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【时代周刊】神秘的美国恐怖故事丨总第十九期

考研英语时事阅读 · 公众号 · 考研 · 2016-11-20 05:24

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American Horror Story is frightfully good with secrets

AMERICAN HORROR STORY HAS DEPICTED PLENTY OF DEATHS during its run on FX, and the show’s fifth season, “Hotel,” which wrapped up in January, seemed to augue the most consequential death yet: the show’s own. Guest star Lady Gaga won a Golden Globe, but the story jury-rigged around her had grown bloated, with a meandering plot that included an army of child vampires and an undead Rudolph Valentino. Ratings were good enough to ensure another season, but the franchise seemed exhausted. Which makes American Horror Story: Roanoke one of the most surreal and exciting developments of the TV year. This sixth installment has at every turn delighted with its commitment to gore—and to surprise, giving new life to a show that felt like a lumbering member of the undead.

美国恐怖故事在美国广播公司FX播出期间呈现了大量死亡场景。该剧第五季主题为旅馆，已于1月完结，这似乎表明该剧也走到了生命尽头，这无疑是该剧迄今头等死亡事件。特邀明星LadyGaga凭借该剧荣获金球奖。但是围绕她产生的故事是临时安插进去的，于是乎拖沓臃肿，情节冗长，特别是一群吸血鬼孩子和不死族鲁道夫.瓦伦蒂诺。该季收视率虽然可以保证第六季回归，但其已失去独家特许经营权。美国恐怖故事第六季:洛亚诺克可能是今年电视节目中最超现实和激动人心的一部。第六季每一集里，导演都醉心于血腥场景，给观众以惊喜，也给该剧注入了新生命。此前，该剧几乎要成为笨拙的不死族的天下。

1. franchise ['fræn(t)ʃaɪz]：a business licensed to sell a company's products exclusively in a particular area or to operate a business that carries that company's name 特许经销权

2. surreal [sə'rɪəl]：weirdly unfamiliar, distorted, or disturbing, like the experiences in a dream or the objects or experiences depicted in surrealism 离奇的，怪诞的

3. lumbering ['lʌmb(ə)rɪŋ]：moving in a slow, heavy and awkward way 步态笨拙的，缓慢吃力的

4. jury-rigged ['dʒuəririɡd]：临时配备的

Early episodes of the new season, which debuted on Sept. 14, depict Shelby and Matt Miller (Lily Rabe and André Holland), a couple who buy a home near North Carolina’s “lost colony” of Roanoke, abandoned by 16th century settlers. The Millers are soon haunted by the earliest, and most violent, Americans. None of this was known to viewers beforehand. Nor was the framing device in which the tale is revealed: a faux true-crime show, My Roanoke Nightmare, featuring both the “real” couple and the re-enactors (Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr.) playing them. After years of increasing buzz for the series, FX went self-consciously quiet for Season 6. Everything from the casting to the title was kept from fans until it began.

新一季于9月14日首播，在前几集中，谢比尔和马特.米勒这对夫妻在北卡罗琳娜洛亚诺克--一座为16世纪殖民者所废弃的“失却的殖民地”落户。很快，他们就被早期的暴力美国人缠身。而这些剧情此前都丝毫未透露给观众。该剧所采用的剧中剧形式也一直对外保密。该剧剧中设置了取景器，用以播放故事: 一个虚拟的真实犯罪秀--洛亚诺克噩梦，不仅有“真实”夫妇的故事，还重演萨拉.波尔森和古巴.古丁如何拍摄的场景。随着多年来对该剧的议论日渐增加，FX对第六季故意保持低调。从选角到剧名，在开播前一直秘而不宣。

5. faux [fəʊ]：artificial, but intended to look or seem real 虚伪的，人造的

6. re-enactors：重演

enact [i'nækt]

7. buzz [bʌz]：a feeling of excitement or satisfaction often linked with a sense of achievement 热议

With AHS facing competition from other cable, broadcast and streaming series, refusing to give even a hint was a big bet. Lately, shows tend to promote themselves with increasingly elaborate trailers to lure as many viewers as possible. The twist in the pilot of NBC’sThis Is Us, for instance, was revealed in some of the coverage leading into the fall season. The impact was blunted, but it helped make the show a hit.

