What do horror movies and comedies have in common?
恐怖片和喜剧有什么共同点？
The two genres might seem totally different,
这两种类型的作品可能看起来完全不同，
but the reason they're both so popular is perhaps because what they have in common: their use of dramatic irony.
但它们都受人欢迎的原因，也许是来自于它们的共同点：它们都擅用戏剧性讽刺。
First, let's clarify. There are three types of irony out there.
首先，让我们认清讽刺的三种类型。
Situational irony is when you expect one thing, but get the opposite.
情境性讽刺发生在你的期待和你遇见的事情相反的时候。
Verbal irony is when someone says something, but truly means the opposite.
言辞性讽刺则是一个人说话的表面意义和他真正要表达的东西相反。
Dramatic irony, though, is what we will be looking at right now.
现在，让我们来看看戏剧性讽刺是什么。
Dramatic irony is when the audience seems to know more about an event,
戏剧性讽刺是指，观众对于某一事件、
a situation, or a conversation than the characters in the movie, on the show, or in the book do.
某种情景或者某种对话，知道的要比电影、电视节目或书中的角色还要多。
The audience is in on a secret that the characters have missed.
观众处于一个剧中角色并未知晓的秘密中。
This is a great story-telling device that creates tremendous emotion within that text.
这是一种厉害的说故事的手法，它会在文字中创造出一种激动的情绪。
Think about it for a moment. How does it feel when, in a horror film,
试着想一下。在一部恐怖电影中，
you know that the scary villain is hiding behind that door in the darkened room.
你知道可怕的反派角色躲在漆黑房间的那扇门后。
The music becomes eerie, the lighting creates complete shadows, this has to be bad for the hero!
音乐变得怪异。灯光营造出一整块阴影，这对英雄带来多么糟糕！

Of course, though, that hero must enter the room to find the villain.
当然啦，这名英雄必须进入房间找到那个反派角色。
You feel tremendous tension and the suspense of knowing that someone will jump out and be scary, but you just don't know when.
你感到非常紧张和有悬念，你知道一个可怕的家伙会跳出来，但你就是不知道会是什么时候。
That tension is dramatic irony: you know something more than the characters in the film.
这种紧张状态即为戏剧性讽刺：你比电影中的人物知道更多的事。
Now, take the typical comedy. There will probably be some type of "misunderstanding".
现在，让我们看看典型的喜剧。其中可能会有某种类型的‘误会’。
Again, we know more of what is going on than the characters do.
同样地，我们比剧中角色知道更多正在发生的事情。
Picture two characters making a plan for a birthday surprise for their roommate
想象两个角色正在为他们的室友筹划一个生日惊喜，
while that roommate overhears the entire conversation from the hallway.
而他们的室友听到了走廊上的整个对话。
From there, confusion and misunderstanding occur, and the tension builds.
从这一刻开始，发生了某种困惑和误解，紧张状态营造出来。
This isn't the same tension as the horror film since it is probably pretty funny
这和恐怖电影中的紧张状态不同，因为这可能挺滑稽的，
as the character tries to figure out the whos and the whats,
因为剧中人物会试着找出谁发生了什么事，
but it serves as a great example of the tension and suspense of dramatic irony.
但它可以作为一个用来解释戏剧讽刺中紧张状态和悬念的好例子。
This tension or suspense in both genres drives the story and keeps the plot progressing.
存在于这两种体裁的紧张状态或悬念，推动故事，并保持情节的发展。
The audience wants, no, needs, to see the tension of the dramatic irony broken
观众们想要，不，观众们需要看到戏剧讽刺的紧张状态被打破，
either by the scary person jumping out of the shadows or by someone finally revealing someone's true identity and clearing up the confusion.
要么被从阴影中跳出来的的可怕的人，要么最后由某人揭示其他人的真实身份，并澄清误解。
So, when you feel like you are in on a secret, that is dramatic irony,
所以，当你觉得你知道主角所不知道的事时，这就是戏剧性讽刺，
a hallmark of all the great writers, from Shakespeare to Hitchcock.
所有伟大作家，从莎士比亚到希区考克，都有的一个显著特征。