[Wring Practice] Vietnamese Opera

Topic: what are the weakness of Vietnamese opera

     

               Since I was a kid, I have been watching Hong Kong opera with my mother and grandmother and that is the only type of series I watch except for a few American ones such as Dexter or Once Upon A Time. Once, when there was an opera that was famous with teenagers, my friends ask me why I refuse to watch it or any others. There are three reasons: the acting, the content, and the technology.

                An opera usually circulates around the normal days of a family, the happy and the sad moments of those members and the main character. Therefore, it needs the most natural acting from the actors. The director makes the Vietnamese series very formal in both the action and talk, so it is wrong in its nature from the beginning. For example, a conversation between teenager best friends cannot occur without a single bad word or in normal life, many people have the habit of squad their legs on the sofa or on the chair when they chit chat. Yet, they are always too polite in Vietnamese drama. It makes the whole product fake.

                Secondly, the content is stiff because of two reasons. The writers have the obligation to make the opera educational so he or she cannot use bad words, dirty jokes or any other behaviors that seem inappropriate to the society even though everyone at least once in their life has done so.  Then, often, the writer uses the language unwisely. A character in modern time has to use modern language and the one live in the war need to use ancient language. But they usually use the same kind of speech and slang. The characters also act out of their personality or unnaturally. It is impossible to forgive someone who cheats you so many times without even questioning the motivation behind. It goes against human nature.

                The special effect technology in Vietnam has not developed very much and they don’t seem to learn. “The journey to the West” and the “Gods of Honors” of Hong Kong from the 1990s have already possessed a lot of beautiful and real effect such as the lightning from the gods, the dragons flying in the sky, the monsters in the hidden caves. A mystery opera need those to attract the audiences.

                Before questioning others, you have to look at yourself first. Compared to Hong Kong or American series, Vietnamese ones are many steps behind. They need to improve themselves a lot before they can walk alongside with the whole.