艾倫·德杰尼勒斯：我“出柜”，但我很出色

今年的奧斯卡頒獎禮，我們又見到了艾倫·德杰尼勒斯。如果說對于2007年德杰尼勒斯初登奧斯卡舞臺，奧斯卡組委會有搞噱頭之嫌，那么這次“梅開二度”便是對其實至名歸的肯定。從當(dāng)年“冒天下之大不韙”公開“出柜”，陷入事業(yè)的低谷，到憑借著過人才智“咸魚翻身”， 德杰尼勒斯展現(xiàn)的不止是一名“邊緣人物”的奮斗史，還是一次公眾態(tài)度的進(jìn)化史。

德杰尼勒斯“出柜”的那會兒，同性戀似乎在全球范圍內(nèi)都是遭人嫌的角色，即使是在以開明包容自居的美國，她也不免落了個失業(yè)潦倒的下場。但十幾年后， 由于多方努力，世界多國政府以及民眾也開始以更寬容和理智的目光來看待這類人群。不說遠(yuǎn)的，今年情人節(jié)，影片《朱諾》的主演艾倫·佩姬公開“出柜”，各種媒體和受訪群眾并沒有表現(xiàn)出一面倒的聲討。不久前，香港知名網(wǎng)絡(luò)社區(qū)舉辦“男神”選舉，熱情的網(wǎng)友還“意味深長”地將何韻詩捧上了第四位。

在今天，“基”情依然是個讓人忌諱的話題——這是事實，但它還會是“置人于死地”的話柄嗎？據(jù)說，德杰尼勒斯主持的第86屆奧斯卡是自2005年以來收視率最高的一屆——這或許多少能說明點問題。

In September， Ellen DeGeneres told the audience of her talkshow about the pros and cons of hosting the Academy Awards：“Pro： a lot of fancy designers will want to approach me and want me to wear a beautiful， expensive gown. Con： ain’t no way in hell I’m wearing a gown.” The audience 1）erupted in cheers.

Such vocal approval is an indication of how far both DeGeneres’s fortunes and U.S. public attitudes towards sexuality and gender have shifted. At the turn of the century， you could have been excused for thinking DeGeneres was down and out.

After spending two decades establishing herself as one of the most popular comedians in the U.S.， in 1997 she gambled everything on coming out as a lesbian， both in real life and in character on the hit sitcom that bore her name—and she seemed to lose. Advertisers 2）deserted her show， her relationship with Anne Heche became tabloid 3）fodder， she sank into depression and her career seemed to 4）stall.

Look at her now. DeGeneres hasn’t just bounced back； she’s a 5）bona fide American superstar， with a 6）juggernaut of a talk show， nearly three billion views on her YouTube channel， and more Twitter followers than Oprah Winfrey， CNN or any member of One Direction. She has done it on her own terms.

DeGeneres has never been one to think small. Born outside New Orleans in 1958， she once said she decided early in life “I wanted to have money， I wanted to be special， I wanted people to like me， I wanted to be famous.” One of the key aspects of her success is that she has achieved this， lost it all and come back stronger without coming across as ambitious or egocentric， let alone nasty or mean.

Overcoming 7）adversity is a 8）motif that repeats itself in DeGeneres’ life. When she was a 21-year-old college dropout， she fought with her girlfriend Kat and left their apartment. When Kat found her at a rock concert

and begged her to come home， Ellen ignored her. Minutes later， Kat was killed in a car crash. Devastated， DeGeneres almost fell into self-destruction but found herself in her work. She impulsively 9）embarked on what would become her comedy career， writing a routine called A Phone Call to God that she decided—one day—she would perform on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Seven years of dedicated 10）gigging later， in 1986， she did just that—and was the first female comedian he invited over for a chat after her routine.

In 1994， DeGeneres landed her own ABC sitcom， called Ellen. Rumours about her sexuality grew and hints were dropped on the show until in 1997 both Ellen the character and DeGeneres the performer came out as gay.

The coming out sparked a mini culture war， with many praising the comedian’s courage while others 11）recoiled. The TV evangelist Jerry Falwell branded her “Ellen DeGenerate”.

