The Setbacks Of Chinese Middle Class Dreams

PrefaceThe circulation of Li Ke's Go Lala Go exceeded 1.5 million, which has set off a whirlwind in the book distribution market from the late of 2007 to 2008, and its influence has not declined up to now. According to Li Ke's novel, the adaptation film Go Lala Go also made a good box office. The paper studying the change from the novel Go Lala Go to the movie can be said extremely rare at present. This study focuses on the film Go Lala Go delete and increase which plot of the novel and the reasons for this situation.One. Appropriate timely"career guidance"1. Representative example of Chinese white-collar workers who were born after 1970Go Lala Go has easy plot, and the place, time, characters are relatively simple. The author has not specialized training apparently, whose narrative methods are simple and smooth, but fairly homogeneous overall. Du Lala, as a well-educated, higher IQ and EQ ordinary university graduate without special background, experienced private and Taiwan enterprises after graduation. Finally, she found her own starting point in one of the world top 500 enterprises, named DB.The book has a detailed description of Du Lala's promotion experience, and the love triangle among Lala, Wang Wei and Dai Xi. It mainly describes and explains a variety of workplace rules, which has regarded as the Bible by the workplace personages.Du Lala was born in the middle of 1970s. As a grass-roots origin of foreign white-collar worker, she faced fragmented growth mode and society, owning characteristics of the people born after 1970. Due to Du Lala's unique and extraordinary personal setting, the novel has received highly approval.2. Chinese white-collar workers'imagination in the workplaceDu Lala is the standard image of the Chinese middle class completely, who is tough, smart, good at protecting herself and gains advantage from both sides. But her success is too easy. She just need handle uncomplicated office politics, and has no competitors, smooth sailing all the way. Therefore, Du Lala's story is fully compliant with Chinese white-collar works'imagination then causes the resonance, rather than a working guidance or template which is friendly to people, and can be copied.The writer of Go Lala Go is top in the workplace, and also the novel basically depicts a real life experience of these people. The workplace fiction provides modern workplace white-collar workers and elites with a space for imagination. They may not fully agree with the views of Du Lala, and may not choose the way Du Lala deals with affairs, but the difficulties they face are the same. Du Lala's toughness, tenacity, efforts and smoothness make her the best workplace representative, or the Chinese spokesman for white-collar workers.Two. The movie Go Lala Go- alienated"white-boned fairy"and awkward Cinderella1. Cottage workplace guidelines or genre of loveIf Li Ke's novel plays a definite role in counseling and teaching, the film adaptation by Xu Jinglei subverts the whole purpose of the original story, turning a workplace story full of guidance into a extremely popular love story of black. The movie possesses all the basic quality of commercial movies, fast pace, dazzling scene, beautiful people, and ultimately advertisement placement which has always been criticized.This rewrite has made the inspiration, hard work and ability in the original, to a large extent, weakened in the movie. As the film describes a pale career competition, it can only rely on the theme of love in the original. It even uses the love triangle, the common model of melodrama, as an important way to promote the story. Because the handling of the plot concentrates on love instead of work, the movie has an obviously misleading thing that Du Lala depends on emotion to promotion. It is departure from the original, and a negation for female role and spirit. Xu Jinglei paints a beautiful picture for us by the meteoric rise into the foreign company. However, seemingly independent and strong woman is not able to escape two women and a man's concubine plot dispute, and is merely an alienated white-boned fairy.2. Interpretation of contemporary Chinese"Cinderella":Contrast with The Devil Wears PradaWhether regarding Go Lala Go as a workplace or a genre film, The Devil Wears Prada is still a classic. Go Lala Go and The Devil Wears Prada both come from a common prototype- Cinderella. Cinderella's story is actually the compound of"suffering story"and"turn the fate of the story", which is contained in the theme of suffering and salvation.And in the The Devil Wears Prada women surpass the male domination, while in ?the Go Lala Go women are eager to male domination. The Devil Wears Prada uses"Cinderella"of the prototype, and makes a series of significant expansion and change. It breaks the traditional"Cinderella Complex", reflects the contemporary self-renewal of women, and establishes a strong self-confidence of women. By contrast, Du Lala, can only be regarded as an awkward Cinderella.Three. From fiction to movie: The growth path of Chinese Middle-classAfter the rapid accumulation of wealth during the 30 years of reform and opening up, China has not only created economic miracle one after another, but also quickly gone through 200 years of Western development path. A variety of"white collar"and"petty bourgeoisie"who constitute the large Chinese middle class is rapidly emerging. In a way, from novel to movie, Go Lala Go is a product of the Chinese Dream. But, in fact, the identities of these white collar and middle class are rather embarrassed, who have not formed their own way of life, lacking in historical references, practical experience, even the ability to grasp themselves.For these reasons, Du Lala, who is stubborn but smart, with beautiful shape but not splendid, well-educated with no special background, has become the best representative of Chinese middle class in the present stage. The growth process of Du Lala, the harmonious life philosophy and work wisdom she displays in the workplace have become, in some degree, a metaphor for China today as well as a process of Chinese middle class finding themselves gradually to form the cultural backgrounds. However, when the novel is adapted for the movie that is more familiar to the media and people, the process has been a big setback.The main reason for this setback is the film displaces the original core conflict of the novel, replacing the novel's"class contradictions"people are more care for with the trivial"emotional conflict". Then it changes the theme of promotion into love,"career guidance"into"fashion idol". For the original people expect to see how a Chinese bourgeoisie struggles on his or her own to become"middle class"successfully, while in the end we have seen in the movie, a feast of the"middle class"showing off wealth and flirting.This also reminds us that the construction of the Chinese middle class culture, or the construction of the China Dream which is different from the American one, is still some way off.