美国国家公共电台 NPR Sorry, Kermit — In New TV Reboots, The Future Of Friendship Is Female

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Reboots are all over television right now from "Roseanne" to "Will And Grace." But updating a show that's aimed at children and teenagers often means reworking the friendship between female characters. NPR's Neda Ulaby has more.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE¹: Let's take "The Muppet Show..."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE MUPPET SHOW THEME")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) It's time to play the music...

ULABY: ...Just one piece of tasty intellectual property recyclable over and over to new generations. But one of its most iconic characters is a bit of a throwback.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE MUPPET SHOW")

FRANK OZ: (As Miss Piggy) Oh, it's Kermit - my Kermit. Oh, oh.

ULABY: Miss Piggy's romantic obsession² with Kermit the Frog is hardly reciprocal, yet she pursues him relentlessly³.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE MUPPET SHOW")

OZ: (As Miss Piggy) Oh, Kermit, I will never leave your side until you have taken your last breath.

ULABY: Miss Piggy saw the other lady character as competition. So when Disney Junior rebooted the 1980s spinoff "Muppet Babies," producers gave Piggy a new female best friend named Summer.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING⁴)

DEBBIE MCCLELLAN: And then, Summer, give me that one more time at 1:43, please.

ULABY: At a recording studio in Burbank, Calif., voice actors played a scene between Piggy - she's just Piggy in the reboot - and Summer, a penguin⁵ who's just made her friend a present.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JESSICA DICICCO: (As Summer) Surprise, Piggy. I made your crown.

MELANIE HARRISON: (As Piggy) Oh, thank you, Summer. Moi loves it even more because you made it.

MCCLELLAN: That was adorable.

ULABY: Even though these characters are kids, the producers of "Muppet Babies" admit that Piggy came with challenges.

MCCLELLAN: Piggy is that person who's a little bit about herself. And then...

TOM WARBURTON: A little (laughter)?

ULABY: Muppets Studio's executive Debbie McClellan and the show's executive producer, Tom Warburton, say that helps make Piggy a realistic little girl.

WARBURTON: Piggy is her bold and brash self. And she is obviously the boss of the playroom. And she's completely welcoming to another girl coming to the playroom as long as she knows who's in charge.

ULABY: Piggy is bossy⁶ and impatient. But Warburton says her friendship with another girl gives her more dimensions.

WARBURTON: We have an episode where Piggy is a superhero. She calls herself Super Fabulous⁷. She's making a superhero cape⁸. And Summer says, hey. I want - can I be a superhero, too? And Piggy's a little bit like, wait. I'm the superhero in this room. There can't be two superheroes.

ULABY: But, of course, there can be. And there's a kids show lesson about letting friends in on the fun.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MUPPET BABIES")

HARRISON: (As Piggy, singing) So let your friends in on the fun.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, singing) Let your friends in on the fun.

SARAH SCHECHTER: I don't know how you could ever tell a story about a female character in 2018 who isn't friends with other girls.

ULABY: Sarah Schechter has given this topic plenty of thought. She helped revamp two big pieces of intellectual property that featured less substantial female friendships in earlier iterations - "Supergirl" and "Riverdale," based on the "Archie" comic books. The animated⁹ "Archie Show" of the 1960s featured two girls competing for the red-headed hunk.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE ARCHIE SHOW")

JANE WEBB: (As Veronica Lodge) What a groovy dancer - groovy - and all mine, Betty.

ULABY: In today's live-action reboot, Betty and Veronica sound more like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "RIVERDALE")

CAMILA MENDES: (As Veronica Lodge) Betty, now that it's just us girls and at the risk of us failing the Bechdel test, are you legitimately¹⁰ cool with Archie and me? - swear on the September issue?

LILI REINHART: (As Betty Cooper) And on my copy of "Forever" by Judy Blume.

ULABY: Buried in that pile of references is the Bechdel test, cartoonist Alison Bechdel's test about whether female characters talk to each other about something other than a man. But "Riverdale's" writers do not idealize Betty and Veronica's revamped friendship.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "RIVERDALE")

MENDES: (As Veronica Lodge) Come on, Betty. Don't be such a wallflower...

ULABY: When these teenage characters fight, it's not over Archie. It's over disappointing each other, like at a party when Betty gets mad at Veronica for trying out a drug.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "RIVERDALE")

REINHART: (As Betty Cooper) You're just acting¹¹ like some privileged, shallow, airhead, party girl.

MENDES: (As Veronica Lodge) Excuse me?

SCHECHTER: You know, it's not about avoiding conflict. But we want to give them life and firmly place them in the present.

ULABY: Sarah Schechter says exploring female friendship is essential to updating older intellectual property. Even in an episode where Betty and Veronica kiss, she says, well, high-school girls sometimes do. The point is showing friendships between girls that are competitive, supportive, freighted, fun and, most of all, believable. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 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。

2 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

3 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

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 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

8 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

9 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

10 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。