Initial support from advertisers and the network slipped away， audiences fell， and in May 1998 Ellen was cancelled. Four months later， Will Grace—the first network sitcom with a lead character who was out from the start—debuted to considerable success. But Ellen was out in the cold. “I didn’t work for three years，”she has said. “I was so angry. I thought： I earned this. I didn’t get this because I was beautiful； I didn’t get this because I had connections in the business. I really worked my way up to a show， a sitcom that was mine that was successful， that was on for five years. I did what was right： I came out， which was good for me and ultimately it was the only thing I could do. And then I got punished for it.”

By then， DeGeneres was re-establishing herself as a major standup. She was praised when she hosted the Emmys soon after 9/11—asking“what would upset the Taliban more than a gay woman wearing a suit in front of a room full of Jews？” —and secured a new sitcom on CBS. Momentum was gathering. And in 2003， she stole the film Finding Nemo as 12）scatterbrained Pacific 13）regal blue tang Dory.

In 2003， she launched The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Combining celebrity guests and comedy 14）shtick—dancing with the audience， socialmedia 15）blooper segments—it was fun and 16）feelgood but in a comfy， pally way that contrasted with Oprah’s 17）messianic 18）vibe. It won several Emmys in its first year and ratings climbed. They haven’t stopped yet.

In 2004， DeGeneres started dating the actor Portia di Rossi， whom she married in 2008 and lives with in apparently blissful， tabloidunfriendly domesticity.

DeGeneres’ new mainstream popularity was cemented in 2007 when she hosted the Oscars for the first time. The fact that she was the first openly gay person to do so was perhaps less interesting than the sense that she was tapped because of her upbeat tone， a marked shift from two years of distinctly 19）barbed hosting from Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. Now DeGeneres was the 20）go-to act to keep everyone calm.

“These days it seems that everyone loves DeGeneres，” W magazine noted. “Her distinctive hip populism cuts across divergent demographics while alienating no one…She just seems so nice and so normal.” It might have taken a decade， but DeGeneres had reclaimed her position as a kind of national best buddy. But she has kept getting bigger. Her talk show goes 21）from strength to strength， 22）clocking up ever-growing ratings， 33 Emmys 23）to date and A-list guests （Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep in recent weeks）. The New York Times called her the new “Oprah”， noting her extraordinary advertising pull and growing range of branded products and media ventures， and suggesting her show has “helped fuel a 24）full-fledged cultural movement， in which bullying is not OK”.

Certainly， DeGeneres is using her industry 25）clout to push things forward. Through her company， A Very Good Production， she is currently producing sitcom One Big Happy. DeGeneres will even graduate from comic relief to leading fish in Finding Dory， the sequel to Finding Nemo， scheduled for release in 2016.

And of course she has been invited to host the Oscars again—notably in the wake of another couple of fractious years courtesy of the bizarre Hathaway-Franco double act of 2012 and Seth MacFarlane’s bad-taste 26）bonanza in 2013.

DeGeneres was once asked about the moment when Johnny Carson invited her over to chat after her debut appearance on The Tonight Show. “It 27）catapulted my career，”she acknowledged， but “that’s not why I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it because…I wanted people to get me.” A bumpy threedecade ride later， it’s safe to say that America gets Ellen DeGeneres， and it likes her.

去年九月的時候，艾倫·德杰尼勒斯在自己的脫口秀節(jié)目上對觀眾講述了主持奧斯卡頒獎禮的好處和壞處：“好處是，一堆花俏的設(shè)計師會來找你，希望你穿上一條漂亮又昂貴的禮裙；壞處是，我打死也不會穿上禮裙?！庇^眾席上爆發(fā)出一陣歡呼聲。

這樣的聲援既顯出了德杰尼勒斯極高人氣，又標(biāo)志著美國民眾對于性向和社會性別問題的態(tài)度已經(jīng)發(fā)生了轉(zhuǎn)變。十幾二十年前，要是你認(rèn)為德杰尼勒斯潦倒又過氣，倒是可以理解的。

