TV series ＂Filter＂： When the technology filter sees the truth of love

　　Author: Liu Qing

　　The story of the TV series "Filter" is dubbed as "Epilepsy Drama" by netizens. With the high-tech "filter" as the narrative incision, it intervenes in the advanced imagination of life and presents a novel way of telling love on the screen. The play does not stick to the plot of grasping horses or lingering, but truly depicts the psychological process of love and the growth and changes of characters, making people see that healthy feelings can reflect a shining self and a brighter future.

　　At the beginning of The Filter, the novel "Pride and Prejudice" skillfully applies the character pattern. The female protagonist falls into the whirlpool of prejudice because of class inferiority, while the male protagonist is confined to the arrogant cognition from the elite perspective. Through the different frequency interactions between the hero and heroine, they present different perspectives and feelings. The turning point of the story begins with the moment when Su Orange secretly loves and disillusions-when the straightforward evaluation of tang qi’s "You are so ugly" pierced the girl’s mind, she suffered not only the torture of appearance anxiety, but also the endless heartache of the emotional world collapse. At this time, the filter bracelet presented by the street grandmother is like the key to open the door to the fairy tale world-it not only helps Su Orange to create a variety of shapes with one click, but also instantly turns into a beautiful woman with a variety of customs. This dream setting accurately hits the collective memory of "magic cross-dressing" in every girl’s heart, just like the dream of childhood suddenly shines into reality, and the excitement can’t help but make people’s mouth rise.

　　Accompanied by a heroic act on the street, Su Orange, who "transformed" into a beautiful woman, met tang qi by chance. Tang qi’s beautiful face and brave soul instantly moved him. It was the first time that he really liked someone. However, this throb turned into irony in Su Orange’s eyes: the teenager who had previously shunned her was "licked" because of the skin appearance generated by a filter. It turned out that he was just a "Yan dog" who followed the five senses through three views. The Xueba filter crashed and shattered. In the eyes of Su Orange, tang qi at this time was like a "visual animal" judged by visual value. The dislocation of their perspectives and feelings brings a very interesting drama tension. The process of chasing and fleeing is always full of jokes, which shows the "stupid psychology" of people’s IQ clearing in love to the fullest, which makes people feel and laugh.

　　As Ne Zha said, "Prejudice in people’s minds is like a mountain", which also reflects the limitations of social cognition in different times. The story of Pride and Prejudice took place in the early 19th century, and the misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Darcy was due to their social class differences. In the contemporary Filter, the misunderstanding between Su Orange and tang qi stems from Mu Qiang’s psychology-Su Orange always thinks that tang qi is as talented as her sister, and their light is so dazzling, while she is almost transparent. The "filter bracelet" is like a traction rope, which leads tang qi to discover the loveliness and uniqueness of Su Orange. From the beauty Su Miao, every time the filter is upgraded, Su Orange will "unlock" a "new character". Whether she becomes an alpaca or Fang Jin, who is ugly, tang qi can always capture her unique mark from it, and she is really moved. With a wild imagination, The Filter allows the male host to transcend external forms such as appearance, gender and even species, deeply penetrate the core of Su Orange’s personality, intuitively tap the male host’s heartbeat signal, and finally confirm that true love will transcend appearance, identity and stereotype, reach a deep spiritual fit, and let true love realize two-way rush in the process of breaking stereotypes.

　　Some netizens think that "Filter" is a comedy for the audience, a sadistic drama for the male host and a cool drama for the female host. The narrative charm of The Filter lies in the perfect interweaving of triple drama experience. The omniscient audience looked down at this misplaced chase —— watching tang qi clumsily bump into each other, and witnessing Su Orange desperately escape. The two of them were like a pair of funny tell it to the judge, colliding with an absurd spark that made people laugh. The man’s "shielding perspective" trapped him in a cognitive cage: he didn’t know the filter incarnation of the woman, and he didn’t know what he belonged to, like a blind man touching an elephant. This misplaced love made the most sour sadomasochism aesthetics. The woman who seems to be holding the golden finger is actually caught in the existential dilemma: every new identity that is forced to open is like quenching thirst with poison. Although she has more colorful life experiences, she has to struggle in the whirlpool of lies and be exhausted until the filter is upgraded to stealth function. In the fear of the filter "self-eating", Su Orange suddenly saw the most precious truth, no longer attached to the omnipotence of the filter bracelet, just wanted to be myself again, and never felt so good about being myself as now. When the light of the bracelet went out, Su Orange really completed the acceptance and recognition of herself.

　　From relying on the filter to staying away from the filter, Su Orange jumps at both ends of the balance. In order to regain her self-confidence, she decided not to wear makeup and pictures, and to face herself. This overcorrection inevitably plunged her into another kind of tension and confrontation. Therefore, Tang Qi appeared as a "deconstructionist of science and technology" and solved the dilemma with the guidance full of philosophical thinking. He explained with common natural phenomena and scientific principles, and made Su Orange realize that beauty should not be a shackle of self-innocence, and technology is not a scourge. The key lies in control rather than being controlled. When the psychological burden is removed, Su Orange’s self-consistency and self-satisfaction have also been upgraded. From letting go of prejudice and seeing each other, to holding hands and being sweet together, and then standing in the light to guide you forward, tang qi and Su Orange presented the healthiest state of love through the traction of the filter bracelet: I love you not only because you are good, but also because I see a unique and shining self in your eyes. Love may pass away and disappear, but the self-acceptance and appreciation brought by love will flow in my life like blood.

　　The TV series "Filter" reconstructs the contemporary love myth with the romanticism of science and technology. Those magnificent stories that once belonged to fairy tales or foxes and monsters have now turned into filter magic that can be analyzed by technology in the drama, which has not reduced the romantic feeling of surprise and joy. As an original IP, the drama combines fantasy, love, suspense, technology and other explosive elements, with novel form and fascinating plot reversal. More importantly, under the colorful appearance, the discussion on the current aesthetic prejudice, self-cognition and ideal love is more in-depth and thought-provoking. Just as "Pride and Prejudice" penetrates the appearance of love and points to the essence of human nature, "Filter" also makes modern love idol dramas take root through the love fable under the cloak of science and technology, and is closely connected with public life. (Qing Liu)