纽约时报 黑道家族如何影响美国---以不为人知的方式(3)

This is a new structural¹ reading of “The Sopranos” was encapsulated neatly² by Felix Biederman, a co-host of the leftist podcast “Chapo Trap House.”

左派播客《矮子陷阱之家》的联合主持人费利克斯·比德曼对《黑道家族》的新结构进行了精练的解读。

Recording³ another podcast in November 2020 — after the presidential election was held but before it was called for Biden,在2020年11月录制了另一个播客——在总统选举之后，但在拜登当选之前，a moment when nothing in this country seemed to be working在这一时刻，这个国家的一切似乎都不起作用

— Biederman argued that the show is, at its heart, about the bathetic⁴ nature of decline.

-比德曼认为，这部剧的核心是衰落的陈腐本质。

“Decline not as a romantic, singular, aesthetically⁵ breathtaking act of destruction,” he said,“衰落不是一种浪漫的、独特的、美学上令人惊叹的毁灭行为，”他说，but as a humiliating, slow-motion slide down a hill into a puddle⁶ of filth⁷.

而是像慢镜头一样，从山上滑落，掉进一滩污浊的泥坑。

“You don’t flee a burning Rome with your beautiful beloved in your arms, barely escaping a murderous horde⁸ of barbarians;“你不会抱着你美丽的爱人逃离燃烧的罗马，勉强逃过一群凶残的野蛮人;you sit down for 18 hours a day, enjoy fewer things than you used to,你每天坐18个小时，享受的东西比以前少了，

and take on the worst qualities of your parents while you watch your kids take on the worst qualities of you.

当你看到你的孩子接受了你最坏的品质时，你也接受了你父母最坏的品质。

The show’s depiction⁹ of contemporary America as relentlessly¹⁰ banal¹¹ and hollow is plainly at the core of the current interest in the show,这部剧对当代美国的描绘是无尽的平庸和空洞乏味，这显然是人们对这部剧兴趣的核心，which coincides with an era of crisis across just about every major institution in American life.

与此对应的时代是，美国生活中几乎所有主要机构都面临着危机。

“The Sopranos” has a persistent¹² focus on the spiritual and moral vacuum at the center of this country,《黑道家族》持续关注这个国家中心的精神和道德空虚，and is oddly prescient about its coming troubles:

奇怪的是，它预见了即将到来的问题:

the opioid epidemic¹³, the crisis of meritocracy, teenage depression and suicide, fights over the meaning of American history.

阿片类药物泛滥、精英统治危机、青少年抑郁症和自杀，以及关于美国历史意义的争论。

Even the flight of the ducks who had taken up residence in Tony’s swimming pool甚至连住在托尼游泳池里的鸭子也逃了出来

— not to mention all the lingering shots on the swaying flora¹⁴ of North Jersey——更不用说那些在北泽西摇摆不定的植物群上挥之不去的镜头了— reads differently now, in an era of unprecedented¹⁵ environmental degradation¹⁶ and ruin.

在一个前所未有的环境恶化和破坏的时代，现在的解读就不同了。

This sense of decline is present from the show’s very beginnings.

这种衰落感从这部剧一开始就存在。

In his first therapy session with Dr. Melfi, Tony tries to explain why he thinks he has panic attacks, why he suffers from stress.

在梅尔菲医生的第一次治疗中，托尼试图解释他为什么会恐慌症发作，为什么会有压力。

“The morning of the day I got sick, I’d been thinking: It’s good to be in something from the ground floor,” he says.

他说：“我生病的那天早上，我一直在想：从最基础的开始做就好了。”

“I came too late for that, I know.

“我知道，我来得太晚了。

But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.”

但最近，我有一种感觉，我是在最后才进来的。最好的已经过去了。”

Melfi tells him that many Americans feel that way.

梅尔菲告诉他，很多美国人都有这种感觉。

Tony presses on: “I think about my father: He never reached the heights like me, but in a lot of ways he had it better.

