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How Real is Reality TV?

真人秀有几分真?

No doubt you've seen the famous YouTube footage of Susan Boyle wowing the judges and audience on the UK show Britains Got Talent. It was a surprise for everyone when this dumpy middle-aged woman burst out into glorious song. Many thought she was a surefire victor of the competition, where acts are gradually eliminated each week until only a few remain, but she was frustrated at the last moment by dance group Diversity. But what went on behind the scenes at the show?

毫无疑问,你们肯定已经欣赏了苏珊•博伊尔在英国电视节目《英国达人》上令评委和观众赞扬不已的著名YouTube片段。当这位又矮又胖的中年妇女唱起优美的歌曲时,众人皆感到惊奇。许多人都认为比赛冠军非她莫属,每周都有选手被淘汰,后来只剩下少数几个人,但她在最后关头败给舞蹈组合“多样化”。不过舞台的背后都发生了什么事呢?

So-called 'reality' TV shows are almost always carefully manipulated by the programmers. One of the differences between them and documentaries is that documentaries are normally filmed in their entirety, then broadcast later, whereas 'reality TV' continues week-by-week. As a result, the directors of the show can manipulate the storylines in order to react to public opinion, pushing some forward and letting others drop. Careful editing can make people appear stupid, kind, or wise as the directors want, especially using scenes shot outside the main studio - if the directors want one competitor to win, for example, they'll show lots of shots of them with family. Equally, off-screen questions – not included in the final edit – can be used to prompt competitors into saying foolish or arrogant things.

所谓的电视“真人”秀几乎都由节目编导牢牢操纵。它们和纪录片的不同之一在于,纪录片通常先全部拍完,然后再播放,而“电视真人秀”则是一周一次。因此,真人秀的导演为了回应公众的反应,会操纵情节,让一些人晋级,让其他人落败。经过认真的编辑,人们可以按照导演的要求,显得愚蠢、善良,或者聪明,拍摄外景时尤其如此。例如,如果导演希望一位选手获胜,就会播出很多其与家人在一起的镜头。同样,舞台下的问题虽然不在最终节目里,但却能促使选手出言愚蠢或傲慢。

This process of selection and editing takes place at every level of the competition. For instance, it's extremely unlikely that the judging panel – or at least the head, Simon Cowell – didn't know about Boyle's vocal ability beforehand. Out of the thousands of thousands of applicants, only a few dozen are actually filmed and screened, and all of those would have been heard and recorded by production assistants first. It's likely, in fact, that the makeup department deliberately made Boyle seem even frumpier in order to create a greater contrast with her voice and make a bigger impact.

比赛的每一个阶段都有选择与编辑。比如,评审团(至少是团长西蒙•考威尔)事先不可能不了解博伊尔的歌唱才华。报名者成千上万,但只有一小部分真正拍摄并播放,所有的这些事先都由制作助理收听并录制下来。其实,化妆部门可能故意使博伊尔显得邋遢不堪,目的是使她同其声音形成更强烈的反差,并产生更大影响。

After Boyle's initial sensational appearance, there were a number of stories in the press about her which made her appear in a worse light. Some of these were likely leaked to the media by the staff of Britain's Got Talent, looking to 'keep the story alive' and to generate more conflict at the end – after all, a shock victory is a more newsworthy story than the favorite winning!

博伊尔首次闪亮登场后,媒体上有大量关于她的报道,使她显得更糟糕。一些是《英国达人》节目工作人员透露给媒体的,目的是“让故事继续下去”,并最终引起更多争议——毕竟,爆冷门比众望所归的获胜更有新闻价值。

Boyle wasn't the first favorite to be pipped at the post. The first British Pop Idol became a face-off between shy, stammering Gareth Gates, and the charming, boyish Will Young. Gates, whose story of overcoming his stammer in order to become a singer appealed to grannies and teenage girls alike, was odds-on favorite to win after topping the voting in previous rounds, but Young took the final victory. Boyle's reportedly checked in to the Priory, a mental health clinic for celebrities, to cope with the stress of losing. Don't feel too sorry for the losers, though – Gates went on to a six million pound singing career anyway! The exposure alone normally guarantees people a place in the celebrity world, although their musical careers tend to be short-lived and unoriginal; Boyle will no doubt be on stage yet.

