Chapter 348
Ru Meng Ling Drama Review 2
【@Buffalo milk with less ice and no sugar:
"Ru Meng Ling" is so good! I have been so addicted to it that I have watched more than a dozen episodes in a row. If my tablet had not run out of battery and the charging cable was not by my bed, I would have stayed up all night to watch it...
I have already caught up with the latest episode. While waiting for the update, I will take some time to write something.
Let me start with the conclusion. I would like to call "Ru Meng Ling" the pinnacle of domestic dramas on the theme of power struggle.
Looking forward, with the iterative development of film and television production technology, the quality of both the scenes and the costumes and props is much better than previous works, and the actors' acting skills and plot content are not inferior to their "predecessors" - of course, there are many predecessors in this work itself.
Looking back, if it weren't for Ling Suisui organizing the team, such a lineup would be difficult to replicate, and a political intrigue script that can be called a masterpiece is not something that can be written casually, unless "Ru Meng Ling" has a second season.
There have been a lot of praises for "Ru Meng Ling" on various platforms. I won’t repeat what others have praised. This time, I will talk about what is so good about this drama from the perspective of "power struggle".
First of all, power and strategy are the two. The latter does not need much explanation. Instead, the word "power" has always given people an extreme impression in domestic dramas.
It is either a derogatory term, and the power-hungry villain must have an ugly face and will do anything to achieve his evil ambitions, in order to highlight the protagonist who is "untainted by the mud".
In this context, power is just a tool used by villains to suppress the protagonists. The villain is responsible for showing the ugliness of human nature, while the protagonist needs to promote truth, goodness and beauty. Their status as the weak becomes their initial moral capital, and gradually forms a formula that the weaker the protagonist is, the more he is bullied, and the more righteous his stance is. This formula has been applied by many screenwriters in various works.
Therefore, the above protagonists must never have anything to do with "power", as this will affect their impression of kindness and purity in the minds of the audience. This view, which only understands "power" as exploitation and oppression by those in power and links attitude towards power with hatred towards villains, is of course very one-sided.
As for the other extreme, it is the ultimate boasting and pursuit of power.
For example, the idea that having certain power in a certain area can definitely solve all problems is undoubtedly a naive fantasy of power.
Rather than saying this is a pursuit of power, it is more like an imagination and self-projection of the protagonist being "omnipotent" and "everything is in accordance with my wishes."
At the same time, the packaging and beautification of power in domestic dramas is also reflected in many identity "privileges".
The "dui" in ancient costume dramas, the difference between immortals and mortals in fairy tale dramas, the "fu" in modern dramas, the gap between the rich and the poor... The protagonists with nobler bloodlines, more powerful backgrounds and more abundant resources become the objects of "admiration" by the audience and are born with better character than supporting roles.
Are all of the above considered “power”? Yes, power is a very broad thing, and exploitation and privilege are its branches and categories, but these are not enough to fully define it.
Among the domestic dramas broadcast in recent years, there are not only many works under the banner of "power struggle", but also any film or TV drama involving topics of power or status, the protagonists often go through two stages.
At first, he is indifferent to fame and fortune, and is as calm as a chrysanthemum. He regards "power" as a tiger, and accumulates pure and kind moral capital for himself; later, he is framed by the villain, and at this time "power" becomes a necessity for turning the tables and taking revenge. As long as he has it, the protagonist is the winner.
As for what can be done after obtaining power, how to do it, and where the scope and limits of power are, these are not what the plot cares about. The protagonist has already reached a high position, crushing those who bullied him in the past. The plot of revenge and slapping in the face has been completed, what else does he want?
The biggest difference between "Ru Meng Ling" and the above works is that it treats "power" as a neutral word.
Yun Zheng never concealed her desire and pursuit for power, and she held on to the power in her hands tightly. The reason why she could become the master of power rather than a humanoid monster dominated by power was because she had very clear goals and plans from beginning to end.
She needs power, not the high position that power can provide her, or the pleasure of influencing others, but to regard it as a tool to achieve her goals and put it into practice in action.