托尼继续说：“我想起了我的父亲：他从来没有达到过我这样的高度，但在很多方面他都过得更好。

He had his people, they had their standards, they had their pride.Today, what do we got?”

他有他的人民，他们有他们的标准，他们有他们的骄傲。今天，我们有什么呢？”

When the show completed its run, famously ending on a cut to black at Holsten’s as Tony, Carmela and A. J.Wait for Meadow to finish parallel parking,当这部剧结束的时候，著名的结局是在豪斯顿里剪到黑色，当托尼，卡梅拉和A. J.等着梅多完成平行停车时。

some critics cast the show’s creator, David Chase, as a vengeful god who was punishing his viewers for their trespasses¹⁷ against decency¹⁸.

一些评论家把该剧的主创大卫·蔡斯塑造成一个复仇心切的上帝，因为观众违反了道德规范而惩罚他们。

Writing in New York magazine, Emily Nussbaum interpreted the show as a dialogue between Chase and his viewers艾米丽·努斯鲍姆在《纽约》杂志上撰文，将这部剧解读为蔡斯与其观众之间的对话— “a collaboration¹⁹, with viewer response providing a crucial feedback loop.”

-“一种合作，观众的反应提供了一个关键的反馈循环。”

In her reading, Chase watched those viewers become more vile²⁰ in their willingness在她的解读中，蔡斯看到这些观众在他们的意愿中变得更加卑鄙to side with an increasingly reprehensible²¹ Tony and “did not always like what he saw.”

站在越来越应该受到谴责的托尼一边，“并不总是喜欢他所看到的一切。”

So he spurned²² us, robbing the characters of their charm until, in the very final shot, he “slammed the door on us.”

所以他抛弃了我们，剥夺了角色的魅力，直到最后一幕，他“砰的一声关上了我们的门”。

And perhaps Chase did slam the door on his viewers at the time.

也许蔡斯当时确实把他的观众拒之门外。

But back then, they were the fortunate 28 million Americans who had HBO subscriptions²³ and, possibly, TiVo.

但在当时，他们是幸运的2800万美国人，他们订阅了HBO，可能还有TiVo。 

1 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

2 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

3 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。

4 bathetic   

adj.平凡的，陈腐的，顿降的

参考例句：

• Dickens's readers really wanted to feel the kind of bathetic sadness that he tried to evoke.狄更斯的读者非常希望感受到他试图唤起的那种虚假的悲伤。
• Instead I've compromised by writing a slightly less bathetic list of all the things I must do today.相反，我采取了折衷的办法，列了一张稍微不那么平庸的清单，写明我今日必须完成的各项事务。

5 aesthetically   

adv.美地，艺术地

参考例句：

• Segmental construction contributes toward aesthetically pleasing structures in many different sites. 对于许多不同的现场条件，分段施工都能提供美观，颇有魄力的桥型结构。
• All isolation techniques may be aesthetically unacceptable or even dirty. 所有的隔离方法都有可能在美观方面使人难以接受，或甚至是肮脏的。

6 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

7 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

8 horde   

n.群众，一大群

参考例句：

• A horde of children ran over the office building.一大群孩子在办公大楼里到处奔跑。
• Two women were quarrelling on the street,surrounded by horde of people.有两个妇人在街上争吵，被一大群人围住了。

9 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

10 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。

11 banal   

adj.陈腐的，平庸的

参考例句：

• Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
• The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

12 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

14 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

15 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

16 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

17 trespasses   

罪过( trespass的名词复数 )； 非法进入

参考例句：

• If you forgive men their trespasses,your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. 如果你们饶恕他们的过失，你们的天父也必将饶恕你们的过失。
• Forgive us our trespasses! 宽恕我们的罪过吧！

18 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

19 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

20 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

21 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

22 spurned   

v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Eve spurned Mark's invitation. 伊夫一口回绝了马克的邀请。
• With Mrs. Reed, I remember my best was always spurned with scorn. 对里德太太呢，我记得我的最大努力总是遭到唾弃。 来自辞典例句

23 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》