Introduction
The establishment and continuation of every nation are the result of the arduous efforts of its predecessors. “Daughter of the Miracle” presents a period drama in the form of a mini-series, viewing the hardships behind Taiwan’s economic take-off driven by the secondary industry from the perspective of female workers.
I was fortunate to see this high-quality drama because it won the Mini-Series Award and the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 54th Golden Bell Awards. Huang Deng-hui’s brilliant interpretation of the bad boss in the play really surprised me, and the award was well deserved.
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
Plot Overview
A Young Woman’s Journey
Chen Yujuan (hereinafter referred to as A-Juan) comes from the countryside to the Dalong Textile Factory in the Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone. Leaving her hometown, she has to give up her beloved literature and childhood sweetheart, and work as a female worker with her friend Zhang Shumei (hereinafter referred to as Shumei).
Straightforward Storytelling
The whole drama is divided into four episodes and presents the life of female workers in a straightforward manner. Compared with many dramas that use jump-cut techniques to show the changes of characters at different times, “Daughter of the Miracle” tells the story in a timeline manner, which is simple and clear, but the dramatic tension is not inferior to other works with diverse narrative techniques.
Visual and Auditory Elements
Focusing on the Factory Life
Since the drama mainly describes the life of female workers, their living circle is almost the factory. The image presentation does not have too many unfamiliar backgrounds, and it is presented in a very conventional shooting technique.
Emotional Close-Ups
However, it is worth mentioning that the drama has high requirements for the emotional expression of the characters, and there are many close-ups of the characters’ facial expressions.
For example, when Huang Wenbang picked up the baseballs that fell on the ground, he showed a lonely and sad expression; when A-Juan and Yushan had different opinions, her expression changed from expectation to a wry smile, and finally she patted Yushan’s shoulder to show encouragement despite some disappointment. These are all because of the theme of the drama, which makes the characters in the drama particularly important.
Authentic Dialogue
In terms of sound, the dialogue is mainly in Taiwanese, which can vividly show the changes in the characters’ emotions. This is a feature of the language itself, and it also meets the needs of the era. Therefore, language has also become an important basic skill for actors, but none of the characters in the drama speak unnaturally, which is one of the highlights of the whole drama.
Character Analysis
1. Chen Yujuan
Chen Yujuan in “Daughter of the Miracle”
A-Juan is a girl who grew up in the countryside, has a great talent and interest in literature, and is optimistic and full of justice. However, she often hurts the people around her while helping others. I think this is a character with bright colors. People who can consistently implement their beliefs, although there are contradictions, still embody her unyielding spirit and can be regarded as a representative of feminism.
The following uses various events to analyze the various experiences the character has experienced:
(1) Almost Assaulted by Male Employees During the First Factory Outing
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
The rare Sunday factory rest day will always usher in the trip of male and female employees, just like college students drawing keys to ride out, but A-Juan happened to have an event that affected her outlook on life.
Coming from the countryside and not deeply involved in the world, she does not have too much defensiveness against people, so she was almost taken advantage of by a male companion who traveled with her. Fortunately, Xie Mincheng (hereinafter referred to as A-Cheng) came to help in time to avoid the expansion of the injury. The careful A-Cheng bandaged A-Juan’s wound urgently and carried her back to the factory.
This incident affected her:
- First, it made her realize the dangers of the world, especially being more cautious about men, which made her often warn Shumei not to approach those people, so as not to encounter the same thing.
- Second, although she knew the dangers of the world, she also knew that people are not necessarily bad. A-Cheng’s timely appearance and gentle behavior prevented her from pushing humanity to depravity.
At the same time, you can also see her characteristics:
- First, she did not blame Shumei for not discovering the abnormality in time: For A-Juan, the closest person to her in this strange environment is Shumei, but Shumei did not appear to help her. This may lead to a cold war between the two sides under normal circumstances, but A-Juan did not blame her, but began to worry about Shumei, who was gradually getting closer to those men. It can be seen that she can distinguish right from wrong and does not over-emotionalize.
