跟《经济学人》学英文：2024年09月14日这期 Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”

Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”

Even if they may not want to admit it

原文：

When Netflix released the first season of “Emily in Paris” in 2020, French

critics ridiculed the American-made drama for its Instagrammable clichés

and vacuous plot. The series was “a fantasised vision disconnected from

reality”, sniffed Le Parisien, a newspaper. “No cliché is spared,” wrote

Première, a film magazine, including that “the French are all mean and all

lazy” and “incorrigible flirts”. A critic for Le Monde, Parisians’ highbrow

bible, finished viewing the first season feeling queasy, “as if I had eaten all

the macaroons in the box by myself”. In America “Emily in Paris” was

nominated for Emmy awards and Golden Globes; there were no such

accolades in France.

当网飞在2020年发布《艾米丽在巴黎》第一季时，法国评论家嘲笑这部美国制作的电视剧充满了陈词滥调和空洞的情节。一家名为《巴黎人报》的报纸嗤之以鼻地说，这个系列是“一个脱离现实的幻想”。电影杂志Première写道，“没有什么陈词滥调可以幸免”，包括“法国人都是卑鄙的、懒惰的”和“不可救药的调情者”。巴黎人的高雅圣经《世界报》(Le Monde)的一位评论家看完第一季后感到反胃，“好像我一个人把盒子里的蛋白杏仁饼干都吃光了”。在美国，《艾米丽在巴黎》获得了艾美奖奖和金球奖的提名；在法国没有这样的荣誉。

学习：

ridiculed：美 [ˈrɪdɪkjuːld] 嘲笑；愚弄；（ridicule的过去式和过去分词）

drama：电视剧

vacuous：美 [ˈvækjuəs] 空洞的；空洞无物的；

sniff：抱怨；不以为然地说；轻蔑地说

incorrigible：英 [ɪnˈkɒrɪdʒɪb(ə)l] 屡教不改的；无可救药的；

flirts： 美 [flɝts] 调情的人；卖弄风骚的人；（flirt的复数）

highbrow：趣味高雅的；知识渊博的；有高尚品味的；

queasy: 美 [ˈkwizi] 恶心的；欲吐的；

macaroons：蛋白杏仁甜饼干；杏元饼干

accolades：美 ['ækəleɪdz] 嘉奖；（accolade的复数）

原文：

Four years on there has been a volte-face. After Netflix released five

episodes of season four in August, “Emily in Paris” shot to the top of its

most-watched list in France. It could happen again when the remaining

episodes are released on September 12th. Many French seem to have put

aside their disdain and are embracing the fluff. Season four offers “a nice

dose of irony for a sparkling guilty pleasure”, wrote Le Point, a magazine.

Le Parisien also conceded that it “sparkles”.

四年过去了，情况发生了180度的大转变。网飞在8月发布了第四季的五集后，《艾米丽在巴黎》一跃成为法国最受关注的剧集。当剩余剧集在9月12日上映时，这种情况可能会再次发生。许多法国人似乎已经抛开了他们的鄙视，开始拥抱这些轻松、无深度的内容。杂志Le Point写道，第四季提供了“一剂很好的讽刺，为闪闪发光的罪恶快感”。《巴黎人报》也承认它“闪闪发光”。

学习：

volte-face：彻底转变；大转变；

disdain：轻蔑；藐视；不屑

fluff: 轻松、无深度的内容

这里的 “fluff” 指的是 轻松、无深度的内容，通常是指那些娱乐性强、但没有特别严肃或深刻内涵的作品。在这个上下文中，“fluff” 是在形容电视剧《Emily in Paris》的轻松娱乐性质，尽管它没有太多复杂的剧情或深刻的思想，但观众还是觉得它很有趣、令人愉快。

例子：

• The movie was just fluff, but it was fun to watch after a long day.
  （那部电影虽然没有什么深度，但在一天的忙碌之后看很有趣。）

• Sometimes I enjoy reading a bit of fluff to relax my mind.
  （有时候我喜欢读一些轻松的内容来放松自己。）

在中文里，“fluff” 可以理解为 “轻松娱乐” 或 “无伤大雅的消遣”。

原文：

This shift is a surprise. Season four introduces little that is fresh besides an

escapade in Rome and a new American work rival. It finds Emily (Lily

Collins), a young social-media executive from Chicago, still mixed up in a

love triangle with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) and Camille (Camille Razat).

