【英语趣味课堂】非洲的电影业-African Movie Industry

Todd: So Abidemi, we’ve been talking about art and culture in your country of Nigeria. What about film, do you have a movie industry?

 

Abidemi: Oh, wow! It’s a great question. Yes, we do. Nigeria has a movie industry that’s called Nollywood.

 

Todd: Nollywood?

 

Abidemi:Yeah, Nollywood. Can you guess? Nigeria, Hollywood – Nollywood.

 

Todd: Nollywood.

 

Abidemi: So I think, I’ve read that Nollywood is actually the number three producing movie industry in the world. After Hollywood, maybe Bollywood is number one, Hollywood is number two and Nollywood is number three.

 

Todd: Wow!

 

Abidemi: Yes, so we produce a lot of movies every year. And actually, a lot of these movies I know I watch a lot of them in YouTube or the internet. And some of our stars, some of the actresses and actors are actually going to other countries like Ghana, they are doing movies with them, collaborating¹ with Ghana and maybe the Benin Republic, neighboring countries to Nigeria. And some actually have moved over to the United States. A little bit, they are starting to, and collaborating with some people there as well. So it is booming² and people that are involved in that industry are making more and more and more money each year. To the point that before maybe 20 years ago, if a child said to his or her parent that, "I want to be an actor or actress", that was the worst job you could ever do and they would be like, “Why?” But now, it’s actually something that parents are, “Alright, okay, you want to be an actor like this person or that person?” It’s not so bad anymore because they can make money, if they make it, so yeah.

 

Todd: Okay, that’s great. So it’s gaining respect.

 

Abidemi: Exactly, it's gaining respect.

 

Todd: So Bollywood has a very distinct³ kind of image of you know, the music and the dancing and Hollywood kind of has also like you know the action and bang⁴, bang type movies.

 

Abidemi: Yes.

 

Todd:So, can you describe what a Nollywood movie is like?

 

Abidemi: That’s a great question. I think Nollywood is closer to Hollywood in the fact that we don’t have as much the kind of dancing and music and the musical value that Bollywood has. Nigerian movies are more dramas, I would say. There they try to make action movies but it’s not quite to the level of Hollywood just as yet. So it’s more drama, it’s about life stories, things that are happening in Nigeria and one thing that I’ve heard and that I’ve noticed in Nigerian movies is the fact that they try to present people that live rich lives. Nigeria is still a developing country, so many people don’t have access to some things so movies tend to present people that are well-off, that live in big houses, drive big cars and can travel abroad, have education. So you have that theme going through a lot of these movies where maybe somebody, a poor girl, she meets a rich man or vice⁵ versa.

 

Todd: Oh right, yeah.

 

Abidemi: So, it’s more for fantasy to get people to think of a different life that anything is possible. That if you, maybe if you try or maybe some day you might meet your prince charming⁶, or what not. So there is that aspect to it, yes.

 

Todd: Oh, that’s cool.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

booming

 

It is booming and people are making more money each year.

 

When something is booming, like an economy or town, it is doing very well. Notice the following:

 

The downtown areas is booming.

The economy is booming now.

what not

 

You might meet your prince charming, or what not.

 

Here, 'or what not' means 'things like that.' Notice the following:

 

That restaurant serves pasta, salads and what not.

On the trail there is lots of beautiful nature and what not.

bang bang

 

 

Hollywood has action and bang, bang type movies.

 

A bang-bang movie is an action movie. Bang-bang refers to quick action. Notice the following:

 

Bruce Willis is in many bang-bang types of movies.

He scored a goal on a bang-bang play.

well-off

 

 

Movies tend to present people that are well-off.

 

People who are well-off are very rich. Notice the following:

 

His family is very well-off.

Everyone hopes to be well-off in old age.

prince charming

 

 

You might meet your prince charming, or what not.

 

The term prince charming is slang⁷ for the perfect man that most women hope to meet, but rarely do. Notice the following:

 

She is still looking for her prince charming.

Almost all Disney movies have a prince charming type of guy.

1 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

2 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 distinct   

adj.种类不同的，有区别的，清楚的，明显的

参考例句：

• I had the distinct impression that I was being followed.我清楚地感觉到有人跟踪我。
• The party split into two distinct groups.该党分裂成两个截然不同的团体。

4 bang   

n.巨响，猛击；vi.砰砰作响；vt.砰地敲，猛击

参考例句：

• Pack it up, you kids;or I'll bang your heads together!住手，你们这些小孩，再弄就揍你们！
• She fell and got a nasty bang on the knee.她摔倒了，膝盖猛撞在地上。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 charming   

adj.迷人的，可爱的

参考例句：

• She looked small and gentle and altogether charming.她看起来小巧文雅,十分迷人。
• She has charming manners.她具有媚人的风姿。

7 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。