Run, Best Actor!

Because he needed to explain their subsequent actions to Yang Mi, Liu Taile simply called over the very talented screenwriter Li Yi again.

However, after Li Yi arrived, he did not directly tell them about their subsequent plans. Instead, he first gave them a detailed analysis of the problems that currently exist in the script of "Tiny Times".

To understand why Gu Li is so important in "Tiny Times," even surpassing the female lead Lin Xiao, one must understand what she represents.

This brings us back to the classic "Tiny Times" remake, and Guo Jingming's adaptations after the "remake".

As mentioned earlier, Guo Jingming's writing is actually quite bad, and its core problem is that it involves female characters being portrayed as male!

The "devil" or queen in "The Devil Wears Prada" refers to Miranda, the editor-in-chief of the well-known fashion magazine "RUNWAY," who was changed by Guo Jingming to Gong Ming, the editor-in-chief of the so-called famous fashion magazine "ME" in "Tiny Times."

This is evident in the fact that, due to Guo Jingming's own reasons, he deliberately erased the female identity of the original Miranda and replaced her with the clichéd male domineering CEO Gong Ming.

At the heart of this story, Miranda could not possibly be male!

As the top leader of the leading fashion magazine *RUNWAY*, her predicament is specific and uniquely gender-specific.

A successful female elite cannot balance being a "strong woman" with her family life. Several marriages have broken down, but she jokingly says that gossip media will portray her as a "domineering woman who prioritizes feminism" and a "work-first ice queen".

She didn't care about the media; she just felt sorry for her daughters and blamed herself for not being a "good enough" mother.

But Miranda's vulnerability was fleeting. In the fashion industry, she had to wipe away her tears and present herself in front of others with an impeccable demeanor.

Even Andy (the film's protagonist), who doesn't understand the fashion industry and is even disgusted by Miranda's cold and overly calculating attitude at work, can't help but speak up for Miranda: "She's strict, but if Miranda were a man, people would focus on her excellent work, and there wouldn't be so much gossip..."

Do you understand now?

The essence of the original story lies in the dramatic tension arising from the conflict between a woman's identity and her profession in her life!

For example, people admire Miranda Kerr, who built her "fashion empire" with all her might, but they are also keen to pry into her marital privacy and use that as a basis to criticize her for not being a "good wife and mother" enough.

Seeing the character in the play, who is incredibly successful, yet still trapped in the life predicament brought about by her female identity, viewers, regardless of gender, will feel sympathy for Miranda.

Because there are countless examples like this in real life.

People tend to have more demands and be more critical of highly successful career women than they domineering male CEOs.

In "Tiny Times", Gong Ming is portrayed as a handsome man who is very rich but also very lonely.

Therefore, the sympathy or respect that Lin Xiao, a working-class woman, felt for her "master who lived a life of luxury" Gong Ming was completely unfounded.

In one scene of the script, Lin Xiao looks at Gong Ming, who is wrapped in an Hermes blanket and catching up on sleep on the office sofa, and actually feels sorry for his loneliness...

Damn it, you're an idiot!

"A man who is handsome, rich, and has social status will never lack female companions. Does he need you, a modern-day slave, to pity him?!"

Midway through, Yang Mi couldn't help but criticize her own character.

Therefore, the character Gong Ming is essentially Guo Jingming's self-indulgence.

The author actually projected a part of his "social self" onto several of the main characters in "Tiny Times"—

Gong Ming represents Guo Xiaosi's financial situation;

Zhou Chongguang represents Guo Xiaosi's profession as a writer;

Gu Li represents Guo Jingming's perfect image after his "gender swap";

Lin Xiao is Guo Xiaosi, who had nothing before he became famous.

This is why the friendship between Lin Xiao and Gu Li is particularly strange.

Because both of them are Guo Xiaosi's "gender-swapped" versions, they both love and hate each other—the former self is dependent on the latter self after achieving fame, while the successful self looks down on but can't let go of the former self.