Emily’s life is still mostly confined to the cobbled streets of Paris’s left bank

and the parquet-floored salons of the rive droite. The brand placement

remains brazen, the dialogue vapid and Emily’s outfits eyebrow-raising. The

show is the antithesis of the gritty realism and darkness that define many of

today’s best French TV series.

这种转变令人惊讶。第四季除了在罗马的一次恶作剧和一个新的美国工作对手之外，没有引入什么新鲜的东西。影片中，艾米丽(莉莉·柯林斯饰)，一位来自芝加哥的年轻社交媒体主管，仍然沉浸在与加布里埃尔(卢卡斯·布拉沃饰)和卡米尔(卡米尔·拉扎特饰)的三角恋中。艾米丽的生活大部分仍然局限在巴黎左岸的鹅卵石街道和rive droite镶木地板的沙龙里。品牌植入依然厚颜无耻，对话索然无味，艾米莉的服装令人瞠目结舌。这部剧与当今许多优秀法国电视剧中的现实主义和黑暗截然相反。

学习：

escapade：美 [ˈɛskəˌpeɪd] 冒险行为；恶作剧；

love triangle：三角恋

confined： 有限的；狭小的；局限的

cobbled：由鹅卵石铺成的；铺有鹅卵石的

parquet：美 [pɑrˈkeɪ] 镶木地板；拼花木地板

parquet-floored ：橡木地板的

brand placement：品牌植入

brazen：厚颜无耻的；肆无忌惮的

vapid：乏味的；无趣的

eyebrow-raising: 令人惊讶的

这里的 “eyebrow-raising” 指的是 令人惊讶或引起注意的，通常带有负面或者不可思议的意味。在这个上下文中，“eyebrow-raising” 是在形容《Emily in Paris》中艾米丽的服装风格非常引人注目，甚至有些夸张，可能让观众觉得不可思议或不符合常规。

例子：

• His decision to quit his job without any backup plan was eyebrow-raising.
  （他在没有任何后备计划的情况下辞职的决定让人觉得不可思议。）

• The celebrity arrived at the event in an eyebrow-raising outfit.
  （那位明星穿着一身让人惊讶的服装出现在活动中。）

在中文里，“eyebrow-raising” 可以理解为 “令人惊讶” 或 “引人注目到让人侧目”。

antithesis：对立面；对照；对立物；

gritty：勇敢的；坚定的；坚韧不拔的；

原文：

So what do the French now see in “Emily in Paris”? One answer may be

greater use of the French language. Darren Star, the show’s creator who is

also behind “Sex and the City”, has said that in season one the French

characters spoke English even between themselves because he was “a little

nervous” about how much foreign-language dialogue an American audience

could handle. Now there are regular scenes in which Sylvie (Philippine

Leroy-Beaulieu), the caustic founder and head of the PR agency where Emily

works, speaks to her colleagues, husband and lover in French.

那么法国人现在在《艾米丽在巴黎》中看到了什么？一个答案可能是更多地使用法语。该剧的创作者达伦·思达也是《欲望都市》的幕后推手，他说在第一季中，法国角色甚至在他们之间也说英语，因为他对美国观众能接受多少外语对话“有点紧张”。现在经常有这样的场景，西尔维(菲利平·勒鲁瓦·博利约饰)，刻薄的创始人和艾米丽工作的公关公司的负责人，用法语和她的同事、丈夫和爱人说话。

学习：

caustic： 美 [ˈkɔstɪk] 挖苦的；讥讽的；刻薄的

原文：

Another explanation, particularly for younger French viewers, may be that

the fourth season introduces a #MeToo storyline. Sylvie decides to call out

the sexual harassment she suffered in the past from the head of a big luxury

firm. Though only a subplot, this helps to make the series feel a bit less

ridiculous. France may have come late to the American-led movement. But a

new generation of French women is increasingly intolerant of male

behaviour that their mothers either accepted or celebrated as “sexy, French

and free”, says Agnès Poirier, a critic. Recent books and films have shed

harsh light on sexual predation. To call out abuse, French women have

devised their own MeToo hashtag, #BalanceTonPorc (denounce your pig).

