25年前，《喜福會》也曾給亞裔帶來希望，后來呢？
如果你問許多亞裔美國演員和創(chuàng)作者，他們會告訴你，好萊塢對他們所屬社群的呈現正在轉變。
Last month, “Crazy Rich Asians” stormed to the top of the box office and earned the greenlight for a sequel. “Searching,” starring John Cho, and “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before,” starring Lana Condor, both received joyous reviews. The rise in these stories being told onscreen has led to the celebratory hashtag, #AsianAugust, circulating online.
上個月，《瘋狂的亞洲富人》(Crazy Rich Asian)登上票房冠軍位置，為續(xù)集打開了綠燈。由約翰·趙(John Cho)主演的《搜尋》(Searching)和拉娜·康多(Lana Condor)主演的《致所有我愛過的男孩》(To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before)也都收到了好評。這些影片的出現，帶出了“#亞洲八月”(#AsianAugust)這個慶祝標簽在網上走紅。
But a similar optimism also swelled 25 years ago, when the film adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel “The Joy Luck Club” arrived in theaters to lines around the block in cities like New York and Los Angeles. The movie was greeted with enthusiasm from critics, who lauded the nuanced portrayal of four middle-aged Chinese immigrant mothers and their Americanized daughters.
但25年前，根據譚恩美的小說《喜福會》(The Joy Luck Club)改編的電影在紐約和洛杉磯等城市的影院上映時大受歡迎，也出現過類似高漲的樂觀情緒。影片受到了影評人的熱烈歡迎，稱贊其對四位人到中年的華人移民母親和她們美國化的女兒做出了細致入微的刻畫。
Many of the actresses, as well as the director Wayne Wang, began receiving high-profile offers. “I thought it would be a new beginning for Asian-Americans,” Rosalind Chao, who played Rose in the film, said in an interview.
片中的許多女演員以及導演王穎開始收到各種引人注目的邀約。“我認為這對亞裔美國人來說，將是一個新的開始，”在片中飾演羅斯的趙家玲在一次采訪中說。
But roadblocks proved shockingly resilient. Instead of ushering in a crop of Asian-American projects, “The Joy Luck Club” remained a token for more than two decades — until “Crazy Rich Asians” became the next Hollywood blockbuster to feature a contemporary story with an all-Asian cast.
但事實證明，障礙的突破是非常困難的?！断哺分?，并沒有出現大量的亞裔美國人電影，在20多年時間里，它始終是一種象征，直到《瘋狂的亞州富人》成為又一部講述當代劇情、全亞裔陣容的好萊塢大片。
In the wake of #AsianAugust, Mr. Wang, Ms. Tan, and five of the movie’s actresses — Ms. Chao, Lisa Lu, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita and Ming-Na Wen — reflected on the challenges and prejudices they faced before and after “The Joy Luck Club” and whether they believe “Crazy Rich Asians” truly signals a new era.
在“#亞洲八月”這個標簽出來后，王穎、譚恩美和電影里的五位女演員——趙家玲、盧燕、勞倫·湯姆(Lauren Tom)、富田譚玲(Tamlyn Tomita)和溫明娜反思了在《喜福會》之前和之后，他們所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)和偏見，以及他們是否相信《瘋狂的亞洲富人》真的預示著一個新時代的到來。
Before “The Joy Luck Club,” Asian characters with depth in Hollywood were few and far between. There were martial artists (often played by Bruce Lee), caricatures (Long Duk Dong in “Sixteen Candles”) or yellowface roles (Mickey Rooney’s I. Y. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”).
《喜福會》之前，在好萊塢有深度的亞洲角色難得一見。通常是一些武打角色(通常由李小龍扮演)、漫畫式的人物(《十六支蠟燭》[Sixteen Candles]里的角色龍大東)，或者“黃臉”角色(《蒂芙尼的早餐》[Breakfast at Tiffany’s]中米基·魯尼[Mickey Rooney]扮演的國吉先生)。
Lisa Lu, who played An-Mei, one of the mothers in “The Joy Luck Club,” experienced these archetypes first hand. When she acted in a China-set 1958 episode of “Shirley Temple’s Storybook,” she was relegated to second fiddle while a white woman, Judith Braun, played the lead role in yellowface. “I was frustrated when I was in Hollywood because there was no script that really describes the Chinese as they are,” Ms. Lu said in an interview.