Returning to "The Devil Wears Prada," once you understand this film, you can basically understand life in the fashion world.

Because every character in the movie is vivid and lifelike:

The powerful and influential fashion icon, Miranda Kerr;

Emily, an elite assistant with extremely high standards for herself;

Andy, who entered the wrong circle, ultimately chose to leave;

Nigel, who sees fashion as a form of salvation in life...

Why do people feel that "Tiny Times" is incomprehensible?

Because once you understand "Tiny Times," you'll understand the complete Guo Jingming...

"Damn it, who even knows what kind of person Guo Jingming is?!"

Liu Yuning's sudden outburst represented the sentiments of everyone present.

Well, it is precisely because Guo Jingming changed the female leader in the original work to a male domineering CEO that the heroine Lin Xiao's fate is also determined by her sexual relationships.

Unlike Andy, who was pursuing his true self.

If "The Devil Wears Prada" is a story about female growth told from Andy's perspective...

Lin Xiao in "Tiny Times" is someone who "jumps ship" between different male characters.

Viewers cannot see Guo Xiaosi earnestly building her relationship with this industry. Is it a genuine love from the bottom of her heart, or is it like Andy's—not understanding but respectful?

Guo Xiaosi did not provide a deeper interpretation of her position in the workplace.

Viewers can only see her go from Jianxi to Gongming, and then to Zhou Chongguang's side.

From one man to another.

Moreover, unlike Sex and the City, where every episode revolves around dating, Sex and the City always focuses on a few female protagonists, with the male characters being just one part of the diverse lives in New York.

But Lin Xiao can be seen as a camera for Gong Ming and Zhou Chongguang. Through Lin Xiao's sympathy and empathy, the male elites Gong Ming and Zhou Chongguang are further enchanted.

In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada", Miranda and Andy, both female leaders and subordinates, are also friends, rivals, and mentors.

The lack of sexual attraction between them meant that this unequal power relationship did not lead to the vulgar ending of one person possessing the other or one person depending on the other.

This makes such extraordinary emotions deeply captivating.

However, in "Tiny Times," Gong Ming, who was heartbroken, inexplicably gave Lin Xiao a ring, a plot arrangement that made no sense.

Later on, we learn that the ring was simply a ploy to cause Jian Xi to misunderstand Lin Xiao.

This method of reasoning from effect to cause is quite clumsy.

But since he's already Guo Jingming, what can we expect from his original creative abilities?

Meanwhile, the character Jianxi is basically a copy of the character Nate, Andy's boyfriend.

However, in the original story, Andy and Nate's relationship broke down because Andy abandoned her entire personal life for Runway magazine, and Nate did not "punish" her with infidelity.

However, their needs for each other changed, and they were no longer on the same path.

But "Tiny Times" not only insisted on copying the original, but also added melodramatic elements to the original work—arranging for Jian Xi to have an affair so that Lin Xiao could walk towards another man, Zhou Chongguang, without any moral burden.

It can be said that "The Devil Wears Prada" explores a deeper issue, which is also a source of distress for many working people today.

That is, ordinary people work hard so that they can live a better life, but their workplaces are constantly blurring the lines between work and life with various so-called rules and regulations and "benefits".

For example, endless overtime work takes up more of one's personal time.

This has caused ordinary people to almost lose their normal personal lives, and it seems that only work remains in their lives.

This also reveals that when Guo Jingming "borrowed and rewrote" this story, he did not truly understand that "The Devil Wears Prada" is not a love story at all!

Andy's boyfriend Nate, along with their close friends, are symbols of the working class's life.

Miranda, Emily, and others represent work.

When Andy indulged in adhering to the unreasonable and rigid dogmas of the fashion industry, she blurred the boundaries between life and work, which was essentially a form of disorientation.

But in Guo Jingming's "Tiny Times," all the audience sees is a group of empty shells, posing in different ways to "lament their own misfortunes"...

