Should Traditional Masterpieces be Filmed as a Movie or TV Series?

By Qianyun Wu

Should traditional masterpieces be filmed as a movie or TV series? I have seen the new TV episodes of Dream of the Red Chamber and The Romance of West Chamber which are both occupies an important place in the history of Chinese literature. As a young audience, I like them very much because of the romantic plot, pretty and adorable main characters and pleasing scenes. However, they raises a wave of discussion as a lot of people think the stories have been distorted to attract more people’s attention and get more economic profit.

Even though the movie and TV episodes of masterpieces do not totally respect the original pieces, it is still necessary to move them to the screen. We should know that people who like to watch movies and TV series are more than the folks who are still willing to read masterwork. If they are not exhibited in the acceptable form for most people, they will sink into oblivion, which will cause irreparable harm. Although, we should support and encourage the propagation of traditional classics through the Multi-Media, it does not mean we embrace the modification which are without evidential material. They should still respect the original’s character images, story line and essential thought, promote people’s interest and lead them to dive into by reading the originals. Nevertheless, the one who are really want to delve deeper, should not expect to get a lot of profound and comprehensive opinion from the Multi-Media version of the traditional masterpieces since most of them are there for entertainment.