美国国家公共电台 NPR From 'Buffy' Superfan To Pulitzer Prize, A Critic Celebrates TV On Her Own Terms

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Back in the mid-'90s, Emily Nussbaum was working on a doctorate¹ in literature at NYU. But the TV on the other side of the room just kept catching² her eye.

EMILY NUSSBAUM: I was sitting on my sofa. I had a small, junky television. I had broken the extremely rudimentary remote control. I had to get up from the sofa, walk over to the television, turn the big plastic dial. It made a nice clunky sound.

CORNISH: Well, TV technology has come a long way since then, and so has Emily Nussbaum. She never got that doctorate. Instead, she made a career out of writing about television. Nussbaum is now the Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic for The New Yorker, and she's got a new book out - a collection of essays and previously³ published writing called "I Like To Watch."

NUSSBAUM: In a lot of ways, it's a book about celebrating television as television, detaching it from neurotic⁴ comparisons to books and movies. And more specifically, it's about trying to explode and expand the types of television that get taken seriously, so it's about, basically, stopping the endless focus on antihero dramas...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TRUE DETECTIVE")

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: (As Rustin) This is a world where nothing is solved. And someone once told me time is a flat circle.

NUSSBAUM: ...Talking about sitcoms⁵, talking about reality shows...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS")

KIM RICHARDS: I've been rich, and I've been famous. But happiness beats them both.

NUSSBAUM: ...Talking about network shows, talking about the kinds of shows that people think of as corny, talking about different kinds of creativity and, essentially⁶, celebrating the nature of the way that TV has changed in a way that's not so burdened by the past of TV and the way that it used to be regarded as junk, as the boob tube.

CORNISH: It's interesting hearing you talk about this because you started out wanting to become a literature professor, so I feel like you must have been surrounded by people who thought it was the boob tube.

NUSSBAUM: Yes, that's definitely true. And, you know, honestly, there's a part of me that went into writing about TV with a chip on my shoulder because a lot of criticism and a lot of talking about art comes out of an argument you want to make to other people. This was the argument I wanted to make early on. In a lot of ways, I trace it back to the contrast between "Buffy The Vampire⁷ Slayer⁸" and "The Sopranos" - two shows that I adored at the turn of the century, which got completely different critical receptions. So for some reason, I perceived it as my job to evangelize for "Buffy The Vampire Slayer." And that really is what led me down this path in the end.

CORNISH: I think you won the argument on the Buffy front.

NUSSBAUM: Yes.

CORNISH: (Laughter) People talk about that show now like it's biblical.

NUSSBAUM: I know. I'm never sick of it, actually (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER")

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR: (As Buffy) First of all, I'm a vampire slayer. And secondly⁹, I'm retired¹⁰. Hey, I know. Why don't you kill him?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) I'm a watcher. I haven't the skills.

GELLAR: (As Buffy) Oh, come on. Stake through the heart, a little sunlight - it's like falling off a log.

CORNISH: You talk about "The Sopranos" on HBO as kind of a launch of prestige television as we know it. And you talk about this idea that this category doubled as a social class distinction. Talk about how that played out, how it was talked about.

NUSSBAUM: Well, it's complicated. HBO itself had the slogan, it's not TV. It's HBO. And "The Sopranos" was genuinely a radical¹¹ show for television on a bunch of different levels. It visually resembled a movie. It was related to art that people thought of as high art and as gritty, masculine, serious stuff like "The Godfather."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SOPRANOS")

JAMES GANDOLFINI: (As Tony) So you never seen Doc Cusamano go out at 3 in the morning on a call.

JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER: (As Meadow) Do the Cusamano kids ever find $50,000 in Krugerrands and a .45 automatic when they were hunting for Easter eggs?

GANDOLFINI: (As Tony) I'm in the waste management business. Everybody immediately assumes you're mobbed up. It's a stereotype¹², and it's offensive.

NUSSBAUM: Also it had an antihero in it that caused audiences to both be fascinated by him and to recoil¹³ from him. It was a given on television before "The Sopranos" that you couldn't have an alienating¹⁴ main character.

CORNISH: Right, they have to be likeable.

NUSSBAUM: Right. I think anybody who watches TV now knows that that's changed, so I also feel like because "The Sopranos" had this aura around it - that it was not television, that it was more like adult art, and it should be compared to other art - it kind of magnetized all the attention toward it. And, honestly, I think the status hangover from television has continued to haunt the way that people talk about it.

CORNISH: Right. When I was reading the book, I think it was pretty clear to me that in a way you were arguing that, like, fights about art kind of double as fights about what we take seriously and how that plays out in the idea of, like, the guilty pleasure show, which, frankly¹⁵, is often female-centered (laughter), oriented versus¹⁶ the gritty, punishing, brutal¹⁷, masculine antihero show, which is just, like, by its definition better somehow.

