美国国家公共电台 NPR 'You Just Serve As Much As You Can': Mj Rodriguez On Ball Culture And 'Pose'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Welcome to the world of ball culture.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: The category is Bring It Like Royalty¹.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: High fashion, makeup², voguing competitions. In the 1980s, balls were cultural events in New York City for the LGBTQ community, most of them black and Latino. But balls have largely been hidden from mainstream³ America. Now a new show on FX is taking it front and center. It's called "Pose." The program features the largest cast of transgender actors in series-regular roles, which includes my next guest, singer and actress Mj Rodriguez. She joins us from member station WBGO in New Jersey⁴. Mj, welcome to the program.

MJ RODRIGUEZ: Thank you so much, Lulu. I'm happy to be here.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This must be so exciting for you, having this show out and sort of taking this into mainstream America.

RODRIGUEZ: It is extremely exciting. I'm like - right now I'm even smiling from ear to ear. It's great that, finally, our stories are getting to be told, you know, from the lenses of our eyes on a broad spectrum⁵.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Can you introduce us to how balls work? It's more than just a fashion competition, obviously.

RODRIGUEZ: One, it's a refuge. It's a place of refuge for anyone of the LGBT community of color. And we go there just to find solace⁶, to find family and just to find comfort. And there are also just other categories - many categories which are, like, walking face, walking wellness, voguing, voguing fem, and also one way. One way is one of the things that I walk, and that's when you literally⁷ walk down the runway in the ballroom⁸ culture, and you just serve as much as you can.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You mean, by serve, just, like, bring it.

RODRIGUEZ: Bring it, honey. You have to bring it.

(LAUGHTER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, I think, for many Americans, the only brush that they might have had with this was with Madonna and voguing, right? The famous song that she did. Why do you think it's important to go back now and revisit this?

RODRIGUEZ: I think it's very important because, I mean, there is a specific group of people that have cultivated this. If you notice, there's one man that's in her video. And he - his name is Willi Ninja and he was one of the main founding fathers of the ballroom scene. And I think it's time that our stories get to be told and also the trans stories that need to be told because we were also the liberators of that movement, as well.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. I want to talk about your character in "Pose," Blanca.

RODRIGUEZ: Sure thing.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. Tell me about her.

RODRIGUEZ: So Blanca - she's, like, this rambunctious⁹, very, very nurturing¹⁰, compassionate¹¹ - a little bit hardheaded, but ambitious spirit. And she's trying to leave a legacy¹² with the news that she's received as far as her diagnosis¹³ - as far as HIV - and she's trying to leave something behind so her children can carry on her legacy.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What do you and Blanca have in common?

RODRIGUEZ: Me and her have a lot in common. There are some small differences, obviously, but these are also very, very true stories. And I've been ostracized¹⁴ from specific part of my community. And I decided¹⁵ that I was not going to let that be the thing that brought me down. I was going to move forward and uplift.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: When you say that you were ostracized, what happened?

RODRIGUEZ: There were moments where I was called many derogatory names. I've gotten into a couple of fights. People have jumped me. You know, I've had a lot of things that have happened to me, but I look past those things now. And now I'm moving forward. And I always believe that the experiences that you go through are what make you stronger and what help you push forward through life.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You played Angel in the off-Broadway revival¹⁶ of "Rent" and...

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I did.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Yes, you did. And that character, of course, was memorable¹⁷ as a street musician living with AIDS.

RODRIGUEZ: So "Rent" was one of the main defining moments, and it was, like, the precipice¹⁸ of my transition. I had always known I was female, since I was 7 years old, but at that time there were no words that I could express at the age of 7. But when I got to a certain age, which was 14, I knew. And then I carried that on through my career. When I played that character, I was just like, finally, I can have people see me for the woman I am and not have any doubts or thoughts or anything, just simply be and simply live and pour my soul out onstage.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So what's it like to be in a cast of transgender actors?

RODRIGUEZ: I think it's beautiful. One, I'm glad because most of these women I've met or have worked with before, so that's the best part about it. We have, already, a connection. But most importantly, these are telling different stories and different spectrums of each of these trans women's lives - and that we are living authentically¹⁹, just like anyone else who's walking this Earth, and that we just, literally, need to come together and stop the B.S., honestly.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That was Mj Rodriguez, star of the new show "Pose" on FX. Thank you so much for being here.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you so much, Lulu.

1 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

2 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

6 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

9 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

10 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

11 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

12 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

13 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

14 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

17 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

18 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

19 authentically   

ad.sincerely真诚地

参考例句：

• Gina: And we should give him something 2 authentically Taiwanese. 吉娜：而且我们应该送他有纯正台湾味的东西。
• A loser is one who fails to correspond authentically. 失败者则指那些未能做到诚实可靠的人。