美国国家公共电台 NPR Encore: Courtney B. Vance Brings Intensity Of Johnnie Cochran Back To Life

Encore: Courtney B. Vance Brings Intensity¹ Of Johnnie Cochran Back To Life 

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The FX series "The People V. O.J. Simpson" won five Emmys last night. Three awards were for acting³ - one for Sarah Paulson who played prosecutor⁴ Marcia Clark, another for Sterling⁵ K. Brown as prosecutor Chris Darden and last for Courtney B. Vance, who brought the intensity of the late defense⁶ attorney Johnnie Cochran back to life.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AMERICAN CRIME STORY")

COURTNEY B VANCE: (As Johnnie Cochran) This is the United States of America, and we are defending a black man who is fighting to prove his innocence⁷. Now, I know I don't have to give anyone here a civics lesson about the historic injustices⁸ visited upon black men for no other reason other than they're black. It is a plain and simple fact, but we would not be doing our job if we did not at least talk about how race plays a part in this trial. Now, if that is playing the race card, so be it.

SHAPIRO: Courtney Vance spoke⁹ with our co-host Kelly McEvers earlier this year about that role and why the O.J. Simpson trial still resonates in this country two decades after the not guilty verdict.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

VANCE: Johnnie Cochran - we see him in the same light as we do Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King 'cause he struck a blow. Now, was it a blow for justice because there were two people who were killed. And if O.J. Simpson is innocent, who's guilty?

But that's what myself and probably a lot of African-Americans - what the yes was about - that finally, on the biggest stage, a black man worked the system and got another black man off. Now, was he guilty? We don't know. But that wasn't his job, Johnnie Cochran.

KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE¹⁰: You know it's funny 'cause O.J. Simpson himself famously said, I'm not black. I'm O.J. Simpson. There's this sense and the suggestion in the series that despite that, Johnnie Cochran sort of said, like, look. Right now we need you to be black.

VANCE: We need you to be black today.

MCEVERS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

MCEVERS: You know, we need you to be black so we can win this because we've got a majority of black jurors, and they're going to believe that...

VANCE: Right.

MCEVERS: ...The police set you up because...

VANCE: Right.

MCEVERS: ...You're black. And there's a reluctance¹¹ on the part of O.J. Simpson. And you have to kind of convince him. Did you feel squeamish about that at all?

VANCE: No, no squeamishness at all. Just - I didn't follow this, so I'm like a child coming to it. And I'm watching it, and I'm going, we are a complicated country. You got a black man married to a white woman, living the American dream lifestyle, celebrity¹² down, but doesn't think he's black, does not want to be associated with black people but gets in trouble.

And with a black jury, Johnnie Cochran knew that in order for the black man who thought he wasn't black - in order for him to get off, he needed to all of a sudden be black so much so that he had to redo his house.

MCEVERS: Right. That's - I want to ask you about that scene. I mean there's this scene where the jury, before they go to tour his - O.J. Simpson's home, Johnnie Cochran and his staff go and redecorate the house and make it more black. They put African art in the house.

They put - Johnnie puts this huge portrait of O.J.'s momma up on the wall, takes down pictures of white people, puts up pictures of black people so much so that O.J. Simpson, when he walks in, says I don't even know who these people are.

VANCE: Yeah.

MCEVERS: Did that really happen?

VANCE: That really happened. And it's so frightening that someone could be so far away from where he came from. In his mind and in all of our minds, that's - he was living the American dream. And that's why I think this is such a watershed¹³ case and so important for the country because he said, I'm not black. I'm O.J.

And I mean we all look at him and go, are you out of your mind? I mean it is so deep. That's what Marcia Clark did not understand - the depth of the deepness.

MCEVERS: Of the racial divide.

VANCE: Of the racial divide. It is so deep that it's going to take everyone just putting their gloves aside and letting it be talked out. You're not going to all understand it today, not tomorrow, but let - that's why I said to myself - I said, please let the Ferguson - Grand Jury, please let them have a trial. Please let them talk it out. Let the year-long process go through. And let it not be like the O.J. trial where after the trial, people just go, no and to go back to their corners. It was a perfect opportunity to do what needed to be done...

MCEVERS: So you think...

VANCE: ...To talk it through.

MCEVERS: You think that's what this series is helping¹⁴ us do.

VANCE: I - that's why I'm here. It's a perfect opportunity for us to begin the process. It's not going to happen overnight. It's got to be talked through.

SHAPIRO: That's actor Courtney B. Vance talking with our co-host Kelly McEvers back in February. Last night Vance won his first Emmy for playing Johnnie Cochran in the FX limited series "The People V. O.J. Simpson."

1 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 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。

4 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

5 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

8 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 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。

11 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

12 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

13 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。