2019年经济学人 《都挺好》:矛盾的儒学(1)

 

China

《中国》版块

Television drama

电视剧

Conflicted Confucians

矛盾的儒学

A hit show questions blind obedience¹ to unreasonable² parents

一部很火的电视剧质疑对不公平父母的盲从

It is no mean feat³ to be one of the top-ten trending hashtags on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, for 20 consecutive⁴ days and counting. “All is Well”, a show on provincial⁵ television which premiered on March 1st, has done just that. The show tells the story of a fictional⁶ Chinese family torn by internal conflict. The female protagonist⁷, Su Mingyu, is barely on speaking terms with her widowed father and one of her two brothers. The father is a nagging⁸ crank who expects his two adult sons to bankroll his lavish⁹ tastes. This leads to constant bickering¹⁰ between the brothers, neither of whom wants to be called unfilial.

连续20天以上出现在微博热搜前十绝非易事。微博相当于中国的“推特”。电视剧《都挺好》就做到了这一点。《都挺好》于3月1日始播于省级卫视。该剧讲述了一个虚构的被内部矛盾撕裂的家庭故事。女主角苏明玉和鰥居的父亲以及二哥关系不是很好。这位父亲唠叨挑剔、想法古怪，想让他两个儿子为他奢侈的品味买单。这就导致了兄弟间不断争吵，他们都不想被称为不孝。

Episodes of “All is Well” have been streamed more than 390m times. That exceeds the online viewership of the next most popular television series by 278m. From “The Simpsons” to “Game of Thrones”, dramas about bickering families are common in many countries. But in China, the Communist Party prefers entertainment to be unchallenging. So the questioning of blind attachment¹¹ to traditional values in “All is Well” is causing a stir. Viewers are transfixed by its rare portrayal¹² of middle-class life, warts¹³ and all.

《都挺好》累计播放过量已超过3.9亿次。这比收视率排名第二的电视剧高2.78亿次。从《辛普森一家》到《权力的游戏》，在许多国家，关于家庭矛盾的电视剧很常见。但在中国，当局者更希望娱乐圈不要挑战传统观念。因此，《都挺好》中对盲目顺从的传统价值观的质疑引起了轰动。观众震惊于它对中产阶级的毫无掩盖的罕见写照。

Many Chinese can relate to the Su family’s troubles. The daughter holds a grudge¹⁴ against her father, and especially against her late mother, for having mistreated her while pampering¹⁵ her brothers. As a child she was made to wash her brothers’ clothes. Her parents turned a blind eye when one of her brothers beat her. For many female viewers born before 1979, when China introduced a one-child-per-couple policy (changed to two in 2016), such scenes have brought back painful memories. Some have used social media to share their own tales of sexism within the family.

很多中国人都能理解苏家的困境。女儿对父亲一直有怨，尤其是对于已故的母亲，因为父母在溺爱两个哥哥的同时也虐待了女儿。当她还是孩子的时候就被要求洗哥哥的衣服。二哥打她的时候父母视而不见。中国从1979年开始实行计划生育政策，2016年改为二孩政策。电视剧中的场景勾起了许多1979年之前出生的女性痛苦的回忆。一些人在社交媒体上分享了家庭性别歧视的故事。

1 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

2 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

3 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

4 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

5 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

7 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

8 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

10 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

12 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

13 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

14 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

15 pampering   

v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But you need to make an appointment because these people are usually very busy pampering pets. 但是你需要先预约，因为这些人通常都在忙于照顾宠物们。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• He had been pampering, and coaxing, and indulging that individual all his life. 他一生都在姑息、迁就、纵容那家伙。 来自辞典例句