新概念英语（第四册，旧版）复习（原文及全文翻译）——Lesson 12 - The Language of Hollywood（好莱坞的语言）

Lesson 12 - The Language of Hollywood

What characterizes almost all Hollywood pictures is their inner emptiness. This is compensated for by an outer impressiveness. Such impressiveness usually takes the form of truly grandiose realism. Nothing is spared to make the setting, the costumes, all of the surface details correct. These efforts help to mask the essential emptiness of the characterization, and the absurdities and trivialities of the plots. The houses look like houses, the streets look like streets; the people look and talk like people; but they are empty of humanity, credibility, and motivation. Needless to say, the disgraceful censorship code is an important factor in predetermining the content of these pictures. But the code does not disturb the profits, nor the entertainment value of the films; it merely helps to prevent them from being credible. It isn't too heavy a burden for the industry to bear. In addition to the impressiveness of the settings, there is a use of the camera, which at times seems magical. But of what human import is all this skill, all this effort, all this energy in the production of effects, when the story, the representation of life is hollow, stupid, banal, childish?

James T. Farrell The Language of Hollywood

参考译文——好莱坞的语言

        几乎所有好莱坞电影的特点都是内在的空虚，需要通过外在的深刻印象来补偿。这种深刻印象的表现形式通常是真正宏大的现实主义。我们不遗余力地让布景、服装和所有表面细节都正确无误。这些努力有助于掩盖人物之本质空虚、情节之荒谬和琐碎。房子看起来像真房子，街道看起来像真街道，人们看起来、说起话来都像真的，但他们缺乏人性、信誉和动机。不用说，可耻的审查制度是预先确定这些影片内容的一个重要因素。但审查制度并没有影响电影的利润和娱乐价值，只是影响了电影的信誉。对于这个行业来说，这个负担并不太重。除了令人印象深刻的布景外，还使用了有时看起来很神奇的镜头。但是，当故事（生活的表现）空洞、愚蠢、平庸和幼稚时，所有这些技能、努力、为了产生特效所花费的功夫，对人类有什么意义呢？

注：博主基于百度翻译校译而成

参考资料：

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/farrell/1945/01/hollywood.htm