《黑鏡》圣誕特輯充滿兇險(xiǎn)與轉(zhuǎn)折
The Dark Side of a Digital Future
《黑鏡》圣誕特輯充滿兇險(xiǎn)與轉(zhuǎn)折
Picture, if you will, a world where our digital devices seem eerily alive; where technology lets us block unwanted people not only from our social media streams but from our eyes and ears; and where the maladroit can receive stealthy, real-time pickup and dating advice from debonair coaches resembling the “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm.
如果你愿意，可以在心里勾勒出這樣一個(gè)世界，在這里，我們的數(shù)碼設(shè)備似乎有著神秘的生機(jī);技術(shù)手段可以讓我們屏蔽不想見到的人，不僅是在社交媒體，也可以讓此人從我們的眼前或耳邊消失;笨拙的人可以從溫文爾雅、長(zhǎng)得像《廣告狂人》(Mad Men)里喬恩·哈姆(Jon Hamm)的教練那里得到隱秘的實(shí)時(shí)的把妹及約會(huì)建議。
This is the very near future imagined by “Black Mirror,” the British anthology drama that mines cautionary, “Twilight Zone”-style narratives from our modern-day obsessions with gadgetry and the Internet, and which returns to American television on Thursday for a holiday-themed special called “White Christmas.”
這是英國(guó)詩選劇《黑鏡》(Black Mirror)里為我們構(gòu)想的一個(gè)不久的將來，從我們當(dāng)今對(duì)電子小玩意與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的迷戀之中發(fā)掘《迷離時(shí)空》(Twilight Zone)式的警世敘事，周四，美國(guó)電視臺(tái)將播出該劇的節(jié)日特別集，《白色圣誕》(White Christmas)。
Beneath that seemingly cheerful title lurks an ambiguous premise that begins with Mr. Hamm and Rafe Spall as men who find themselves in a cabin for unknown reasons. A sinister episode full of the series’s trademark twists and turns and a macabre sense of humor unfolds.
歡快的主題之下潛藏著含糊的前提，劇集開始，哈姆與拉菲·斯波(Rafe Spall)飾演兩個(gè)男人，由于未知的原因呆在一個(gè)木屋里。這是兇險(xiǎn)的一集，充滿這個(gè)系列招牌式的轉(zhuǎn)折，漸漸展現(xiàn)出令人毛骨悚然的幽默感。
Mr. Hamm explained in an interview that “Black Mirror” aims a distorted lens at society to show “where it’s probably going, which is further — and maybe further than we want.”
哈姆在采訪中解釋說，《黑鏡》用扭曲的透鏡審視社會(huì)，展現(xiàn)出“未來社會(huì)可能會(huì)是什么樣子——可能比我們的希望走得更遠(yuǎn)”。
While “Black Mirror,” which is shown on Channel 4 in Britain, is often skeptical of phenomena that spread rapidly and unpredictably, it has also benefited from virality.
《黑鏡》在英國(guó)第4頻道播出，盡管它經(jīng)常諷刺社會(huì)中那種出人意料、快速傳播的現(xiàn)象，但它也得益于網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的“病毒傳播”(virality)。
The series, which had its first American showings on the satellite broadcast service DirecTV (which will also first show the “White Christmas” special on its Audience channel), has recently been added to Netflix’s on-demand library. It now has its best chance to infiltrate the cultural consciousness of America, where its absurdist explorations of progress gone amok will resonate just as loudly.
這部劇集首次在美國(guó)播放是通過衛(wèi)星廣播服務(wù)DirectV(《白色圣誕》特別集的首播也是在它旗下的Audience頻道)，最近也加入了 Netflix的點(diǎn)播庫?，F(xiàn)在它有了極好的機(jī)會(huì)滲入美國(guó)的文化意識(shí)，它對(duì)“人類進(jìn)步變得瘋狂”這個(gè)主題的荒誕主義式探索肯定會(huì)在美國(guó)引起強(qiáng)烈反響。
As Charlie Brooker, the creator of “Black Mirror,” explained, what seems to unite people these days is the clumsy way we adapt to new technology and media.
《黑鏡》的主筆查理·布魯克(Charlie Brooker)解釋，如今讓人們聯(lián)合在一起的，似乎是我們?nèi)ミm應(yīng)新技術(shù)與新媒體的笨拙方式。
“We’re like people who are playing a driving video game for the first time, and we’re smashing into the walls left and right,” Mr. Brooker said in an interview. “As we get better as a species, we’ll master it. But at the moment we’re colliding with things all the time.”
