美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Portlandia' Is Ending, And Portlanders Are OK With That

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

"Portlandia" begins its eighth and final season tonight on IFC. The sketch¹ comedy TV show put Portland on the map as the capital of earnest urbanism at a time when words like artisanal and locavore were sweeping² the nation. It was an image Portlanders embraced and struggled with. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Aaron Scott has the story.

AARON SCOTT, BYLINE³: There was a time when saying you lived in Portland, Ore., would get a response like, that's above California, right? But now, says Fiona McCann of Portland Monthly magazine, people not only know where the city is. They inevitably⁴ ask...

FIONA MCCANN: Is it just like the show?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

FRED ARMISEN: (As Jason, singing) Dream of the '90s is alive in Portland.

SCOTT: "Portlandia" first premiered the "Dream Of The '90s" sketch in late 2010. It starred co-creators Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein with a host of circus artists and hipster types.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

ARMISEN: (As Jason) Remember when people were content to be unambitious, sleep till 11 and just hang out with their friends, when you had no occupations whatsoever⁵, maybe working a couple hours a week at a coffee shop?

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN: (As Melanie) Right. I thought that died out a long time ago.

ARMISEN: (As Jason) Not in Portland. Portland is a city where young people go to retire.

SCOTT: The early sketches⁶ lovingly skewered⁷ the city's progressive optimism and keep-Portland-weird mindset in ways that locals joke bordered on the documentary...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

BROWNSTEIN: (As Nance) I guess I do have a question about the chicken if you could just...

SCOTT: ...Like this infamous⁸ sketch about a couple at a farm-to-table restaurant asking after their chicken's provenance⁹.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

DANA MILLICAN: (As Dana) His name was Colin. Here are his papers.

BROWNSTEIN: (As Nance) OK - looks great.

ARMISEN: (As Peter) He looks like a happy little guy who runs around.

MK GUTH: The chicken episode cracks me up to this day...

SCOTT: That's Portland artist MK Guth.

GUTH: ...Partially¹⁰ because I can kind of (laughter) see myself a little bit in it, you know? And so I'm like, oh, wow, look; I am the person who knows where my eggs come from.

SCOTT: The show channeled a national zeitgeist. It seemed like everywhere, people were pickling things...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

CARRIE BROWNSTEIN AND FRED ARMISEN: (As Lisa Everson and Bryce Shivers) And we can pickle¹¹ that.

SCOTT: ...Making jewelry¹²...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

BROWNSTEIN AND ARMISEN: (As characters, singing) She's making jewelry now.

SCOTT: ...And putting a bird on it.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

BROWNSTEIN: (As Lisa Eversman) What a sad little tote bag. I know. I'll put a bird on it.

SCOTT: Portlandia co-star Carrie Brownstein says the show is meant as a send-up of things she and Armisen loved.

BROWNSTEIN: "Portlandia" was specifically not called Portland because it implied a heightened version of place. It implied an ideology¹³, a mindset, a way of life.

SCOTT: The show's TV audience peaked in the second season, but its sketches soared across the Internet, reaching millions. Tiara Darnell started watching "Portlandia" while in the Peace Corps¹⁴ in Morocco.

TIARA DARNELL: It just seemed like a really cool place to go and sort of figure myself out. That wasn't the only reason I moved to Portland or to Oregon, but it would be not truthful¹⁵ to say it didn't have some impression on me.

SCOTT: But after moving, Darnell realized there were things she hadn't noticed about the show.

DARNELL: I could probably count on one hand how many episodes actually have a black person even in it even as an extra. And so it lends itself to this notion that Oregon and Portland are very white and there's no black people here. And for a while, that weighed on me.

SCOTT: Darnell says it took a year or two for her to really connect with the black community in Portland. The city's popularity boomed and not just because of the show. The cost of housing rose, and the dream of the '90s started to sting when that part-time barista job no longer covered rent and your favorite dive bar was bulldozed for high-end condos.

"Portlandia" became a target for anger. The most public backlash came from In Other Words, the feminist¹⁶ bookstore the show used for one of its most well-known ongoing¹⁷ sketches.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PORTLANDIA")

ARMISEN: (As Candace) "A New Girl Order."

BROWNSTEIN: (As Toni) That's a top-selling author. Do we want that in here?

ARMISEN: (As Candace) No, we want bottom-selling authors.

SCOTT: In 2016, In Other Words posted a blog entry accusing "Portlandia" of mocking trans people, ignoring people of color, spurring gentrification and being bad for business. Board member Nam Kennedy says that visitors drawn¹⁸ by the show rarely turn into customers.

NAM KENNEDY: They'll stand outside and - or, like, stand in our doorway¹⁹ and mock some of the things that we advertise on the space.

SCOTT: Portland Monthly's Fiona McCann says it often felt like people weren't able to differentiate²⁰ between Portland and "Portlandia." And locals grew tired of being made fun of.

MCCANN: Pretty soon it started to feel to me like the same joke over and over again.

SCOTT: That said, McCann and others are grateful for the laughs "Portlandia" did provide, even if they're also happy to see it come to an end. For NPR News, I'm Aaron Scott in Portland.

1 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 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。

4 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

5 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

6 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 skewered   

v.（用串肉扦或类似物）串起，刺穿( skewer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He skewered his victim through the neck. 他用扦子刺穿了受害人的脖子。 来自辞典例句
• He skewered his foot on a nail. 他的脚踩在钉子上了。 来自互联网

8 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

9 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

10 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

11 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

12 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

13 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

14 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

15 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

16 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。

17 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

18 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

19 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

20 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。