- Second, she has a strong personality and does not like to be helped by others: A-Juan still wanted to go back on her own after being bandaged by A-Cheng. Although she may be considered to be strong, it still makes people feel that she is not a weak woman and has the characteristics of a feminist.
(2) Workers’ Voices - Having to Endure Unfair Treatment
Let’s start with A-Juan’s first salary conversation to see what they actually encountered:
Such conversations are also often staged in reality. The people above want to perform, and the people below have to cooperate and swallow all the suffering in their stomachs. This is extremely intolerable to A-Juan, but she cannot complain to her friends who are also workers, and can only temporarily condone such things to subside.
Here we can find that a small number of people in one class can control the majority of people in another class, often because of the spiral of silence. People are content with the status quo and do not want to cause trouble to disrupt the days when they can still live, but unknowingly they become accomplices in harming themselves and lose the basic dignity that a person should have.
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
(3) The First Meeting with Childhood Sweetheart
It should have been quite sweet and warm for good friends who have been like-minded since childhood to meet, but unexpectedly it was the beginning of a relationship breakdown. The following is also an excerpt to show the divergence of values between Yushan and A-Juan:
Yushan: Is it good for you to come to the factory? A-Juan: The boss is very stingy and deducts our salary at every turn. He even stipulates how many times we can go to the toilet. Isn’t that too much? Yushan: A-Juan, don’t take these small things too seriously. Look further ahead and see if there is a chance to come back to school to study! A-Juan: The small things you are talking about are my current life. Yushan: No! I don’t mean that. I mean don’t think of yourself as a female worker. A-Juan: I am really a female worker! A-Juan said with a wry smile. Yushan: A-Juan, you have a better future! You are different from the female workers here. A-Juan: I thought you would care about the plight of the workers. Yushan: I do! I just care more about you, your future is more important.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with the values of Yushan and A-Juan. Yushan is indeed thinking about A-Juan. However, because they are in different environments, subtle changes have taken place in their psychology. We can say that Yushan has no empathy. He has not really realized the suffering and vision of A-Juan becoming a female worker, so he puts his vision on A-Juan and asks her not to care about the current situation.
But how can Yushan, who has not stayed or even become a worker, understand A-Juan’s situation? He only remembers A-Juan who has not yet become a female worker, the A-Juan who always had excellent grades ahead of him. This gap, coupled with the disparity in social status, makes the audience clearly see that the two people have changed in terms of values and personality, which leads to the main reason for their separation.
Next, let’s talk about A-Juan’s changes!
Since A-Juan’s personality has always been the same, and this drama is filmed from the perspective of female workers, it is difficult to see what A-Juan has changed in this process, but it can be inferred from the fact that Yushan regards the life of female workers as a trivial matter that A-Juan’s original ambition and ability.
A-Juan, who lives in the countryside, has a literary atmosphere. She is good at her homework and becomes the object of Yushan’s worship and love. She also vows that they will both become writers and build dreams for the future. However, A-Juan, who entered the factory, realized the plight of the workers from the suffering in life. She saw the problems of this system more clearly than other workers and wanted to try to change it.
Has she changed? I don’t think her essence has changed, because the characteristic of a writer is to delicately describe and experience people’s emotions, and A-Juan has this advantage. She understands the plight of the workers, and because she is sensitive and unwilling to see people being persecuted, she wants to speak out for them.
In fact, writers and social activists have sensitive nerves to observe people’s emotions. They use different ways to appeal to the pitiful and sighable characters in this society, hoping to change them. So A-Juan has not changed, but the living environment has changed her way of thinking, but she still maintains her enthusiasm for people.
(4) Election Campaign Activities
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
This election campaign activity is the biggest reason for A-Juan’s change, so that she can completely realize that workers should unite to fight for their due rights.
Workers will be successful! Workers are the masters!
Although the accustomed slogans may be a bit annoying nowadays, they are undoubtedly a shot in the arm for A-Juan. The excitement in her heart makes her know that freedom needs to be achieved through collective efforts. The seed of hope to change the workers’ environment begins to sprout and grow in her heart.