面对来自其他电视台、广播和流媒体的竞争，《美国恐怖故事》剧目组拒绝向外透露剧情之举实是一招险棋。近来，该剧发布系列预告片，剧情介绍越来越详尽，以此来吸引更多观众。譬如，入秋之时有些新闻版面刊登了全美广播公司播放的预告片“这就是我们”的剧情大反转。虽然观众反响平平，但此剧也因此而名声大躁。

8. coverage ['kʌv(ə)rɪdʒ]：the attention given to an event or topic by newspapers, radio, and television in their reporting 新闻报道

9. blunted [blʌnt]：to make something such as a sense or an emotion less effective or less intense 削弱的

AHS’s ongoing twists, like the meeting of the real couple and the re-enactors for a new set of horrors, have felt genuinely jarring. The show-within-a show conceit has been endlessly rewarding, running the gamut from media satire to raw terror . After AHS pushed the limits of just how crazy it could get, the simplicity of gut-level scares is bringing it back.

《美国式恐怖故事》中的剧情反转，比如真心相爱的人相遇、新恐怖情景的重演，而这些反转让人感到非常不和谐。剧中剧的套路十分受用, 从媒体讽刺到纯恐怖表现。《美国恐怖故事》尽其所能达其疯狂之限，然而却因其惊吓情景之简单而损色了不少。

10. Jarring ['dʒɑːrɪŋ]：surprising, or slightly shocking 与...不协调的，让人难受的

11. gamut ['gæmət]：the complete range of things of a particular type 全部，全范围

12.gut-level [gʌt]-['lev(ə)l]：本能的，凭直觉的

That Paulson and Gooding—having recently played prosecutor and defendant on AHS creator Ryan Murphy’s masterly The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story—are part of the cast adds a frisson of fun for TV diehards and ups the ante for a show known for the quality of its acting. When Paulson and Gooding scream, our blood curdles all the more.

Paulson和Gooding——曾在《美国恐怖故事》制作人Ryan Murphy制作的《美国犯罪故事：公诉人对O.J辛普森》中扮演了原告和被告的角色——也参演了《美国恐怖故事》，他们的参演为电视迷带来了不少恐怖快感，也为以表演质量过硬闻名的一档节目锦上添花。Paulson和Gooding的尖叫能令我们心惊胆战。

13. frisson [fri'sɔn]：a brief intense reaction, usually a feeling of excitement, recognition, or terror, accompanied by a physical shudder or thrill 强烈的兴奋感或恐惧感

14. diehard ['daɪhɑːd]：resistant to any kind of change, and reluctant to give up beliefs, positions, or attitudes 铁杆迷

15. curdle ['kɜːd(ə)l]：to separate into curds and whey, or cause a liquid such as milk to separate into curds and whey, e.g. by permitting or encouraging bacterial action 使凝固

Gooding’s presence lends the show its greatest punch. Roanoke has, so far, been the story of an interracial couple who face down the ghosts of America’s origins. I wouldn’t call it subtle—no project with Kathy Bates playing a screaming butcher from the 1500s could be. Yet its success in weaving meaningful ideas about what it means to be American into a horror tale demonstrates just how much the show’s artifice needed to be stripped away. Now that each bend in the plot arrives unheralded, it’s all the better. Everyone knows the most cathartic terrors come when you’re in the dark.

Gooding的出演赋予了这部剧最大的魅力。Roanoke至今还是一个关于一对混合人种的夫妻打败美国奴隶制下的鬼的故事。我不认为它是巧妙的——所有有Kathy Bates 扮演14世纪尖叫屠夫的节目都不能被称为巧妙。期待您的翻译。既然情节中的每一次波折都是出乎意料的，这样反而更好。所有人都知道最起宣泄作用的恐惧是在你处于黑暗中时出现的。

16. unheralded [ʌn'her(ə)ldɪd]： not previously noticed or praised much 突如其来的

17. cathartic [kə'θɑːtɪk]：allowing you to express strong feelings that have been affecting you so that they do not upset you anymore 宣泄情感的

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Try to translate，Put Chinese below

Yet its success in weaving meaningful ideas about what it means to be American into a horror tale demonstrates just how much the show’s artifice needed to be stripped away.

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