本期新词

“你所看到的，从来都是我想给你看的样子！”

这句话用来形容被展示在人前的形象-"人设”再合适不过了。

今年冬至，饺子不如瓜香。

The highly successful singer-songwriter Wang Leehom has issued a public apology to his ex-wife after a high-profile family row that has gripped the Chinese-speaking world.

2021年底，最大的瓜之一就是王力宏苦心经营几十年的优质偶像的人设崩塌。

His ex-wife Lee Jinglei accused him of emotional abuse, lack of care for his family, infidelity, and solicitation of sex workers.

在前妻“蕾神之锤”的重击下，王力宏对家庭不负责任，情感暴力，出轨，招嫖，桩桩件件浮出水面...

This year we have seen so many celebrities’ fall.

魔幻的2021，我们看到了太多隐藏在“光鲜亮丽”背后的“千疮百孔”，所以今天的 Buzzword 我们就来聊聊【人设】和【人设的崩塌】。

Word origin

Persona, the word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask.

Persona一词源自拉丁语，它的本意说的是演员在表演时，为了表现某一角色所戴的特定的面具。

心理学上也会被叫做“人格面具”。

Persona

A persona is the image or personality that a person presents in public or in a specific setting—as opposed to their true self.

简单来说，persona就是一个人在公众面前或者在某一个特定的环境之下，他所扮演的一个角色。

And the phrase “public persona” refers to the personality that a person presents in public and that they are known for by most people.

所以，public persona就是你在公众面前扮演的这个形象和角色，其实也就是我们说的人设.

Every one of us has a public persona.

The difference really is for some people，their public persona is not that far away from their true self while others might have a public persona that is the polar opposite to who they really are.

其实，每个人都有自己的人设，只不过有的人表里如一，有的人则当面一个样，背后一个样儿。

When we talk about public personas，of course we're mostly talking about celebrities.

不过，我们说人设的时候，多半还是说的明星们的人设。

And people often get upset when they hear scandals or negative gossips about the celebrities they like，because they feel like they have been let down because their celebrities are not really matching their public personas.

很多人特别是粉丝在喜欢的偶像出现人设崩塌的时候都会觉得很失望，觉得为什么ta原来是这样。

But if you think about it this way, celebrities they're not real people in this sense, they are essentially brands.

其实明星他们自己本身就是品牌.

So, celebrities just like businesses need to develop and protect their public image and public persona.

像所有其他的商务品牌一样，明星就需要建立和保护他们自己的人设public persona.

有的时候我们也会说 "public image"，公众形象.

This might not necessarily be who they are, because in business，they have to have a strong public persona or image，which can make them more marketable.

从商务的角度，TA们更需要一个marketable persona，有市场销路的，也就是“好卖”的人设.

And this persona can significantly affect their earning potential.

However，as lucrative as a celebrity brand can be， it can also be incredibly fragile.

可正因为明星名人作为一个品牌可以有很大的市场价值和市场收益，所以他们也特别脆弱.

If the public persona collapses，jobs and endorsements can vanish in an instant，一旦出现这种惊天大瓜导致人设崩塌，工作机会，品牌代言等等都会离你而去.

In the past decade，China's entertainment industry has evolved at a rapid pace.

And talent managers are increasingly adapt in understanding ordinary people's emotional needs and mentality，thus creating stars and idols that fit their needs.

在过去的十几年间，中国的娱乐业、造星产业对于观众和消费者越来越了解，所以能够按照消费者的需求量身定造出来这种完美的人设.

Take Wong Leehom as an example, he has developed and created this public persona of a family man，

比如王力宏这些年，除了在自己专业领域之外，在私人生活里立的是”family man”，好老公，好爸爸的人设.

So when this type of scandal comes out, a mismatch of celebrities，true personality and his public persona will bring risks to brands who work with them.

而最近关于他私生活的爆料，就明显和他的公众人设不符，对于和他合作的品牌当然是巨大的风险.

So no wonder these famous brands，one after another, are dropping him.

人设“崩塌”

当消费者和观众习惯了明星的某一种人设，即使这个明星所做出的行为并不是特别过分，但是只要和人设不符，也容易出现人设崩塌。

王源抽烟事件

王源曾被授予“联合国儿童基金会青年教育使者”称号，2017年，还被《时代》杂志选入“30位最有影响力的青少年”榜单。

也正因为如此正面积极的人设，导致其在公共场所吸烟的行为被报道后，引发了巨大的舆论反响。

From a publicly-known “good boy” to a “bad boy”, Wang’s public persona collapsed when he was spotted smoking. That upset some fans who like him for his public persona.

Ellen霸凌事件

Even if you don’t regularly tune in to the comedian’s hugely successful talk show (on the air since 2003), you probably know one thing:

She’s known for being super nice!

Ellen DeGeneres, 就是Ellen Show里头那个经常给观众送礼物，满足小孩见偶像的愿望，给普通群众圆梦的“圣诞老人”般的存在。

Not only is her daily sign-off “be kind to one another,” she used to open each episode with some goofy dancing, which endeared millions of viewers to her every afternoon.

She frequently gives money and gifts to people in need, and has had many viral segments involving adorable small children meeting their heroes.

《艾伦秀》自2003年开播以来，收视率一直很高，并且多次获得艾美奖。

2020年，因为遭到了指控和实名爆料，Ellen对节目组的种族主义、欺凌和性骚扰视而不见，她“Super Nice”的人设瞬间崩塌，之后，再怎么砸重金送礼物，收视率也无力回天。

The downward spiral of Ellen's public persona, her public image collapsed.

For people who are fans of certain celebrities probably would feel really disappointed or let down by the collapse of their public persona.

But the way I see it is if you think of celebrities just like who they are, a business brand，you might be able to look at this whole thing in a different light.

毕竟明星人设可以靠资本包装，而真正有力量的偶像需要的则是几十年如一日的表里如一，以身作则.

新词拓展

Example 1：

-We can never be sure if celebrities’ public personas truly reflect who they are.

Example 2：

-Despite her public persona as a party girl, she leads a very quiet and private life.

Key Words

本期关键词

Persona

（原义）人格面具 / 角色

Public image

公众形象

Celebrity

名流

Marketable

有市场（销路）的

Endorse

代言

Fragile

脆弱的

Mismatch

不符

Family man (persona)

好老公好爸爸人设

Good boy (persona)

“乖宝宝“人设