(5) Breaking Up with Friend Shumei
Because Xiao Wu, who manages personnel, deceived Shumei’s feelings, making Shumei heartbroken, A-Juan decided to reason with Xiao Wu. As you can imagine, of course it ended in failure, but because of A-Juan’s impulsiveness, Shumei had no face in the factory and was forced to resign and leave. A-Juan didn’t understand why the person who did something wrong could continue to stay in a high position, while the victim was forced to leave. Excerpt from that conversation:
A-Juan: It was Xiao Wu who deceived you. He did something wrong. Why do you want to resign? The person who should leave is him, not you. Shumei: Do you still remember when we were in the fifth grade of elementary school, once our class fee was stolen 50 yuan, the teacher said not to look for it, but you insisted on finding it out. What happened? After finding it, you made Wu Taixiong afraid to come to school. Now I am the same as Wu Taixiong. A-Juan: You ran to Xiao Wu to settle accounts, and as a result, everyone in the factory knew about it. How can I stay here in the future? Shumei: I didn’t do anything wrong! A-Juan: Yes, you didn’t do anything wrong, you are the best! Shumei: I beg you, don’t be like this… A-Juan: I don’t want to see you again. Excuse me!
Was A-Juan wrong? Was it wrong to tell the truth? In fact, this is not the main reason. Everyone needs a place where they can settle down. Even if this requires more tolerance or betrayal of principles, as long as they can escape the sun or shrink in the shadows, these tolerance are nothing. This is a personal choice and can also be said to be a way for people to survive in society.
However, A-Juan, who is full of justice, intends to break the comfort zone and wants to vent her anger for the other party. Unexpectedly, it caused Shumei to be forced to resign, changing her life. This incident undoubtedly gave A-Juan a difficult problem to solve. This raised doubts in the struggle for the rights of workers. Will this kind of resistance also hurt those workers who originally wanted to settle down?
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
(6) Submitting a Petition
I don’t know if anyone has the same feeling as me. After A-Juan embarrassed Director Hong at the dinner party that was supposed to celebrate her and A-Cheng’s promotion, she was going to submit a petition to accuse Huang Wenbang, who wanted her to sit in the office.
Perhaps it was a deliberate arrangement by the drama to give the audience the feeling that A-Juan was a bit disappointing. This may be because she and Huang Wenbang had repaired Xiao Wu together before to relieve their hatred; and seeing Huang Wenbang become the factory director after being beaten by A-Cheng, it seemed that he would think about the employees. All the signs indicated that things seemed to be gradually improving, but after A-Juan solemnly refused to be a secretary and decided to submit a petition, the gradually forgotten thorn was picked out again.
She wants us not to forget those things that should not be given by others and still be very grateful to others. Rights are as natural as breathing, and freedom should be taken for granted. A-Juan showed her greatest personality traits and played the essence of a feminist fighter. Even if the result would make her unable to stand in the factory, she was unwilling to be ashamed of her right to stand up and speak out. This scene of A-Juan is so dazzling and brave.
(7) Falling Ill and Using Severance Pay to Pay Medical Expenses
The accumulation of many emotions and human relationships made A-Juan, who was strong in her heart, fall down. Waiting for her after waking up was only a short visit from relatives and friends, and then she had to face the problem of repaying medical expenses. The huge medical expenses made her family busy raising money, and any spark of salary would make them grateful, let alone a huge sum of money placed in front of A-Juan’s mother. That was A-Cheng who entrusted Huang Wenbang to give the money to A-Juan and proved with photos that he did receive the money.
But the fact is not the case. A-Juan only learned after returning to the factory that the medical expenses were actually her severance pay. She had been forced to lose her job. A-Cheng, who was used and angry, finally couldn’t suppress the anger in his heart and made a big fuss, but he was covered in injuries.
As the protagonist of the incident, A-Juan tried to restrain her emotions and chose to say coldly: They are different from us. She took all the injuries suffered by A-Cheng and A-Mian on herself and changed their hearts that were gradually approaching those people.