Why is there such a captivating emotional tension between Miranda, the female leader in "The Devil Wears Prada," and the young protagonist Andy?

It's because the two generations of women are each other's projections!

Miranda's modern life may be the future of the young protagonist Andy—working in the same industry, of the same gender, they may also fall into the same predicament at some point.

Therefore, Miranda had no time to spend with her family, and Andy also lost his original social circle.

However, in "Tiny Times", Gong Ming and Lin Xiao never had this level of bond.

Guo Xiaosi created a backstory for Gong Ming, giving him the character of Lao Qian, while Lin Xiao was portrayed as an ordinary girl.

She and he had never shared similar emotional experiences.

The whole story thus descended into the clichéd Mary Sue trope.

It is worth mentioning that male writers appeared in both films—renowned writers Christine and Zhou Chongguang.

However, in "The Devil Wears Prada," the relationship between author Christine and the female protagonist Andy does not belong to the traditional romantic narrative. Andy does not go from Nate to another man, but is deceived by Christine's slickness and sophistication.

Similarly, Christine is not Zhou Chongguang, who gives the female lead romantic love until death.

He is just a very typical image of a high-ranking professional who is attracted to the young and beautiful Andy.

At the same time, they harbored ulterior motives and wanted to "kick" Miranda out of her original position.

After seeing through Christine's true colors, Andy left with the words "I'm not your baby" after facing Christine's sweet talk, and then left gracefully.

Because she would never betray Miranda.

In contrast, in the story of "Tiny Times," the male writer is deeply in love with the female protagonist, which is basically what Grandmother Jia in "Dream of the Red Chamber" described as "love to the point of being neither a ghost nor a thief."

There's not much to say about Lin Xiao and Zhou Chongguang's love story.

In short—Guo Xiaosi has gone mad.

In "The Devil Wears Prada," the character of the male writer Christian serves as a warning to young female viewers: be wary of "unexpected romances" in the workplace, and keep a distance from suitors in high positions. Because what awaits you is not a romantic and unwavering love, but a long-planned trap.

Let's compare the design of the story's ending.

In "The Devil Wears Prada," the protagonist Andy chooses to turn away when she is just one step away from success, going in the opposite direction from Miranda who is entering the world of fame and fortune.

Shortly after, Andy interviewed for the New York Mirror, and thanks to a witty and insightful letter of recommendation from Miranda, the editor-in-chief hired her directly.

After going through many twists and turns, Andy finally returned to her original aspiration and became a newspaper reporter, a job she had always wanted to do.

When Andy and Miranda, who have gone their separate ways, meet again across the street, they each show a friendly smile in their own way.

Miranda, an older woman, may be sharp-tongued, but she will do her best to support the young female protagonist who is striving for her career, helping her overcome the challenges of her own life.

Because she could see that the girl had similar dreams to her when she was young.

Anyone with a dream is remarkable.

Although the words are rather common, they are truly touching.

Miranda could sense that Andy, a girl with dreams, wouldn't be her subordinate forever, and that the dreams of the younger generation of women deserved to be respected.

In comparison, Lin Xiao's career path in "Tiny Times" is not important.

It failed to achieve narrative coherence and did nothing to contribute to Lin Xiao's personal growth.

In the end, it only allowed Lin Xiao to meet Zhou Chongguang through the platform of "ME", thus fulfilling their "love" that was neither ghost nor thief.

It can be said that the reason why Lin Xiao's career storyline was written so poorly is fundamentally because Guo Jingming himself is very hollow.

He doesn't understand how important a job that young women dream of is to her life!

The women in Guo Jingming's novels do not have career aspirations; they only want to meet new men on different work platforms and have men in higher positions help them get out of the shadow of their previous relationships.

Therefore, Guo Jingming designed a fitting ending for "Tiny Times," a story that completely collapsed in the later stages—all the main characters except Lin Xiao perished in a fire.

Perhaps this is because, at the end of the story, Guo Jingming dared not face his true self.

