斯派克·李的'芝拉克'使性喜剧焕然一新

Old Sex Comedy Gets Modern in Spike¹ Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ 斯派克·李的'芝拉克'使性喜剧焕然一新

The musical is a modern, urban telling of the ancient Greek comedy, “Lysistrata.” In that story, wives stop having sex with their husbands to try to stop them from warring.

“Chi-Raq” combines the words for the places Chicago, Illinois, and Iraq. The name refers to two deadly battlefields -- the Midwestern city a victim of gang violence and the war zone of Iraq.

“Homicides in Chicago, Illinois have surpassed the death toll² of American special forces in Iraq."

The Spartans⁴ and the Trojans are two competing gangs in south Chicago.

After an 11-year-old girl dies in the crossfire⁵, the women in the area take action – or inaction. Lysistrata, the wife of Spartan³ gang leader Chi-Raq, leads the group. She is played by Teyonah Parris.

“We force our men to negotiate peace by exercising self-control and total abstinence from knocking the boots.” 

The character is talking about sex. The women refuse to have sex with their husbands and lovers until they stop the violence.

“Chi-Raq” explores the power of women in bringing an end to violence. Like Aristophanes’ play “Lysistrata,” Spike Lee’s script is written in rhyming verse.

“Dude, this is about life and death, about a community that’s a wreck⁶. And you want to sit here and talk about how women behave? Fool, we try to free these slaves! Slaves to the madness, slaves to this violence. And what you just want us to silence? We’re gonna make sure these fools put down these guns!”

Director Lee told VOA that sexual boycott⁷ to stop wars is not just the stuff of comedy. It can work, he said.

“A sex strike happened in Liberia, earlier, I think, 2004. A woman named Leymah Gbowee won the Nobel Peace Prize for using that tactic⁸, a sex strike to stop the second civil war in Liberia. So, it worked in ancient Greece and it worked in Liberia. And there is a woman today who saw the trailer from ‘Chi-Raq’ and she is starting a sex strike movement in Chicago.”

The film deals with current political and social issues, including poverty, unemployment, racism⁹ and guns in America. The film is critical of the United States for supporting foreign wars instead of ending violence at home.  

“Chi-Raq” echoes the 2,500-year-old message of “Lysistrata:” women have a unique power to end war. The legitimacy¹⁰ of that message, however, is debatable. Several critics already have raised objections.

Ernest Owens is one of them. He is a nationally published opinion writer, originally from Chicago. He wrote in the Huffington Post after seeing the “Chi-Raq” trailer. He expressed concern about “seeing all those black women being used only for the discussion of sexual purpose of men.”

And, of course, women around the world are fighters themselves. They serve in militaries, join rebel groups and even are members of violent gangs in America.

Words in This Story

urban – adj. of or relating to cities and the people who live in them

homicide – n. the act of killing¹¹ another person

script – n. the written form of a play, movie, television show, etc.

tactic – n. an action or method that is planned and used to achieve a particular goal

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

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 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

4 spartans   

n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The ancient Spartans used to expose babies that they did not want. 古斯巴达人常遗弃他们不要的婴儿。
• But one by one the Spartans fell. 可是斯巴达人一个一个地倒下了。

5 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

6 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

7 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

8 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

9 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。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。