NUSSBAUM: The origins of the book were actually a conversation that I had with a younger colleague in the office. And I said to her, what kind of TV do you like? And she said in this very embarrassed way, well, you know, just guilty pleasures, like "Jane The Virgin¹⁸." And I basically went bananas and delivered this long, crazy speech about how great "Jane The Virgin" was, how sophisticated it was, how smart it was, how the fact that it was warm and the fact that it was humane¹⁹ didn't make it dumb.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "JANE THE VIRGIN")

ANTHONY MENDEZ: (As narrator) Our story begins 13 1/2 years ago when Jane Gloriana Villanueva was a mere²⁰ 10 years old.

NUSSBAUM: That's the rant²¹ that I've delivered forever. And I, basically, wrote this book because I wanted to extend that argument outwards²² and talk about TV in more complicated but also more embracing ways.

CORNISH: Have people stopped giving you a hard time for calling TV art?

NUSSBAUM: You know, it's surprising. I do occasionally run into somebody who is very much of the I don't even own a TV kind of mindset. But truthfully, the last five years have radically²³ altered TV. I think anybody who sees the enormous range of shows from anthology shows, everything from "The Leftovers²⁴" and "Vanderpump Rules"...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "VANDERPUMP RULES")

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK, you're going to have something sweet. And you're going to sit here. And you're going to pull yourself together.

NUSSBAUM: ...To "Law & Order: SVU" to "Hannibal" to "Adventure Time."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ADVENTURE TIME")

JEREMY SHADA: (As Finn) Hiya.

JOHN DIMAGGIO: (As Jake, yelling) Copy.

NUSSBAUM: And in order to talk about TV, it's necessary to knock down the ladder of status that cause people to only talk about antihero shows. But at this point, I feel like there's a passionate²⁵ audience for many, many kinds of TV, so it's actually a good moment to be writing about this.

CORNISH: That leads me to the final thing you kind of discuss in the book, which is us (laughter), the fans, and how that relationship has changed between those of us who are watching it and the people who are making it.

NUSSBAUM: Part of what fascinates me about TV is the fact that it's an episodic art form that takes place over time and is in kind of a loop with the audience. And people who create TV are under enormous pressure from fans. I think anybody who's been a fan of a show for years and sees it head toward the finale understands the kind of fraught²⁶ relationship that TV creators have with their audience. But this is part of what, I think, makes TV distinctive²⁷ is the fact that it's kind of made in front of our eyes.

CORNISH: And for our part, we didn't always used to have a way to talk back in a way that the creators and networks could hear us, right? I mean, yes, you could write a letter or something like that. But that's very different from in the moment, right?

NUSSBAUM: Yeah.

CORNISH: Like almost participating via social media or if you're a show like "Game Of Thrones," to be part of an ongoing²⁸ meta narrative²⁹ about what your writing is doing to the program that - you know, in the opinion of fans.

NUSSBAUM: Yeah. I have nothing but sympathy for the creators of television...

CORNISH: (Laughter).

NUSSBAUM: ...Because people live tweet directly at them. It's not easy. But, you know, I'm all for being part of a big mass audience talking back to TV. To me, that is the power of television is this loop with the audience, this relationship between the show and the fan or the critic and the way that people bond with shows. I mean, there's something very specific about that.

CORNISH: Emily Nussbaum - her new book is called "I Like To Watch." Thank you so much for talking with us.

NUSSBAUM: Thank you very much.

1 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 neurotic   

adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者

参考例句：

• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。
• There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。

5 sitcoms   

n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家，周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网

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 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

8 slayer   

n. 杀人者，凶手

参考例句：

• The young man was Oedipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of his own father. 这位青年就是俄狄浦斯。他在不明真相的情况下杀死了自己的父亲。
• May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters, then, deer-slayer? 如此说来，我可以指望你照料我和女儿了，杀鹿人？

9 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

13 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

14 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

15 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

16 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

17 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

18 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

19 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

20 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

21 rant   

v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话

参考例句：

• You can rant and rave at the fine,but you'll still have to pay it.你闹也好，骂也好，罚金还是得交。
• If we rant on the net,the world is our audience.如果我们在网络上大声嚷嚷，全世界都是我们的听众。

22 outwards   

adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形

参考例句：

• Does this door open inwards or outwards?这门朝里开还是朝外开？
• In lapping up a fur,they always put the inner side outwards.卷毛皮时，他们总是让内层朝外。

23 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

24 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

25 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

26 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

27 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

28 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

29 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。