网络口水战 战火蔓延到现实世界

 　　During this summer vacation, battle lines have been drawn¹ in the worlds of popular culture and politics, with tempers *flaring, insults flying and general hatred² *spewing out all over the place – mostly onto smartphone and computer screens.

　　今年暑假，（美国）流行文化圈和政坛都燃起了一场战火。怒火发酵、谩骂纷飞、敌意从四面八方涌来——而这些大部分都被抛到了手机和电脑屏幕上。

　　There was the DC vs Marvel³ *debacle as web users hotly debated comic-book franchises⁴.

　　网友们热议DC漫画与漫威漫画之间的竞争。

　　网络口水战 战火蔓延到现实世界

　　Old-school Ghostbusters fans spoke⁵ viciously from behind their keyboards about the new *reboot’s female stars.

　　《捉鬼敢死队》的一些粉丝化身键盘侠，对新启用的女星恶言相向。

　　Kanye West and Kim Kardashian locked horns with Taylor Swift in a Twitter *feud involving song lyrics⁶ and Snapchat videos.

　　坎耶?维斯特和金?卡戴珊夫妇在推特上与泰勒?斯威夫特因一些歌词和阅后即焚小视频而争吵不休。

　　And then there’s the US presidential race, which is more *akin to an online mud-slinging match than a bid to lead one of the world’s most powerful nations.

　　美国总统竞选则更像是一场互揭老底的比赛，而非努力争取这个世界大国的领导权。

　　What I see right now is the whole world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, and that’s creating a lot of tension and anger, says Devin Faraci, editor-in-chief of US film site Birth.Movies.Death.

　　在我眼中，现在整个世界似乎都越来越无可救药，充斥着无穷无尽的冲突和愤怒，美国电影网站Birth.Movies.Death的主编德温?法拉奇说道。

　　People have long held strong views but didn’t always have the medium in which to express them, save for *venting to friends at dinner or telling all their problems to the poor woman behind the post office counter when dropping off mail.

　　人们早就抱有强烈的偏激，但却往往找不到渠道去表达，只能在晚饭时找朋友发泄，或是在寄邮件时向可怜的邮局女柜员吐苦水。

　　But the *anonymity, ease of use and instant worldwide audience of social media has changed all that.

　　然而，社交媒体的匿名性、便捷性和易用性将这一切都改变了。

　　I had a great-uncle who complained about everything, but we were the only ones who heard it, says Robert Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, US.

　　我有一个爱发牢骚的伯祖父，我们这些家人是唯一能听他发牢骚的，美国雪城大学电视与流行文化教授罗伯特?汤普森说道。

　　Now everyone would hear about it.

　　而现在，所有人都能充当他的听众。

　　The social media space has become free of age boundaries, which in turn has led to an *influx of *trolls, according to Faraci.

　　法拉奇认为，社交媒体并无年龄的界限，而这也带来了大量恶意挑衅的帖子。

　　A 14-year-old could be arguing with an adult on the internet, and the latter would never know it, even if the teenager’s profile picture was a Pokémon.

　　一名14岁的少年可以在网上和一位成人发生争执，而后者却对此一无所知，即便这位少年的头像是只宠物小精灵。

　　Adults aren’t above getting into the *fray, either – just follow any celebrity’s Twitter account and you’re bound to come across a popcorn⁷ munching-worthy exchange sooner or later.

　　而成年人之间也无法免于争吵——只要随意关注一位名人的推特账号，不久你便会看到一场好戏。

　　If celebrities⁸ and politicians – who aren’t so very different these days – are constantly taking the negative path, it can feel like the status quo, the way things are done, an acceptable way to act, says Kate Erbland, film editor at Indiewire.com.

　　如果名流政客们——时至今日已他们不再与众不同——总是消极待世，人们便会觉得，这种现状、这种处事方式，是一种可接受的行为方式，Indiewire.com 网站的电影编辑凯特?厄兰说道。

　　So do we just all need to hug it out?

　　所以，我们仅仅是需要拥释前嫌吗？

　　Eventually, people might become so sick of this that it becomes not cool, something people don’t respect in the marketplace of ideas and emotion, says Thompson.

　　最终，人们可能对此感到无比厌倦，这变的一点都不酷，人们对于大家的观点和情感毫不尊重，汤普森说道。

　　Erbland suggests three things that may just help turn our collective online frown upside down: Better movies, better discussion and maybe less time on social media.

　　厄兰提出的三件事，或许有助于我们扭转网络上的这种歪风：看好电影，更恰当地讨论，少花点时间在社交媒体上。

　　But Faraci contends that if people just realized they were actually talking to other people when they interact with one another on social media, they might not be so hostile.

　　但法拉奇则称，人们在社交媒体上和他人交流时，如果能意识到他们正在和活生生的人对话，或许他们便不会如此充满敌意。

　　We’re not just talking to an *avatar or a statement, he says.

　　我们并不是在和一个头像或是一段话对话，他说道。

　　We’re talking to a real human being who got up this morning, had breakfast, maybe something bad happened to them, maybe something good happened to them, but they’re living an actual life outside of their opinion.

　　我们是在和一个活生生的人交流。他们今早也会起床、吃早饭，或许他们有些不顺，又或许他们好运当头。但在他们的这些观念之外，他们真实地存在并生活着。

1 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。

2 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

3 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

4 franchises   

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ford dealerships operated as independent franchises. 福特汽车公司的代销商都是独立的联营商。 来自辞典例句

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

7 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

8 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目