In fact, from the group characters created in "Ru Meng Ling", we can also see the screenwriter's attitude of treating "power" and "people" separately.
The powerful people in high positions are shameful vested interests, but some of them also have shining points in their moral character; the oppressed civilians are those who need to be saved, but there are also scumbags among them who wield their knives against the weaker and specifically pick on women and children...
Let me tell you a joke. "Ru Meng Ling", which takes the feudal dynasty as the background of the story and does not divide the characters' good and evil values based on their status or bloodline, can, to some extent, be regarded as the first shot fired in the "anti-feudal" movement of domestic entertainment dramas.
Power is a tool to be used. The criterion for judging a character is not how much power he or she possesses, but what he or she does with the power - this is Yun Zheng's proposition, and it is also the attitude that "Ru Meng Ling" conveys to the audience.
Following this line, we can clearly sort out Yun Zheng's network of relationships. Why did some people who were her allies in the early stage become her enemies later? Why did some political opponents with similar family backgrounds and origins be won over and converted, while others had to be killed...
Yun Zheng has always been a pragmatist, and even has obvious Machiavellian tendencies. She is also a staunch supporter of "a gentleman is judged by his deeds, not his heart", and can exclude all personal emotions. Starting from the tenth episode, the decisions she made were the best choices made with absolute calmness and rationality.
To be honest, this is why I gave "Ru Meng Ling" 9.5 points. The 0.5 points were deducted because the screenwriter's portrayal of Yun Zheng was not natural enough, and he did not grasp the transition mentality between impulse and rationality well.
I heard that this is the first time that editor Tang is in charge of a political intrigue script. Although this drama is already far ahead of others in the same genre, if we judge it by the standard of perfection, there is still room for improvement. I would like to give it a little encouragement here.
However, Ling Suisui's acting makes up for it quite well. If I didn't know that this drama was also filmed according to the sequence of scenes, I would have thought that the crew was really filming according to the chronological order of the script. How could she interpret Yun Zheng's changes in each stage so naturally and smoothly!
The neutralization of the word "power" is the passing line for "Ru Meng Ling" as a work of political intrigue. If it can become a big hit that breaks through the circle, there must be other shining points worthy of praise.
Focusing on the topic of power, it even breaks the standard halo of the protagonist in domestic dramas and makes Yun Zheng make mistakes continuously.
The mistakes mentioned here are not those caused by Yun Zheng's personal ability problems, but the reality that the difficulties have forced her into a desperate situation again and again, forcing her to choose the one that causes less harm between two not-so-correct options.
This is the helplessness of those in power. "Ru Meng Ling" tells the audience in a very cruel way that there is no perfect way to solve all problems and protect the interests of everyone. You must use existing resources to solve part of the problem first, and then watch the other party bear the loss.
At this point, all losses become the fault of those in power.
To give the simplest example, you only have a piece of bread in your hand that cannot be broken or divided, but there are two people who are starving to death in front of you. Whoever you choose to give bread to, you are responsible for the death of another person because you exercise the power to decide who lives.
When this power is handed over to you, you have no way out. If you give up making the decision, both of them will die, and people will only remember your callousness, and no one will think that they would have been unable to survive without the bread in your hand.
Who gave you bread? That’s the responsibility that comes with power.
Your decision saved people, but also hurt people. Yun Zheng has faced this problem more than once. The most controversial plot is probably that she gave up rescuing the capital due to insufficient troops, which led to the humiliation of concubines and princesses, the killing of innocent people, and rivers of blood in the capital.
I remember that this paragraph caused a lot of controversy on various platforms. Some people said that Yun Zheng harmed so many people for his own benefit, while others said that are the lives of the people in the capital the only lives that matter? If the enemy army is allowed to attack other places, will there be no killing?
This is actually the "best option" made by Yun Zheng after comprehensive consideration, but no one can say that it is a correct and perfect decision, including Yun Zheng himself.
In fact, her political enemies did not miss the opportunity to criticize her, and the screenwriter also showed us his literary accomplishment. The speech impeaching Yun Zheng in the court was much more harsh than the insults from netizens and black fans.
