《新闻编辑室》这部美剧为什么受这么多人追捧？ 第1页

《新闻编辑室》中有一段我在所有影视剧中最喜欢的台词，在今天看来，更加能够体现出编剧眼界和格局之广。

剧中主人公来到一所大学出席座谈会，观众提问环节，一名学生问台上嘉宾们“为什么美国是世界上最伟大的国家。”

一名教授首先发言，说美国因为自由而伟大。主人公沉吟半晌，然后开口了：

”It's NOT the greatest country in the world, professor. That's my answer.“

”它不是世界上最伟大的国家，这是我的答案“

主持人愣了一下，问他为什么

（省略一些批评美国广电总局的内容）

“With a straight face, you're gonna tell students that America's so star-spangled 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. [laughs] So 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.”

“难道你们可以一本正经地告诉学生，说美国如此出类拔萃，说我们是世界上唯一有自由的国家吗？加拿大有自由，日本有自由，英国，法国，意大利，德国，西班牙，澳大利亚，比利时都有自由。世界上207个主权国家里，大概有180个都有自由。”

“And yeah, you, sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there's some things you should know, and one of them is, there's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 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 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies. Now, 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 dunno know what the fuck you're talking about! Yosemite?”

“对，就是你（指着提问的学生），那位姐妹会女孩。万一有一天你误打误撞走进了一个投票站，有些事情你得知道，其中之一就是，绝对没有证据表明我们是世界上最伟大的国家。我们识字率排世界第7，数学能力第27， 科技水平第22， 人均预期寿命第49， 婴儿死亡率第178， 家庭收入中位数第3， 劳动力人数第4，出口值第4。仅仅有三样，我们是排世界第一的：狱中服刑人数占总人口比例，相信存在天使的成年人人数，和军事开销。我们花的军费比接下来26名的国家加起来都多，其中25个还是我们的盟友。现在来说...这都不是你一个20岁学生的错。尽管如此，毫无疑问，你是历史上最-差-的-一-代-人-之-一。 当你问‘是什么让美国成为世界上最伟大的国家’时，我不知道你tm的在说什么呢，优胜美地国家公园吗？

It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, 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 we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, 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 our last election, and we didn't [sighs] we didn't scare so easy... First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. Enough?

”它曾经是最伟大的。我们为了正义的事业挺身而出，我们为了原则而斗争，我们基于道德准则制定或废除法律，我们向贫困宣战，而不是向穷人宣战。我们敢于牺牲，我们关心四邻，我们喂饱人民的肚子，而不是拍着胸脯空谈。我们建立了伟大的功业，取得神明都难以想象的技术飞跃，探索宇宙，治愈疾病，培养了世界上最出色的艺术家，建成世界最大的经济体。我们身为凡人，却有志于伸手摘星，我们渴望智慧，而非嘲弄知识。我们不因为自己在大选里给谁投票就给自己贴上标签，我们也不会...（叹气）轻易地屈服于恐惧...

解决问题的第一步就是要承认问题。美国不是世界上最伟大的国家。（转向主持人）这些够了吗？“

--

有道是“入则无法家拂士，出则无敌国外患者，国恒亡。 然后知生于忧患，而死于安乐也。”

国家有难了，要去叫醒沉睡的人 -- 《新闻编辑室》就是这样一个故事，这是一个美国版“士人”的故事。