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1、1 EARLY in Steve McQueens “12 Years A Slave”, a Louisiana plantation-owner returns home with the two slaves hes just bought, a man and a woman. Waiting on the veranda, his genteel wife notices that the woman is crying, and asks why. “Separated from her children,”sighsthe husband, not unsympathetical
2、ly. “Cant be helped.”在史蒂夫麦奎因执导的电影为奴十二年开头，有位路易斯安那的种植园主带着他刚买的一男一女两个黑奴回家。他温文尔雅的妻子等在阳台上，看到那个女奴在哭泣，就问为什么。“她和孩子分开了，”做丈夫的叹了口气，不无同情地说，“没办法。”Those last three words are the key to Mr McQueensdevastatingfilm, in that they, like so many othersequences,presentslavery as thenorm: long-established, legal andlegiti
3、mizedby scripture. To its mid-19th-century characters, theres nothing unusual about keeping human beings asproperty, and no way that theinstitutioncan be changed. In theprecedingscene, a jovial slave-trader (Paul Giamatti) is showing customers his wares. “This is a niggerof considerable talent,” he
4、remarks, but theres nothing in the way the line is spoken to suggest that anyone in the shop might be shocked. The trader sees his terrified, nakedmerchandiseas no different from any other commodity.这三个字成为麦奎因这部令人震惊的电影的关键词，像许多镜头表现的那样，人们把奴隶制视为常态：由来已久、合乎法律、天经地义。对于本片19世纪中期的角色来说，把人作为财产是很平常的事，没有办法改变这种制度。在
5、前面的场景中，有个快活的奴隶贩子（保罗吉亚玛提饰演）向主顾展示他的货品。他说，“这是个很有才华的黑鬼，”可是这里没有台词暗示店里的人可能受到惊吓。在奴隶贩子看来，赤裸受惊的黑奴和其他货色没什么不同。In another astonishing scene, the hero, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor, pictured), is hanged from a tree by a noose. For an agonizingly long time, hegulps for air, his feet only just touching the mu
6、ddy ground. But Mr. McQueen doesnt ratchet up thetensionwith dramatic music or exploitative close-ups. He simply lets theordealcarry on and on, while in the background, servantsgo about their businessand children play. Its not until the film is almost over that a Canadian laborer articulates thenoti
7、onthat slavery might be wrong. In the meantime, even Northup accepts that its a fact of life. His only complaint is that it shouldnt be a fact of his life.在另一幕惊人的场景中，主人公所罗门诺瑟普（切瓦特埃加福特饰演，如图）被绞索吊在树上。在令人痛苦的漫长折磨中，他大口喘着粗气，脚尖刚刚碰到泥泞的地面。但是麦奎因并没有用激动人心的音乐或突出的特写镜头加剧紧张的气氛。他只是让这种残酷的折磨继续下去，在镜头的背景中，仆人干着自己的活儿，孩子们嬉戏
8、玩耍。这种情形持续到影片即将结束，加拿大工人阐述奴隶制可能是错误的概念。与此同时，就连诺瑟普都认为，这是生活的现实。他唯一的抱怨是，这不该是他生活的现实。Northup, upon whose memoir the film is based, begins thenarrativeas a free man. In 1841, hes living as a respected, middle-class violinist with his wife and two children in Saratoga, New York. But after anelegantevenings di
9、ning in Washington DC, he is kidnapped. He wakes to find himselfchained upin a cell and informed that hes a “runaway nigger” from Georgia. When he objects, his jailer whips himviciously. Another prisoner then advises him that his only chance of survival is to keep quiet about his trueidentity.在这本根据同
10、名回忆录改编的电影中，诺瑟普作为自由人开始了他的讲述。1841年，他是位受人尊敬的中产阶级小提琴家，与他的妻子和两个孩子生活在纽约州萨拉托加。但是在华盛顿特区享用了精美的晚餐后，他遭到了绑架。当他醒来时，发现自己锁在囚室里，被告知他是从佐治亚州“逃跑的黑鬼”。他竭力反抗，却遭到了狱卒的狠毒鞭打。另一名囚犯劝告他，他唯一生存的机会就是对自己的真实身份保持沉默。And so Northup is transported beyond the Mason-Dixon Line to a nightmarish new existence wherehe has no choice but topic
