经济学人:中国人为何爱看宫斗剧(3)

 As years passed market forces joined Communist propaganda chiefs as a second boss. 随着时间的推移，市场力量以二把手的身份加入了宣传。

Early shows were dominated by male characters and mostly watched by men. 早期的电视剧以男性角色为主，大部分观众也是男性。

Today's TV drama audience is 70-80% female and mainly from smaller cities, says Lei Ming of ABD Entertainment, an audience-analysis firm. 收视分析公司ABD 娱乐的雷明说，如今的电视剧观众中有70-80%是女性，而且主要来自小城市。

Viewers typically watch on smartphones, he adds. 他补充道，观众通常在智能手机上看剧。

Their favourite part about the show is talking it over afterwards with friends. 现在观众最喜欢的部分是看完剧后和朋友们讨论。

The leading man in "Yanxi Palace", Qianlong, is something of a cipher¹: a stern autocrat² who finds his harem a chore. 《延禧攻略》的主角乾隆，就是一位无足轻重的角色：一位严厉的独裁者为嫔妃们伤透了脑筋。

Chinese pundits³ have debated whether the show is a feminist⁴ tale about strong women, or a retrograde saga⁵ about women who survive by obeying and pleasing bossy⁶ men. 中国权威人士一直在争论这部电视剧是否是关于女强人的女权主义故事，或者相反，讲的是女人通过服从和取悦专横的男人而生存下来。

It is both. 其实两者都有。

It is a reflection of the country today, a chauvinist⁷ place full of strong women. 这是如今这个国家的缩影，一个满是女强人的大男子主义国家。

In a fast-rising China, life is hard and filled with obstacles and anxiety, says Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer at iQiyi, the Netflix-like entertainment company behind "Yanxi Palace". 《延禧攻略》的出品方是爱奇艺，相当于中国的网飞，其首席内容官王晓辉表示，在快速崛起的中国，生活艰难，障碍重重，焦虑难安。

Mr Wang describes today's main melody. 王先生介绍了如今的主旋律。

The masses (and the party) like stories in which subordinates are loyal, kindness is rewarded and wickedness punished, and in which young people who work hard can succeed. 群众（和党）喜欢这样的故事：忠诚善良的下属受到嘉奖，邪恶则受到惩罚，努力工作的年轻人可以成功。

Mr Wang hails the women in his drama for an "independent spirit" that resonates with viewers. 王先生称赞剧中的女性具有“独立精神”，能与观众产生共鸣。

Outsiders may note that such spirits do not always seek to reform or change a society. 局外人可能会注意到，这种精神并不总是寻求改革或改变一个社会。

Getting ahead can be enough. 只要有前进的动力就足够了。

A recurring⁸ theme of "Yanxi Palace" is that the Forbidden City is a place of harsh rules, but that rules keep chaos⁹ at bay. 《延禧攻略》反复出现的主题是紫禁城是一个宫规森严的地方，但这种规则阻止了混乱的发生。

Such obedient resignation suits China's modern rulers well. 这种逆来顺受的顺从很适合统治者。

With 15bn cumulative¹⁰ downloads, this will not be the last of its kind. 《延禧攻略》累计下载量达150亿次，这将不是最后一部火起来的宫斗剧。

 

1 cipher   

n.零；无影响力的人；密码

参考例句：

• All important plans were sent to the police in cipher.所有重要计划均以密码送往警方。
• He's a mere cipher in the company.他在公司里是个无足轻重的小人物。

2 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

3 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

4 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

5 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

6 bossy   

adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的

参考例句：

• She turned me off with her bossy manner.她态度专橫很讨我嫌。
• She moved out because her mother-in-law is too bossy.她的婆婆爱指使人,所以她搬出去住了。

7 chauvinist   

n.沙文主义者

参考例句：

• I don't know how she can live with him;he's such a male chauvinist pig!我真不理解她怎么能与他一起生活，他是个典型的大男子主义者。
• How can you do the Muslim chauvinist thing?你怎么能做穆斯林沙文主义的事情？

8 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。