另一种解释，尤其是对年轻的法国观众来说，可能是第四季引入了#MeToo故事情节。西尔维决定向一家大型奢侈品公司的负责人揭露她过去遭受的性骚扰。虽然只是一个次要情节，但这有助于让该系列感觉不那么荒谬。法国可能在美国领导的运动中姗姗来迟。批评家阿涅丝·普瓦里耶说，但是新一代的法国女性越来越不能容忍男性的行为，她们的母亲要么接受这些行为，要么赞美它们是“性感、法国和自由”。最近的书籍和电影揭示了性掠夺的残酷现实。为了大声疾呼，法国女性设计了自己的MeToo标签# BalanceTonPorc(谴责你的猪)。

学习：

subplot：次要情节；陪衬情节

predation：捕食；掠食；食肉行为；捕猎；

原文：

Perhaps above all “Emily in Paris” serves as a reminder to the French of

what makes the City of Light so alluring. Parisians tend to grumble about

overcrowded metros, rats and roadworks. Foreigners stop to gaze at its

bakeries, bridges and luxury stores. As the Olympic games did this summer,

the Netflix series reveals Paris to the French afresh. Mr Star always said he

meant it as a “love letter to Paris”. Now the French seem to grasp this, and

the benefits it brings. Among Americans who have watched the series, 86%

have a good impression of the French, next to 67% of those who have not.

Sales of French luxury brands featured in the show, such as Carel’s woven

scoubidou tote bag worn by Emily in season two, have soared.

或许最重要的是，《艾米丽在巴黎》提醒了法国人，是什么让这座光之城如此迷人。巴黎人倾向于抱怨过度拥挤的地铁、老鼠和道路施工。外国人停下来凝视它的面包店、桥梁和奢侈品商店。正如今年夏天的奥运会一样，网飞系列向法国人重新展示了巴黎。斯达先生总是说他把它当成“写给巴黎的情书”。现在法国人似乎抓住了这一点，以及它带来的好处。在看过这部电视剧的美国人中，86%的人对法国人有好感，而没有看过的人只有67%。时装秀上展示的法国奢侈品牌的销量飙升，比如第二季中艾米丽穿的卡雷尔的编织scoubidou手提袋。

学习：

grumble：（尤指不停地对小事）抱怨；发牢骚；

roadworks：道路施工；（roadwork的复数）

love letter：情书

woven：织物的；编织的

tote：手提包；大手提袋；

原文：

This renewed enthusiasm for Paris is not without some annoyances for the

French. Filming locations such as Place de l’Estrapade, where the fictional

Emily lives, have been overrun by selfie-snapping tourists. Terra Nera, the

left-bank restaurant that in the series is run by Gabriel, has turned from a

cosy Italian into a destination eatery. Estate agents report a surge of interest

in properties in neighbourhoods featured in the show (although overall

prices in Paris remain stable). Yet such inconveniences may be worth it if the

series, however silly, makes the French look differently at themselves. ■

这种对巴黎重新燃起的热情对法国人来说不无烦恼。虚构的艾米丽住的地方，比如埃斯特腊帕德广场，已经被自拍的游客淹没了。该系列中由加布里埃尔经营的左岸餐厅Terra Nera已经从一家舒适的意大利餐厅变成了一家目的地餐馆。房地产经纪人报告称，人们对展览中所展示的街区的房产兴趣激增(尽管巴黎的整体价格保持稳定)。然而，如果这部电视剧，无论多么愚蠢，能让法国人以不同的眼光看待自己，那么这些不便也许是值得的。■

学习：

annoyances：烦恼；打扰；（annoyance的复数）

eatery：美 [ˈidəri] 小餐馆；饭店；食堂

estate agents：房产中介

后记

2024年9月17日11点10分于上海。