美国国家公共电台 NPR--This photography book puts Black actors in Hollywood's most iconic movie moments

This photography book puts Black actors in Hollywood's most iconic movie moments

Transcript¹

In photographer Carell Augustus' new book Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments, he takes some of cinema's most memorable² images — think Gene³ Kelly in Singin' in the Rain or Janet Leigh's fateful shower in Psycho — and casts them with black actors and actresses, placing them in spaces that have been longed denied to them.

Augustus saw the project as a chance to address an omission⁴ that persisted well into the 1980s, when he grew up watching mainstream⁵ hits like Back to the Future and Say Anything.

"We were left out of these stories," he said. "And oftentimes, when we saw ourselves in these stories, we were, you know, getting arrested or in a prison scene or in a gang scene. And I just wanted to do whatever I could to sort of change up the narrative⁶, visually and artistically⁷."

Augustus shot his first photograph for the book back in 2010, before Black Lives Matter and #OscarsSoWhite. He knew people might view his project as a reaction to those movements.

"At some points, I found myself in tandem⁸ with these movements, and I just embraced it," he said.

Surprisingly, you won't find too many A-listers in these pages. No Denzel or Halle Berry, not that Augustus didn't go for them.

"When I first started this book, my fantasy was to get all the Black A-listers in Hollywood, right? And then I realized if I did that, I would have probably 11 people," he said.

He expanded his net, finding performers who may not be household names but have built a healthy portfolio⁹ of credits. Instead of Gene Kelly hanging from that street lamp, it's Dulé Hill (The West Wing, Psych). Janet Leigh gets replaced by veteran actress Simbi Khali (3rd Rock from the Sun).

One of Augustus' favorites was Amber¹⁰ Stevens West taking on Audrey Hepburn's iconic role in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She graces the book's cover in that sultry black satin gown. A supporting player in entertainments like 22 Jump Street and New Girl, West said a centerstage movie role like Hepburn's eluded¹¹ her when she first started her career.

"It's very much the story of a lot of Black people in Hollywood, where they're typecast as, like, the friend and they're kind of filling a role as, like, the diversity piece in the project," she said.

In some cases, Augustus even flips¹² genders¹³. The first photograph he shot and also the first in the book sees Aisha Hinds¹⁴ ( True Blood, Shots Fired) as Gen. George S. Patton, saluting¹⁵ an unseen audience in front of a giant American flag. Here Hinds substitutes George C. Scott's withering¹⁶ gaze and granite¹⁷ stance for a knowing smile and curvy bend at the hips¹⁸. She brings some swagger and a little sexiness to the role. Hinds said this was no accident.

"I think the superpower of a Black woman is to occupy the space and the fullness of who she is. And, you know, we don't have to deny our sex appeal in order to also operate in strength," she said.

Hinds' Patton pairs well with arguably her best role to date as the great abolitionist Harriet Tubman in WGN's Underground. Hinds says both interpretations¹⁹ can remind people that Black women have always been leaders in the fight for this country.

"We're constantly at war with so many things, and we're constantly sort of taking the battle scars and the battle wounds, you know, and people are constantly looking to Black women to lead armies of change," she said.

Unlike movements like #OscarsSoWhite, Augustus doesn't see his book as a force for change, but he hopes that it subverts²⁰ people's expectations. And by placing these actors in images central to Hollywood's idea of itself, it implies that these images belong to Black people, too.

"What I want from this book is for people to finally see and realize that we should be considered a standard, too."

The audio for this story was edited by Reena Advani.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

8 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

9 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

10 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

11 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

13 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

14 hinds   

n.（常指动物腿）后面的( hind的名词复数 )；在后的；（通常与can或could连用）唠叨不停；滔滔不绝

参考例句：

• He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 诗18:33他使我的脚快如母鹿的蹄、使我在高处安稳。 来自互联网
• He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 33他使我的脚快如母鹿的蹄，又使我在高处安稳。 来自互联网

15 saluting   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢，先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎，马上就和她攀谈起来了，连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句

16 withering   

使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的

参考例句：

• She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
• The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。

17 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

18 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 subverts   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的第三人称单数 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Thus It'subverts the traditional concept of subjectivity. 因此也解构了传统的主观性的概念。 来自互联网
• Chopin presents us an emancipating Edna who challenges and subverts the patriarchal dogmas. 肖邦为我们展现了一位勇于挑战﹑颠覆父权体制的新女性形象。 来自互联网