揭秘美劇獨(dú)特魅力的背后（上）

導(dǎo)讀：每周一集、逢假必停。美劇到底有何魅力令眾多美劇迷們樂此不疲地追劇?現(xiàn)在，我們就在知名劇評(píng)人的帶領(lǐng)下，一起揭開美劇的獨(dú)特魅力。

Fans of US television dramas watch their favorite series for different reasons: some want to improve their English skills, others just want to kill time.

美劇迷們追美劇的理由五花八門：有人為了提高英語(yǔ)水平，也有人只是為了打發(fā)時(shí)間。

No matter what type of series you prefer or why you watch them, some TV series are more than pure entertainment ― they have a certain depth. Mad Men, which returned with a sixth season recently; Monday Mornings, which just finished its first season; and Modern Family, which sweeps the awards every year, are just a few examples.

不管你喜歡哪類美劇，也不管你出于什么目的來追劇，總有些劇集不僅僅只是娛樂那么簡(jiǎn)單——自有深意在其中。比如近日攜第六季回歸的《廣告狂人》、第一季剛剛落下帷幕的《周一清晨》、還有每年都會(huì)橫掃各大頒獎(jiǎng)禮的《摩登家庭》，這樣的例子還有很多。

Why do these shows stand out among so many similar ones? 是什么使得這些劇集能夠從眾多的同類中脫穎而出?

Period drama

歷史劇

More than time travel

不僅只是穿越

Period dramas are intended to capture the *ambience of a particular era. Directors must therefore attract audiences as much by their recreation of a historical setting as by an *engrossing storyline.

歷史劇旨在捕捉一個(gè)特定時(shí)代的歷史環(huán)境。因此，為吸引觀眾，導(dǎo)演必須再現(xiàn)歷史情境，并打造出引人入勝的故事情節(jié)。

Mad Men is an excellent example of this balance being struck. Set in New York during the 1960s, it accurately depicts US *ideology and attitudes in the workplace through the alcoholism, sexism, and chain-smoking common of the time, and places an absorbing plot right in its center.

在這兩個(gè)方面，《廣告狂人》都可稱得上是個(gè)中翹楚。該劇的故事背景設(shè)定在上世紀(jì)六十年代的紐約，劇中通過再現(xiàn)那個(gè)時(shí)代常見的酗酒、性別歧視以及煙不離手的場(chǎng)景，準(zhǔn)確地刻畫了當(dāng)時(shí)美國(guó)人的思想意識(shí)以及工作態(tài)度，而引人入勝的劇情也是恰到好處。

But rather than merely portraying a past decade with an *exquisite set and *props, Mad Men’s subtle depiction of the internal struggles of white-collar workers at the time, both male and female, makes it stand out.

但該劇并不僅僅只是動(dòng)用精美布景與道具來再現(xiàn)那樣一個(gè)逝去的十年，《廣告狂人》對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)白領(lǐng)男女內(nèi)心掙扎的細(xì)微刻畫，也使得該劇脫穎而出。

“The series’ attention to detail is legendary,” Raymond Zhou said. “For example, creator Matthew Weiner makes Don Draper ― the *protagonist of the series ― drive a Buick instead of a Cadillac, because Weiner thinks the ad man lacks the self-esteem to buy a luxury car. It’s this kind of attentiveness that raises the show’s *connotation and artistic value.”

“該劇以專注細(xì)節(jié)而著稱。”周黎明說：“舉例來說，編劇馬修•維納讓主角唐•德雷柏駕駛一輛別克而非凱迪拉克，因?yàn)榫S納認(rèn)為，身為廣告策劃人的這位主角，并沒有自負(fù)到要購(gòu)買豪華轎車的程度。正是這種專注提升了整部劇的內(nèi)涵與藝術(shù)價(jià)值。”

What may appear on the surface as a carefree era of adultery and drug abuse, is, deep down, an unsettling environment in which individuals are *alienated from each other and themselves. The market forces they seek to control are, in fact, controlling them.

表面上看起來那是一個(gè)毒品泛濫的濫情年代，而究其根本，則是在一個(gè)動(dòng)蕩不安的環(huán)境中，人們相互疏離，甚至對(duì)自己也是如此。人們一心想掌控市場(chǎng)力量，而實(shí)際上卻被它玩弄于股掌之間。

Whether we are conscious of these issues while watching the series is a different matter, but subconsciously we can relate to the characters, their struggles and their loss of identity, because we know it’s the same today.

我們?cè)谧穭r(shí)是否意識(shí)到這些問題尚且別論，但在潛意識(shí)里，劇中人物的掙扎與自我迷失都令我們感同身受，因?yàn)槲覀冎?，今時(shí)今日，并無不同。

Critics also recommend

同類劇推薦

Another period drama that works on a similarly subconscious level is Broadwalk Empire, set during the prohibition period of the 1920s and 1930s in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

與之異曲同工的歷史劇集還有《大西洋帝國(guó)》，故事發(fā)生在上世紀(jì)二三十年代剛剛頒布禁酒令的新澤西州大西洋城。

Heather Havrilesky at Salon magazine, noted how the show “revels in the oddities of its time, peeling back the layers of polite society to reveal a *giddy shadow world of criminals and politicians collaborating to keep the liquor flowing.”

來自美國(guó)《沙龍》雜志的希瑟•赫里雷斯基指出該劇是如何“著迷于當(dāng)時(shí)的一片光怪陸離，又是如何通過對(duì)上流社會(huì)抽絲剝繭，展現(xiàn)出一個(gè)罪犯與政客相互勾結(jié)來維持酒水交易的，令人眼花繚亂的陰暗世界。”

Why does it appeal to viewers? Because they know that the “liquor” is a metaphor for today’s political scandals.

它為何如此吸引觀眾?因?yàn)橛^眾知道劇中的“酒”是對(duì)當(dāng)下政治丑聞的一種隱喻。