纽约时报 我想生活在《后翼弃兵》的现实里(4)

"The Queen's Gambit" seems designed as a critique of and an upgrade to this entire genre.

《后翼弃兵》似乎是对这一风格的批判和升级。

Instead of being put through the familiar degrading gantlet, we watch as Beth encounters only the mildest resistance to her participation in competitive chess.

贝丝没有经历我们所熟知的、有辱人格的折磨，她在国际象棋比赛中遇到的只是最温和的阻力。

She's never asked to bend to the world; the world bends around her.

没有人要求她向世界屈服；世界围绕着她。

Her eccentricities and shortcomings are not only given a pass but a sort of primacy.

她的怪癖和缺点不仅被忽略了，甚至还被认为是最重要的。

She's a rock star, in other words - the rules are different for her.

换句话说，她是个摇滚明星，规则对她来说是不同的。

Alma recognizes this early on, as do her competitors-turned-lovers and friends.

阿尔玛很早就认识到了这一点，她的竞争对手（后来变成了爱人）和朋友也认识到了这一点。

One woman on Twitter wrote: "Just finished 'The Queen's Gambit' and am very taken with the idea of all my exes in a room somewhere cheering me on."

推特上有位女士写道：“刚刚看完了《后翼弃兵》，我特别喜欢这个主意：我所有的前任都在某个房间里为我加油。”

Another replied: "This is what I fantasize about when I masturbate. Seriously."

另一个人回复道：“说真的，这就是我自慰时的幻想。”

Beth buys a killer wardrobe. She buys a house.

贝丝买了一个巨大的衣橱，还买了一栋房子。

She becomes an independent woman, at a time when there were so few of them, simply by being good at what she does and being recognized for it.

在独立女性少之又少的年代里，贝丝只是做了自己擅长的，并且被人们所认可，就成为了一个独立女性。

At first I assumed that the character of Beth was based on an actual person, but it soon became obvious that this wasn't the case.

起初我以为贝丝这个角色是有原型的，但很快就发现事实并非如此。

The fluidity of her rise and the lack of resistance she encounters on her way to the top gave it away.

她崛起得十分流畅，而且她一路上很少遇到阻力，这才令我发现了这一事实。

At this moment, both in politics and the pandemic, in which women have been disproportionately sidelined and burdened, this kind of meritocratic, gender-agnostic fiction is desperately needed.

此时此刻，无论是在政治上，还是在女性被过度排挤和负重的新冠疫情中，我们都迫切需要这种精英主义、性别不可知论的作品。

It cheers us up. It reminds us of who we're supposed to be.

它让我们感到振奋，还提醒着我们自己应该是谁。

It reassures us in the same way that the chessboard - predictable, rule-bound, well delimited - makes Beth feel secure and in control.

可预测的、有规则的、界限分明的棋盘让贝丝有足够的安全感，也让她感觉一切都在掌控之中，这也给我们以安慰。

"The Queen's Gambit" provides the perfect escape from this strange reality we're living in, this uncanny Upside-Down, by imagining a world in which talent, hard work and fair play alone are rewarded, in which everyone is equal and everyone has a shot;

《后翼弃兵》提供了一个完美的、逃离我们生活在奇怪现实的机会，它是通过一个想象世界来进行的，在这个世界里，才华、努力和公平竞争是唯一的奖励，每个人都是平等的，每个人都有机会；

where power isn't corrupt, the game isn't rigged and a winner can expect the enthusiastic, uncontested acknowledgment of her victories.

在权力不腐败的地方，游戏就不会被操纵，胜利者可以期待自己胜利的热情、获得无争议的认可。

Nothing could be further from our current reality, but who needs our current reality?

没有什么能比我们现在的现实更远了，但是谁需要我们现在的现实呢？

What we need now is something else.

我们现在需要的是别的东西。