11、k cotton, cut sugar cane and bide his time. His first owner treats him kindlybut he still treats him as a possession. His next owner seems tohave some cloudy comprehension oftheinsanityof slavery, but he would rather blot out that comprehension with alcohol and fevered sadism than face it.因此，诺瑟普被运往梅
12、森-狄克逊线以南，到达噩梦般的新世界，他别无选择，只能摘棉花、砍甘蔗和等待时机。他的第一个主人待他态度和蔼尽管他依然把诺瑟普当做自己的财产。他的下一个主人似乎对奴隶制的残暴有模糊的意识，但是他宁愿用酒精和狂热的虐待来遮掩这种意识，而不是直接面对。Mr McQueen, the black British director of “Hunger” and “Shame”, and John Ridley, his African-American screenwriter, tell an extraordinary story ofendurance, guile and hope, a st
13、ory which could easily haveinspiredaconventionalHollywood melodrama. But they avoid all theshortcutsandclichswhich a typical, issue-based film might have employed. There are no grandiloquent speeches tohammer homethe message, and nocaptionsor voice-overs to fill in the historical context. The perfor
14、mances are breathtaking, but theyresubtleand complex enough not to demand the viewers love or hatred. And, as horrific as the gory violence is, Mr McQueen doesnt revel in it.执导过电影饥饿和羞耻的英国黑人导演麦奎因和非洲裔美国编剧约翰雷利讲述了忍耐、狡猾和希望的精彩故事，这个故事原本很容易落入传统好莱坞通俗剧的俗套。但是他们没有走捷径，也没有效仿典型事件电影可能采用的陈词滥调。本片没有用慷慨激昂的演说向观众传递信息，没有用
15、字幕或配音代替历史背景。演员的演技令人惊叹，但是他们的表演含蓄丰富，并不想唤起观众的爱或仇恨。血腥的暴力镜头极为可怕，但是麦奎因并不沉浸于这种场景。Despite having won the Turner prize for his work as a video artist, he never lets the cinematography or editing draw attention to itself. Perhaps inspired by Hannah Arendts concept of “the banality of evil”, he prefers to take
16、 the viewer back in time to a period when slavery was mundane; herecreatesits day-to-day practicalities and its offhandbrutalities; and he leaves it to us to decide how to react. Its unlikely that a moreaccomplished, mature orcrushingly powerfulfilm will bereleasedin 2014.作为影像艺术家，麦奎因凭借他的作品荣获过特纳奖，然而他
17、从来没有通过电影艺术或镜头剪辑来吸引观众注意本片。也许他的创作灵感来自汉娜阿伦特“平庸之恶”的概念，他更喜欢让观众重新回顾奴隶制平淡无奇的那个年代；他再现了奴隶制的日常实际和残酷暴行；他让我们自己决定如何反应。在2014年即将上映的电影中，不可能有比为奴十二年更出色、更成熟、更打动人心的影片。2 McDonalds University麦当劳汉堡大学BRITISH universities can bedepressing. The donsmoan abouttheir pay and students worry they willend upfrying burgersor jobles
18、s. Perhaps they should try visiting McDonalds University in Londons East Finchley.英国的大学可能正是不景气的时候，教师们抱怨着自己的薪水，学生们担心自己最后只能找到做汉堡包的工作甚至待业在家。或许他们应当去瞧瞧伦敦东芬奇利区的麦当劳大学。Students are often “rough and ready”, with poorqualificationsand lowself-esteem. Butambition-ignitingmurals display the ladder of opportunit
19、y that leads from the grill to the corner office (McDonalds chief executives have alwaysstarted at the bottom). A map of the world shows the seven counterpart universities. Cabinets displaytrophiessuch asthe Sunday Timesaward for being one of Britains best 25 employers.麦当劳大学招收的学生也不过“马马虎虎”，而且资历平庸、缺乏自