It can be seen that A-Juan will not only seek welfare for herself because her own interests are persecuted. She has the ability to empathize with all hard-working workers and hopes to lead them to fight for their rights. Finally, the female workers were encouraged by A-Juan and chose to stand up against this seemingly unshakable system. Because of her, the factory has undergone a little change.
2. Lin Zhaomian
Lin Zhaomian in “Daughter of the Miracle”
A-Mian is a loser in the struggle for rights. Although she started to go to extremes later, she is not a hateful character. Compared with A-Juan, A-Mian’s pursuit of ideals is simple, but it is also the main reason that led her into the abyss, making A-Cheng, who is also hesitant, constantly encouraged by her to become a tool for revenge.
However, A-Mian will give meticulous care to those who are sincere to her, such as A-Juan and Shumei. Because of this, A-Mian’s character is pitiful.
(1) Wanting to Climb to a High Position and Having an Improper Relationship with Huang Wenbang
Compared with A-Juan, A-Mian seems hesitant. Although she knows that it is not good to sell her body to climb to a high position, she failed to persist to the end, allowing Huang Wenbang to use extremely superficial excuses to persuade her to have a relationship with him. Afterwards, A-Mian hugged her chest and cried very regretfully, making Huang Wenbang not know what to do, so he left.
We can see that A-Mian’s psychological contradiction lies in:
First, the value of the body:
She doesn’t want to sell her body to exchange for benefits. Because A-Mian likes A-Cheng, she doesn’t want to be tainted by others, and women shouldn’t use themselves as bargaining chips to gamble with men. In the entertainment industry, the victim is still the woman.
Second, the value of benefits:
Faced with her family’s urging to marry, she is eager to prove herself. However, due to the ceiling effect, men always have priority over women in promotion, forcing her to get along with Huang Wenbang to get promoted.
It can be seen from the following excerpts that these two values are constantly colliding:
First paragraph: Value of benefits
Huang Wenbang: The customer asked you to drive 30 pieces a day, but you can drive 50 pieces. It would be great if our company’s employees were like you. Huang Wenbang put his hand on A-Mian’s shoulder and patted it. A-Mian: Thank you, Manager. Smiling shyly. Huang Wenbang: Come to my office during lunch time. I’ll talk to you about the promotion to group leader. A-Mian: Manager, everyone is watching!
Second paragraph: Value of the body
Huang Wenbang: The matter of you being promoted to manager may not be so fast. A-Mian: It was agreed when we went out last time. Huang Wenbang: Otherwise, you come out this Sunday and we can discuss it. See how to get you promoted to group leader earlier. How about that?
Third paragraph: Value of the body
Huang Wenbang: Otherwise, what do you want! I can do what I say. I’ll promote you to group leader when I go back, okay? Huang Wenbang put his hands on A-Mian’s shoulders, but she shook them away forcefully, and the crying continued. Huang Wenbang: Don’t be like this! Get in the car! The rain is getting heavier, let’s go! Huang Wenbang wanted to take A-Mian back to the car, but she still shook his hand away and continued to hug her chest. Huang Wenbang helplessly put his hands on his waist and looked at the other side and sighed.
These two values are constantly colliding with A-Mian, which makes me feel sorry for her. However, in the end, this consciousness is still unified, which is due to Huang Wenbang’s cowardice and fear of things in love, which makes A-Mian feel remorseful for selling her body to exchange for benefits. Even if Huang Wenbang did give her a good position later, it still couldn’t extinguish her fire of revenge.
(2) Deliberately Keeping a Distance from A-Cheng After Being Promoted to Group Leader
Because of the trampling on the value of her own body, A-Mian is even more unwilling to show that she has obtained the position of group leader in front of A-Cheng. We can simply understand that A-Cheng, love, and her own body value are linked together.
At that time, she chose the value of benefits and felt quite regretful, so she began to escape all people and things that had this value with her, and the most obvious of them was A-Cheng. You must know that the high position she is now showing in front of her lover is exchanged for an agreement with other men. As long as the audience thinks of this, they will know how heartbreaking it is.
