【影片】承認問題是解問題的第一步－－The Newsroom 新聞急先鋒

『The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.』

Will
It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

美國不是一個最偉大的國家。教授，這就是我的答案。

Moderator
[pause] You're saying—

(默愣)你是說……

Will
Yes.

是的。

Moderator
Let's talk about—

讓我們來談談……(企圖轉移話題)

Start off easy. First get rid of the two noisemakers.

不理睬兩位講者，然後坐直身子

Will

Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

(面對自由派) 好，莎倫，美國藝術基金會(NEA National Endowment for the Arts)是個廢物。沒錯！它花了不少稅款，但給他機會(指著保守派)，一次次讓他拿這個來咬妳。

它不是消耗錢，而是花掉一次次的選票，消耗廣播時間跟專欄報導的篇幅。

妳知道人們為什麼不喜歡自由主義者嗎？因為他們總是輸！

要是他們夠聰明，又怎麼他媽的沒有一次贏過！

The use of inappropriate language has a purpose—the filter's off.

故意用髒字，讓批論會被過濾剪掉。

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

而你(面對保守派)真夠厚臉皮，有面子對這些學生說「美國已經強到爆炸了，是世界上唯一的自由國家」嗎？加拿大有自由、日本有自由、英國、法國、義大利、德國、西班牙、澳洲，連比利時都有自由！

全球兩百零七個主權獨立的國家中，大概有一百八十個都是自由的。

The fact-dump that's coming now serves several purposes. It backs up his argument, it reveals him to be exceptional (what normal person has these stats at their fingertips?), but mostly it's musical. This is the allegro.

這個突來的長篇大論有他的目的，一是為了支持自己的論點、二是為了展現自己有別於口說無憑的一般人，但這大論不但節奏流暢還相當快。

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world.

還有妳(指發問者)——這個姐妹會的女生(sorority 姐妹會、女聯會)——以免妳哪天不小心散步到投票所，有些事情妳應該要知道：妳說美國是最強國家這個論點是完全毫無根據可言。

We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories:

number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies.

我們識字率排第七、數學排27、科學排22、平均壽命排49、嬰兒死亡率排178、平均家庭收入排第三、勞動力排第四、出口額排第四，只有三項我們排榜首；

被關在監獄裡的人數、相信天使的成年人數、以及國防開銷，這開銷比後面的26個國家總和還多，其中25個還是同盟國。

None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

當然這不是妳這個二十歲大學生的錯，但妳卻無庸置疑的活在這史上最糟糕的年代！所以當妳問我是什麼造就了這個最偉大的國家？我真不懂妳他媽的妳在講什麼狗屁！優勝美地嗎？(美國的一個壯麗的國家公園)

[Cell-phone cameras are everywhere— people are tweeting and texting away.]

每個人都拿出手機在錄影和發推文

Now we slow down and get a glimpse into his pain. The oratorical technique is called "floating opposites"— we did, we didn't, we did, we didn't... But rhythmically you don't want this to be too on the money. You're not just testing the human ear anymore; you want people to hear what he's saying.

此時可以看到他放慢速度且露出哀痛。他所用的演講技巧稱作"floating opposites(浮動對立)"，在有無間交替，所說並非全然正向，他只是想試看人們到底聽出來他所養要表達的。

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't  belittle  it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

我們的確輝煌過。

我們維護正義，我們為道德而戰，我們透過道德遏止惡法、建立良法。

我們對貧窮開戰，而不是對窮人。

我們犧牲奉獻，我們敦親睦鄰，我們腳踏實地，而不是空口說白話。

我們有過偉大的發明，先進的科技，探索太空，治療疾病和造就史上最傑出的藝術家，把經濟推上了世界巔峰。

我們野心勃勃，即使身為凡人。

我們渴求知識，並不引以輕視，這並沒有讓人感到不堪。

我們並不借由選票來定義自己為何物，也不輕易畏懼。

之所以能做到這些，只因為我們了解……

有個大人物說過：「解決問題的的第一步，就是承認它視個問題。」

美國不再是最強大的國家了。

To resolve a melody, you have to end on either the tonic or the dominant. (Try humming "Mary Had a Little Lamb" right now, but leave off "snow." You'll feel like you need to sneeze.) So Will ends where he started. Then, just to acknowledge that he just sang an aria— which is unusual in the course of a normal conversation—he turns to the moderator who'd been needling him and casually asks...

為做一個尾聲，你必須結束於額外補充上或交替言論主導權來自然的結束意見(試試哼"瑪莉有隻小羔羊"，但以"雪"做結尾，你就會覺得很不舒服)

所以Will只要表現出他只是在感嘆，讓這段突來不自然的言論成一段侃侃而談，然後便把發言權交給那個諷刺他的主持人，並隨口問問……

Will
[to moderator] Enough?

(對主持人)滿意了嗎？

社會解放之後，我們一直在教導我們的"新公民"要有"獨立、評斷和思考的能力"，這不是一句"醒醒吧台灣"就可以解決的事情。

一直以來，假自由之名的社會，從來不乏負面教材，憤恨過去的遺毒，自矜過去的榮耀，不滿外界的漠視

而我卻在一部外國影集中看到讓我震撼的正面教材，

接受原來我們已經沒落。

p.s. 每週三晚上 9:00 HBO 播出 The Newsroom (新聞急先鋒)