博伊尔并非第一个功败垂成的热门人选。首届《英国流行偶像》成了害羞而口吃的格瑞•盖茨同魅力男孩威尔•杨的对峙。无论是耄耋老太还是花季少女,都被盖茨为了成为歌手而克服口吃的故事所感动,他在之前几轮的投票中位居榜首,是夺冠的大热门,但最终的冠军则属于杨。报道称博伊尔曾到“小修道院”(一家针对明星的精神健康诊所)排解失败之痛。不过不要为失败者感到太伤心,盖茨唱歌挣了600万英镑!曝光通常能确保艺人在演艺圈有一席之地,但他们的音乐生涯往往是昙花一现,还缺乏原创性,不过博伊尔无疑还将在舞台上活跃。

Star Trek

《星空奇遇记》

This year's Star Trek movie was a charming hit, a revival of a stale franchise that appealed to both old and new fans. It was a great film, but for millions unfamiliar with the series, perhaps a little confusing; what exactly is Star Trek? There are TV shows, films, books – where to start?

今年的大片《星空奇遇记》风靡一时,老戏新演,新老粉丝皆喜爱。这是部优秀的电影,但成百上千万不熟悉该系列的人可能会感到有些迷惑不解,究竟什么是《星空奇遇记》?有电视版、电影版和小说版,先看什么呢?

Star Trek originally started in 1966 as a TV series, the brainchild of producer Gene Roddenberry. It was meant to depict a semi-utopian future, where the basic problems of want and prejudice had been solved, and mankind was instead dedicated to exploring the stars. The Starship Enterprise, led by Captain Kirk, was charged with 'seeking out new life and new civilizations' and 'to boldly go where no man has gone before.' Its crew was, for the time, extremely multiethnic, including Japanese, African, and Russian – although the black woman was still basically a secretary, doing little beyond answering the phones! The show became a sci-fi showcase, with scripts contributed by many popular writers of the time, such as Harlan Ellison, Robert Bloch, and Theodore Sturgeon; one week the Enterprise would be travelling in time, the next encountering god-like alien beings, overrun by cute furry aliens, or dealing with intergalactic con artists. The show worked because of the appealing trifecta of heroic, emotional Kirk, his coolly detached alien science officer Spock, and the older, cynical Dr McCoy. It only ran for three seasons, and much of it looks outdated nowadays, but its energy and charm still make many episodes worth watching.

《星空奇遇记》诞生于1966年,起初是一部电视连续剧,由制作人吉恩•兰登伯利一手打造。它意在描绘一个半乌托邦的未来,那时候欲望和偏见等基本问题已得到解决,人类转而去探寻星系。在科克船长的带领下,星舰奋进号担负起“寻找新生命和新文明”和“勇敢前往无人去过的地方”的使命。在当时,它上面的船员非常多民族化,包括日本人、非洲人和俄罗斯人,不过其中的非洲女人只是个秘书,做些接电话的琐事!该剧成了科幻小说的“橱窗”,当时许多广受欢迎的作家都为其提供剧本,如哈兰•埃里森、罗伯特•布洛克和西奥多•史铎金;这一周奋进号会进行时空穿梭,下周就会遇到神一般的外星生物,被毛茸茸的可爱外星人侵占,或者同星系间的惯偷斗智斗勇。该剧之所以取得成功,在于勇敢而情绪化的科克船长的三连胜,帅气而超然的科学官斯布克和老顽童麦考伊医生。它只播出了三季,现在看起来大多内容已过时,但它充满活力与魅力,许多剧集仍值得一看。

After the show's cancellation, a dedicated group of fans kept support for the show going, including an animated series and numerous conventions. Eventually a Star Trek film was produced; although not a great success, it spawned a sequel, which was a huge hit and revised the franchise. As a result, a new TV show was launched, Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. More cerebral and less energetic than the original, it ran for many seasons and was a solid hit, making a star out of Patrick Stewart, who played the older, thoughtful captain Jean-Luc Picard. It seems a little dull nowadays, but is still worth watching if nothing else was on. Three more spin-off series were created. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the most interesting, with a darker universe and more complicated continuing plot than its predecessors. Set on a single fixed starbase, it had to rely on character drama rather than the planet-of-the-week of other shows. Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise are, unfortunately, ninety percent crap; skip them entirely.

