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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
The practice of blackface is as old as entertainment itself white - actors putting black makeup1 on their faces and acting2 like buffoons3. British broadcaster Sky TV has been accused of a kind of blackface by hiring a white actor to play Michael Jackson. After that, Sky decided4 not to broadcast the episode, and NPR's Eric Deggans is here with us to talk about the controversy5. Hi there, Eric.
MCEVERS: So this was supposed to be an episode of the satirical show "Urban Myths." What was it supposed to be about?
DEGGANS: So there's this (laughter) supposed road trip that Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando took right after 9/11 to get out of New York City in a rental7 car...
MCEVERS: OK.
DEGGANS: ...And this episode was going to dramatize that. And they hired Joseph Fiennes to - a white man - to play Michael Jackson. There was controversy when the casting was announced, but the trailer dropped earlier this week and that's when it really exploded, especially on social media. Now, the actor himself also thought it was a little weird8 that he got cast, and so he spoke9 to The Guardian10. Let's listen to him.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOSEPH FIENNES: I've said it before, I was shocked that they would come to me for the casting. You have to ask them as to why they would want to cast me. I felt this was a wonderful challenge. I read the script, it's very funny.
MCEVERS: And this is Joseph Fiennes of, like, "Shakespeare In Love" Joseph Fiennes, right?
DEGGANS: (Laughter) I know.
MCEVERS: I don't see Michael Jackson here.
DEGGANS: Well, you know, you can judge for yourself. The trailer is out there, and the criticism really took off when Michael's daughter Paris and a Jackson cousin kind of complained on Twitter, and it really kind of exploded. One of the things that Paris tweeted, for example, she said, quote, "I'm so incredibly offended by it as I'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit11." (Laughter) So...
MCEVERS: Why do you think they chose him to do this? I mean, he says he doesn't really know why, but any sense of, like, why the producers chose him to play this role?
DEGGANS: You know, maybe because they're a British company that did this, they didn't appreciate how Americans feel about Michael Jackson and particularly about race and Michael Jackson. You know, he had a very tangled12 history involving his ethnicity and his appearance. And also, you know, he died in a way that fans - left fans, you know, bereft13, and they're still coping with that in some ways. And, you know, there were a lot of icons14 in this car (laughter) that they decided to make fun of, so maybe all of that was a problem.
MCEVERS: I mean, you've written a book about race and media, right? I mean, this is a question that comes up a lot - who gets to play whom? Is a white actor playing a black character ever OK?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, white people playing black people has so often been used as a tool of oppression, right? It's not just that they're playing black people, it's that they're playing infantilized black people, or they're playing black people who are overly sexual or morally deficient15 in some way and they're the other, you know? And it can happen in any ethnicity, we've seen this happen with Asian characters and with Latino characters as well. In a statement, a company spokesman from Sky said, quote, "we set out to take a lighthearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offense16." So it was a satirical show, they tried to be funny, but it's hard to joke about this stuff. And, you know, actors of color don't have a lot of great roles anyway...
MCEVERS: Right.
DEGGANS: ...So it looks weird to hand a plum role to a white guy when conceivably they could have cast a light-skin African-American or a light-skin person of color to play that role.
MCEVERS: I mean, looking at the still from this trailer, I mean, it is weird, right? Because Joseph Fiennes isn't necessarily in blackface...
DEGGANS: Yeah.
MCEVERS: ...I mean, because Michael Jackson was so fair.
DEGGANS: It's kind of like whiteface, right?
MCEVERS: Right, it's - yeah, but so, what's going on?
DEGGANS: Well, Michael had his own tangled history with race throughout his career. His skin lightened and he said he had a skin condition. Other people accused him of having plastic surgery to alter his looks. And to take - have a white actor cast as him seemed a nod to that in a way that was needlessly cruel. And we're talking about celebrities17 like Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando, who are not around to defend themselves. So maybe there was just the sense that people felt they were taking a shot at celebrities who couldn't defend themselves because they're not with us anymore.
MCEVERS: NPR's Eric Deggans, thanks.
DEGGANS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF VISIONEERS SONG, "IKE'S MOOD I")
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1
makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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2
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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3
buffoons
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| n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 )；傻瓜；逗乐小丑；滑稽的人 | |
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4
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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5
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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6
byline
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| n.署名；v.署名 | |
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7
rental
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| n.租赁，出租，出租业 | |
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8
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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9
spoke
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| 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 | |
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10
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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11
vomit
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| v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物 | |
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12
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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13
bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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14
icons
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| n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像 | |
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15
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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16
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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17
celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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