在《喜福會》中扮演安梅的盧燕親身經歷過這些原型。1958年，在以中國為背景的一集《秀蘭·鄧波兒的故事書》(Shirley Temple’s Storybook)中，她被安排出演女二號，而白人女演員朱迪斯·布勞恩(Judith Braun)則“黃臉”出演女一號。“在好萊塢的時候我郁悶，因為沒有真實描繪華人的劇本，”盧燕在一次采訪中說。
Decades later, the “Joy Luck Club” daughters faced similar prejudices. Tamlyn Tomita, who plays Waverly in the film, described many of her early television and film roles as: “She’s a loose girl; she’s a girl from the wrong side of the tracks with a heart of gold.”
幾十年后，《喜福會》中的女兒們也面臨著類似的偏見。在電影中飾演韋弗利的富田譚玲形容她早期的影視角色：“要么是放蕩的女孩，要么是出身卑微、心地善良的姑娘。”
Rosalind Chao took on roles like a laundryman’s daughter in a Lucille Ball TV series and a docile Korean bride who talked about eating dogs in “M*A*S*H” and “After MASH.” “Asian-American women were objectified,” she said. “Pretty was really all that they cared about.”
趙家玲在露西爾·鮑爾(Lucille Ball)的一個劇集中飾演一個洗衣工的女兒，在《陸軍野戰(zhàn)醫(yī)院》(M*A*S*H)及其續(xù)集《陸軍野戰(zhàn)醫(yī)院之后》(After MASH)中飾演一個溫順的、談論著吃狗肉的韓國新娘。“亞裔美國女性被物化了，”她說。“他們只要你美美的就好。”
The characters in the novel “The Joy Luck Club,” which arrived in 1989, were a welcome contrast. They celebrated family bonds as they struggled with high expectations, psychological trauma and cultural differences. “When I read the book, it was the first time I felt someone was writing about my life,” Ms. Wen, who plays June, said.
小說《喜福會》在1989年問世，其中的人物與之前形成了可喜的對比。他們一邊與高期望值、心理創(chuàng)傷和文化差異斗爭，一邊珍視家庭的紐帶。“當我讀這本書的時候，我第一次感覺到有人在寫我的生活，”飾演鐘的溫明娜說。
While almost every movie studio passed on the project, Mr. Wang, Ms. Tan and the screenwriter Ronald Bass struck pay dirt with Jeffrey Katzenberg at Walt Disney Studios, who granted the team a $10 million budget and full creative control. The film was received warmly by critics and performed respectably at the box office, easily making back its budget on the way to a total of $32.9 million.
雖然幾乎所有片廠都沒有選擇這個項目，王穎、譚恩美和編劇羅納德·巴斯(Ronald Bass)同華特迪士尼工作室(Walt Disney Studios)的杰弗里·卡岑伯格(Jeffrey Katzenberg)一起還是大賺了一筆——卡岑伯格給了這支團隊1000萬美元的預算和完全的創(chuàng)作權限。影片受到了影評人的熱烈歡迎，票房表現也很好，輕易地就賺回預算并取得3,290萬美元的總票房。
The positive effects were almost immediate. Lauren Tom, who plays Lena, was quickly cast as Ross’s love interest in “Friends,” after one of the show’s producers saw the movie. Ms. Wen voiced the title character voice in Disney’s “Mulan” and nabbed other roles.
積極影響幾乎是立竿見影的。飾演琳娜(Lena)的勞倫·湯姆(Lauren Tom)很快就被選為《老友記》中羅斯的戀人，因為該劇制片人之一看了這部電影。溫明娜在迪士尼的《花木蘭》(Mulan)中配音，并獲得了其他角色。
“I always say that ‘The Joy Luck Club’ was my green card to Hollywood,” Ms. Wen said.
“我總說《喜福會》是我進入好萊塢的綠卡，”溫明娜說。
Mr. Wang’s stature also took off. On the day of the film’s opening, he recalled receiving a phone call from Harvey Weinstein, who agreed to finance his next project, “Smoke,” on the spot. (Mr. Wang says he wasn’t aware of Mr. Weinstein’s predatory behavior, but that working with him was difficult: “He was obviously a bully of some kind.”) Mr. Wang would go on to direct diverse films like “Maid in Manhattan,” with Jennifer Lopez, and the family drama “Because of Winn-Dixie.”