该剧停播后,不少忠实的粉丝一直支持该剧播下去,包括一个动画版和许多真人版。最终《星空奇遇记》的电影版出炉,虽然没取得巨大成功,但衍生了一部续集,后者大受欢迎,改变整个系列的命运。一部新的电视剧随后问世,即1987年的《星空奇遇记:新一代》。它同原版相比,多了几分智慧,少了几分吵闹,播出了好多季,深受欢迎,捧红了帕特里克•斯图尔特(更年长、更有智慧的船长让•卢克•毕凯的扮演者)。现在看来,它似乎有些无聊,但如果没有别的可看,还是值得一看的。它衍生了三部连续剧。《星空奇遇记:深空九号》是最有趣味的,那里的太空更加深邃,剧情更加复杂。由于其背景是一个固定的太空站,因此它必须依靠角色,而在其它剧集中,舰船每周都会飞往一个新的星球。很遗憾,《星空奇遇记:航海家号》和《星空奇遇记:奋进号》非常糟糕,这里就不加以叙述了。

Of the previous Star Trek films, only a handful are worth watching. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a swashbuckling classic with a tremendous villain, the best of the movies and a fun ride even if you don't know the series at all. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is an amusing time-travel comedy where the Enterprise visits 1980s San Francisco to help save the whales. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a complicated and moody piece about the difficulties of war and peace, made at the end of the Cold War; a good film, but you need to be familiar with the characters and background to understand it. The other movies are largely missable – Star Trek V is especially bad. The first two Next Generation movies are also moderately good fun, though the last two are terrible. There are also numerous novels and comic books set in the Star Trek world, but these are only really worth reading if you really enjoy the TV series!

在之前的《星空奇遇记》系列电影中,只有一部分值得看。《星空奇遇记II:可汗的愤怒》是经典的侠盗片,有可怕的反派角色,是整个系列中最好的一部,即使你对这个系列一点也不了解,也会觉得它看着很过瘾。《星空奇遇记IV:抢救未来》是一部有趣的时间穿梭喜剧,电影里奋进号前往1980年代的旧金山,帮助抢救鲸鱼。《星空奇遇记VI:未知国度》拍摄于冷战末期,讲述了战争与和平的困难,剧情复杂、压抑,是部好电影,但你必须先熟悉人物和背景才能看懂。其他几部可忽略不计,其中《星空奇遇记V》尤其垃圾。头两部《新一代》电影挺有趣,但最后两部则非常糟糕。以《星空奇遇记》为背景的小说和漫画书很多,但如果你真的喜欢电视版,那只有几部值得看。

Chuck

《超市特工》

It's time to catch this likeable, funny series before it probably gets cancelled. Despite being a cult success, this show about a charming geek who accidentally becomes the repository of a ton of secret government information hasn't quite matched up in the ratings. It's been given another chance next season, though with a reduced episode order and a shrunk budget it's touch and go whether it'll pull through. We can only put this down to bad taste on the part of American audiences; it's a very good series.

在它可能被砍掉之前,我们来看看这部有趣的连续剧。该剧讲述了一名偶然掌握政府大量秘密情报的魅力奇客的故事,受到观众的追捧,但收视率低迷。它已获得再拍一季的机会,不过集数减少,预算萎缩,很难确定它是否会度过难关。我们只能将其受冷落归结为美国观众的品位低下,它的确是一部优秀的电视剧。

Chuck Bartowski (played by Zachary Levi) is a member of the 'Nerd Herd' at 'Buy More' superstore (a version of the real life 'Geek Squad' at BestBuy, a technical support group). After being framed for cheating by the man he thought was his best friend and kicked out of Stanford a few years ago, his life doesn't seem to be going anywhere – until said best friend, now a rogue CIA agent, sends him an e-mail which implants top-secret government information in his brain. As a result, he's forcibly drafted into intelligence work – including a glamorous CIA protector, played by the gorgeous Yvonne Strahovski, who pretends to be his girlfriend as part of her cover identity.

恰克•巴特维斯基(扎迦利•利瓦伊饰)是“买多多”超市“电器修理小组”(就像现实生活中百思买超市的“奇客小组”,即技术支持小组)中的一员。几年前,他被自认为最好的朋友陷害,并被斯坦福大学开除。之后,他的生活似乎已无路可走,直到那个现在已经是中央情报局流氓特工的“最好朋友”给他发了一封电子邮件,他将政府的顶级机密牢牢记在脑海。因此,他被迫去从事情报工作,一名迷人的中央情报局特工(大美女伊冯•斯彻霍斯基饰)假装成他的女朋友,负责保护他。

One of the best things about the series is Adam Baldwin as the hard-nosed NSA agent Casey, also assigned to guard Chuck. Baldwin is great at playing this kind of tough, funny badass, as he showed in another great cult show, Firefly. Casey is forced to work alongside Bartowksi and his co-workers at the Buy More as Chuck tries to balance the two halves of his life, keeping his secret from his best friend, Morgan, and his beloved sister Elie.