He first became the person he dreamed of by any means necessary, and then subconsciously burned away the parts that did not belong to him, allowing the audience to see the true ending of the hollow story of "Tiny Times": in this story, there is only Guo Xiaosi (Lin Xiao) from beginning to end. He killed all the false selves in the house, leaving only Lin Xiao, representing the original version of himself who had nothing.

However, the irony of the novel is that Gong Ming, who was not present at the time, did not die!

Because Gong Ming, or to put it more bluntly, fame and fortune, are the external manifestations of wealth and status that Guo Jingming is unwilling to give up.

Everyone knows that immortals are good, but they can't forget fame and fortune.

Liu Taile read aloud, shrugged, "It fits his usual persona, it's quite reasonable."

"However, in the current script for the fourth movie, Gong Ming also dies at the end, which makes me think more highly of him."

Li Zi smiled and said, "Perhaps our Director Guo really wants to focus on making a living from movies in the future, so he only left Lin Xiao as his original self."

But there was a hint of mockery in his smile.

"My God! I thought that only Lin Xiao survived in the end, which corresponds to 'a vast expanse of white, truly clean'."

Yang Mi rubbed her temples. "This whole thing is completely twisted. Is there any way to save it?"

"If this movie is to be salvaged in a positive direction, there's no way to do it unless it's completely scrapped and rebuilt."

Li Zi shrugged. "After all, the story is fundamentally flawed, and it's unrealistic to try to fix it within the existing framework."

"Especially since we only have one character left to modify."

Liu Taile interjected, "So we won't change the direction towards white."

"Let's change it to be completely black."

Li Qian continued.

"You mean, you're going to change Gu Li into a villain?"

Yang Mi asked in surprise, "Two of the 'Tiny Times' girls are bad?"

"It can't be said that Gu Li is bad. Rather, she is the mastermind behind the scenes who uses everyone around her to achieve her goals, but is manipulated and even suffers a backlash from fate."

Li Yi said slowly, "Gu Li calls herself a queen, so naturally she sees everyone around her as her subjects and takes it for granted that she can arbitrarily arrange and manipulate other people's fates."

This applies to Lin Xiao, Nan Xiang, Tang Wanru, and even Gong Ming, Zhou Chongguang, Gu Yuan, Xi Cheng, and others.

They weren't friends; they were merely Gu Li's subordinates, pawns manipulated by her without their knowledge.

"Gu Yuan's mother, Ye Chuanping, realized Gu Li's true nature, so she opposed Gu Yuan being with her."

Liu Taile analyzed Gu Yuan's storyline, saying, "Because they are truly of the same kind, Nan Xiang vaguely sensed something and would be the first to turn against Gu Li."

The naive Lin Xiao was assigned to Gong Ming by Gu Li, but Gong Ming then transferred her to his younger brother Zhou Chongguang.

Such a person, who so easily sows discord and treats others as pawns, deserves that fate.

"Sounds good, but will Guo Jingming agree?"

Yang Mi frowned and said, "That guy seems to really like the character Gu Li."

"After all, it's his successful gender-swapped self; how could he not like it?"

Liu Taile replied, "But since Gong Ming can die in the script, it proves that Guo Xiaosi's thoughts and ideas are different now than when he was writing the novel."

"Since he's not leaving himself any way out, it means he'll do anything to make this movie a success, and that's our chance."

Li Zizhen is a good screenwriter who can see more through the script. "Actually, compared to Guo Jingming, there is another person who needs to be persuaded if you want to change this character."

And once this person agrees, then the changes to the character of Gu Li can proceed smoothly.

"Who?"

Yang Mi asked a question, but immediately realized, "Could it be Chai Zhiping?"

"Yes, it's her."

Liu Taile laughed and said, "After all, she is the film producer and Guo Caijie's agent, so she is most concerned about this role."

"Would she agree?"

Yang Mi asked in surprise.

"I'll give her a reason she can't refuse."

Liu Taile said meaningfully.