VOA标准英语2013--《为奴十二载》揭露奴隶制

 

12 Years a Slave Seen as Turning Point in Films on Slavery 《为奴十二载》揭露奴隶制

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Steve McQueen’s acclaimed¹ new film, 12 Years a Slave, is a Hollywood watershed². The movie offers an unflinching portrayal³ of slavery in the United States and sets a new standard for narrating⁴ such stories on the silver screen.

Video transcript⁵:

“And that servant who doesn’t obey his Lord shall be beaten with many stripes! That’s scripture⁶."\

Like many slavery films before it, 12 Years a Slave unfolds in the sweltering heat of southern plantations⁸. But unlike its predecessors⁹, Steve McQueen’s film focuses on a free man from the north who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

"My name is not Platt. My name is..."

"Your name is Platt."

His name was Solomon Northup. And it's a true account.

“The reason I took this angle is I wanted that person to be everyone in the audience. Someone who can take you, the audience, in this unfortunate conveyor belt of slavery.”

 “Days ago, I was with my family in my home. Now you tell me all is lost?"

Chiwetel Ejiofor offers a tour de force performance as Northup. 

“This is a story about one of the harshest structures that’s ever been created in the history of the world. And it is somebody trying to survive that with their mind intact, and they do! ”

Film historian Dexter Gabriel says the movie breaks new ground.

“The movie does a very good job in exposing slavery, almost, in a sense, exposing the old films on slavery, the old plantation⁷ epics¹⁰, exposing them for frauds."

He says movies like Gone with the Wind, in 1939, did a disservice because they painted a portrait of slaves living in harmony with their owners.

Nostalgic tributes faded after the Civil Rights movement.

In 1977, the TV miniseries Roots became the first attempt to reveal the brutality¹¹ of slavery. But Gabriel says slavery was a small part of the story that looked at the African American experience as a whole.

"In its attempt to create slavery as an immigrant story, it attempts to make slavery under this heading in order to make African Americans like everyone else.”

Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, in 1997, was about a slave mutiny aboard the slave ship Amistad. Gabriel calls it a missed opportunity.

“Rather than privilege the slave mutiny, Spielberg makes it about this courtroom drama starring founding fathers and interesting abolitionist lawyers.”

Fifteen years later, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained empowered the black slave in a tongue in cheek vigilante story. But Gabriel calls it an unrealistic tale of one black man against plantation masters.

 “It is in the end a wonderful absurdist fairytale of slavery.”

"My back is thick with scars."

In 12 Years a Slave, the mood darkens. Many say its portrayal of slavery is too harsh. 

“Slavery has been a part of this country longer than it hasn’t been. I think everyone, in some way, has to come to terms with.”

After almost a century of slavery in movies, 12 Years a Slave offers an opportunity for reflection. 

1 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

2 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

4 narrating   

v.故事( narrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She entertained them by narrating her adventures in Africa. 她讲述她在非洲的历险来使他们开心。
• [Mike Narrating] Worm and I fall into our old rhythm like Clyde Frazier and Pearl Monroe. [迈克叙述] 虫子和我配合得象以前一样默契我们两好象是克莱德。弗瑞泽和佩尔。门罗。 来自电影对白

5 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

6 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

7 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

8 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

9 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 epics   

n.叙事诗( epic的名词复数 )；壮举；惊人之举；史诗般的电影（或书籍）

参考例句：

• one of the great Hindu epics 伟大的印度教史诗之一
• Homer Iliad and Milton's Paradise Lost are epics. 荷马的《伊利亚特》和弥尔顿的《失乐园》是史诗。 来自互联网

11 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军