VOA标准英语2012--Self-help Book Becomes Romantic Comedy

Self-help Book Becomes Romantic Comedy

Comedian¹ and radio host Steve Harvey appeared as himself in the film on his advice book for women.

STEVE HARVEY: "Actually, it started out just for my daughters, who are all of dating age. I started sitting them down telling them things about men. What I kept trying to give them, which I knew they didn't have, was the male perspective."

Back in the 1990's, "Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus" explored the territory from a psychologist's point of view. But Harvey brought street-smart populism to "Act Like A Lady, Think Like Man." In the film, a group of women discover the book and begin using its advice to gain the upper hand.

CANDACE: "By acting² like a lady, but thinking like a man."

LAUREN: "Oh, you fell for that sexist …"

CANDACE: "He's actually giving insight into a man's perspective."

Of course, once the men discover that their dates have the book, the strategy backfires.

JEREMY: "'Why men do what they do?' Look at this guys."

DOMINIC: "Steve Harvey is a traitor³."

ZEKE: "Listen to this: 'Men respect standards. Get some.' I prefer my women n-o-t to have standards."

JEREMY: "This is sick."

DOMINIC: "It's brainwashing."

Their characters may have been outraged⁴ by the advice, but co-star Romany Malco said off-camera the men in the cast recognized how much reality it contains.

"There is some poignant⁵ stuff in the book, and I think that a lot of what he is saying, fundamentally, is true. I think it just levels out the playing field a little bit," said Malco.

The cast also includes Regina Hall. She said she thinks that audiences who recognize some of their own experiences being played out in the film will laugh the loudest. 

"I always think that's where you get the best humor, you know what I mean? It's stuff that's actually closest to real life, moments that you actually recognize, heightened just a bit, but certainly familiar," Hall said.

CANDACE: "Here we go, let's do a little research here. Ah, this is you: strong, independent and lonely women."

LAUREN: "I don't need some bald-headed man in a book telling me that I am strong and independent. That is a given."

CANDACE: "But you forgot 'lonely.'"

The film features black actors and actresses in most of the main roles. But director Tim Story believes that, like his first hit, Barbershop, Think Like A Man has the potential to "cross over" - to use an industry term for a film that reaches a diverse audience.

"I think that the way you make a film in this genre⁶ cross over is that it is truthful⁷. I think every race, nationality, everybody goes through it," said Story. "And as long as we stay true to the story telling of that, I think everybody will enjoy it."

Think Like A Man is set in Los Angeles and uses many of the city's popular restaurants and night clubs as locations, adding to that sense of reality. 

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 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。

3 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

4 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

5 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

6 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

7 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。