20、尊，但学校里的壁画张贴着从烤架操作工到办公室高管之间一级级的跃升机会（麦当劳的主管往往都是从基层一点点干起的），让人燃起勃勃雄心。一张世界地图上标注着全球七所麦当劳汉堡大学。橱窗里展示着学校荣获的奖杯奖牌，比如星期日泰晤士报评选的全英最佳二十五名雇主奖等等。McDonalds is one of Britains biggest trainers. Itgets about1mapplicantsa year, accepting only one in 15, and spends 40m ($61m) a year on training. The Finchley campus, ope
21、ned by Margaret Thatcher, then the local MP, in 1989, is one of the biggest training centers in Europemany of the classrooms are equipped with booths forinterpreters. It is part of a bigger system. An employees web-portal, Our Lounge, provides training as well as details about that days shifts, and
22、allows employees tocompete againsteach other in work-related video games.麦当劳是全英国最大的培训机构之一。每年麦当劳会收到100万份左右的求职申请，仅录取其中的十五分之一作为雇员，并出资4000万英镑（6100万美元）用于培训。在首相撒切尔夫人和当地国会议员的支持下，位于东芬奇利区的麦当劳汉堡大学于1989年成立。这所学校是全欧洲规模数一数二的的培训中心，许多教室都配有专门的同传间。芬奇利校区仅仅是麦当劳庞大教育体系中的一个分支。麦当劳专属员工门户网站“我们的休息室（Our Lounge）”在提供训练之余，还有每日轮班详
23、情，员工还可以在网站上一起玩一些同工作有关的游戏。The focus is onpracticalities. A retired policeman conducts a fast-paced class on conflict management. He shows a video of a woman driven berserk by the fact that she cannot get chicken McNuggets at breakfast time. He asks the class if they have everhad a difficult customer,
24、 and every hand goes up. Students are thenurgedto share their advice.培训的重点在于实用性。一名退休的警察在大学内教授冲突管理的快班课程。课上他放映了一段录像，一名女性顾客因早餐时间不能点麦乐鸡而大发雷霆。老师问全班同学是否碰到过这样难缠的顾客，每个同学都举手表示深有体会。之后，老师就要求学生们分享他们的处理建议。Self-esteem and self-management are on thesyllabus, too. Steven Coveys “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Peo
25、ple” is a popular text. A year-long apprenticeship program emphasizing English and math leads toa nationally recognized qualification. McDonalds has paid for almost 100 people to get degrees from Manchester Metropolitan University.自我尊重、自我管理也在麦当劳汉堡大学的教学大纲之内。史蒂文.科维的“高效人士的七个习惯”是学校的通行教材。长达一年的学徒教学计划着重教授英
26、语、数学，并授予国家认可的学历证书。迄今，麦当劳已经出资帮助近100名学员拿到了在曼彻斯特城市大学的学位。The companyprofessesto be unfazed by the fact that manyalumniwill end up working elsewhere. It needs to train people who might be managing a business with a 5mturnoverby their mid-20s. It also needs to satisfy the companysappetite forsenior manage
27、rs, one of whom will eventually control the entire global McDonalds empire.许多学员在毕业后并不任职于麦当劳，而这家快餐业巨头宣称并不为此感到烦恼。麦当劳需要培养出在二十五六岁就能够掌管500万英磅营业额业务的管理人员。同样，麦当劳汉堡大学更需要培养出一批高级经理储备，以满足公司的发展需要。未来，这些高级经理中终将有人来执掌整个麦当劳餐饮帝国。3 Food firms and fat-fighters食品公司与减肥斗士Five leading food companies have introduced a labeli
28、ngschemefor their products in the British market,in an attempt toassuage critics who say they encourageobesity. But consumer groups are unhappy all the same. Is the food industry, like tobacco before it, about tobe engulfed bya wave oflawsuitsbrought on health grounds?五家业内领先的食品公司采取了一项方案，就是在其投入英国市场的食
29、品上作出标注，力图堵住那些说他们鼓励肥胖的批评人士的嘴。不过，消费者团体也不开心。食品业会像之前的烟草一样，被卷入一场关乎健康的诉讼之中吗？KEEPING fitrequires a combination ofhealthy eating and regular exercise. On the second of these at least, the worlds food companies can claim to be setting a good example: they have beenworking up quite a sweatin their attempts to
