"Ordinary People" is a limited series jointly produced by Hulu and BBC Three. It started airing on April 27th, with a total of 12 episodes, which have now ended. Adapted from the best-selling novel Normal People by Sally Ronney, the series "Ordinary People" uses fresh colors, exquisite lenses and delicate soundtracks to bring us into the love story of these two "ordinary people".
"Who is an ordinary person?" This is the first question the show throws at us. As the story develops, we discover that neither the male protagonist Connell nor the female protagonist Marianne are "ordinary students" in the traditional sense. Cornell is introverted and shy, and easily worried about sensitive things, but because of her sunny appearance and excellent grades, she became the number one boy in high school; Mariana is soft on the inside and strong on the outside. She was born rich, and she was taken in high school for her aggressive words and deeds. Classmates are treated as outsiders.
Cornell, who appears to be outstanding, is insecure, while Marianna, who seems to be aloof, is actually very fragile. Two sensitive and disturbed people met in an unfamiliar and familiar environment. Through trial and error, they discovered that the other party was actually an ordinary person who could make both parties feel at ease. Love in high school was pure, without social complexity and other desires, but the external environment became their biggest enemy of early love. The two outsiders looked for identity between themselves and the group, trying to build a stable bridge for their love, but pure love was mixed with immaturity, and eventually this budding love in the late teenagers disappeared.
After entering the university, the two experienced the collision of early entry into the society. In the face of unfamiliar cities, various social people and high-intensity studies, Cornell became an "outsider" in Dublin, while Mariana adapted to the strangers around her. . By chance, Cornell and Mariana met again. The feeling of inexhaustible past ignited the love between them again. Stumbled midway, the two "outsiders" finally walked together because of their respective destiny identification and complete understanding. But this early adult love finally stood in front of the future, waiting for them to stay. The brilliance of "Ordinary People" is that it does not overuse and consume the two protagonists’ classes or the gap between the rich and the poor. Instead, they gradually extend their personalities, letting their white characters collide with hidden details. In an extremely rich emotional experience, explore the greater possibility of relationships between people. The two protagonists neither sink nor transcend, but constantly influence and complement each other, making us aware of the vital role that "love" plays in a person's life.
"Ordinary People" is a drama about feelings and intimacy. There are many episodes whose themes are emotions, but "Ordinary People" has managed to focus the theme on the communication, feeling and sex of the two protagonists. Although many dramas are based on emotions, emotions are always supplemented by other themes and need to rely on other themes or story lines to support them. "Ordinary People" uses time to promote the development of the story, as if constructing a bridge for the audience. While stepping across the bridge step by step, they experience the development of the story and the cross of emotions between the two sides.
In terms of expression, "Ordinary People" uses a lot of dialogue and close-ups. The seemingly plain dialogue is actually the two parties' speculation and summary of the relationship between the two in terms of time and space. Love in late adolescence and early adulthood is very pure, but as we grow older, this pure love will always be mixed with other social factors, such as money and career. The content of the dialogue between the two parties has gradually become mature with age, allowing the audience to directly experience the temporal and psychological changes of this love. This change is also the most true portrayal of love. Whether it’s a dispute over a high school prom, a misunderstanding when the freshman summer breaks apart, a long-distance exchange that separates the two places, or the final choice between career and love, "Ordinary People" shows us the arc of their love in a straightforward manner. And this arc reflects the development trajectory of most people's early love. In their choices, disputes, misunderstandings and exchanges, we can deeply feel the similarities between their love and our stories. The manifestation of love is divided into tangible and intangible. The intangibility lies in the confrontation and feeling between two people, and the tangibility lies in communication and sex.
The shots of "Ordinary People" are beautiful and delicate. Directors Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie McDonald used a lot of shallow focus close-ups to show us that the protagonist of the story is in the process of their love change. The micro-expressions and subconscious movements of, also greatly enhance the possibility of us as the audience empathizing with the two protagonists. The presentation of these details, whether in the camera or in the narrative of the story, further increases the thickness of this love, not just staying on plain words. In tangible terms, the two directors also used a lot of shots to portray the sexual communication between the male and female protagonists. From the early temptation to the later release, the sex life of Cornell and Mariana is also one of the important media to express the arc of their love.
Their sex is built on love, and every sexual exchange further tells the audience: They still have feelings for both sides. Their sex is selfless and pure, reflecting their absolute intimacy. This absolute intimacy established over five years is even more precious in absolute nudity, because complete nudity represents complete trust. On the basis of complete trust, they look for the missing part of their body in the other's body. And complete trust represents the absolute intimacy of the two. The two directors have constructed a three-dimensional and absolute love story for us from multiple angles through the cross application of details, communication and sex.
In "Love Before Dawn", Celine and Jesse fall in love because of their chance encounter on the train; in "The Fault in the Stars", Hazel (Hazel) ) And Gus communicated on the support group and found that the other party was the perfect fill for their "wrong" life; in "Please call me by your name", Elio and Oliver Meeting in northern Italy in the summer, and finally writing each other into their own destiny. These works that focus on depicting first love and feelings all have one thing in common-delicacy. In the trilogy of "Love Is", as the heroes and heroines grow older, we experience love from the sweetness and purity of love to the tea, rice, oil and salt in the marriage life. The feeling and sex of both parties are also less than those of early adulthood. That is absolutely intimate, but like "Ordinary People", the "Love in" trilogy also uses a lot of dialogue to promote the development of the story, always showing the emotional exchange between the two protagonists in a tangible way. In "Faults in the Stars" and "Call Me by Your Name" (both works are also adapted from novels), these two depictions of first love are similar to those of "Ordinary People".
All three works put the feeling and intimacy of first love on the intangible and tangible lens, portraying one after another delicate and true love stories from the multiple angles of the two protagonists and feelings. It is precisely because of the exquisiteness of the story that the details in our memory are evoked. Those memory fragments with past or present lovers create a three-dimensional communication process for the audience.
But apart from the delicate lens and the multi-style structure, why is the love story of two "outsiders" so attractive? Because of the two-way nature of this love, and the authenticity of the two protagonists. In the drama, the two protagonists’ narratives are equal, and we can experience the sadness and joy that both sides feel because of this love, so that we will not unilaterally lean toward any one of the protagonists. The equality in narration creates a stronger sense of substitution. The outbreaks and misunderstandings of problems make us feel from the perspective of both sides. The success of the two protagonists also lies in the authenticity of their characters. The problems of the respective families have laid the foundation for the two protagonists' personality, enabling us to guess at the first moment what decisions they will make about this love at the critical moment. Cornell and Marianna's understanding of the two sides, in the missed time and the days of socializing with other people, the two people's consideration of this love has further made them more mature and realize the love and the preciousness of each other. . This is another reason why "Ordinary People" is so outstanding. He has a process.
Unlike most romance dramas/movies, the love between two people often comes quickly and intensely, but disappears unclearly, while "Ordinary People" provides a process of thinking. On the basis of love, feeling and absolute intimacy, the two sides have added thinking about themselves and love, adding observability to the shaping of the story. At the end of the story, Marianna said to Cornell: "It's not because of you, I won't be here, and I won't be who I am now. But we have all done too much to each other." Isn't it the most precious thing in love? Follow each other's trajectory, grow together, know yourself together, and witness the changes in your life together?
The millennials who grew up in the information age may have forgotten the details of love and the absolute comfort of intimacy on the successive artificial intelligence interfaces. The peacock blue Ireland in "Ordinary People" tells us that the tangible and intangible details of love are It is the most treasured treasure.
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