VOA标准英语2010年-Puppets, Political Satire Popular on K

In its third season, the XYZ Show is using puppets and humor to lampoon¹ Kenyan politicians, while tackling controversial issues for 15 minutes each week on Kenyan television. It uses sketch² comedy to tackle issues such as corruption³ and political privilege.

For many Kenyans, the evening news often is frustrating⁴. Near daily reports of political squabbling, corruption and government incompetence⁵ add to public cynicism. For 15 minutes every week, though, TV audiences tune⁶ in as their leaders are held accountable. Taking its cue from the day's headlines, the XYZ Show presents its own version of the news, using a small army of life-sized puppets to satirize⁷ Kenyan politics.

The idea of poking⁸ fun at Kenyan leaders is not new. Groundbreaking comedy group Redykyulass often imitates Kenyan politicians for television gags, but XYZ director James Kanja explains that the XYZ concept is fundamentally different.

"We have had a few comedy TV shows that have tried to do that. But it has always been more of comedy than satire⁹," he said. "And, that was one of the reasons why we chose to go with satire because we can say much more and we can bring in a seriousness to the comedy that you normally do not get."

The writers of the show also use the broadcast as a forum¹⁰ to probe the post-election clashes that rocked Kenya nearly three years ago. More than 1,300 people were killed after President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga accused each other of fraud in the December 2007 presidential election. After Kenya failed to investigate the violence, the International Criminal Court initiated¹¹ its own probe.

In the first episode of the XYZ Show this season, puppets portraying¹² Higher Education Minister William Ruto and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta seek advice from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on avoiding arrest by the court.

None of Kenya's leading politicians have been spared by the XYZ Show. In one sketch, a puppet of Prime Minister Odinga complains to former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan about Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

In 2008, Mr. Annan mediated¹³ a peace agreement between the Kenyan president and prime minister that ended nearly two months of violence. On XYZ, the former U.N. chief has been featured as a frustrated¹⁴, and occasionally aggravated¹⁵, marriage counselor¹⁶ for the two.

XYZ is the creation of Godfrey Mwambembwa, better known in Kenya as Gado, the editorial cartoonist for the newspaper Daily Nation. For nearly two decades, Gado has used his space in the paper to criticize Kenya's leaders and highlight issues of national concern.

Gado says the inspiration for XYZ came during a 2003 visit to the set of the long-running French political satire television show "Les Guinols de L'info" or "News Puppets."

But many Kenyan TV stations did not share Gado's enthusiasm for puppet satire, saying the subject matter was too controversial. So, using his own money and funds from the French Embassy in Nairobi, Gado produced a pilot which he hoped would convince the stations. The pilot sat in Gado's desk until 2007, when he showed it to French journalist Marie Lora. In the wake of the post-election crisis, Lora was convinced the show could work in Kenya. Together, Lora and Gado sought funding from organizations such as the Ford¹⁷ Foundation and the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development to film the first season.

Although the XYZ Show has won the admiration¹⁸ of most viewers, politicians such as Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno, call the program "weird," saying that Kenya's leaders are being victimized for the sake of profit.

XYZ's fans say the show can be a vehicle for positive change in Kenya. Gado, though, expresses modest hopes for the show.

"At the end of it all, we will just leave it to other people to judge our legacy¹⁹ or the XYZ legacy," said Gado. "If we will be able to contribute in fighting corruption, I'll be more than happy. If we contribute in good governance, then I'm more than happy. Obviously, we are contributing to freedom of the press, freedom of expression. In many ways, we will be happy if we can contribute in a small way."

Whatever its impact, XYZ entertains audiences with its unique brand of Kenyan news.

Director James Kanja says fans can expect even bigger things in future episodes. XYZ plans to expand its cast of characters, which already includes U.S. President Barack Obama and pop-singer Michael Jackson, to touch on broader issues. But Kanja says XYZ's puppets will always poke²⁰ fun at Kenya's politics.

"There are a lot of things that go on around this society that we need to ask questions about and that is the main reason why we do XYZ. At the end of the day, whoever we are poking fun at - you probably deserve what's coming your way," said Kanja.

XYZ's creators are working to expand the program to a 30-minute, year-round broadcast.
 

1 lampoon   

n.讽刺文章；v.讽刺

参考例句：

• His cartoon mercilessly lampoon the leading politician of the day.他的讽刺漫画无情地挖苦了当今的政界要人。
• He was lampooned for his short stature and political views.他的矮小身材和政治观点使他成了受奚落的对象。

2 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 satirize   

v.讽刺

参考例句：

• Somebody satirize that the general's lacking in courage.有人讽刺这位将军缺乏勇气。
• Luxun created such an image to satirize.鲁迅是为了讽刺才塑造这样一个人物形象的。

8 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。

9 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

10 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

11 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

12 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

14 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

16 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

17 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

18 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

19 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

20 poke   

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：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。