(单词翻译:单击)
Last week, we published an article about Asian-American actors fighting for diversity in Hollywood. Hundreds of readers from the United States and around the world responded by submitting comments. Here are some of the most thoughtful — and provocative. The comments have been edited for space and clarity.
上周,我们刊登了一篇关于亚裔演员为好莱坞的多样性进行抗争的文章,留言的读者数以百计,来自美国和全球各地。下面是其中一些最有深度或最具争议性的评论。我们对这些评论做过一些编辑,以便显得言简意赅。
‘Asians Are Still Fairly Invisible’
“亚裔仍然很缺乏存在感”
Readers discussed how the lack of Asian-Americans in Hollywood had affected their lives and careers.
读者们讨论了好莱坞作品中缺乏亚裔美国人对他们的生活和事业造成了何种影响。
Joanna from New York recalled taking her two mixed-race children to see the film adaptation of “The Martian” after reading the book: “I was excited to take my kids to see the movie. Unfortunately, I was more than a little disappointed that an obviously Korean Mindy Park in the book was looking as white and blond as she did.”
纽约的乔安娜(Joanna)回忆了带着她看过原著的两个混血孩子去看电影《火星救援》的情况。她说:“我很高兴能够带孩子去看这部电影。可惜的是,我非常失望,原著中明显是韩裔的明迪·朴(Mindy Park)成了金发碧眼。”
Carol from Victoria, British Columbia, a fourth-generation North American of Japanese descent, recalled growing up in the 1950s without images of Asians in the media “other than some white guy with something painful shoved up his eyes, playing in old Charlie Chan films.” She continued: “Now I am in my 60s and am disappointed to see how little has basically changed over the years. Asians are still fairly invisible.”
不列颠哥伦比亚省维多利亚的卡罗尔(Carol)是居住在北美的第四代日裔,她回顾了50年代自己小时候媒体中没有亚洲人的形象,“只有一些白人,化着折磨人的眼妆,在陈查理(Charlie Chan)之类的老电影里扮演角色。”她还说:”现在我60多岁了,看到这么多年来几乎没有什么改变,真是失望。亚裔仍然很缺乏存在感。”
Tammy from New Jersey, an Asian-American actress, said she felt at times excluded from roles because she was not bilingual: “In many roles that exist for Asian actors, you are primarily there to ‘play Asian’ by speaking a foreign language, or you must have an accent.” She added: “My favorite auditions are roles that don’t specify the character’s race, and when I book the job I know it’s because I simply brought something to the role that was needed.”
新泽西州的塔米(Tammy)是亚裔演员。她说,由于自己不能讲亚洲语言,选角的时候常被排除在外:“很多让亚裔演员出演的角色,需要你讲英语之外的语言来‘扮演亚洲人’,或者必须要有口音。”她还说:“我最喜欢的试镜是那种没有指定种族的角色,当我被选中时,我就知道这完全是由于我对角色的把握。”
Stephanie Seto from Toronto spoke of difficulties pursuing acting and performing as a child: “I had talent but I never felt confident enough to try out for lead roles because they were always typecast. If you think being an American-Chinese person in the entertainment world is difficult, multiply that by 100 as a Canadian.”
多伦多的斯蒂芬妮·濑户(Stephanie Seto)谈到了自己从小追寻表演道路的艰难:“我有天赋,但我从来没有足够的信心去试演主角,因为他们总是对演员类型有固定模式。如果你觉得华人在美国演艺圈过很得艰难,加拿大还要难上100倍。”
‘This Is a Business, Not a Social Experiment’
“这是生意,不是社会实验”
Readers also debated the issue of “whitewashing” — that is, when white actors are tapped to play Asian roles.
读者还讨论了“洗白”问题——即由白人演员扮演亚洲人物角色。
Voila from New York, who identifies as Asian-American, said: “Seriously, can we stop with the whining already? We are (mostly) raised to focus on academics, and so even the kids who are born gifted in the arts or sports grow up believing those are hobbies and not professions. So obviously we go underrepresented. You want to complain to someone — take it up with your parents and grandparents.”
