美国国家公共电台 NPR A New Addition To The Long Tradition Of Puppets Behaving Badly

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

So what do you do when bad things happen to good puppets? Well, that's what Melissa McCarthy is investigating in a new movie called "The Happytime Murders." She plays a detective trying to solve a string of puppet killings¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS")

BILL BARETA: (As Phil Philips) This wasn't a robbery. This was a hit.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As unidentified character) What the...

BARETA: (As Phil Philips) Someone out there is killing² puppets.

GREENE: Oh, my. "The Happytime Murderers" - it is rated R, and, in this case, the R might stand for raunchy. It's inappropriate for both children and morning radio. So just a fair warning - this piece contains some clips that some listeners might find very disturbing. They certainly disturbed NPR's Barry Gordemer.

BARRY GORDEMER, BYLINE³: "The Happytime Murders" is packed with violence...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) What the...

GORDEMER: ...Foul⁴ language...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS")

MELISSA MCCARTHY: (As Connie Edwards) Well, if the shoe fits...

BARETA: (As Phil Philips) [Expletive] you.

MCCARTHY: (As Connie Edwards) Yeah, [expletive] you, too.

BARETA: (As Phil Philips) [Expletive] you more.

GORDEMER: ...And graphic⁵ puppet sex.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS")

BARETA: (As Phil Philips) This is not a good idea.

DORIEN DAVIES: (As Sandra) What's it going to be, Phil?

GORDEMER: The problem is I can't play any clips that really demonstrate just how raunchy this movie is.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) When did you get so squeamish?

BARETA: (As Phil Philips) I'm not squeamish.

GORDEMER: Brian Henson, what would Jim Henson say about this movie?

BRIAN HENSON: I don't know. My dad would probably have said, oh my God. That's outrageous⁶, Brian. But I also think he would have enjoyed it.

GORDEMER: That's Brian Henson, son of "Muppet" creator Jim Henson. Brian directed "The Happytime Murders."

HENSON: This is really the raunchiest I've ever gone with puppets. I thought, well, maybe I should do something that's sort of PG-13, but I didn't want to accidentally invite a family audience into this movie. I wanted to make sure it was very, very clear that this is for adults only. So in a lot of ways, that also became a license⁷ to go even further than our instincts were to go.

GORDEMER: "The Happytime Murderers" is the latest example of adult puppetry that leans heavily on the scatological. In the early 2000s, Comedy Central brought us "Crank Yankers" where puppets lip synced to lewd⁸ and crude crank phone calls.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CRANK YANKERS")

UNIDENTIFED PERSON: Thank you for calling SST Towing. How may I help you?

WANDA SYKES: (As Gladys) I just picked up my '92 Accord from your lot, and there is a huge turd in the back seat.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And there's - there's what in the back seat?

SYKES: (As Gladys) A turd.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ma'am, if you want to bring that car back, we'll take a look at it.

SYKES: (As Gladys) Oh, you want to take a look at it.

GORDEMER: The creators of "South Park" brought us the all-marionette movie "Team America" where an elite⁹ group of commandos vanquish¹⁰ terrorists and good taste.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE")

DARAN NORRIS: (As Spottswoode) All right, I'll trust you. But only if you [expletive].

TREY PARKER: (As Gary Johnston) You can't be serious.

NORRIS: (As Spottswoode) Oh, I am serious. This is my serious face.

GORDEMER: Puppets behaving badly isn't new. In fact, over the centuries, raunch has been the rule rather than the exception.

EILEEN BLUMENTHAL: Puppetry around most of the world until the 19th century wasn't for children. In fact, a lot of it was pretty shocking.

GORDEMER: Eileen Blumenthal is a theater professor at Rutgers University and author of the book "Puppetry: A World History."

BLUMENTHAL: In the middle ages, one specialty¹¹ of puppets became sex and violence.

GORDEMER: The classic puppet show "Punch And Judy" was topical, political and very racy. It was a good way in the 17th century to poke¹² fun at the crown and the church without getting your head chopped off.

BLUMENTHAL: Puppets have always been able to get away with things that live actors can't.

GORDEMER: Brian Henson looks forward to seeing what he can get away with in the future.

HENSON: This is a direction that I'm experimenting with, but it's not at all exclusively where I plan on being. But people really sort of delight in puppets going really too far.

GORDEMER: Just don't tell the kids. Barry Gordemer, NPR News.

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 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。

4 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 lewd   

adj.淫荡的

参考例句：

• Drew spends all day eyeing up the women and making lewd comments.德鲁整天就盯着女人看，说些下流话。
• I'm not that mean,despicable,cowardly,lewd creature that horrible little man sees. 我可不是那个令人恶心的小人所见到的下流、可耻、懦弱、淫秽的家伙。

9 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

10 vanquish   

v.征服，战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• He tried to vanquish his fears.他努力克服恐惧心理。
• It is impossible to vanquish so strong an enemy without making an extensive and long-term effort.现在要战胜这样一个强敌，非有长期的广大的努力是不可能的。

11 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

12 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。