“我們就像那些第一次玩駕駛類電子游戲的人，不斷撞到左邊或者右邊的墻上，”布魯克在接受采訪時(shí)說，“作為一個(gè)物種，我們?cè)谶M(jìn)步，我們會(huì)掌握它的。但現(xiàn)在，我們正處在與各種事物不斷碰撞的時(shí)刻。”
Mr. Brooker, a British writer, producer and columnist for The Guardian, made his reputation as a satirist and host of shows like “Screenwipe” and “Newswipe,” offering caustic commentary on events and media coverage of them.
布魯克是一位英國(guó)作家、制作人與《衛(wèi)報(bào)》(The Guardian)的專欄作家，他以撰寫諷刺作品，主持“屏幕清理”(Screenwipe)和“新聞清理”(Newswipe)等節(jié)目聞名，這些節(jié)目專門對(duì)時(shí)事和媒體對(duì)這些時(shí)事的報(bào)道方式發(fā)表尖刻的評(píng)論。
He also wrote a hit British horror mini-series, “Dead Set,” in 2008, which imagined a zombie apocalypse taking place around the reality series “Big Brother.”
2008年，他還寫過一部轟動(dòng)的英國(guó)恐怖迷你劇《死亡片場(chǎng)》(Dead Set)，想像出一個(gè)僵尸末日世界，發(fā)生在《老大哥》(Big Brother)真人秀片場(chǎng)。
For a follow-up, Mr. Brooker said he wanted to try his version of a series like Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone,” which offered parables about racism, McCarthyism and nuclear paranoia, concealed in the garb of traditional science fiction.
關(guān)于續(xù)作，布魯克說他想嘗試拍出洛德·塞林(Rod Serling)的《迷離時(shí)空》式的劇集，它表面是一部傳統(tǒng)的科幻劇，實(shí)則蘊(yùn)含著關(guān)于種族主義、麥卡錫主義與核妄想的寓言。
The logical 21st-century update would take aim at our relationship with technology, but Mr. Brooker said he wanted to “deliberately unnerve the viewers” rather than scold them.
21世紀(jì)合乎邏輯的更新版無疑是針對(duì)人與技術(shù)之間的關(guān)系，但布魯克說，他希望“故意令觀眾煩躁不安”，而不是去責(zé)罵他們。
“Most dramas tend to reassure the viewer, I think,” he said. “Even crime procedurals are really about the good guy catching the bad guy.”
“我覺得大多數(shù)劇集想要去安撫觀眾，”他說，“就算是犯罪劇，其實(shí)也是關(guān)于好人抓壞人的。”
What he wanted to create, he said, was “an anthology that would potentially unsettle, and speak about things other than ‘Isn’t crime terrible?’ and ‘Isn’t the class divide an awful thing?’ ”
他說，自己想拍的是“一部詩選劇，其中涌動(dòng)著令人不安的東西，內(nèi)容不僅僅是‘犯罪難道不可怕嗎’和‘階級(jí)劃分難道不糟糕嗎’。”
“Black Mirror,” which had its first three-episode season in 2011, gained attention as much for its use of actors like Rory Kinnear (“Skyfall”) and Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”) as for its provocative premises.
《黑鏡》于2011年首播，只有三集，挑釁的主題很快引起人們的注意，《大破天幕殺機(jī)》(Skyfall)影星羅里·金奈爾(Rory Kinnear)和《唐頓莊園》(Downton Abbey)影星杰西卡·布朗·芬德利(Jessica Brown Findlay)的加盟也頗引人注目。
Its debut episode, “The National Anthem,” focused on a kidnapping plot in which the captor of a royal family member said he would release her only if the prime minister (Mr. Kinnear) performed an act of bestiality on live television.
第一集《國(guó)歌》(The National Anthem)講述了一樁綁架陰謀，作案者綁架了一名皇室成員，宣稱首相(金奈爾飾)必須在電視直播中獸交，他才會(huì)釋放人質(zhì)。
“Often with ‘Black Mirror,’ the ideas really make me laugh,” said Mr. Brooker, who wrote that episode. “That probably doesn’t come across in the final show.”