(3) Intentionally Letting A-Cheng Take Revenge for Herself
Seeing A-Cheng being appreciated by Huang Wenbang, who has been promoted to factory director, she feels very complicated, but I think more of it is jealousy. Because compared to herself, her promotion took a lot of effort, but A-Cheng was quickly promoted to a formal employee, approaching the foreman, so she decided to use emotional blackmail to complete her revenge through A-Cheng.
At this moment, the audience should clearly feel that A-Mian’s psychology has been strongly distorted. Perhaps she has already erased her love for A-Cheng. She wants Huang Wenbang to pay the price as well. It is better to be a broken jade than a whole tile.
(4) The Sudden Sweet Fruit Has Lost Its Taste
A-Mian submitted A-Juan’s petition with the arrogance of revenge, but it failed. She thought that at least she could advance and retreat with A-Juan to make up for that guilt. Unexpectedly, Huang Wenbang suddenly fulfilled his previous promise to her and promoted her to the head of the quality control department.
When A-Mian took the nameplate, her hands were shaking. That was the physiological state shown by the conflict between surprise and greater guilt. Her guilt was actually expressed in immediately asking what A-Juan would do, hoping to be forgiven by Huang Wenbang as well to eliminate the debt in her heart; her surprise was actually expressed in calling her mother to report the good news. Although that smile was not so calm, it could not hide the ecstasy in her heart.
However, A-Mian, who has such thoughts, has already stood on A-Cheng’s side and chose to slowly move towards those people they hate.
3. Huang Wenbang
Huang Wenbang in “Daughter of the Miracle”
Huang Wenbang’s character can be classified as a villain in general dramas. As a manager, he oppresses employees, forces A-Mian to get along with him, and bows and scrapes to his superiors. It can be said that he is a bad person who has done all kinds of bad things.
However, in the third episode, it was gradually discovered that the seemingly flat character began to become rounded, and we can deeply understand the background and personality of Huang Wenbang. Therefore, I will analyze Huang Wenbang’s personality from different identities to help readers understand him.
(1) A Lecherous and Stingy Boss
When he was a manager, he was a stingy and bad boss who only thought about the interests of the factory. At the same time, because he took a fancy to A-Mian’s beauty, he wanted to hook up with her. It can be said that as a superior, he failed to understand the employees; as a husband, he failed to be loyal to his marriage; as a man, he had no shoulders and pushed all the things he should be responsible for to A-Mian.
(2) A Bowing and Scraping Sycophant
In the face of interests, many people choose to bow their heads and beg for the alms of superiors. Huang Wenbang is one of them. He works hard to vote for the candidates supported by the general manager of the processing plant and squeezes employees to increase production, so that he can be promoted to the position of factory director at the same time as the original factory director is promoted.
(3) A Big Boy Who Loves Baseball
But in fact, Huang Wenbang still has dreams. His dream is to be a player. Although it is not explicitly stated in the drama, it can be seen from the fact that Huang Wenbang often plays ball with his children and thanks the general manager for letting him be the factory director and giving him the most precious autographed ball.
However, his life is forced to not have this hobby. His wife does not want his children to play ball at home, and the general manager despises the autographed ball he gave him, which repeatedly hits Huang Wenbang. There are several close-ups of him looking at his beloved baseball with a lonely expression.
So, what made the little boy who used to love to play become a mean and lecherous supervisor? Probably it was the filial piety of wanting his parents to live a good life? Because his family was poor, he often suffered unfair treatment in the process of growing up, which inspired his determination to climb to the upper class.
Unfortunately, the process of fighting for it is not bright, and he must also give up many cherished things. In the trade-off, Huang Wenbang has become a sophisticated and experienced businessman, but what is valuable is that the big boy who once burned his baseball soul still lives in his heart, even if it is dilapidated.
In addition, the biggest conflict of this character lies in a scene with A-Cheng. I think this is the biggest reason why Huang Denghui won the award, but let me put it in the content analysis.