30、 fend off assaults by governments, consumer groups and lawyers whoaccusethem of peddling products that encourage obesity.This week saw the unveiling of another industry initiative: five leading food producersDanone, Kellogg, Nestl, Kraft and PepsiCointroduced a labeling scheme for the British market
31、 which will show “guidelinedaily amounts” for calories, fats, sugar and salt onpackaging.The new labels will start to appear on the firms crisps, chocolate bars, cheese slicesand the likeover the next few months. A number of other foodgiants, such as Cadbury Schweppes and Masterfoods, have already s
32、tarted putting guideline labels on their products.将健康的饮食习惯和经常性的锻炼二者结合才可以让身体保持健康。至少就第二点而言，全球的食品公司可以说是树立了一个很好的典范：为了避开政府、消费者团体以及律师们的抨击，食品公司四处兜售促进肥胖的产品，已经累得大汗淋漓了。本周，食品业的另一举措也公诸于世：五家业内领先的食品厂商Danone, Kellogg, Nestl, Kraft以及PepsiCo在英国市场实施了一项商品标注计划，即在包装上标明卡路里（热量）、脂肪、糖和盐的“每日摄入量指南”。在接下来的几个月里，这些食品公司的土豆条、巧克力棒、干
33、酪片等等包装上将开始出现这类新标注。其它许多食品业巨头如Cadbury Schweppes和Masterfoods也已经着手在其产品上加入指导性标记。The food companies say doing this willempowerconsumers, allowing them to make informed decisions about which foods are healthy. But consumer groups have cried foul. They point out that the Food Standards Agency, a government
34、watchdog,is due to recommend a different type of labeling scheme next month: a “traffic light” system using colors to tell consumers whether products have low, medium or high levels of fat, salt and the like. The food firms, they say, haverushed tointroduce their own, fuzzier guidelines first in a c
35、ynical attempt tounderminethe governments planwhich they fear might hurt their sales. In consumer tests, the traffic light performed better thanrivallabeling schemes.这些食品公司说，这么做可以让消费者在确定何种食品为健康食品时心知肚明。但是消费者团体大声疾呼食品公司此举纯属犯规，他们指出，作为政府监督机构，食品标准局应该在下个月推出一项不同的标注措施“红绿灯”方法，亦即应用不同颜色，提醒消费者食品的脂肪、糖、盐分等含量是低、中等还
36、是高。他们说，食品公司突然率先采用他们自定的那些模糊指南，是对政府计划的恣意破坏，他们害怕政府的计划会让他们的产品卖不出去。对消费者进行调查后显示，“红绿灯”方法比食品公司的标注方案效果要好。Nevertheless, the food companiesarguethat the traffic-light system is too simplistic and likely to scare people away from certain products that are fine if consumed inmoderation, orin conjunction withplen
37、ty of exercise which most observers, including the medical profession, agree is crucial for anyone wanting tostay in shape. They also point out that they havecompetitorsto worry aboutnamelythe big supermarket chains with their own-label products. Last April, Tesco, the biggest of these, announced th
38、at it was rejecting the traffic-light systemin favor ofa less stark “signposting” approach. Its rivals fear that adopting color-coding could put them at a competitive disadvantage. Better labeling has become an important weapon of the food giants armory as they fight back against their critics but t
39、ime tells which is favored by consumers.然而，食品公司辩称，“红绿灯”方法过于简单，某些产品会因此吓跑消费者，而这些产品如果食用适量或者结合充分锻炼，对人都是十分有益的，而且包括医学专家在内的大多数观察人士都认为，这些食品对于任何想要保持好体形的人而言都至关重要。同时，他们还指出，他们要顾及一些竞争者，也就是那些对产品加上各自标注的大型超市连锁店的做法。去年四月，最大一家超市连锁店Tesco宣布，他们反对采用“红绿灯”方法，取而代之的是一种更为灵活的“路标”法。因此，食品公司担心，若采用颜色编码（也就是红绿灯法），会令他们在竞争中处于劣势。在食品业巨头们