该电视剧的亮点之一是顽固的国安局特工凯西(亚当•鲍尔温饰),他也受命保护恰克。鲍尔温扮演这种强硬而滑稽的负面角色得心应手,跟他在另外一部怪诞片《萤火虫》中一样。凯西被迫同巴特维斯基及其同事一起在买多多超市工作,恰克努力平衡他的两种生活,向他最好的朋友摩根和深爱的姐姐艾丽隐瞒自己的秘密。

The show is a nice combination of gentle humor, character development, and action scenes – including at least one good fight scene an episode. Well-written, well-acted, and generally good fun, you should check it out while it lasts.

该剧带着几分幽默,角色的发展与动作场景巧妙融合其中,每集至少有一处打斗场景。剧本出彩,演员表演精湛,挺好的一部片子,不妨趁它还在播看一看。

Truly Bloody – The Southern Vampire Mysteries

南方吸血鬼谜案系列小说

It's a pleasure to be able to recommend a good vampire series for once; most of the entries in this genre, particularly the bloody awful but also appallingly popular Twilight series, are crap. The 'Southern Vampire Mysteries' are set in a world where vampires have 'come out of the coffin' (a parody of the expression for gay men becoming open about their sexuality, 'coming out of the closet') and become a legal part of American society. Sookie Stackhouse is a young, blond Southern waitress with an unfortunate gift – she's telepathic, and she can't turn it off, so she's constantly assaulted with other people's thoughts. When a hundred and thirty year old vampire, Bill, walks into her diner, she finds herself drawn in to the world of vampires and other supernatural beings. With nine books so far, the series has proved very popular among those looking for both a good vampire story and a decent mystery – Bill is a kind of vampire detective, and Sookie inevitably ends up helping him.

很乐意向大家推荐一套好的吸血鬼系列;大多数此种类型的书都是垃圾,糟糕透顶但异常受欢迎的《暮光之城》系列更是如此。在“南方吸血鬼谜案”系列中,吸血鬼已经“出棺”(模仿同志公开其性取向时的说法——“出柜”),并成为美国社会的合法组成部分。苏姬•斯塔克豪斯是一名年轻的南方金发女服务员,有着不幸的特异功能:她会读心术,而且取消不掉,因此她经常被其他人的思维打扰。当130岁的吸血鬼比尔走进她的酒吧时,她被吸血鬼和其他超自然生物的世界所深深吸引。该系列到现在已经有9本书,喜欢好的吸血鬼故事和谜案故事的读者非常喜欢读。比尔算得上是吸血鬼侦探,而苏姬则帮助他。

The vampires in the story are nicely inhuman – not utter monsters, but definitely with a different moral code to regular people. Bill thinks nothing of having Sookie's uncle brutally killed after he discovers the uncle molested her as a child, and is adept at ripping his enemies into small pieces. Many vampires are near-feral, amoral creatures who delight in their animal strength; it's only those who are 'mainstreaming' – trying to live in the human world – who make even an effort at being normal. The supernatural politics get more complicated as the series goes on, and other strange creatures – werepanthers, faeries, maenads, and other spirits – begin to emerge from the woodwork.

这个故事里的吸血鬼非常残忍,虽然不是彻头彻尾的魔鬼,但有着与普通人不一样的道德准则。比尔发现苏姬小时候被叔叔性侵害后,想都没想就把他给粗暴地杀害了,并经常将自己的敌人撕碎。许多吸血鬼都是凶残且不道德的,以大发兽性为乐;只有“想融入主流”的吸血鬼为了生活在人类社会,才会下功夫成为正常人。随着这一系列的进展,超自然的勾心斗角变得越来越复杂,半豹人、仙女、狂女和其他精灵等奇怪的生物开始从棺材里走出来。

The series is spiced with a bit of sex, though nowhere near as much as in some other vampire series, such as the more-or-less pornography Anita Blake series of books by Laurel Hamilton. Sookie is a virgin in the first book – her telepathic abilities mean that any potential lover has thoughts which end up putting her off, and it's only with the psychically blank Bill that she can relax and enjoy sex for the first time. There's nothing here that's terribly shocking, though, just enough to add a touch of romance to the series.

