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Remember Nirvana in Fire (《琅琊榜》) and The Disguiser (《伪装者》)? The production team behind these hit period dramas premiered its latest show last month.

还记得电视剧《琅琊榜》和《伪装者》吗？这几部热门剧集背后的制作团队又推出了新剧，已于上月首播。

The 42-episode series, titled Ode to Joy (《欢乐颂》), revolves around five young women living on the 22nd floor of Shanghai’s “Ode to Joy” high-rise community. They become friends while pursuing love and career advancement.

42集电视剧《欢乐颂》的主人公们是住在上海高层小区欢乐颂22楼的5个女孩。在各自追求爱情和事业发展的同时，她们也成为了朋友。

Since its debut on April 18, Ode to Joy has been acclaimed for its realistic depiction of the hidden struggles of metropolitan life.

自4月18日首播以来，《欢乐颂》因其对都市生活的真实刻画而广受好评。



“The audience can relate to the characters since their experiences can be traced back to real life too,” commented the Dahe Daily. “Even better, female audiences can find themselves in one or two of the characters because the characters embody feminine archetypes found throughout the society.”

“观众可以和角色产生共鸣，因为角色的经历在现实生活中都有迹可寻，”《大河报》评论说。“甚至，女性观众能从其中的一、两个角色身上找到自己的影子，因为这些角色表现了一些社会上常见的女性形象。”

But the idea of following a group of women as they navigate city life is hardly a pioneering concept. In many ways, Ode to Joy resembles American TV series like Sex and the City (1998-2004) and Desperate Housewives (2004-2012).

不过围绕一群女性在城市打拼的故事并不是什么新潮的想法。《欢乐颂》的许多地方和美剧《欲望都市》（1998-2004）、《绝望主妇》（2004-2012）等相似。

These two series were acclaimed for their feminist themes, but they also employed well-known female archetypes to illustrate the range of dilemmas women face. Deborah A. Macey, a communications professor at Saint Louis University in the US, divides these archetypes up in four ways: the iron maiden, the sex object, the child, and the mother.

因宣扬女性主义主题，这两部美剧备受好评。但是在叙述女性面临的多种困境时，它们也引入了典型女性形象。美国圣路易斯大学传播学教授黛博拉•A•梅西将这些典型形象划分成了4类：铁娘子、性感尤物、孩子气的和母性的。



“The iron maiden is portrayed as masculine and career-oriented. The sex object unabashedly owns her sexuality and genuinely loves her body. The child archetype is naive, optimistic, and dim-witted. The mother archetype connects the characters in the series and serves as the dominant storyteller,” Macey said on the online media forum “In Media Res”.

梅西在网络媒体论坛In Media Res 上写道：“铁娘子是指那些刚强如汉子，以事业为重的女人。性感尤物则大胆展现性欲和对自己身体忠诚的爱。孩子型的女人天真、乐观、有点二。母亲型则是联系剧中其他角色，充当推动故事发展的主要人物。”

Sounds familiar? Yes, these features can be seen in the characters of Ode to Joy. Andy He (Liu Tao), for instance, partly embodies the “iron maiden” role. She’s super smart, rational and direct. She moves from the US to Shanghai and takes the position of CFO at a top Chinese company.

是不是感觉似曾相识？确实，这些特质在《欢乐颂》的人物身上都能找到。以安迪（刘涛饰）为例，她的角色就带有“铁娘子”的部分特征。她智商超群，理性而直接。从美国回到上海后，她在一家顶级的中国公司担任首席财务官。

Fan Shengmei (Jiang Xin) can be seen as the “mother” in the series. Despite the fact that she’s navigating her own family issues, she takes her friends under her wing and stands up for them.

樊胜美（蒋欣饰）则是剧中的“母亲”。尽管她实际上是在处理自家的问题，但她却把朋友置于自己的羽翼之下，为她们出头。



With that being said, Ode to Joy doesn’t lack creativity. It puts a twist on the existing formula by assigning the “child” role to two characters–the straightforward, naive Qiu Yingying (Yang Zi), and the good-tempered, hard-working Guan Ju’er (Qiao Xin).

尽管如此，《欢乐颂》也并不缺乏创新。它通过将“孩子”的形象注入两个角色——直肠子、天真的邱莹莹（杨紫饰）和性情温和、勤奋的关雎尔（乔欣饰），为已有的模式增添了更多曲折的剧情。

But this genre has its risks. Having five main characters means the drama isn’t story-driven but character-driven.

不过这种题材也有一定的风险。5个主要人物意味着电视剧不再是故事主导，而变成人物主导了。

“It’s not something you often see in Chinese TV dramas,” Yuan Zidan, Ode to Joy’s screenwriter, told Changjiang Daily. “But we want to challenge the norms.”

《欢乐颂》的编剧袁子弹告诉《长江日报》：“这在中国电视剧中并不常见。但是我们想要挑战一下这种模式。”