美国国家公共电台 NPR Yabbadabba-What? These Aren't The Flintstones You Remember

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

One of the freshest reboots in the world of comic books is based on a cartoon that debuted¹ back in the 1960s.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FLINTSTONES")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Flintstones, meet the Flintstones. They're the modern Stone Age Family.

CHANG: This isn't "The Flintstones" that you remember. NPR's Mallory Yu recently caught up with writer Mark Russell at San Diego Comic Con² to find out more.

MALLORY YU, BYLINE³: Mark Russell has gotten a lot of raised eyebrows⁴ in reaction to his "Flintstones" comics.

MARK RUSSELL: I don't know if this should be a mark of shame or a mark of pride. But I feel like every positive review of "The Flintstones" begins with an apology. Like, I know you're not going to believe this. Or please don't hold this against me, but I really like "The Flintstones."

YU: And Russell himself wasn't sold right away either.

RUSSELL: But the more I thought about it, I thought, well, the kind of the perfect platform for me to to write my feelings about the fundamental errors of civilization.

YU: And that's on brand for the 47-year-old writer. In the past, He's published a somewhat absurd retelling of the Bible called "God Is Disappointed In You." And his comics work is mostly satirical - poking⁵ fun at politics, religion and cultural institutions.

RUSSELL: I consider human history to be a comedy. And that's largely what it's about - Earth, a dark comedy.

YU: But before he could tackle that dark comedy...

RUSSELL: I really wanted to just start with the characters and make them relatable and sympathetic because they're basically just living their lives.

YU: And Russell credits artist Steve Pugh with bringing humanity to his characters.

RUSSELL: You can see the personalities⁶ really in the design. Like, Fred's like a big beefy guy who looks like he played football in high school and has kind of let himself go since then. But he's got a lot of, like, love and sadness in his face.

YU: Fred's an Everyman in Russell's Bedrock, a veteran haunted by his actions during the, quote, "Paleolithic Wars." And remember this?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE FLINTSTONES")

ALAN REED: (As Fred Flintstone) Yabbadabbadoo.

RUSSELL: Yabbadabbadoo, I just sort of turned into like a nonsense mantra to help them deal with the PTSD and stress of everyday life.

YU: And Russell says he was able to bend and twist "The Flintstones" world like that because he didn't have a lot of childhood nostalgia⁷ for the cartoons.

RUSSELL: Nothing was sacred. In fact, that was kind of a mission. Like, this is not going to be some reverential homage⁸ to "The Flintstones."

YU: So Fred works for a terrible boss at a terrible job, trying to make just enough money to afford the latest household appliance. Or as Russell calls it...

RUSSELL: The exploitation of animals is free labor⁹, which, to me, it's like they're the interns¹⁰ of the prehistoric¹¹ world.

YU: Russell says he remembers being horrified¹² as a child by the fact that a camera in "The Flintstones" world was a bird whose only purpose in life was to chisel¹³ a picture into some rock. To emphasize that horror, Russell often makes a point to focus on the animals. He gives them personalities and inner lives but not names.

RUSSELL: They just conceive of themselves as their function - sort of not too subtly of commentary on us and how we think of ourselves.

YU: The animals refer to themselves as garbage disposal, coat rack, vacuum. And they struggle to find meaning outside of their assigned purpose.

RUSSELL: The meaning that you get from your life is not going to be what you find from your function or from how good you are at the job you've been assigned in life. It's really about the strength of the connections you form with your fellow appliances.

YU: The rest of "The Flintstones" gang - Wilma, Betty and Barney, Pebbles¹⁴ and Bam-Bam - are in Bedrock too. And their relationships, the lessons they learned, form the basis for what Russell really wants to say with his reboot of "The Flintstones."

RUSSELL: Caring for people who mean nothing to us - that's really the goal of human civilization if it's going to aspire¹⁵ to be anything more than just a place to get cheap snake meat, like it is "The Flintstones."

YU: For Russell, that means looking at the world and asking, what could we be doing better? And how can I make that funny? Mallory Yu, NPR News, San Diego.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCOTT BRADLEE'S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX'S "THE FLINSTONES")

1 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

2 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

3 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。

4 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

5 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

6 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

7 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

8 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

11 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

12 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

13 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

14 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

15 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。