王穎的聲望也得到了提升。在影片上映的當天，他回憶起曾接到哈維·韋恩斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)的電話，后者當即同意為他的下一部影片《煙》(Smoke)提供資金。(王穎說，他當時不知道韋恩斯坦的掠奪性行為，但與他合作很困難：“他顯然是某種霸凌者。”)后來，王穎導演了多種影片，比如有詹妮弗·洛佩茲(Jennifer Lopez)出演的《曼哈頓女傭》(Maid in Manhattan)，以及家庭劇《都是戴茜惹的禍》(Because of Winn-Dixie)。
“It’s so easy in this industry to be pigeonholed,” he said. “I didn’t want to get stuck.”
“在這個行業(yè)里，你很容易被限制在一個類別里，”他說，“我不想被困住。”
As Mr. Wang broadened his reach, he also tried to pitch Asian-American films to studios — without success. While his large ideas, like an adaptation of “West Side Story” set in Chinatown, were rejected, so were his more modest efforts to place Asian characters in his films. “I would always say, ‘I know this character wasn’t written for an Asian, but why can’t we take a good Asian actor or actress and put them in that role?’ ” he said. “And that would always be a fight that I couldn’t win.”
在擴展他的疆域的同時，王穎也試圖向片廠倡議拍關于亞裔美國人的電影——但沒有成功。他的宏大構想，比如一部設定在唐人街的《西區(qū)故事》(West Side Story)改編版，遭到了拒絕;他在自己的電影中加入亞洲角色的努力也遭到了拒絕。“我總是說，‘我知道這個角色不是為亞洲人寫的，但是為什么我們不能選擇一個好的亞洲演員來扮演這個角色呢?’他說。“那將是一場我永遠贏不了的斗爭。”
The four daughters in “The Joy Luck Club” eventually found themselves competing against each other for the few paltry film roles available to Asian women; they mostly moved to TV, doing short arcs on shows like “ER” and “The West Wing.”
《喜福會》中的四個女兒最終發(fā)現，她們在為了向亞洲女性提供的幾個微不足道的角色而競爭，她們大多轉向電視行業(yè)，在《急診室的故事》(ER)和《白宮西翼》(The West Wing)等劇中出演短期角色。
“A lot of my friends who were white, and were the same age and a similar type, they would get called in,” Ms. Tom said of film auditions, “but my agent could not get me in the room.” She eventually found stable work in voice acting, with characters like Amy Wong in “Futurama,” which she said she found freeing: “It didn’t really matter what age you were, what you looked like or what gender, even.”
“我的很多朋友都是年齡相同、類型相仿的白人，她們會接到電話。但是我的經紀人無法讓我進入房間，”湯姆談到電影試鏡時說。她最終在聲音表演方面找到了穩(wěn)定的工作，包括為《飛出個未來》(Futurama)中的艾米·王(Amy Wong)等角色配音，她說她最終在其中發(fā)現了自由。“你的年齡、你的樣子，甚至你的性別都沒有關系。”
Perhaps the biggest opportunity that Hollywood offered to a “Joy Luck” alumni was to Ms. Tan herself. After the film’s release, Disney offered to adapt her sophomore novel, “The Kitchen God’s Wife,” as a live action feature, Ms. Tan said in an interview. But she pulled out of talks in order to focus on her novel writing.
也許好萊塢為《喜福會》班底提供的最大機會落到了譚恩美本人頭上。譚恩美在采訪中說，《喜福會》上映后，迪士尼提出把她的第二部小說《灶神之妻》(The Kitchen God’s Wife)改編成動畫。但她退出了談判，專注小說創(chuàng)作。
That solitary work suited her better than the film industry, Ms. Tan said, which often forced her into compromises she refused to make. She recalled pitching one Asian-driven idea to Amy Pascal — the former Sony studio head — who instead suggested they shoot a Shanghai romance starring Lucy Liu and Matthew McConaughey and tailored to the Chinese box office. Ms. Tan declined.
