美国国家公共电台 NPR Standing Up In The World Of Stand-Up: When 'Open Secrets' Finally Go Public

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

In the past few weeks, we have heard stories of sexual harassment¹ in just about every industry from Hollywood to politics to journalism², including here at NPR. The senior vice³ president of news resigned after harassment allegations. Now one of the most powerful figures in comedy, Louis C.K., has admitted to sexual misconduct against five women. Rumors⁴ about the comedian⁵ have circulated for years, but comedy is an industry where victims of harassment are essentially⁶ freelancers⁷ with little to no protection if they come forward.

Here to talk more about this is NPR's Elizabeth Blair. Hi there.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE⁸: Hi, Kelly.

MCEVERS: So let's start with this Louis C.K. story. Five women talked to The New York Times about this. We should warn listeners their descriptions are graphic⁹. These women were all in or around the comedy world, and the behavior they describe is pretty consistent. An interaction starts out professionally or collegially, Louis C.K. abruptly¹⁰ steers¹¹ the encounters into sexual territory, and in some instances he masturbates in front of them, right?

BLAIR: That's right. And these stories have been out there for a long time. It was one of those open secrets. So it's interesting that he's admitting to the allegations. In a statement today he says he's remorseful¹² and that he learned too late the power I had over these women is that they admired me, and I wielded¹³ that power irresponsibly.

MCEVERS: Is there something about the comedy industry in particular that puts young women at risk?

BLAIR: It's not for the meek¹⁴. You know, comedy, you have to be intellectually aggressive, if you will. And you find yourself out on the road, touring these small clubs. You may find yourself in some sketchy¹⁵ situations. You go to these big festivals, and it's sort of understood that you'll go to these after-parties to network or to the hotel bar late at night. One of those festivals is the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. And it's a great festival, but, in fact, the founder¹⁶ of that festival had to resign recently because of allegations of sexual misconduct.

MCEVERS: And, you know, Louis C.K. was well known for his sexually explicit¹⁷, like, stand-up routine. I mean, he joked about masturbation and he joked about his own perversion¹⁸. Let's listen to a clip from one of his shows in 2011.

(SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "LIVE AT THE BEACON¹⁹ THEATRE")

LOUIS C K: It's really a male problem not being able to control your constant sexual impulses. Women try to compete. They're like, well, I'm a pervert²⁰. You don't know. I have really sick sexual thoughts. No, you have no idea.

(LAUGHTER)

C K: You have no idea 'cause see; you get to have those thoughts. I have to have them.

(LAUGHTER)

C K: You're a tourist in sexual perversion. I'm a prisoner there.

MCEVERS: So interesting to hear that now in light of the allegations against Louis C.K. But, I mean, this is what he was known for - right? - going into the dark recesses²¹ of his own mind. Are comedians²² talking now about how to walk that line of being yourself without, you know, being offensive?

BLAIR: That's right. I mean, and you heard people were howling at those jokes. And, yes, lots of comedians get their best material from the dark recesses of their mind. And that's kind of a comedian's job, to push the envelope whether it's politics or sex. You know, actually, many comedians joke about masturbation, not just Louis C.K. The problem is when a powerful comedian says that to somehow mask really inappropriate behavior, which is what he did for a long time.

MCEVERS: What are other comedians saying about this issue in the industry now?

BLAIR: Well, so as we're seeing in other industries, comedians are coming forward. And there is a new, a younger generation, male and female, who are doing less sexually explicit material. And comedians who want sexual misconduct to stop, they get the word out from the stage. In fact, you know, Bill Cosby, another comedian that was revered²³ and who has had many, many allegations against him for sexual assault, it was a comedian - Hannibal Buress - who mentioned it in one of his stand-up shows. And when he mentioned it, that went viral. And before you know it, it was making headlines everywhere. So it's still a very male-dominated field. But as more and more women are given opportunities to hone their craft and land specials, they will probably feel more empowered to speak out.

MCEVERS: NPR's Elizabeth Blair, thank you so much.

BLAIR: Thank you, Kelly.

(SOUNDBITE OF KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH'S "STRATUS")

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 freelancers   

n.自由作家，自由记者( freelancer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A lot of proof-reading is put out to freelancers. 校对工作有很多是请外人做的。 来自辞典例句
• Its benefits plan for freelancers is highly competitive in the industry. 在本行业内它的福利方案是很有竞争力的。 来自互联网

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 steers   

n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• This car steers easily. 这部车子易于驾驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fodder fleshed the steers up. 优质饲料使菜牛长肉。 来自辞典例句

12 remorseful   

adj.悔恨的

参考例句：

• He represented to the court that the accused was very remorseful.他代被告向法庭陈情说被告十分懊悔。
• The minister well knew--subtle,but remorseful hypocrite that he was!牧师深知这一切——他是一个多么难以捉摸又懊悔不迭的伪君子啊！

13 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

14 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

15 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

16 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

17 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

18 perversion   

n.曲解；堕落；反常

参考例句：

• In its most general sense,corruption means the perversion or abandonment.就其最一般的意义上说，舞弊就是堕落，就是背离准则。
• Her account was a perversion of the truth.她所讲的歪曲了事实。

19 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

20 pervert   

n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路

参考例句：

• Reading such silly stories will pervert your taste for good books.读这种愚昧的故事会败坏你对好书的嗜好。
• Do not pervert the idea.别歪曲那想法。

21 recesses   

n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

23 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句