Can youth drama define classic youth after three generations？
struggle
The best of us
Dear, beloved
From Exclusive Memory and Youth Fight at the beginning of the year, to Our Warm Hours, I only like you some time ago, and then to Struggle, Teenager, which just ended and caused fans to call for the second season, and I’ll wait for you in the future. Youth drama continues to exert its strength on this year’s small screen, all the way from the graduation season to the opening season.
Struggle, produced by Zhao Baogang 12 years ago, defined the 1.0 period of youth drama, and then the 2.0 period, which was based on literary IP, came quietly. For more than ten years, the theme of youth has been going through ups and downs, and now it has gone through three generations of changes, gradually opening the "Youth+"3.0 period with various elements. Although the new batch of works have different degrees of extension and innovation in subject matter, and the creative level is basically up to standard, they have never been able to create a phenomenal work that has aroused public discussion.
The realistic period of 1.0
Depicting youth group images from campus to society.
Masterpieces: Struggle, Who is in charge of my youth and Beijing Youth.
The theme of youth has become the darling of the screen, which is closely related to Zhao Baogang’s "Youth Trilogy" to some extent. In 2007, "Struggle" was born, which made the stories of Charlene Marilynn Dangelo, Lu Tao, Milai and Xiangnan become people’s talk after dinner. Since then, Zhao Baogang has made the youth drama "out of the circle" successfully with his works such as Who is in charge of my youth and Beijing Youth, and has become a popular movie theme for all ages.
It is Zhao Baogang’s consistent creative attitude to express his observation of society and life through his works. This batch of youth dramas also adheres to this tradition, focusing on realism in subject matter, focusing on the life node of college students going to society, and showing the pain caused by identity transformation in a large space.
Grasping the current hot topics in society and creating new hot topics are the soul of the theme of youth in this period.
With the influx of well-packaged overseas dramas and the impact of a large amount of capital entering the film and television industry, IP adaptation and original remake gradually replaced the popularity of realistic themes, which also made the youth drama in this period end in the colorful chapter of Beijing Love Story.
The nostalgic period of 2.0
Recall the individual beauty of childhood.
Masterpieces: "Zhenhua Trilogy", "In a hurry that year" and "To our simple little beauty"
After years of silence, the resurgence of youth dramas depends on the injection of powerful IP and the change of viewing habits from screen to mobile port. In 2016, The Best of Us, which was quietly launched in iQiyi, broke the vacancy and indifference of youth theme for a long time. This online drama, which only tells about ordinary high school campus life, has touched a large audience outside the student group.
It is quite different from the youth dramas in Zhao Baogang era. At this time, most of the leading works are adaptations of powerful IP blessing. Among them, including "The Best of Us" and "Hello, Old Times", the series of plays called "Zhenhua Trilogy" has achieved outstanding results.
With the convenience brought by adaptation, this nostalgia for youth has intensified and similar works have emerged one after another. These works pay too much attention to the creation of feelings and the expression of youth pain, with a small story pattern and limited narrative span. Especially in the use of actors, they gradually began to pursue flow, awareness and youthfulness, which made the short-lived youth drama quickly become the hardest hit area for embarrassing acting and bloody plot.
Youth+period of 3.0
Hot-blooded elements with youthful characteristics
Masterpieces: Dear, Loving, Struggle, Teenager, I’ll wait for you in the future.
"A generation will eventually grow old, and some people are always young". A group of youthful dramas dancing with blood and gas followed. Counting the explosive dramas of satellite TV and online platforms this year, the composite theme of "Youth+"mode is welcoming its debut.
In the summer file, Dear, which is "Youth+E-sports", Li Xian, who has been tepid for many years, has become the top traffic. At the end of August, Struggle, Teenager, which just finished in Hunan Satellite TV, is also a composite type of "Youth+Competition".
On the other hand, Classmate 200 Million Years Old, which was launched in the middle of last year, The Night of Comet, and I’m waiting for you in the future, which are being broadcast at the beginning of this year, have opened a new mode of "youth+fantasy" in another way. Although it incorporates fantasy elements, the story narrative is not a continuation of "crossing" and "fantasy", and the content is still the real life after processing.
"Youth" is not limited to the ignorance of minor emotions and the noise of small fights. No matter how rich the elements are, only by returning to life and reality can we define the true classic youth. (Reporter Mei Dongni)