美国国家公共电台 NPR Renée Elise Goldsberry Hopes 'Henrietta Lacks' Movie Will Start Conversations

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

We mentioned earlier in the program that today is Earth Day, and there have been demonstrations¹ for science around the world. In a few minutes, we'll hear from one of the celebrity² scientists behind the march, Bill Nye, who has a new series out on Netflix. But, first, a story about a groundbreaking scientific discovery that raised questions about medical ethics³ and privacy.

In 1951, a young African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks entered Johns Hopkins seeking treatment for cervical cancer. She soon died from the illness leaving behind four young children and another legacy⁴, the HeLa cell line. Doctors had discovered that Henrietta Lacks' cells were infinitely⁵ self-replicating, something that had never been seen before. And they started using and selling those cells for research without Henrietta or her family's knowledge or consent.

In 2010, science writer Rebecca Skloot published the story in a best-selling book "The Immortal⁶ Life Of Henrietta Lacks." It focuses on Henrietta's adult children and their struggle to understand what happened to their mother's cells. It's now been made into a movie with the same title which premieres on HBO tonight. And playing the title character, Henrietta Lacks, is actress Renee Elise Goldsberry. Michel Martin caught up with her last week.

MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE⁷: Renee Elise Goldsberry, thank you so much for being with us.

RENEE ELISE GOLDSBERRY: Thank you so much for having me.

MARTIN: Well, you've had many meaty roles before this, I mean, on television, on Broadway, but the role we have to mention is one that you just finished a few months ago. You were the original Angelica Schuyler in the mega Broadway musical hit "Hamilton." This project is very different. Tell us why you were attracted to it.

GOLDSBERRY: I kind of love to start with what's similar? And that is these are two stories that are about two women who actually existed who are hugely important and nobody really knew who they were. So as an actor, it feels like the opportunity to perform a service to portray⁸ somebody that the world really needs to know about.

MARTIN: Your role in this movie is relatively⁹ small you're mainly seen in flashbacks from Henrietta's daughter who is played by - I don't know - some newcomer Oprah Winfrey, I think the name.

GOLDSBERRY: Oprah Winfrey.

MARTIN: Yes, exactly.

GOLDSBERRY: She's is a young and up and coming actress, but her future is bright.

MARTIN: Was that a challenge, though, to have only a few minutes to get this character across?

GOLDSBERRY: It should have been, except for that I had that book. I have Rebecca Skloot's book. And I really want to encourage everybody to not see the film as, you know, the end all be all. It's a wonderful film, and it's designed to be the gateway¹⁰ into more exploration into who Henrietta is. And to really kind of see the history of basically what our government has - where we are in terms of how we're dealing¹¹ with people's tissues.

MARTIN: I did want to ask about the medical ethics question because on the one hand, it is clearly true that Henrietta Lacks was not asked and her family, until a lot of other things happened, didn't get any direct benefit from what had happened. On the other hand, do we reduce everything to sort of a transaction? And I just wondered if you had some thoughts about that.

GOLDSBERRY: I have so many, and it's amazing. Here's what's surprising to me today right now in April of 2017 - is that there's not really anything that happened to her that wouldn't be able to happen to me today. Legally, they do not have to get your consent to research your tissue samples. We have - if you went and had a mole¹² biopsy, anything that has been done to you - if that tissue is not connected to your body, there is no need to ask for your consent to study it, to, you know, to research it, to have it stored.

There are banks all over this world filled with human tissue for researchers to study. And so, yes, today, right now today, we have not resolved this question. And if it disturbs you, this is something that you should talk about, and you should - and we should have - continue to have a conversation about.

MARTIN: What is it about this whole thing, though, that - if I may use the word - offends or concerns you? Is it the fact that so many people literally¹³ profited? I mean, one of the advantages from a scientific inquiry¹⁴ standpoint is that Henrietta Lacks' cells were made available to researchers all over the world for free which allowed them to pursue their questions in a way that many, many people benefited.

But after a certain point, people did start charging, and a lot of people made a lot of money from it. So is that the idea that the people who benefit is so disproportionate to the people who actually participate or that who actually gave the cells or is it the privacy aspect of it? Is it - what is it?

GOLDSBERRY: I think the first thing to do is really to separate the difference between like, you know, what's happened in our - in the African-American community, what happens to two groups of poor people, that exploitation, you know, the Tuskegee experiment. This is not an example of something that only happened to her because she was a poor black woman. I think that's important to know. They were doing this with every body whether you had a lot of money to pay for your doctor or not.

The same things would have happened. They would have taken those tissues, and they would have studied them. So I think it's important to just distinguish those things because if we miss that, then we fail to be able to address what's going on with privacy right now.

MARTIN: So let's - before we let you go, we'd love to talk about you just a little bit more because you've had quite a year winning a Tony and a Drama Desk Award and also part of the Grammy Award for your role as Angelica Schuyler in "Hamilton." And I just have to ask, and I understand that, you know, as we said earlier, you've had a very big career before that. You've had a lot of meaty roles. But I do have to ask is there a before "Hamilton" and an after "Hamilton?" I mean, does it feel like that? Does it feel like this big punctuation¹⁵ mark?

GOLDSBERRY: It's funny. I used to say if there was anything I would really want to have as I kind of get older in my career, it would be wonderful to have relevance¹⁶ to somebody in some way, so that I could continue to work on some level. And I think that before or after for "Hamilton" is that I think there will always be a relevance to "Hamilton." It's nutritious¹⁷. It's really hard to be commercially successful doing something that I think is so good for us. I feel that way about Henrietta Lacks as well.

There are endless conversations we could have about the themes that are brought up in "Hamilton," and I feel the same way about Henrietta Lacks. And I'm honored to be able to say that what I've done with my life is start some of those conversations, you know, and play some people that have really made me bring to the surface some things that I actually really want, aspire¹⁸ to be as a woman. I love that as well.

MARTIN: That's Renee Elise Goldsberry. She portrays¹⁹ the title character in "The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks," which premieres on HBO tonight. Renee Elise Goldsberry, thank you so much for joining us.

GOLDSBERRY: Thank you for having me.

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 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。

3 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

6 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

7 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。

8 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

15 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

16 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

17 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

18 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

19 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》