and even dares to create a sharper script - this point is distanced from the American public television station that relies on advertising.
At the same time, it is precisely because of limited funds that BBC's episodes are often short and delicate. A season of British dramas is as little as 3 episodes, and as many as 8-10 episodes. Massive information is compressed into a very small space, and the intuitive feeling presented is that , The rhythm is extremely fast, and a little distraction can't keep up with the plot.
And Netflix, the largest streaming media platform in the United States, is well known for its ability to capture sensitive topics and its desire to express itself.
Whether it is "House of Cards", "Black Mirror", "Narcos" or "Super Sense Hunting", Netflix has always been at the forefront of paying attention to political topics and sensitive groups, and has never given up its saucy expressions due to the pressure of the political environment.
In addition to "House of Cards" and "Narcos," Netflix's housekeeping drama has been under enormous pressure during filming: a crew member is said to be caught in turbulent Mexico during the fourth season. shot.
It is such a strong alliance that gave birth to the outstanding series "Collaborative Damage".
As a suspenseful work, it perfectly hides the murderer's motive until the last moment.
As a political work, it has successfully achieved consciousness output and made the best answer for "blockbusters".
But it doesn't stop there.
At the end of the story, the behind-the-scenes instigators have not been caught, and the troubled society has not been corrected.
But as the heroine Kip said, the reason why she worked so hard for an ordinary murder is because——
"I see an opportunity to correct something."
View more about Collateral reviews
