西部落：如何圆孩子一个明星梦

Marlene Wallach is president of Wihelmina Kids and Teens' modeling agency and Judith Sills is a psychologist. And good morning to both of you, thanks for coming on.

Good morning.

Let me start with you, Marlene, about the notion that a 2 or 3 year-old doesn't simply say I wanna be an actor or I wanna be a model. Mom and dad made that call. How do you know if, if your kid is right for acting¹?

Well, I think that you start off with the giving of being cute and adorable. That has to be there.

Yeah, but we all think our kids are cute and adorable, (Right) so that's easy.

Next we have to do... we have to really consider the temperament². Is it someone you've been telling your little one not to go with strangers since the very beginning? Now you are telling them to go with strangers. When you pick up a little baby, will a stranger make them cry? Will they leave their mothers' side? The temperament will tell if it's even in the cards to try.

And you'll know, you'll know that right off the bat. (Right) Now what about, the, what kind of a childhood does a child actor or model have? Is there anything close to what we've considered normal?

Well, I think the, the key is the, the parent. And it's the parent's responsibility to keep balance in their life. You saw them in naps , you saw them playing with the hula hoop³, being in their piano lessons and doing all the kid things. It's really critical to do that.

All right. Now let's, let's turn, if we can, to Judith and talk about the temperament of the child, then the temperament of the parent. You say, for a parent, you need to know your role. And what is that role?

Your role is protection. A lovely person like this, her role is to rent your child's talent to make money, that's her purpose. Your role as a parent is to protect your child. So if you get very invested and your child getting the part, even if you are investing the money for college, you are out of your role. Your purpose is "Is this fun for my kid?", "Is my kid's life even?", "Does my kid have friends?", "Is there something solid so when rejection⁴ comes up to flailing⁵?"

Well, let me ask you, is there a conflict, I will ask you both, is there a conflict sometimes between the reality of this child still has to go to schools, still has to get good marks in math and English, but there is also the pressure from your end that, yeah, but this kid is hot, and we need him on the scent⁶.

Well, we find that the kids that are hot are typically the honored students. It, it seems to go hand in hand that kids that miss the most school are typically the best students who want some work.

See, here is, here is the conflict. I'm a parent and I want my kid to be special, which is great. And I get invested in how special my kid is 'coz I drove for 3 hours to get the kid to the audition⁷. The kid gets the part. I want my kid to sparkle. My kid's sparkling and he is a little tired. I'm, I'm in there saying "Sparkle a little bit longer! Work a little bit harder!" maybe that's not my role.

Well, Judith, both have mentioned the word rejection, how do you teach a small, I don't do well with therejection, I'm, I'm a grown-up. How do you teach a small kid that you're gonna go in this audition and maybe they are gonna say you know what, you are not cute enough, you are not tall enough, you are not whatever enough, sorry you don't get the job.

Well, actually rejection can be an opportunity, in any reason. First thing you say to a kid is: rejection, disappointment, failure, you know what, they're part of life, and you tell the kid a time you got rejected, a time you got a setback⁸. No. 2, a parent has to not be emotionally invested in getting the job. A child would rather not disappoint a parent , it's more important to not disappoint a parent than to be sparkling them. So parent has to be able to move on. And they can't all do that, don't you find?

Good, Good discussion, well,

The, the little ones don't even know. They, they go to and go see, they get their picture taken, they think that's (right) the job, you know.

Right, but, but they will get older on the other deal. (Well, that's good, that's good) Judith Sills, Marlene Wallach, good conversation. Thanks so much for coming on and talking with us. It's good to see both of you

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

3 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

4 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

5 flailing   

v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• He became moody and unreasonable, flailing out at Katherine at the slightest excuse. 他变得喜怒无常、不可理喻，为点鸡毛蒜皮的小事就殴打凯瑟琳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His arms were flailing in all directions. 他的手臂胡乱挥舞着。 来自辞典例句

6 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

7 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

8 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。