美国国家公共电台 NPR Spike Lee Checks Under The Hood In The Blistering 'BlacKkKlansman'

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Spike¹ Lee's new movie "BlacKkKlansman" is, believe it or not, based on a true story. It's about an African-American police officer who in the 1970s went undercover to infiltrate² the Ku Klux Klan by joining it. Critic Bob Mondello says the film is both funny and pointed³.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁴: Colorado Springs is about to hire a new police officer. His name - Ron Stallworth.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

ISIAH WHITLOCK JR.: (As Mr. Turrentine) There's never been a black cop in this city. We think you might be the man to open things up around here.

MONDELLO: Open things up he does. Looking through a newspaper at his desk, he sees a Ku Klux Klan recruitment ad. There's a phone number, so he calls it.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) This is Ron Stallworth calling. Who am I speaking with?

TOPHER GRACE: (As David Duke) This is David Duke.

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) Grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan - that David Duke?

GRACE: (As David Duke) Last time I checked. What can I do you for?

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) Well, since you asked, I hate blacks. I hate Jews, Mexicans and Irish.

MONDELLO: Every head in the precinct has now turned to watch Ron.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) But my mouth to God's ears, I really hate those black rats and anyone else really that doesn't have pure white Aryan blood running through their veins⁵.

GRACE: (As David Duke) I'm happy to be talking to a true white American.

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) God bless white America.

MONDELLO: As the camera lingers on the faces of the white policemen, director Spike Lee gets the laugh he's looking for - not the first and certainly not the last since Stallworth, played by John David Washington, is quickly invited to a meeting of the Klan's local chapter, which presents an obvious problem.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) We need a white officer to play me when they meet face to face.

ROBERT JOHN BURKE: (As Chief Bridges) Can you do that?

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) With the right white man you can do anything.

MONDELLO: The right white man turns out to be Flip⁶ Zimmerman, played by Adam Driver, who attends the meeting...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

JASPER PAAKKONEN: (As Felix Kendrickson) Are you for the white race, friend?

ADAM DRIVER: (As Flip Zimmerman) Oh, hell, yeah.

MONDELLO: ...And tries to get the lay of the land...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

DRIVER: (As Flip Zimmerman) What kind of stuff do you guys do?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Cross burnings, marches.

MONDELLO: ...Attracting attention in the process.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

PAAKKONEN: (As Felix Kendrickson) You ask too many questions. Are you undercover or something?

MONDELLO: This is not a comic question obviously. There's serious tension in "BlacKkKlansman's" situation, and the film embraces the shifts in mood with shifts in filmmaking style, Lee actually couching his arguments in a kind of shorthand history of Hollywood's treatment of race. He includes scenes from "Gone With The Wind" and "Birth Of A Nation," has characters discuss '70s blaxploitation films and gives his hero a bit of Shaft's swagger. And in grander scenes, he shift gears entirely⁸, sometimes to deliver cathartic⁹ broadsides...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

COREY HAWKINS: (As Stokely Carmichael) We must unite and organize to fight racism¹⁰.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) All power.

MONDELLO: ...Other times to evoke¹¹ a gentler sort of power, as when in this very speech civil rights activist¹² Stokely Carmichael talks of internalizing white standards of beauty and the screen fills with Lee's quietly devastating¹³ response - close-ups of the young black faces looking up at Carmichael, halos of soft light caressing¹⁴ cheekbones. Identity is central to "BlacKkKlansman," and not just black identity. Flip Zimmerman, Ron's partner in the police ruse¹⁵, initially¹⁶ thinks his identity isn't a factor.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

DRIVER: (As Flip Zimmerman) For you it's a crusade. For me it's a job.

MONDELLO: But being Jewish, he has a reckoning of sorts.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BLACKKKLANSMAN")

PAAKKONEN: (As Felix Kendrickson) You're taking this Jew lie detector¹⁷ test.

WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) They hate you. Doesn't that piss you off? Why are you acting⁷ like you ain't got skin in the game?

MONDELLO: Lee's point of course is that we've all got skin in this game. He may depict¹⁸ '70s Klan members as bozos with hood¹⁹ fetishes - hateful, yes, but amusingly incompetent²⁰. He does that, though, to soften²¹ us up for some harrowing juxtapositions²², chief among them Stallworth's Klan induction²³ intercut with an excruciating recounting of a Klan lynching. Lee uses that look back to setup a head-spinning flash forward to the Trump²⁴ era. There's a reason "BlacKkKlansman" is opening this weekend, one year nearly to the day after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. If hate groups were insidious²⁵ four decades ago, argues Lee in his most ferociously²⁷ entertaining and just plain ferocious²⁶ film in years, how much more dangerous are they today? I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BALL OF CONFUSION")

THE TEMPTATIONS: (Singing) Segregation²⁸, determination, demonstration²⁹, integration³⁰, aggravation³¹, humiliation³², obligation to my nation. Ball of confusion.

1 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

2 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

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 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

7 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。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。

10 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

11 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

12 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

15 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。

16 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

17 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

18 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

19 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

20 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

21 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

22 juxtapositions   

n.并置，并列( juxtaposition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their early films tried to convey revolutionary propaganda through shocking juxtapositions, and circus tricks. 他们早期的电影试图通过令人震惊的对比和马戏技巧来进行革命宣传。 来自辞典例句
• His richly coloured lyrical paintings depict objects and people in unusual juxtapositions, often floating in space. 他的色彩斑斓的抒情油画将人物和事物不同寻常地加以并置，并经常漂浮在空中。 来自互联网

23 induction   

n.感应，感应现象

参考例句：

• His induction as a teacher was a turning point in his life.他就任教师工作是他一生的转折点。
• The magnetic signals are sensed by induction coils.磁信号由感应线圈所检测。

24 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

25 insidious   

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

参考例句：

• That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
• Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

26 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

27 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。

28 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

29 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

30 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

31 aggravation   

n.烦恼，恼火

参考例句：

• She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话，激动得过分。
• Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事，你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分

32 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。