美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the U.S. used a parrot and Carmen Miranda to strengthen relations with Brazil

How the U.S. used a parrot and Carmen Miranda to strengthen relations with Brazil

Transcript¹

Relations between the U.S. and Brazil are strained by conflicting alliances in the Ukraine war. Decades ago, a Disney cartoon parrot and Carmen Miranda once played a part in U.S.-Brazilian diplomacy².

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Biden and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, are expected to meet face to face next week for the first time. Their meeting at LA Summit of the Americas is framed against rising tensions over Bolsonaro's ambivalent³ position on Ukraine and Russia. Yet pressuring Brazil through diplomacy is rarely easy. NPR's Philip Reeves looks back at one of Washington's more creative efforts to win Brazilian friends.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE⁴: It's 1936. Europe is edging towards war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is fretting⁵ about what that means for the Americas. He convenes⁶ a peace summit in Argentina and sets out by sea.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER: Heading south on its 6,000 mile journey to Buenos Aires, the U.S. cruiser Indianapolis brings President Roosevelt to Rio de Janeiro.

REEVES: During that stopover in Rio, Roosevelt addressed Brazil's Congress and spoke⁷ about the importance of standing⁸ together in troubled times.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT: We are showing in international relations what we have long known in private relations, that good neighbors make a good community.

REEVES: FDR called this his Good Neighbor Policy. It was a strategy to secure crucial access to Latin America's markets and resources. The U.S. was worried some of those neighbors might tilt⁹ towards Hitler and Mussolini. Roosevelt had concluded bullying¹⁰ the neighbors no longer worked. To win Latin American hearts and minds, the U.S. would need a little charm and a lot of imagination.

This is Copacabana Beach, and right behind me is the Copacabana Palace Hotel. It's amazing to think that in a room inside that hotel just over 80 years ago, Walt Disney and his team sat down and created a cartoon parrot to try to improve relations between the U.S. and Brazil.

Disney arrived in Rio in 1941. He was one of a group of Hollywood people recruited to develop cultural ties with Brazil under the Good Neighbor Policy. The result was a Disney classic released the following year whose title says it all - "Saludos Amigos" or "Hello, Friends." The movie introduced Brazilians to this guy.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SALUDOS AMIGOS")

JOSE DO PATROCINIO OLIVEIRA: (As Joe Carioca) Jose Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Speaking Portuguese).

CLARENCE NASH: (As Donald Duck) What?

REEVES: Ze Carioca, a parrot with a straw hat and bow tie, a bon viveur with a twinkle in his eye and a cigar in his beak¹¹. Ze, or Joe, as Americans call him, becomes amigos with Donald Duck. He shows Donald around town and introduces him to Brazil's mind-blowing national drink, cachaca.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SALUDOS AMIGOS")

OLIVEIRA: (As Joe Carioca, speaking Portuguese).

NASH: (As Donald Duck) Down the hatch, Joe.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL RINGING REPEATEDLY)

REEVES: Carioca is the term used to describe people born in Rio de Janeiro. They include Erica Gomes de Lima. She's selling beer on Copacabana Beach, close to that hotel where Joe Carioca, the parrot, was conceived.

ERICA GOMES DE LIMA: (Speaking Portuguese).

REEVES: "Joe's a proper carioca," she says.

GOMES DE LIMA: (Speaking Portuguese).

REEVES: "Cariocas like soccer, the beach, samba and caipirinhas," Brazil's favorite cocktail¹². "That's how we survive hard times," she says.

JOAO DANIEL: Every Brazilian knows Joe Carioca. He's almost as famous as Donald Duck.

REEVES: Joao Daniel teaches the history of Brazil's foreign policy at Rio's Catholic University.

DANIEL: He is lazy. And he's sophisticated. He's charming. And, of course, that's just like the carioca think they are.

REEVES: When "Saludos Amigos" came out in 1942, Brazilians were delighted.

DANIEL: The movie in Brazil was a sensation. I believe it is a wonderful piece of propaganda and also a wonderful piece of art.

REEVES: Roosevelt's charm offensive didn't always work. The actress Carmen Miranda moved from Brazil to Hollywood and went on to star in movies selling the good neighbors message.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THAT NIGHT IN RIO")

DON AMECHE: (As Larry Martin/Baron Manuel Duarte, singing) My friends, I extend felicitations to our South American relations.

REEVES: That's from "That Night In Rio," which came out in 1941. Miranda, as usual, wore fruit on her head.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THAT NIGHT IN RIO")

CARMEN MIRANDA: (Singing) Chica chica boom chic¹³.

REEVES: Some Brazilians took offense¹⁴ from the get-go. When she performed in Rio after just a year in the U.S...

DANIEL: She was booed. Yes, she was booed.

REEVES: Brazil eventually joined World War II on the side of the Allies. It was the only Latin American nation to send troops to fight in Europe. Last month, it celebrated¹⁵ Victory Day at a monument in Rio honoring the 466 Brazilian soldiers who went to Italy and didn't come back alive.

The world is very different now. Yet once again, Brazil and the U.S. aren't really good neighbors. Relations have soured since President Bolsonaro's ideological¹⁶ soulmate Donald Trump¹⁷ left the White House. There were calls for the Biden administration to engage more with Brazil, to pressure Bolsonaro to stop undermining democratic institutions and to give unqualified support to the U.S. on Ukraine. In these polarized times, that might require more than a roguish cartoon parrot offering a night out on the town.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SALUDOS AMIGOS")

OLIVEIRA: (As Joe Carioca) Donald, I will show you the land of the samba.

NASH: (As Donald Duck) Samba? What's samba?

OLIVEIRA: (As Joe Carioca) Ha - the samba.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

REEVES: Philip Reeves, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

6 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

10 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

12 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

13 chic   

n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的

参考例句：

• She bought a chic little hat.她买了一顶别致的小帽子。
• The chic restaurant is patronized by many celebrities.这家时髦的饭店常有名人光顾。

14 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

15 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

16 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

17 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。