2023年经济学人 好莱坞作家集体罢工（1）

 

 

    One hundred years ago, the hills above Los Angeles got a facelift.

    一百年前，洛杉矶上方的山峦焕然一新。

    A giant sign was erected¹ to advertise a new property development.

    那里竖起了一个巨大的招牌，为一个新的房地产开发项目做广告。

    Its 13 letters, each 43 feet tall, spelled “Hollywoodland” (“land” was later dropped).

    它的13个字母，每个都有43英尺高，拼作“Hollywoodland”(“land”后来掉下来了)。

    The modern movie business was forming at around the same time, as Warner Brothers consolidated² power and Walt Disney left Kansas City for Los Angeles.

    与此同时，随着华纳兄弟巩固了地位，沃尔特·迪斯尼离开堪萨斯城前往洛杉矶，现代电影业正在形成。

    Yet instead of celebrating its centenary, Hollywood faces upheaval³: screenwriters are striking for the first time in 15 years.

    然而，好莱坞并没有庆祝其百年诞辰，而是面临了剧变：编剧们进行了15年来的首次罢工。

    Every three years the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade group for the studios, negotiates a new contract with the Writers Guild⁴ of America (WGA), the writers’ union.

    每隔三年，电影和电视制作人联盟(电影公司的贸易组织)就会与美国作家协会谈判一份新合同。

    This year talks soured as studios and writers grappled with how streaming has upended their business models and working conditions.

    今年，随着电影公司和作家们努力应对颠覆了他们商业模式和工作条件的流媒体，谈判变得糟糕起来。

    The WGA voted to strike if negotiations⁵ failed.

    美国作家协会投票决定如果谈判失败就罢工。

    On May 2nd, hours after their contract expired, they downed pens.

    5月2日，在他们的合同到期几小时后，他们放下了笔。

    Writers wearing matching blue t-shirts and carrying signs with snarky messages (“My pronouns are pay/me”) picketed⁶ in front of studios across LA and in New York City.

    作家们穿着蓝色T恤，举着写有讽刺意味的标语(“我的代名词是付钱”)，在洛杉矶和纽约的工作室前进行纠查。

    Writers’ complaints boil down to two issues.

    作家们的抱怨可以归结为两个问题。

    First is the amount of work on offer.

    首先是提供的工作量。

    There were nearly 600 original scripted television shows in 2022, more than ever before.

    2022年有近600部原创电视节目，比以往任何时候都多。

    But in the age of streaming, more content does not necessarily mean more work.

    但在流媒体时代，更多的内容并不一定意味着更多的工作。

    Many writers’ rooms—where scribes try to wrangle⁷ ideas into scripts—last for fewer weeks and employ fewer writers than in the past.

    与过去相比，许多作家的工作室持续的时间更短，雇佣的作家也更少。

    Inspiring particular ire are “mini rooms”, where a few writers map out several episodes before a show even gets the green light.

    特别让人愤怒的是“迷你房间”，在那里，一些编剧甚至在节目获得批准之前就计划好了几集。

    “I do think it’s a cost-cutting measure,” says Sean Collins-Smith, a writer on NBC’s cop drama “Chicago PD”.

    “我确实认为这是一种削减成本的措施，”全国广播公司的警察剧《芝加哥警察》编剧肖恩·柯林斯-史密斯说。

1 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

2 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

3 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

4 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 picketed   

用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They picketed the restaurant. 他们在饭馆外设置纠察。
• Humboldt riotously picketed Von Trenk but the play was a hit. 尽管洪堡肆意破坏《冯·特伦克》的上演，然而这个剧还是轰动一时。

7 wrangle   

vi.争吵

参考例句：

• I don't want to get into a wrangle with the committee.我不想同委员会发生争执。
• The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。