美国国家公共电台 NPR Fifth 'House Of Cards' Season Speaks To Trump Era

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now to television. People often talk about life imitating art. But over the past few months, how many times have you talked about the news out of Washington and somebody said, this is so "House Of Cards?" Well, the fifth and latest season of "House Of Cards" debuts¹ on Netflix on Tuesday. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans tells us the series has taken great advantage of the current political moment.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE²: It's not even five minutes into the first episode, and the issues facing fictional³ president Frank Underwood reveal an unnerving resemblance to the issues facing a certain real life commander-in-chief. First, Underwood interrupts a congressional debate on whether to investigate allegations of corruption⁴ in his administration. The president insists that Congress instead move to declare war on a terrorist group called ICO that's killed a U.S. citizen.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOUSE OF CARDS")

KEVIN SPACEY: (As Francis Underwood) I am on my way to the funeral of an American patriot⁵ who was beheaded on American soil, and this chamber⁶ chooses to debate me?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) The House will suspend.

DEGGANS: Then we see Underwood speak with a crony in the Oval Office, and we realize that passionate⁷ speech was mostly about distraction⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOUSE OF CARDS")

SPACEY: (As Francis Underwood) Well, you know, how the Republicans are - anything but a decision. They mistake complaint for leadership.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Well, instead of a committee to investigate you, you got one to discuss your declaration.

SPACEY: (As Francis Underwood) All the way to Election Day.

DEGGANS: As this new season begins, Kevin Spacey's President Underwood is under siege. The unpopular Democrat⁹ faces an election challenge from a popular Republican governor played with smooth, steely resolve by "The Killing¹⁰" alum Joel Kinnaman. Underwood's also coping with the fallout from an investigative story detailing corruption in his administration. It was written by his main journalistic nemesis¹¹, reporter Tom Hammerschmidt.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOUSE OF CARDS")

BORIS MCGIVER: (As Tom Hammerschmidt) I try to imagine what it's like inside his mind, what I would do if I were him. He has no ideology¹², no North Star. Isn't that the scariest thing of all?

DEGGANS: That's also true of "House Of Cards." The congressmen, senators, political advisers¹³ and candidates featured here don't indulge in the typical liberal-conservative policy debates that so often divide our real life political process. Instead, these characters are all about pursuing and acquiring power.

And this season of "House Of Cards" shines brightest when it's focused on all the maneuvering¹⁴ that Frank Underwood and his wife Claire, who now serves as his vice¹⁵ president, will do to stay in office. As Frank Underwood explains his autocratic vision in one of those classic, break-the-fourth-wall-and-talk-to-the-audience moments, it seems he could be speaking directly to some Donald Trump¹⁶ voters.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOUSE OF CARDS")

SPACEY: (As Francis Underwood) You don't actually need me to stand for anything. You just need me to stand, to be the strong man, the man of action. It doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what I do. Just as long as I'm doing something, you're happy to be along for the ride.

DEGGANS: The show features lots of nods to current political crises. Underwood cites terrorism fears to justify¹⁷ limiting immigration. He faces crowds of protesters who don't accept him as president, and he finds a free press his greatest obstacle as he tries to spin political setbacks. This is the first "House Of Cards" season developed without Beau Willimon, the playwright¹⁸ who adapted Netflix's version from a BBC miniseries. And the series doesn't miss a step most of the time.

Still, there are a couple of bold actions that Frank and Claire take late in the season that I won't detail here that feel unrealistic to the point of being silly. Those who thought that today's wild political times would make "House Of Cards" feel irrelevant¹⁹ will be surprised. It turns out a well-crafted drama about the quest for power in Washington is always relevant no matter who is actually sitting in the White House. I'm Eric Deggans.

1 debuts   

演员首次演出( debut的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never really debuts the idea of taking money from his parents any longer. 他从此就再也没有认真起过向父母要钱的念头。
• This young soprano debuts next month at the metropolitan opera. 这位年轻的女高音歌唱家下个月将在纽约大都会歌剧院举行首演。

2 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。

3 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 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。

11 nemesis   

n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手

参考例句：

• Uncritical trust is my nemesis.盲目的相信一切害了我自己。
• Inward suffering is the worst of Nemesis.内心的痛苦是最厉害的惩罚。

12 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

13 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

14 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 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。

17 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

18 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

19 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。