美国国家公共电台 NPR--How pop culture could hinder the public's understanding of wildfires

How pop culture could hinder the public's understanding of wildfires

Transcript¹

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Hollywood entertainment tells stories about wildfires with danger, suspense², dramatic rescues and pyrotechnics.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FIRE COUNTRY")

KEVIN ALEJANDRO: (As Manny Perez) All right, guys, this is a real baptism by fire. By the end of the night, I'm going to know what kind of a man you are.

INSKEEP: Because who knows if you'll be able to survive all those cliches. Anyway, many firefighters would like to see a more realistic portrayal³ of their jobs. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE⁴: Movies and TV shows about wildfires haven't changed much since they first blazed across our screens in the middle of the last century.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RED SKIES OF MONTANA")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) It was clearly a job for the smoke jumpers.

VELTMAN: Melodramatic scenes of heroic, cleft-chinned firefighters charging fearlessly at enemy fires were a thing back in the 1950s in movies like "Red Skies Of Montana."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RED SKIES OF MONTANA")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) A half-dozen of these hard-hitting, specially⁶ trained firefighters drop from the air a few hours from now - would be worth a thousand men later on.

VELTMAN: And the over-romanticized view of wildfires is still very much a thing today. Megan Bolten is a firefighter in Eugene, Ore. She says it's high time Hollywood let go of these exaggerated, oversimplified and often inaccurate⁷ cliches.

MEGAN BOLTEN: Its aim is to entertain more than it is to inform.

VELTMAN: Instead, Bolten says, Hollywood should share messages about things like the usefulness of controlled burns to clear out overgrown brush, the public's role in wildfire prevention and how climate change is turning wildlands across the world into tinderboxes.

BOLTEN: Introducing the complexity⁸ of the conversation that's actually happening in fire and climate change and fuels management would be a huge help.

VELTMAN: The problem is watching fire prevention and control methods like a homeowner raking leaves off their lawn or a firefighter digging a ditch doesn't exactly make for scintillating⁹ screen time.

STEVE PYNE: Where's the action? Where's the drama?

VELTMAN: Arizona State University historian Steve Pyne studies the portrayal of wildfires in mass entertainment.

PYNE: It's very easy to tell the disaster in a war story. It's much harder to tell the story of preventative stuff.

VELTMAN: Pyne says despite the dramaturgical challenges, the entertainment industry has a responsibility to get the messaging right because of its enormous reach.

PYNE: I mean, most people are not reading policy statements. They're not reading the Journal of Ecology. They will get it in popular forums¹⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FIRE COUNTRY")

BILLY BURKE: (As Vince Leone) This thing's going to rip right into town. We'll make our stand - right here. Water drop.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FEARLESS")

KAT LEON: (Singing) I'm burning up brighter than the sun.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FIRE COUNTRY")

BURKE: (As Vincent Leone) God, I love this job.

VELTMAN: The new CBS series "Fire Country," about a group of prisoners turned volunteer firefighters in northern California, is aflame with the usual pyrotechnics and melodrama⁵. The show has been publicly criticized by firefighters. "Fire Country" executive producer Tony Phelan says he understands the pushback.

TONY PHELAN: But we are not making a documentary, and so there are certain compromises that we make for dramatic purposes.

VELTMAN: Yet "Fire Country" does offer a spark of hope in terms of the work Hollywood needs to do to integrate topics like fire prevention and climate change into storylines.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FIRE COUNTRY")

BARCLAY HOPE: (As Father Pascal) You know, as I was driving over here, I was thinking, sometimes a bunch of fire citations¹¹ can be just that. And...

VELTMAN: This moment from Episode 7 involves a local resident trying unsuccessfully to get out of paying a fine for not clearing the wood around his property - not very sexy. But executive producer Tony Phelan says scenes like this one matter.

PHELAN: We certainly have a responsibility to tell people about what it means to have development encroaching into these woodland areas. In order to, many times, save property, we are putting people's lives at risk.

VELTMAN: He says audiences can expect to see more climate change-related content on "Fire Country" as the season continues.

Chloe Veltman, NPR News.

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 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

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 melodrama   

n.音乐剧；情节剧

参考例句：

• We really don't need all this ridiculous melodrama!别跟我们来这套荒唐的情节剧表演！
• White Haired Woman was a melodrama,but in certain spots it was deliberately funny.《白毛女》是一出悲剧性的歌剧，但也有不少插科打诨。

6 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

7 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

8 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

9 scintillating   

adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的

参考例句：

• Statistics on unemployment levels hardly make for scintillating reading. 失业统计数据读来不大会有趣味。
• You were scintillating on TV last night. 您昨晚在电视上妙语如珠。

10 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

11 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句