Although the relevant plot is very sad, this is one of the reasons why I like "Ru Meng Ling" very much. It does not glorify the situation and behavior of those in power in the feudal era in any way. Even the audience who admire Yun Zheng outside the screen probably would not want to travel through time to her and accept her leadership.
——How can you guarantee that you are the lucky one who is favored, and not one of the people who are abandoned by her in difficult situations?
It’s not that she is heartless and ungrateful. Yun Zheng suffers every time she makes a decision, but the productivity conditions are there. Can you come up with a better solution for her?
Just by not adding filters to the audience and not guiding them to extreme worship of the characters, Ling Sui and "Ru Meng Ling" have already surpassed 99% of their peers in the domestic entertainment industry.
I think this is also the confidence and pride of top actors. I am really looking forward to seeing more domestic dramas about political intrigue, but if it is a so-called "political intrigue" where only the protagonist is smart and everyone else is a fool, and everything in the world has to give way to the protagonist... then forget it, really.
Finally, I would like to praise one point that I think the screenwriter is very bold in writing and the radio, film and television administration actually approved it: in “Ru Meng Ling”, power rent-seeking has always been an issue that Yun Zheng and the court need to consider.
This is an economic term, which in layman's terms means obtaining material benefits through power. In modern society, if you want to do this, corruption and bribery have to find a more covert way of doing things. In ancient times when communication conditions were backward and information was extremely closed, local and grassroots officials would only be more rampant.
The story of "Ru Meng Ling" is set in a fictional dynasty, but it is not difficult to see that many parts refer to the Song Dynasty. Yun Zheng once proposed to reform the economic tax law and set up a tiered tax rate, which would not only promote the development of the commodity economy, but also levy more taxes on the rich and fill the national treasury in preparation for war.
From a modern perspective, this is certainly a good thing. When this move was opposed by many officials, the audience scolded them for being short-sighted. They kept saying "the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed lightly", but they were just thinking about paying less money and waiting for the enemy to attack to see what they would do!
However, subsequent plot developments proved that although these officials did have selfish motives, their opposition was not entirely unreasonable.
If the higher-ups want reforms, can the court's will be implemented at the grassroots level? Even the petty officials under the emperor's feet dared to use their abacus to raise the tax rate standards for merchants by several levels. In places farther away from the capital, no matter what level you are at, they can still collect taxes according to the highest level and do not add any additional "new tax items". This shows that their conscience has not been completely lost.
This was the reform in the feudal era. Grassroots people did not have mobile phones and could not access the Internet. There was no information disclosure system at that time. The local people in power had the final say on how the new laws should be implemented.
Therefore, the literati’s emphasis on the immutability of ancestral laws was not only due to the maintenance of existing interests, but also partly out of consideration for the people. The constant changes from above only give local officials more room to engage in rent-seeking, corruption and to harass the people, because the power of interpretation lies in their hands!
The true face of power is so frustrating. It is not a game of house as in many works. As long as the protagonist decides on a plan, the officials under him will strictly implement it, and the people will immediately understand and cooperate highly. This kind of effect of enforcing orders is difficult to achieve in modern times.
Compared with other film and television dramas, "Ru Meng Ling" with the above limitations has many plots that are not exciting enough, and the protagonist does not seem to have so many highlights, but it is really a very sincere and excellent work of political intrigue.
Although it has become very popular, I still hope that it can be seen by more people and gain greater economic benefits, so as to attract more colleagues to produce works of related themes, provided that they really understand why "Ru Meng Ling" is successful.
"Ru Meng Ling" is the top work in my heart, but as a fan of political intrigue, I still hope that more good works can emerge in this field.
I don’t expect it to squeeze out “Ru Meng Ling”, but at least the quality shouldn’t be too bad! Power struggles have always been a cold topic, and the market has finally been heated up. Even if you want to lie under the tree planted by Ling Suisui to enjoy the shade, please take a few more steps to get here first. 】
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