该系列有一些性描写,不过绝没有其它吸血鬼系列里头的多,如劳伦•汉密尔顿所著《吸血鬼猎人》,后者可称得上是色情小说。在第一本书里,苏姬是一名处女,她的读心术使她了解到任何有可能的恋人都有令她厌恶的想法,只有精神一片空白的比尔才能令她放松,并和他第一次享受鱼水之欢。不过这并无特别骇人之处,只是为该系列增加了一丝浪漫。

The books are great fun; nothing very serious, but intriguing enough to keep you reading, and with a keen nose for Southern manners and senstivities. I especially like the scene where Sookie's grandmother, upon learning she's dating a vampire, is terribly keen to have him come to talk to her 'Daughters of the Glorious Dead' group – a parody of the real-life groups of descendants of Confederate veterans – and their rather bruised reaction when Bill describes the horror and brutality of the real war, rather than the idealized version in their heads. For those who prefer the small screen to the page, HBO have made a television series out of the books, True Blood, which is also very likeable – of course, you could always try both.

这套书趣味盎然,虽然内容纯属虚构,但能吸引你读下去,还有着浓郁的南部风格与敏感性。我尤其喜欢苏姬的祖母得知苏姬在同一个吸血鬼交往后,便很想让他过来跟其“光荣捐躯者之女”团体说话的情景,这是对现实生活中南部联邦老兵后裔的嘲仿,以及当比尔描述真实战争是多么的恐怖与残忍,与她们想象中的理想情况完全不同时,她们感觉受挫的样子。对于喜欢电视胜过书本的人,HBO电视台将该系列拍成了电视剧:《真爱如血》,也很讨人喜欢,当然你可以既看书又看电视。

Dr Atomic

《原子博士》

We tend to think of opera as a thing of the past, associated with fat Italian singers, stories about nobles and peasants, and librettos designed more for singing than story. Peking Opera is even worse, not having changed or innovated since the end of the nineteenth century. It can come as a surprise, then, to discover that opera is very much a living art form, and one increasingly involved with modernity.

我们往往以为歌剧是老古董,将其跟肥胖的意大利歌者、贵族与农夫的故事和更侧重于歌唱而非讲故事的剧本联系起来。京剧的处境更不妙,自从19世纪末以来都没有变化或创新。因此,发现歌剧是活生生的艺术形式,越来越具有现代感,不免令人惊诧。

Perhaps the greatest modern opera composer is John Adams, an American master who started working in the form in the early 1980s. His first two major operas, Nixon in China and The Death of Klinghoffer, both dramatized recent historical events; Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong in 1972 and the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, when a wheelchair-bound Jewish-American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered by Palestinian terrorists. Both are works of stunning beauty and complexity, and have amazing libretti. Adams' librettist, Alice Goodman, is a considerable poet in her own right, and her strong, insightful writing contributes greatly to the operas' impact.

或许当代最伟大的歌剧作曲家是约翰•亚当斯,这位美国音乐大师从上世纪80年代起就开始从事歌剧创作。他的前两部重要歌剧《尼克松在中国》和《克林格霍芬之死》都将最近的历史事件搬上了舞台;1972年尼克松同毛泽东的会晤,以及1985年阿基莱•劳伦号客轮劫持事件,当时一名坐轮椅的游客——美籍犹太人利昂•克林格霍芬被巴勒斯坦恐怖分子杀害。这两部歌剧都异常美丽而复杂,歌词优美。词作者爱丽丝•古德曼也被认为是一名卓越的诗人,她强烈且富有洞察力的歌词大大提升了歌剧的影响力。

Adams' most recent opera, Dr. Atomic, is about Robert Oppenheimer, the creator of the first atomic weapons, and their testing and use in 1945. It's a considerable work, though, sadly, Goodman only contributed a little to the libretto; the rest is taken from poetic sources ranging from John Donne to the Bhagavad Gita. Although it first premeried in 2005, a recent TV version has just been made, making it far more easily available for music and drama lovers. Anybody with an interest in great modern music, and in history interpreted through poetry, should certainly check out this and Adams' other works.

亚当斯的最新力作《原子博士》讲述了罗伯特•奥本海默的故事,奥本海默是核武器之父,还参与了1945年核武器的测试与使用。这是一部极有分量的作品,只是很遗憾,剧本只有一小部分是古德曼所作,其它则选自约翰•多恩和巴哥维得•吉它的诗作。该剧早在2005年就进行了首演,不久前电视版问世,更加方便音乐和歌剧爱好者欣赏。任何人,只要对当代优秀音乐和用诗歌演绎的历史感兴趣,都应该看看《原子博士》和亚当斯的其他作品。