“Gender Swap” is not an uncommon theme in film and drama works, especially in recent years where almost every year sees at least one such work being released. Due to the different ways men and women think, the natural gender mismatch after their souls swap bodies adds a certain degree of drama and often leads to many hilarious gags, making it a popular genre that continues to attract audiences.
Among the current wave of “Gender Swap” dramas in the domestic film and television market, this setting often performs well, thus becoming a favorite story content of creators in recent years. However, when a theme falls into the red ocean, it will inevitably fall into the trap of homogenization, making creativity the primary productive force.
The costume fantasy romance drama “The Trust (恩爱两不疑)” is directed by He Zhenhua, starring Song Yanfei, Zhang Haowei, Ma Li, Cao Junxiang and others. The drama tells the story of the city lord (played by Zhang Haowei) and his wife (played by Song Yanfei) who accidentally swap bodies. In the process of playing each other's roles, the two reconciled from mutual distrust and suspicion to true love and support for each other. “The Trust” is light-hearted, with a unique perspective and likable characters, all of which bring a breath of fresh air to the “Gender Swap” genre.
A New Perspective: Thinking from the Opposite Sex, Mutual Understanding, and Forgiveness
Just as the title “The Trust” implies, never doubting is the foundation of love, which is also the main theme and viewpoint that this drama wants to express. Most of the gender swap dramas on the market always use the body swap as a basis for the male and female leads to meet, understand, and fall in love with each other, in order to rationalize and sensationalize their romance. However, “The Trust” takes a different approach and focuses on the idea of reconciling between husband and wife, using a fictional historical setting to reflect modern marital relationships.
The beginning of the drama, set in modern day, clearly indicates its main theme. A female cartoonist faces a divorce crisis due to a trust barrier with her husband in their marriage. She then starts creating a comic about a couple who never doubt each other's love, based on their own experiences.
The camera then switches into the comic world, where Xu Yu, the city lord's unloved wife, is falsely accused of interfering with politics due to worries about her father who has been missing for years on a mission. Under pressure, Xiao Jinyun, the city lord, has no choice but to dismiss his wife. This further worsens the already strained relationship between the two. By an accidental drowning incident, the city lord and his wife's souls accidentally switch bodies, and they have to play each other's roles and live each other's lives. This provides an opportunity for them to see each other's lives and understand each other.
The city lord Xiao Jin Yun, hidden in his wife's body, witnessed with his own eyes the difficulties Xu Yu had to endure under the his mother's bullying and the duplicitousness of concubines like Pei Ji. This made him understand how difficult it is for Xu Yu as a wife, and also reflect on his own neglect of Xu Yu after marriage, which resulted in Xu Yu being ignored and looked down upon by the queen mother and the concubines because she was not favored.
As Xu Yu, becomes the city lord, she also has to deal with court affairs from the perspective of the city lord, gradually understanding the city lord's helplessness in balancing interests and mediating between the court and the people.
Of course, precisely because of their complementary personalities and ways of dealing with things, the two solved many “difficulties” for each other after the body swap.
For example, when Xu Yu played the role of the city lord, she not only gave an impassioned speech about her concerns for the country and the people, canceled the costly selection process for noble women, and publicly declared that she only loved her wife, but also changed the image of the city lord as a weak scholar in the minds of others, winning the respect of the people with her superb horse-riding skills.
Conversely, Xiao Jin Yun's thoughtful personality cleverly resolved the conflicts between Xu Yu and his mother, and after the swap, the wife became dignified, and decisive, and won the admiration.
However, the body swap is only an ideal way to repair cracks in love. In reality, such a wonderful journey does not exist. But if the audience could reflect on marital relationships and gender issues in their own lives while enjoying the light and humorous plot of the drama, that is the creative effect that the drama aims to achieve.
Characterization: A vivid and likeable portrayal of characters, rejecting stereotyping
The lively and endearing character design in “The Trust” is one of the main reasons why it has attracted so many viewers. In addition to the characteristics given to the characters by the script, the casting of the drama is also very successful. The natural acting skills of Song Yanfei and Zhang Haowei are commendable, and the contrast between the character settings before and after the body swap adds to the comedic effect of the plot. When playing the city lord, Zhang Haowei always looks serious, but after swapping souls with his wife, he needs to imitate the movements and expressions of his wife.
Similarly, Song Yanfei also performs the details of the wife's character change before and after the body swap accurately. From being pure and simple before the swap, to being dignified and decisive afterward, even her brother who hasn't seen her for a long time can see the manly atmosphere that a man should have in Xu Yu's eyes. Both Song Yanfei and Zhang Haowei reflect the changes in their characters through the subtle handling of eye contact and expressions during their performance, which is a great test of their acting skills.
Apart from the two main characters, the drama also successfully portrays the supporting characters. Their personalities are not one-dimensional or stereotyped, but well-rounded and dynamic characters that break the traditional second female lead image standing against the female protagonist.
For example, although Pei Ji seems snobbish and petty at first, taking advantage of her identity as the main host's niece to make things difficult for Xu Yu, she is not a completely evil person nor particularly adept at playing mind games. The city lord in his wife's body can always see through her mind. Also, Pei Ji's somewhat foolish arrogance actually adds a touch of humor and cuteness to her character.
Audiences pursue the fate of characters while watching dramas, and only likable, vivid, and relatable characters will make viewers care about their destiny. The contrasting characters in “The Trust” provide audiences with the freshness they need.
New adaptations: Focus on the core expression
Since “The Trust” is an adaptation, it was initially met with mistrust from fans of the original work. However, the third point of innovation comes from its different adaptation approach.
Instead of blindly copying the content of the original work onto the screen, the drama adds and deletes elements while preserving the story context and spiritual core of promoting both sexes to switch perspectives and reach a peaceful resolution through soul swapping. It is precisely this type of secondary creation that is rejected and questioned by original work enthusiasts. Nonetheless, objectively speaking, the drama's adaptation has been very successful.
At the beginning of the series, Song Yanfei's comic artist character sits by the window in tears, lamenting the end of her marriage and reflecting on whether it was due to her excessive demands and suspicions that suffocated her husband.
She then deletes the words “End” on her computer and replaces them with the title “En Ai Xiang Bu Yi.” This five-minute scene is a new addition to the TV version, but it is precisely because of such plot points that the ancient romantic plots in the comic penetrate into reality, exposing communication barriers, lack of empathy, and mutual distrust in contemporary marriage, love, and gender relationships.
Moreover, modern plots are interwoven throughout the drama, reflecting the story in the comic and showcasing the gradual process of the comic artist and her husband reconciling with each other. This is precisely the effect that the original comic aimed to achieve.
There have been many film and television works in China adapted from IP-based animation or comics, which have mixed reviews after adaptation. However, it is undeniable that any anime adaptation that gains market recognition and a positive public reaction does not come from simply restoring the original plot. Instead, it faithfully respects the core values of the original work's expression. “The Trust” has been questioned all along, but this did not hinder the team's determination to create a high-quality drama and present excellent content.
As we enter the era of serious homogenization of content. Some dramas have the opportunity to emerge as dark horses through fine content production, innovative subject matter, and diverse genres.
Even though “The Trust” is small in volume, thanks to the efforts of more than 600 members of the creative team, the drama stands out with its fresh perspective, multidimensional characters, and light comedic style. A good drama shouldn't be judged by length or budget, but only through continuous innovation and careful craftsmanship can it have a chance to achieve big things with limited resources.