40、回击批评意见的过程中，更好的标注方式已经成为他们“武器库”中的一个“杀手锏”，但是消费者支持哪种标注方式，我们拭目以待。4 The Pressure of Obesity肥胖的压力The pressure on the industry is mostacutein America, whichleads the world inobesity. Theproportionof Americans characterized as overweight has risensteadilyfrom 47% (bad enough in itself) in the late 1970s to a
41、round two-thirds, including over 30% who areclinicallyobese. Fast-food chains American sales grew from about $6 billion in 1970 to an estimated $134 billion in 2005. Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation”, an influential book attacking the industry, has pointed out that Americans spend more on
42、 fast food than they do on higher education, PCs or new carsworrying, when a single meal at a KFC of less than a pound-weight of food plus a large Pepsi can top 1,600 calories, not far short of the dailyintake recommendedby the government for adults doing only “light physical activity”.肥胖人数居世界首位的美国食
43、品业承受的压力最大。上世纪70年代末期，美国人中超重人口所占比例从47%（这个数字本身已经糟糕透了）逐步增长到大约三分之二，其中包括30%以上临床肥胖症患者，而美国快餐连锁店的销售额则从1970年的60亿美元增加到2005年的大约1340亿美元。旨在抨击快餐业、颇具影响力的快餐国度一书作者埃里克施罗瑟曾指出，美国人吃快餐花的钱要比花在高等教育、个人电脑或者买新汽车上的钱多。令他感到担忧的是，在肯德基快餐店光吃一顿不到一磅重的餐点，再喝一大杯百事可乐，摄入热量就可能超过1600卡路里，这比美国政府为仅从事“轻度体力活动”的成人所推荐的每日摄取量并不低多少。Where the United Sta
44、tes leads, others are following. In the European Union, up to 27% of men are considered to be obese, and almost a quarter of all children aredeemedoverweight. Britain, with its love of burgers and packaged meals, is seen asfollowing closest on Americas heels, but the rate of obesity has started tosw
45、ell onthe continent too. Some 11% of the adult population of France were obese in 2003, up from 8% in 1997 (the actual level may be higher still since the figures are based on polls asking people if they are fat, and self-reporting producesunderestimates). France has latched on to the fast-food cult
46、ure: it is one of the biggest and mostprofitableEuropean markets for McDonalds.凡是有美国带头的地方，别国都会亦步亦趋。在欧盟国家，高达27%的男性被认为患有肥胖症，几乎四分之一的儿童则被认为体重超常。爱吃汉堡包和打包食物的英国被看作是跟美国最贴近的“跟屁虫”，不过其“肥胖队伍”同样开始日益壮大。在法国，成人患肥胖症的比率从1997年的8%一下子增加到2003年的11%（由于统计数主要基于问卷调查，因此实际水平可能更高自己说自己的情况往往导致低估实际水平嘛）。法国已经领悟了快餐文化的真谛：它就是麦当劳公司在欧洲最大、
47、最赚钱的市场之一。No wonder, then, that the past few years have been bad for food companiesand terrible for the fast-food lot. Attacks on the industry have changed the psychological climate in which it operates, and they may yet change thelegislativeclimate too. So far,lawsuitsbrought on health-and-safety gr
48、ounds have been more of a warning than a general threat. Nevertheless, some lawyers still see a similarity between the position of food companies now and that of tobacco companies in the 1960s and 1970s, when private lawsuitspaved the way foracoordinatedattack on “big tobacco” by attorneys-general. Worries about rising obesity rates among children, and fear ofsubsequentlegal actions, have caused companies toscale backtheir marketing of fatty food and soft drinks to minors.那么，过去这几年食品公司的日子不太好过，而快餐业就更加糟糕。对食品业的抨击，已经带来