“Men’s Volleyball and Women’s Generals” is over. As one of the few realistic sports series in Hong Kong, I think this series can be regarded as a “good watch” level. Those who participate in team sports should resonate with the many contradictions and entanglements described in the play. My favorite is the penultimate episode, the crisis of dissolution that I am trying to face. It is certainly not realistic to try to not actively introduce new blood during the promotion period, but the dramatic effect is to pay tribute to the people who have maintained the amateur sports team for a long time in Hong Kong.
However, I still want to make complaints about King King. This has nothing to do with Gu Dingxuan’s performance. I actually don’t know how to judge actors’ acting skills. That’s right, without King’s persistence, attempts would not appear, and the story of Jiang Jiayu’s comeback would not be written. But when I was following the drama, I really felt that this role was a bit “difficult”.
In team sports, there is always a subtle tension between the individual and the collective. King gives people the feeling that his strength map is a tool to carry his dreams. Jiang Jiayu persuaded Ah King to become a free man. The latter was extremely reluctant, because this was to make him give up his ambition. What can he contribute to the team? But it is not within his consideration. Later, he decided to listen to Jiang Jiayu’s words. The reason was because he admitted that defense is what he is good at. In other words, in his mind, what he sees is still “self” rather than “everyone.”
To try to rise to the top of the second and finally fight against Xiangying. Ah King said that if he loses this battle, “I won’t have any of our land.” This line of dialogue is really harsh. A team that has been established for a few years, all of its significance lies in the founder’s revenge mentality. King insisted on getting injured in the fifth game. When Jiang Jiayu wanted to replace him, he said the most reasonable thing to the effect that he tried not only to be King. At this time, the teammates not only supported Ah King, but even pointed out that Ah King represented the entire team. This really reverses the logic that should be. Ah King saved the ball in the deciding point to win, seemingly a perfect ending. But I think a more perfect ending is that Ah King is willing to watch the fifth game on the bench. Because, in this way, he understands the truth: trying to win is to win by himself, and whether he is on the court is not the most important thing. So it is super reasonable that Bobby is afraid of angering King not to transfer. On the contrary, King encouraged Bobby to switch to the Jiayihuang team, which did not fit the role set.
Of course, the screenwriter is not obligated to create along my lines of thought. And even if I don’t like King’s persona very much, the story of this character has highlights. King’s volleyball career is considered a success. In the process, when he insisted on his own opinions, he also tried helpless compromise. The story of youth/sports will never make people give up easily. One of the most valuable aspects of “Men’s Volleyball and Women’s General” is that it is not overly optimistic and only has an inspirational side. Real life is too hard. Watching TV in your free time still teaches you to compromise with reality. That is not entertainment. But what can resonate is more of those compromises and difficulties.
Even the final struggle against Coach Lu’s “Zhi Yokoshou” did not end with a simple victory or defeat. Between realism and drama, most of the time this drama is just right.
The last thing I want to say is that what I don’t understand the most is not the courage of Golden Sir to “go to the side”. What I want to know the most is why Jiang Jiayu found out the power of Chris 1’s serve during the battle against Xiangying. Why didn’t Chris 1 serve again in the key points of the fifth game?
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