迪士尼电影里的穷人被批"太幸福"

 　　They are the children's film characters loved by generations of fans, rich or poor, across the world.

　　他们是儿童电影中的角色，深受世界各地一代又一代人的喜爱，无论是富有还是贫穷。

　　But the Seven Dwarfs¹, Bert the chimney sweep in Mary Poppins and others have been criticised for sending out the wrong message about poverty.

　　但是有人批评七个小矮人和《欢乐满人间》中的扫烟囱者伯特等角色就穷人方面传达了错误信息。

　　Good-natured Bert, played by Dick Van Dyke², is too happy and carefree given the hardships of working-class life in Edwardian London, US researchers claim.

　　美国研究人员指出，迪克·范·戴克饰演的和蔼的伯特，在爱德华时期伦敦工人的贫苦生活条件下，未免表现得太过快乐和无忧无虑。

　　And the Seven Dwarfs—even Grumpy—would not be singing cheerfully at the prospect³ of working all day in a mine.

　　七个小矮人，包括“坏脾气”小矮人，日复一日在矿场挖矿，他们根本做不到开心地唱歌。

　　Other Disney movies, including Aladdin, The Lion King and 101 Dalmatians were also criticised for making poverty appear benign⁴ and climbing the class ladder seem an easy thing to do.

　　还有《阿拉丁神灯》、《狮子王》和《101只斑点狗》等迪士尼动画片也受到了指责：这些电影将贫困的生活轻描淡写，穷人似乎不费吹灰之力就能成为上层阶级。

　　Researchers from Duke University in North Carolina looked at 32 films, many of them from Disney, that were rated G—the American equivalent of U—and had grossed more than $100million (￡68million) worldwide. They put the characters into classes based on their job. At the top are upper class characters—royalty, chief executives and celebrities⁵.

　　来自加利福尼亚北部杜克大学的研究人员观看了32部影片，大部分出自迪士尼，级别为G（在美国相当于U级别，即老少皆宜型）。这些影片在世界范围内获得的利润超过了1亿美元（约6800万英镑）。它们根据角色职业来划分阶级。最高阶级是上流社会的角色，如王室、总裁、名流等。

　　The working class have jobs like soldiers, sailors, miners and sweeps. The lowest category is the jobless poor.

　　而工人阶级的职业有士兵、水手、矿工、扫烟囱者等。最低的阶级是失业的穷人。

　　Their analysis showed that in most cases the main character is wealthy and the majority of the cast are either upper or upper-middle class, meaning that poorer sectors⁶ are under-represented.

　　分析显示，一般情况下，片中的主角都很富有，大多数属于上层或中上层阶级。这样的情况下，穷人角色就少了。

　　The depictions of working-class people are also unrealistic, the researchers said, as nearly all 'perceive their jobs as invigorating, fun'. In Mary Poppins, Bert sings that 'as a sweep you're as lucky as can be'.

　　研究者表示，影片对工人阶级的描绘也不尽写实，因为几乎所有工人都觉得自己的工作十分有趣、让人精神舒畅。在《欢乐满人间》中，伯特唱道：“成为扫烟囱者是多么幸运！”

　　The study says: 'Bert, like other characters, frames working-class jobs as devoid⁷ of difficulties.'

　　研究人员说道：“正如其他角色一样，伯特觉得工人阶级的工作无忧无虑。”

　　Many children's films, it adds, 'suggest that social class inequality is benign, as those at the bottom of the class ladder suffer little, lead relatively⁸ stable lives, and experience many advantages'.

　　“很多儿童电影把社会阶级不公的现象柔和化，在电影中社会底层的人没有苦难，生活安定，好处多多。”

　　Unlike in real life, upper-class lifestyles are often the ones depicted⁹ as under more threat.

　　还有与现实生活截然不同的是，影片中上层社会人的生活常常充满危险与恐吓。

　　Disney's Aladdin is taken to task because of a scene in which Princess Jasmine and the impoverished¹⁰ title character compare their different backgrounds and conclude they both have hard lives.

　　迪士尼的《阿拉丁神灯》还有一个场景备受指责：贾斯明王子和穷苦的阿拉丁的社会背景明明天差地别，最后他们居然得出结论：两人的生活都很艰难。

　　Working-class lives in children's movies are often portrayed¹¹ as so fun and cosy¹² that rich people will voluntarily go down the class ladder to join them, the researchers say. Poor people are portrayed as happier too—in The Sound Of Music, humble¹³ former nun¹⁴ Maria teaches her upper class employer how to love his children.

　　研究人员指出，在儿童电影中，工人阶级的生活常常被描绘得舒适而充满乐趣，甚至连富人都会自降身份加入穷人的队伍。穷人也显得快乐万分：在电影《音乐之声》中，曾做过修女的玛利亚身份卑微，但她居然会去教身份高贵的雇主如何爱自己的孩子。

　　The study concludes that, overall, children's films make poverty and class distinctions seem like a case of the lower orders getting their 'just deserts'. It says the films make class divisions seem 'legitimate¹⁵ by erasing¹⁶, downplaying, and sanitising their effects—by portraying¹⁷ poverty and inequality as benign'.

　　研究结论是，总体来说，儿童电影对贫困和阶级差别的演绎就像是下层人都得到了应有的赏罚。电影将阶级划分合理化，它们抹去了阶级分化的影响，将其轻描淡写地表现。贫富和阶级矛盾不再尖锐。

　　It adds that this 'erases¹⁸, downplays or sanitises poverty and class inequality, implying that poverty and inequality are not particularly problematic as few people suffer from them'.

　　这样的演绎还暗示着贫困和不平等根本不是问题——因为几乎没人因此受苦。

 

1 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

2 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

5 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

6 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 devoid   

adj.全无的，缺乏的

参考例句：

• He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
• The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。

8 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。

9 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

10 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

13 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

14 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

16 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

17 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

18 erases   

v.擦掉( erase的第三人称单数 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• This command erases all data on the specified partition. 这指令在指定的分区上抹去所有的数据。 来自互联网
• A literary image erases the more indolent images of perception. 文学意象抹除那些感官的懒惰意象。 来自互联网