VOA标准英语2013--穆斯林艺术家的表演打破成见

 

Muslim Artists Perform to Break Stereotypes¹ 穆斯林艺术家的表演打破成见

LOS ANGELES — For decades, Arab actors have been successful in Hollywood. Among the most successful are Omar Sharif, Tony Shalhoub, and F. Murray Abraham; the latter won an Academy Award for his role in Mozart. However Muslims, openly proclaiming their religion, are a minority in the U.S. population and an even smaller minority in the U.S. entertainment industry. Those who are breaking in are trying to use their talent to discredit² negative stereotypes. Several showcased their work at a recent gathering³ of predominantly American Muslims in Los Angeles.

Dean Obeidallah is not just an American comedian⁴.

“My ethnicity and my faith make me a little different than many other comedians,” said Obeidallah.

He is a Muslim with Palestinian roots, and says his identity has not created barriers for him. However, he also says that stereotypes of what he represents do exist in the U.S.

Obeidallah uses comedy to talk about misconceptions and about what it means to be Muslim. He has co-directed a comedy documentary on this theme called, The Muslims Are Coming! Obeidallah said he has received positive reviews from both Muslims and non-Muslims, but sometimes non-Muslims don’t know how to respond to his jokes.

 “It can make audiences a little bit uncomfortable because they’re not sure what’s politically correct to laugh at and what’s politically incorrect to laugh at,” explained Obeidallah.

American Muslim poet Amir Sulaiman points out that some Muslims feel uncomfortable listening to him perform.

“Some people they feel nervous. Some things I say are not politically correct. They’re not fashioned and perfected in a political kind of way. Some people will say we don’t want you to say this; we don’t want you to say that as a Muslim person. When you are an artist or a public figure, many times you automatically become a spokesperson for millions of people. All these people have different points of view and different way that they want to be portrayed⁵, but every artist can’t be responsible for everyone,” said Sulaiman.

Sulaiman also said that being a minority artist presents unique challenges.

“So I’m sure there are some walls, hurdles⁶ because I’m Muslim, black or because the types of things I talk about. But the most important thing is for me to be sincere and heartfelt and from that, it always works,” said Sulaiman.

Singing from her heart has worked well for Yuna, the first artist from Malaysia to break into the U.S. market. Abeer Khan is a fan, but she says not every Muslim will be able to accept a Muslim woman as a performer.

 “I think it’s something so new it’s going to take time for people to fully⁷ understand it, maybe come to grasp with there are very talented Muslim women out there. She’s a trailblazer and that’s what we need,” said Khan.

Whether it’s through music, poetry or comedy, Dean Obeidallah feels it is important for Muslim artists and entertainers to appear in the U.S. media. 

“I think after 9/11 we became aware as a community that we need to get involved in the media. We need to tell our story. I don’t want other people answering questions.  In the United States, only one to two percent of the country is Muslim.  We can’t reach the other 98% unless we go in mainstream⁸ media,” explained Obeidallah.

He also pointed⁹ out that with more visibility, Muslim artists and entertainers can showcase their identity and talents to the public to change anti-Islamic beliefs and stereotypes. 

 

1 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

3 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

4 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。

5 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。