4. Xie Mincheng
Xie Mincheng in “Daughter of the Miracle”
A-Juan once said that A-Cheng and Shumei are the most simple people she has ever met. Unfortunately, such simple people are victims of social persecution and eventually become the people they don’t want to be. A-Cheng is an example, and of course Shumei is too. From the personality of the two people, it can be seen that they have a common point, that is, they believe in simple love, or it can be said that they use emotions to drive their principles of dealing with things.
We can clearly see that A-Cheng and Shumei are also simple people, but they are different from A-Juan. A-Juan is a rational and perceptive person. When facing the world with sensibility, it will inevitably cause indelible harm, such as Xiao Wu, A-Mian, or Huang Wenbang. As long as someone with a slightly strong personal subjective consciousness forces them, they will be at a loss and even go astray.
For A-Cheng, there are three people who influence his choice of what kind of person to become, namely A-Juan, A-Mian, and Huang Wenbang. Then we put the condition that A-Cheng loves A-Mian on the premise of three values, and we can know why he made such a choice:
(1) Huang Wenbang’s Values - Being Fierce and Fighting Can’t Change Anything. Having the Ability Can Take Care of the One You Love
That scene with Huang Wenbang not only rounded Huang Wenbang’s character, but also influenced A-Cheng’s values and had to make a choice. Detailed dialogue will be put in the content analysis. When we have something precious that we need to protect with all our strength, we must sacrifice important things to exchange for what we want.
If you want to give the woman you love a stable home, you must become a running dog who chases after profits. Instead of being emotional, it is better to step into this mire full of dirt, so that the loss will not always be more than the gain.
(2) A-Juan’s Values - I Hope You Always Maintain Simplicity, Instead of Becoming Those People You Hate
It can be understood from this excerpt:
A-Juan: In my mind, you two are very simple people. A-Cheng: Why are you saying this suddenly? Are you laughing at me for being stupid when you say I’m simple? A-Juan: I’m afraid of losing you as a friend, so I came to tell you this. A-Cheng: A-Juan, I know you are a very thoughtful person, but my fate is really different from yours… If I can’t even be promoted to a formal employee, I really don’t know where my future is. (Actually, I want to say how to take care of A-Mian in the future) A-Juan: Things that shouldn’t be done shouldn’t be done. I don’t care if you want to be a group leader, director, or factory director in the future. You must not forget, don’t become the kind of person we hate the most.
Still from “Daughter of the Miracle”
A-Juan plays the role of telling him not to go astray and return to the simple self that is not driven by interests. Unfortunately, these suggestions seem to have only become stinging needles, but they cannot shake the decision to take care of A-Mian for a lifetime.
(3) A-Mian’s Values - If You Love Me, You Should Beat to Death the Person Who Bullies Me
A-Cheng: I feel very sad to see you being wronged in the factory. Will you marry me? I promise I will take care of you and cherish you for the rest of my life. A-Mian, listen to me, the director told me yesterday that he would promote me to group leader. I will work hard to let you live a good life. You believe me, I can do what I say! Will you marry me? A-Mian: He will promote you to group leader? Did I hear you wrong? How long will it take me to be a group leader? Five years! Didn’t you say that you would never let him go if someone bullied me? What happened? Did you consider my feelings? A-Cheng: I did… I did go to him to settle accounts! A-Mian: Ah, what happened? He is still fine? Isn’t he still a lecher? You went to him to settle accounts. I think you were talking about conditions, right? Using my sacrifice to talk about conditions with him, right? A-Cheng: It’s really trash! A-Mian: A-Mian, I want to be nice to you, don’t be angry! We always have to live our lives! Even if I beat him to death, what can I do? A-Cheng: Are you a man? You say you love me all day long, but what have you done? A-Mian: I want to take care of you! I know you are wronged, and I also beat Huang Wenbang, pressed him to the ground, and beat him very badly… A-Cheng: What are you talking about? He gave you candy and you don’t care, right? A-Mian: Otherwise, what else can I do now! A-Cheng: You are really, really… You are really useless!
In fact, at this point, the audience should understand that A-Mian has long stopped loving A-Cheng. Her eyes have been blinded by jealousy and