2023年经济学人 《奥本海默》和《芭比》揭示了当今时代的何种真相(2)（在线收听）

    Though “Oppenheimer” features stars such as Emily Blunt and Matt Damon, the sombre story is not obviously a crowd-pleaser.

    虽然《奥本海默》有艾米丽·布朗特和马特·达蒙等明星出演，但这个阴郁的故事显然不能取悦大众。

    That it has also been made with a large budget of $100m reflects the faith that studios have in certain film-makers and the risks they allow them to take.

    这部电影也有1亿美元的大额预算，表明电影公司对某些电影制作人有信心，以及允许这些电影制作人冒一定的风险。

    “There have been films previously about the development of the atomic bomb in the 1940s and 1950s, and they haven’t been box-office successes,” says Sheldon Hall, a film historian and co-author of the book “Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History”.

    “以前有过关于20世纪40年代和50年代原子弹发展的电影，但票房并不成功。”电影历史学家、《史诗、奇观和大片：好莱坞历史》一书的合著者谢尔顿·霍尔说。

    “This film is being hinged on Nolan’s reputation,” he adds.

    “这部电影靠的是诺兰的声誉。”他补充道。

    The “Barbenheimer” rivalry brings a more serious question for the public: whether to favour realism or escapism.

    “芭本海默”式的对决给公众带来了一个更严肃的问题：是支持现实主义还是逃避主义？

    As war rages on in Europe, and countries including North Korea continue to develop their nuclear arsenals, the origin story of these weapons of mass destruction may feel too real and raw.

    随着欧洲战火肆虐，朝鲜等国继续发展核武器库，这些大规模杀伤性武器的起源故事可能会让人感觉太过真实和直白。

    “Oppenheimer” is not a film that will ease viewers’ anxieties.

    《奥本海默》不是能够缓解观众焦虑的电影。

    It explores the physicist’s concerns about the horrifying power of his weapon and other bombs; it also shows how the American government attempted to silence him when those opinions became politically unpopular.

    它探讨了这位物理学家对他的武器和其他炸弹的可怕力量的担忧，它还展示了当这些观点在政治上不受欢迎时，美国政府如何试图让他无法发声。

    Oppenheimer has disturbing visions of the bomb’s victims in excruciating pain, their skin peeling.

    《奥本海默》中有令人不安的景象：炸弹受害者痛苦不堪，皮肤脱落。

    “Some people leave the movie absolutely devastated,” Mr Nolan has said. “They can’t speak.”

    “有些人看完这部电影时感到非常痛苦。”诺兰说，“他们说不出话了。”

    Ms Gerwig’s production is much more playful.

    葛韦格的作品则要有趣得多。

    She has described the set—which contributed to a global shortage of pink paint—as “a dopamine generator”.

    她将电影的布景--导致了全球粉色油漆短缺--描述为“多巴胺生成器”。

    The film’s tone is witty and slyly self-referential: it pokes fun at Mattel, here run by a team of men, and the vexed history of the toys.

    这部电影的基调是机智诙谐和狡猾的自我指涉：它取笑美泰，电影中美泰由一群男人掌管，也取笑玩具的恼人历史。

    (The Barbies mistakenly assume that all women revere them as role models.)(芭比们错误地认为所有女性都把她们视为榜样而尊重她们。)It has the kind of plot that only makes sense if a viewer does not think about it deeply.

    《芭比》的情节只有在观众没有深入思考的情况下才有道理。

    “Barbie” recognises the alluring comfort of dream worlds.

    《芭比》认可了梦幻世界诱人的舒适。

    At one point Weird Barbie, a doll that has been handed around and mistreated, offers Barbie a choice, symbolised by a high heel and a clunky Birkenstock sandal: “You can go back to your regular life, or you can know the truth about the universe.”

    在某一刻，怪人芭比（一个被传来传去和玩坏了的娃娃）给了芭比一个选择，由高跟鞋和笨重的勃肯凉鞋作为象征：“你可以回到原本的生活，或者你可以去了解宇宙的真相。”

    Barbie chooses the stiletto and is quickly chastised.

    芭比选择了高跟鞋，很快就受到了批评。

    “You have to want to know, OK? Do it again.”

    “你必须想去了解真相，好吗？再选一次。”

    “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” offer another version of the Birkenstock-stiletto dilemma.

    《芭比》和《奥本海默》提供了另一个版本的“勃肯凉鞋-高跟鞋”困境。

    History suggests more viewers will opt for escapism.

    历史表明，更多的观众会选择逃避现实。

    During the Great Depression, many of the highest-grossing films were musicals or historical epics.

    在大萧条期间，许多票房最高的电影都是音乐剧或史诗电影。

    The same was true during the second world war.

    第二次世界大战期间也是如此。

    Movies that did broach the subject of conflict, including “Gone with the Wind” and “Sergeant York”, were often set in the past; those that were contemporaneous, such as “Casablanca”, tended to tell love stories rather than tales of grisly combat.

    《乱世佳人》和《约克中士》等触及冲突主题的电影，往往是以过去为背景的，那些以当代为背景的电影，如《卡萨布兰卡》，往往讲述的是爱情故事，而不是恐怖的战斗。

    In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam war, the biggest movie in America was “Funny Girl”.

    1968年，在越南战争最激烈的时候，美国最热门的电影是《妙女郎》。

    In 2007, during the financial crisis, it was a film from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

    2007年，在金融危机期间，最热门的是《加勒比海盗》系列的一部电影。

    David Thomson, another film historian and author, reckons that, at a time of economic strain, war and populism, viewers will not want to see a serious film as much as they will want to see a frivolous one.

    另一位电影历史学家和作家大卫·汤姆森认为，在经济紧张、有战争和民粹主义的时代，比起严肃的电影，观众更想看浅薄的电影。

    “Comedies have always done well at the movies,” he says, because they do “something that the movies were made for, which is to reassure people and give them a couple of hours of escape from pretty big problems.

    他说“喜剧片在电影中的表现一直很好，因为喜剧片做到了“电影最初被发明时要做的事，那就是让人们感到安心，让他们有几个小时的时间去逃避大问题。”

    Who wants reality when life in plastic is so fantastic?

    当塑料世界如此美好，谁还想要现实世界呢？