《佛罗里达计划》探索迪士尼阴影下贫困儿童的生活

'The Florida Project' Explores the Lives of Poor Kids in Disney's Shadow

Millions of children dream of going to Disney World, the most famous theme park in America. Families travel to the Orlando, Florida site from all around the United States and the world.

But many children are too poor to ever get inside the park, even those who live in the neighborhood -- like the group of young characters in the new film, The Florida Project.

In the movie, Disney World serves as a symbol of the social divide in the U.S. Most of the young characters are one or both parents. They live in a couple of small motels² along a big road near Disney World.

Sean Baker³ is the director of the movie.

“My co-screenwriter brought this topic to my attention, the fact that there are families with children living in budget motels outside of what we consider the happiest place on Earth -- a place for children -- and that juxtaposition⁴ obviously⁵ grabbed⁷ me.”

The leader of the somewhat⁸ wild, rarely supervised⁹ band of children is six-year-old Moonee, played by Brooklynn Prince.

“The man who lives in here gets arrested a lot. These are the rooms we’re not supposed to go in -- but let’s go anyway!”

Bria Vinaite plays Moonee’s childlike mother Halley. Halley loves her daughter but lacks some basic parenting skills and a job. She turns to prostitution, endangering her daughter and their life together.

Vinaite says life is very difficult for the kind of woman she plays in the film.

“If you have a daughter who you have to take care of, a roof to put over her head, food, and then, on top of that, you have to take care of yourself. And it’s just like, I feel like in her situation, her concerns are not even important to her. It’s about Moonee.”

Actor Willem Dafoe plays Bobby, caretaker of the motel¹. He tries to help the children stay out of trouble. He is both their disciplinarian and protector.

At one point in the film, Bobby criticizes¹¹ Moonie’s mother.

“When your friend puts you in charge of her kid, that kid becomes your responsibility.”

Bobby is based on a real motel caretaker in Florida.

Director Baker said when Dafoe got the part, he wanted to fully¹² understand the world created in the movie.

Baker said Dafoe came to the set a week early. He interviewed the motel owner and others. And then, Baker said “one day, he comes to the set and he has this spray¹³ tan¹⁰ on, and he had all kinds of accessories¹⁴ he chose building this Florida man as his character.”

Baker said the film shows Americans struggling to survive. He made the movie after he watched The Little Rascals¹⁵ series of short films from the 1920s and 1930s. The series is about a group of neighborhood kids getting into trouble. They show how children dealt with poverty during the period of American economic failure known as the Great Depression.

Director Baker said he found Vinaite on the social media site Instagram. She and Brooklynn Prince had never acted before.

Vinaite said she had not known before the movie that there were single mothers who struggled so much and were so close to homelessness. She said Baker drove her around Orlando to meet some of the women who lived in the budget motels. Vinaite said she returned to her hotel room and cried.

Brooklynn Prince said when she watched the film, she felt the pain of the characters.

“I cry at the end too, like on the screen. I cry. I cried just watching it.”

I’m Caty Weaver¹⁶.

Words in This Story

theme – n. the subject or idea on which the style of something (such as an event or place) is based?

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show?

prostitution – n. the act of having sex in exchange for money?

disciplinarian – n. a person who acts to make sure that rules or orders are obeyed?

spray tan – n. a beauty product to temporarily make one's skin darker, as if the sun has done so

accessories – n. something added to something else to make it more useful, attractive, or effective?

topic – n. subject

grab⁶ – v. to get or be given ?

juxtaposition – n. to place (different things) together in order to create an interesting effect or to show how they are the same or different?

screen – n. a large, flat, white surface on which images or movies are shown

1 motel   

n.汽车游客旅馆

参考例句：

• Late that night he landed at a motel.那晚他到了一家汽车旅馆。
• The motel manager showed the guests to their room.汽车旅馆经理把旅客领到他们房间。

2 motels   

n.汽车旅馆( motel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All the motels lie beside the road. 所有的汽车旅馆都位于公路旁边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A lot of motels lie beside the turnpike. 很多汽车旅馆都位于付费公路旁边。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

4 juxtaposition   

n.毗邻，并置，并列

参考例句：

• The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling.这两句话连在一起使人听了震惊。
• It is the result of the juxtaposition of contrasting colors.这是并列对比色的结果。

5 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

6 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

7 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

8 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

9 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

10 tan   

n.鞣制革，黄褐色；adj.黄褐色的，鞣皮的；vt.晒黑，鞣(革)，鞭打；vi.晒成棕褐色

参考例句：

• She had gotten a good tan after the holiday at the sea.在海边度假之后，她的皮肤晒得黑黑的。
• His arms and legs had a dark tan.他的手臂和腿晒得黑黑的。

11 criticizes   

v.评论，批评( criticize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Jacobson's group often criticizes at a variety of restaurant foods. 雅各布森所在的这个消费者组织常对餐馆提供的食物进行批评。 来自互联网
• The writer criticizes and suspects the fate from the tragedy of Mathilde. 文章从玛蒂尔德的悲剧中叩问命运、质疑命运。 来自互联网

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 spray   

v.喷，(使)溅散；n.浪花，飞沫；喷雾

参考例句：

• The liquid came out of the bottle in a spray.液体从瓶子里呈雾状喷出。
• We were wet with the sea spray.我们被海水的浪花溅湿。

14 accessories   

n.附件；附件( accessory的名词复数 )；（衣服的）配饰；从犯；妇女饰品

参考例句：

• a range of furnishings and accessories for the home 各种各样的家居装饰物及配件
• These are indispensable accessories. 这些是不可缺少的附件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

16 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。