譚恩美說，這項孤獨的工作比電影業(yè)更適合她，電影業(yè)往往會迫使人妥協，而她拒絕妥協。她回憶曾向前索尼影業(yè)負責人艾米·帕斯卡(Amy Pascal)提出一個由亞洲人主導的創(chuàng)意，后者建議他們拍一部由劉玉玲和馬修·麥康納黑(Matthew McConaughey)主演的上海愛情故事，并為中國票房量身打造。譚恩美拒絕了。
“It would be horrible, and I would regret it,” she said. “Everybody gets their finger in the pie, and they turn it into mush.”
“那會很可怕，我會后悔的，”她說。“每個人都要插手，然后搞得一團糟。”
Before “Crazy Rich Asians” arrived this summer, the tide had already begun to change for Asian actors and directors.
在《瘋狂的亞洲富人》今年夏天上映前，對于亞洲演員和導演來說，風向已經開始發(fā)生變化。
A boom era of television has led to both the production of culturally insightful shows like “Fresh Off The Boat” and the awarding of roles to a diverse pool of actors. Three of the “Joy Luck” daughters, for instance, are currently part of the casts of successful TV shows: Ms. Wen on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Ms. Tom on “Andi Mack” and Ms. Tomita on “The Good Doctor.”
電視的繁榮帶來了諸如《初來乍到》(Fresh Off The Boat)這樣具有文化洞察力的電視劇，各種各樣的演員都得到了角色。例如，《喜福會》中的三位女兒目前都在大獲成功的電視劇中扮演角色：溫明娜在漫威的《神盾局特工》(Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.);湯姆在《安迪·麥克》(Andi Mack);富田在《良醫(yī)》(The Good Doctor)。
In the film industry, the presence of Asian executives at major studios — like Kevin Tsujihara at Warner Bros. — and the increased power of the Chinese box office has led to the creation of more Asian-centric stories. One is the live action adaptation of “Mulan,” which will feature Ms. Chao as the title character’s mother.
在電影行業(yè)，大制片公司有了亞洲高管——如華納兄弟的凱文·辻原(Kevin Tsujihara)——以及中國票房的實力增強催生了更多以亞洲為中心的故事。其中包括《木蘭》(Mulan)的真人改編影片，其中趙家玲飾演木蘭的母親。
And Ms. Lu, who is now 91 years old, forged a direct link between the two eras when she starred in “Crazy Rich Asians” as Shang Su Yi, Nick’s wealthy and stern grandmother. “I’m so happy the picture came out so entertaining, but so moving,” she said.
現年91歲的盧燕在《瘋狂的亞洲富人》中飾演尼克富有而又嚴厲的祖母尚蘇伊(音)，在兩個時代之間建立了直接的聯系。“我很高興，這部影片最后很有趣，但也很感人，”她說。
Last month, many members of the “Joy Luck” cast and creative team gathered for a 25th anniversary celebration of the film in Los Angeles. Afterward, Ms. Tan, Mr. Wang and Mr. Bass discussed the possibility of a sequel. This time, they believe, the film might be supported even more by an Asian-American community, which has learned to mobilize through social media and speak loudly about its accomplishments. That’s a far cry from the approach typified by the character Lindo in “The Joy Luck Club,” who presents her best dish at dinner by insulting it.
上個月，《喜福會》演員和主創(chuàng)團隊的許多成員在洛杉磯聚會，慶祝這部電影上映25周年。之后，譚恩美、王穎和巴斯討論了續(xù)集的可能性。他們相信，這一次，這部電影可能會受到亞裔美國人社區(qū)的支持，這個社區(qū)已經學會通過社交媒體動員起來，并大聲談論自己的成就。這與《喜福會》中的人物林多(Lindo)所代表的方式相去甚遠，她在晚餐時會通過貶低來呈上她最拿手的菜肴。
“Back then, we were a little more self-critical. As an Asian-American community, we’re starting to realize that self-flagellation only hurts,” Ms. Chao said.
“那時候，我們有點自我批評的傾向。作為一個亞裔美國人社區(qū)，我們開始意識到自我鞭笞只會帶來傷害，”趙家玲說。
Ms. Tom put it more succinctly: “I don’t think there’s any shutting us up anymore.”
湯姆用更直截了當的方式說：“我認為不再有任何事能讓我們閉嘴了。”