“《黑鏡》里的點(diǎn)子通常會(huì)讓我大笑，”布魯克說，他也是這一集的編劇。“不過這最后的一集可能不會(huì)讓人笑。”
Mr. Spall said that the format of “Black Mirror,” in which each episode offers a self-contained story, was a welcome corrective to a television environment overrun by serialized narratives.
斯波說，《黑鏡》這種每一集都講述一個(gè)完整故事的形式對(duì)于當(dāng)今的電視環(huán)境是一種有益的矯正，現(xiàn)在的電視里連續(xù)性敘事太多了。
“Starting a new one can take such a huge amount of energy,” Mr. Spall said. “You go: ‘Am I going to start this series? Am I going to watch the entire back catalog of “The Sopranos”? God, this is going to be three months of my life, gone.’ ”
“重新開始一個(gè)新角色要花費(fèi)大量精力，”斯波說，“你會(huì)覺得‘我要接這部劇嗎?我得看完《黑道家族》(The Sopranos)的片尾字幕嗎?天哪，我人生中的三個(gè)月就這么沒了。’”
Even before “Black Mirror” was shown in the United States, Mr. Brooker said he began hearing from Hollywood types who were finding it on shady torrent sites “or getting surreptitious DVD copies or whatever.”
布魯克說，《黑鏡》在美國(guó)上映之前，就開始有好萊塢的人和他聯(lián)系，他們是從可疑的種子網(wǎng)站下載，“或者私下傳播的DVD之類渠道”看到這部劇集的。
Mr. Hamm (who watched the show legally on DirecTV) said he was introduced to it by the “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Bill Hader.
哈姆通過DirecTV的服務(wù)合法地觀看了這部劇集，他說是曾在“周六夜現(xiàn)場(chǎng)”(Saturday Night Live)合作過的比爾·哈德爾(Bill Hader)介紹他看的。
When he was approached to star in the “Black Mirror” special, Mr. Hamm said he did not have to worry about when or if it would reach American audiences, or what size audience would see it.
后來有人邀請(qǐng)他出演《黑鏡》特別集，至于美國(guó)觀眾是否能夠看到這部劇，將在什么時(shí)候看到這部劇，乃至觀眾人數(shù)多少，哈姆說自己用不著擔(dān)心。
As he has learned from his experiences on “Mad Men,” Mr. Hamm said, “No one cares about ratings anymore.”
他說，出演《廣告狂人》的經(jīng)歷讓他明白，“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)沒有人在乎收視率了”。
“The stigma of not being on network television, which was the gold standard forever, is just obliterated,” he said.
“節(jié)目能在電視臺(tái)播放曾經(jīng)是雷打不動(dòng)的黃金標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但是如今，不在電視臺(tái)播放已經(jīng)不算什么恥辱了，”他說。
With the curtain about to come down on “Mad Men,” Mr. Hamm has been appearing in offbeat television roles, playing a morphine-abusing physician during the Russian Revolution on “A Young Doctor’s Notebook” (alongside Daniel Radcliffe) and the voice of a talking toilet on “Bob’s Burgers.”
隨著《廣告狂人》即將落下帷幕，哈姆也開始飾演一些另類的電視角色，他在《一位年輕醫(yī)生的筆記》(A Young Doctor’s Notebook)中飾演俄國(guó)革命期間一個(gè)濫用嗎啡的醫(yī)生(該片還有丹尼爾·雷德克里夫[Daniel Radcliffe]加盟)，還在《開心漢堡店》(Bob’s Burgers)里為一個(gè)會(huì)說話的馬桶配音。
“It becomes simply about content,” Mr. Hamm said. “If enough people are in your ear — or your virtual ear — about a specific piece of content,” audiences will seek it out.
“一切只是關(guān)于內(nèi)容的，”哈姆說，“如果有很多人對(duì)著你的耳朵——或是虛擬的耳朵——談?wù)撃扯翁囟ǖ膬?nèi)容，”觀眾就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
Not that Mr. Hamm is using social media to engage in these discussions, but as “Black Mirror” has taught him, he said, “It’s not going away.”
哈姆并沒有參與社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的類似討論，但《黑鏡》讓他明白，“這一切不會(huì)消失”。
Nor is it worth his energy to complain about it, he said. “I just end up sounding like the old man on the lawn, shaking his fist at those dang teenagers.”
他說，這也不值得自己花費(fèi)精力去抱怨，“否則我就會(huì)像是個(gè)站在草坪上的老家伙，揮舞著拳頭咒罵該死的年輕人。”
