沪江

《纸牌屋》与真实政治的相似度

沪江英语 2013-11-01 10:52
本文支持点词翻译 Powered by 沪江小D

Francis Underwood is one of those characters who has politics tragics at hello. The House of Cards congressman is the politician we would all write if we could pen novels or compelling scripts for television drama – which most of us can’t. He’s a character living in the collective dreaming of people who watch politics as intently and passionately as other people watch football – the embodiment of our most wicked thoughts.
Francis Underwood 是一个能够打动人心的政治角色。《纸牌屋》中的国会议员这一政治形象,是我们在写小说或者编纂戏剧剧本时描绘出的形象,但并不是每个人都有这个能力。这个政治家只是在那些专注而热情地旁观政治的人们心中存在的美好愿景而已,就像那些足球迷疯狂地观看着足球比赛一样,这部剧是我们最邪恶思想的化身。

So what is politics in reality, away from the gloss of cable TV drama? Mostly punishing incremental work. One inch forward, a great slide backwards. It’s good intentions felled by events. It’s good days and bad days. There are more stuff-ups than conspiracies. There is treachery, but it’s mainly suburban and small rather than grandly operatic. There are strong men who control weak men (yes, mainly men, although not exclusively). People fall in and out with each other, compromise themselves, fail to live up to their best aspirations, lose nerve and will. But then of course there are those great moments: courage, heart, bravery, truth. Acts of genuine reform, and acts of progress. The moments that make hope not ridiculous.
那么,拨开电视剧集中的云雾,现实生活中的政治是什么样子的呢?其实大部分都是惩罚性的增量活动,每向前一步,就有可能引起大规模倒退。好的意图总是被不好的事故击垮,好日子和坏日子交替出现。这里有比阴谋更黑暗的东西,有背叛,但是无伤大雅。强权人物控制弱势的下属,人与人之间的关系很不稳定,他们向对方承诺,而又辜负了对方的最大期望,逐渐失去的勇气和憧憬。当然,政治界也有美好的因素,那就是胆识、爱心、勇气和真相。货真价实的改革、不断的进步和那些给与人们希望而非荒谬言论的作为。

The thing that House of Cards absolutely nails, however, is the dangerous malaise of the present. Institutions are being hollowed out, making them ripe for gaming. Democratic politics around the world is corroding in the face of an entrenched culture of deal-making and voracious demands by third party interests.
《纸牌屋》真正展示的,是现实生活中的骇人诟病。国家制度被日益掏空,不断被人玩弄于掌间。在第三方利益专断思想和贪婪需求的面前,全世界的民主政治日趋被腐蚀殆尽。

If you want the truth that House of Cards conveys to the viewer, it is this: more rubbish rises to the surface in this weightless world. The cacophony can conceal truth, not reveal it. Frank Underwood, compelling creature that he is, exists only in our dreams.
如果你想知道《纸牌屋》传达的信息真谛,那么我在这里告诉你们:在这个失重的世界里,越来越多的垃圾浮出水面,不和谐的音符盖住了原有的真相, Frank Underwood 这个引人注目的角色,真的只存在于人们的梦境中。

展开剩余