美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'The Deuce,' Sex Isn't Titillating — It's Business

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's been a fair amount of nostalgia¹ for the 1970s on TV, from shows on the birth of rap music to the Netflix remake of the sitcom² "One Day At A Time." And now HBO has a new series set in 1970s New York City.

(SOUNDBITE OF CURTIS MAYFIELD SONG, "IF THERE'S A HELL BELOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO GO (DON'T WORRY)")

SHAPIRO: The show is called "The Deuce." And there will be some explicit³ talk in the review we're about to hear because the series is about how pornography became a legal industry. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says it's a show about sex work that is anything but sexy.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁴: "The Deuce" transports viewers to Times Square in 1971, long before the days when Disney and Bubba Gump Shrimp⁵ catered⁶ to wide-eyed tourists. Instead, garbage lines the streets where prostitutes and pimps ply⁷ their trade. Maggie Gyllenhaal shines as Candy, a streetwalker who works alone, refusing the protection of a pimp despite the best efforts of Rodney, played by rapper Method Man.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DEUCE")

METHOD MAN: (As Rodney) Between my expertise⁸ and your good looks - shoot, thoroughbred like you, we could own this damn street.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL: (As Candy) Rodney, sugar, I'm going to keep what I earn. I don't need you. I don't need anybody else. Let me do my thing. You're busting⁹ on my groove¹⁰, Rodney.

DEGGANS: This is the world of "The Deuce," the nickname for West 42nd Street in Midtown. It's a dangerous, volatile¹¹ place that also becomes a birthplace for the American porn industry once entrepreneurs like Candy realize she and her fellow streetwalkers can make a safer living performing on film. As the show begins, films showing actual sex are illegal in New York, sold in brown paper bags under the counter in sleazy bookstores. But Candy sees the writing on the wall, begging a director to show her how to make sex films.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DEUCE")

GYLLENHAAL: (As Candy) If they can make and sell that in Europe, it's not going to be long before we can make and sell it here.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) How do you know?

GYLLENHAAL: (As Candy) It's America, right? When do we ever leave a dollar for the other guy to pick up?

DEGGANS: "The Deuce" was created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, who worked together on "The Wire," Simon's classic crime drama for HBO. And "The Deuce" is the best new show of the fall season. It offers a visceral, detailed¹² story of how flesh became a commodity in America. Often that process involves the abuse of women by pimps, brothel owners and filmmakers. Gyllenhaal noted¹³ during a press conference that the explicit scenes of sex and occasional violence in "The Deuce" are important.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

GYLLENHAAL: I think it's become clear in a way that maybe it wasn't totally clear a year ago that there is a huge amount of misogyny in the world. And here we have this opportunity to pick it up and lay it on the table and to do it in a way that's thoughtful and smart and also real. So that includes having to see some things that look violent and uncomfortable.

DEGGANS: The sex in "The Deuce" is never sexy. It's a series of desperate transactions. As Simon said during that press conference, "The Deuce" is trying to tell a story about titillation¹⁴ and misogyny without using those things to draw an audience.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

DAVID SIMON: It's the show's reason for being. Now, you know, in America we don't sell a can of beer or a Lincoln Continental¹⁵ without sexual connotation and sexual imagery that encompasses¹⁶ the world of porn that we've inherited.

DEGGANS: Well aware that they were two guys writing about female oppression, Simon and Pelecanos brought in female writers and a female director, "Breaking Bad's" Michelle MacLaren. Gyllenhaal also serves as a producer. James Franco plays two characters, twin brothers based on real guys who owned bars and brothels as frontmen for the mob. Franco plays straight-shooting bar manager Vincent Martino and his charismatic, degenerate¹⁷ gambler of brother, Frankie. Here, they both discuss Vincent's decision to leave his wife, who was cheating on him.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DEUCE")

JAMES FRANCO: (As Vincent Martino) I'm done. Out for good.

(As Frankie Martino) You sure?

(As Vincent Martino) Positive.

(As Frankie Martino) I don't want to say nothing bad about your wife, have you two get back together and have you mad at me forever.

(As Vincent Martino) Marriage is dead. Say what you feel.

(As Frankie Martino) Dead.

(As Vincent Martino) Yeah.

(As Frankie Martino) Like, for real, dead.

(As Vincent Martino) I said dead.

(As Frankie Martino) Hundred percent.

(As Vincent Martino) Hundred percent.

(As Frankie Martino) Never going back.

(As Vincent Martino) Yes.

DEGGANS: After a while, Franco makes you forget you're seeing two guys played by one person - really. Ultimately, the characters are the real triumph of "The Deuce" - flawed, compelling examples of the price paid when America's sexual revolution is repurposed to create one of the biggest businesses in the world. I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IF THERE'S A HELL BELOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO GO (DON'T WORRY)")

CURTIS MAYFIELD: (Singing) Sisters, brothers and the whiteys...

1 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

2 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

3 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

6 catered   

提供饮食及服务( cater的过去式和过去分词 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• We catered for forty but only twenty came. 我们准备了40客饭菜，但只来了20个人。
• They catered for everyone regardless of social rank. 他们为所有人服务而不计较其社会地位。

7 ply   

v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲

参考例句：

• Taxis licensed to ply for hire at the railway station.许可计程车在火车站候客。
• Ferryboats ply across the English Channel.渡船定期往返于英吉利海峡。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 busting   

打破，打碎( bust的现在分词 )； 突击搜查（或搜捕）； （使）降级，降低军阶

参考例句：

• Jim and his wife were busting up again yesterday. 吉姆和他的妻子昨天又吵架了。
• He figured she was busting his chops, but it was all true. 他以为她在捉弄他，其实完全是真的。

10 groove   

n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯

参考例句：

• They're happy to stay in the same old groove.他们乐于墨守成规。
• The cupboard door slides open along the groove.食橱门沿槽移开。

11 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 titillation   

n.搔痒，愉快；搔痒感

参考例句：

15 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

16 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

17 degenerate   

v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者

参考例句：

• He didn't let riches and luxury make him degenerate.他不因财富和奢华而自甘堕落。
• Will too much freedom make them degenerate?太多的自由会令他们堕落吗？