纽约的亚裔美国人维拉(Voila)说:“说真的,我们能不能别再发牢骚了?我们(大部分人)从小就被教育要把注意力集中在学业上,所以就连那些有艺术或体育天赋的孩子也从小相信那只是爱好,不是职业。所以很显然,我们在这些方面会处于弱势。如果想要埋怨谁,就去埋怨你的父母和祖父母吧。”
Subash Thapa from Albany, Australia, wrote: “As an Asian myself, I think it’s pretty stupid labeling Hollywood as racist because we don’t see enough minorities in lead roles. Hollywood can be accused of pushing the stereotypes, but it has been doing so against all cultures and countries.”
澳大利亚奥尔巴尼的苏巴斯·塔帕(Subash Thapa)说:“作为一个亚裔,我认为,如果因为没有看到足够多的主角来自少数族裔,就给好莱坞打上种族主义的标签,这是非常愚蠢的。你可以指责好莱坞在推动刻板印象,但它对所有文化和国家都是这样做的。”
Alan from Los Angeles said: “If you can get Scarlett Johansson to star in your movie, you’ll change your character from Asian, rather than cast a far lesser-known actress. This is a business, not a social experiment.”
洛杉矶的艾伦(Alan) 说:“如果你的电影能请到斯嘉丽·约翰逊(Scarlett Johansson)出演,你就会对亚裔角色进行修改,而不是找个知名度小得多的女演员。这是生意,不是社会实验。”
‘Why Can’t We All Just Be Americans?’
“为什么我们不能把自己都看成是美国人?”
Other readers argued that race shouldn’t be a topic that divides Americans.
有些读者认为,种族不应该成为让美国人分裂的话题。
Brad from Texas wrote: “Why can’t we all just be Americans and have some solidarity in that? One of the reasons for so much discord and anger in this country is because of race. If people would stop insisting they are ‘Asian-American’ or ‘African-American’ and just be American, it would go a long way toward getting rid of these issues.”
德克萨斯州的布拉德(Brad) 写道:“为什么我们不能把自己都看成是美国人,团结一些呢?这个国家产生了太多的不和谐和愤怒感,而种族就是其中一个原因。如果人们不再坚持自己是‘亚裔美国人’或‘非裔美国人’,而仅仅是美国人,就会大大有助于摆脱这些问题。”
‘Now That’s Real Progress’
“这是真正的进步”
Others were happy with the strides that Asian-American actors have made — even if they thought they could go even further.
另一些人对亚裔演员取得的进步感到高兴——即使他们认为还有很大的改进空间。
Jo Sheena from New York City wrote: “I find it strange that Aziz Ansari complains about the visibility of Asian actors when his character on ‘Master of None’ exclusively dated/lusted after white women. Why didn’t he use his own show to highlight some beautiful Asian actresses in Hollywood?”
纽约城的乔·希娜(Jo Sheena)说:“我觉得奇怪,阿兹·安萨里(Aziz Ansari)抱怨亚裔演员的存在感,而他在《无为大师》(Master of None)中的角色只和白人女性约会,贪恋她们的美色。他为什么没有在自己的节目上突出一些漂亮的好莱坞亚裔女演员呢?”
Diana from Germany wrote: “Sandra Oh was cast in the hit TV series ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ as a doctor, not as an Asian character. Now that’s real progress: When North Americans who happen to look Asian are not confined to ethnic roles or the villain in action films, but play real people.”
德国的戴安娜(Diana)写道:“吴珊卓(Sandra Oh)在热播系列剧《实习医生格蕾》(Grey’s Anatomy)中扮演一名医生,而不是演一个亚裔形象。这是真正的进步:恰好看起来是亚裔的北美人没有局限在族裔形象或是动作片反派上,而是扮演真正的人。”