德杰尼勒斯花了二十年的時間把自己打造成為美國最受歡迎的喜劇演員之一，隨后，在1997年，她孤注一擲，公開了自己同性戀的身份，無論是在現(xiàn)實生活中還是在她賴以成名的熱劇中——而她似乎賭輸了。廣告商從她的節(jié)目中撤離，而她與安妮·希奇的戀情一度成為八卦小報的熱點，她在絕望中沉淪，她的事業(yè)也似乎擱淺。

但是看看現(xiàn)在的她。德杰尼勒斯不僅僅起死回生，還是位名副其實的美國巨星：她的脫口秀極受歡迎，在其YouTube頻道上差不多有三十億的點擊量；她在推特上的“粉絲”比奧普拉·溫弗瑞、CNN，甚至任一位“單向樂隊”的成員都要多。她用自己的方式完成了“絕地反擊”。

德杰尼勒斯一直都胸懷大志。1958年出生于新奧爾良市郊的她曾說過，她很小就立志“想賺大錢，想標(biāo)新立異，想成為‘萬人迷’，想聲名遠(yuǎn)播”。造就其成功的關(guān)鍵點之一是她成功過，跌倒過，然后重振雄風(fēng)，卻沒有給人野心勃勃或者狂妄自大的印象，更別說卑鄙刻薄了。

逆境重生是德杰尼勒斯生活不斷重復(fù)的主旋律。當(dāng)她21歲從大學(xué)輟學(xué)時，她和女友凱特吵架后離家出走。凱特在一個搖滾音樂會上找到她并求她回家，但艾倫卻沒有理她。幾分鐘后，凱特死于一場車禍。德杰尼勒斯崩潰了，她幾乎在自毀中不能自拔，但是卻在工作中找到了自我。她一股腦地著手開創(chuàng)自己的喜劇事業(yè)，寫了一個娛樂節(jié)目——《給上帝打電話》，這個節(jié)目她認(rèn)為自己有一天會在《約翰尼·卡森今夜秀》上表演。做了七年的現(xiàn)場表演之后，終于在1986年，她成功了，成為了第一位受邀登上約翰尼·卡森節(jié)目，表演單口相聲并接受卡森訪談的女性喜劇演員。

1994年，德杰尼勒斯在ABC電視臺推出了自己的情景喜劇《艾倫》。關(guān)于其性取向的謠言四起，節(jié)目中也顯出了一點端倪，1997年，艾倫這個角色以及德杰尼勒斯本人都公開了自己的同性戀身份。

這一“出柜”行為引起了一場文化的小戰(zhàn)爭，不少人覺得她勇氣可嘉，而一些人則持反對意見。電視傳教士杰瑞·法威爾稱她為“艾倫·退化者”。

廣告商以及電視臺起初的聲援消退，觀眾銳減，1998年5月，《艾倫》被撤掉了。四個月之后，《威爾和格蕾絲》開播——這是第一部劇中主角一登場就已是同性戀身份的網(wǎng)絡(luò)情景喜劇，取得了不俗的成績。但是《艾倫》卻被打入冷宮?！拔耶?dāng)時失業(yè)了三年，”她說道，“當(dāng)時我很氣憤，我想，我辛辛苦苦才掙回來的成就。我并非因為長得漂亮而取得這些成就，也不是因為我在這個行業(yè)有各種人脈。我是通過努力掙得一個節(jié)目，一套屬于我自己的情景喜劇，取得了成功并且播了五年。我做了對的事：我“出柜”了，對我來說是好事，基本上那是我唯一能做的事。然后我卻因此而受到了懲罰?！?/p>

然后，德杰尼勒斯以著名單口相聲演員的身份重塑自己的形象。在“9·11”之后不久，她主持了艾美獎并為此獲得贊譽(yù)——她問：“還有比一個女同性戀穿著西裝站在一屋子猶太人面前更能讓塔利班不爽的事情嗎？”然后，她在CBS電視臺的一檔新的情景喜劇成功上映。成功接踵而來。2003年，她在《海底總動員》中為一條浮躁的太平洋藍(lán)唐王魚多麗配音，并因此成為電影的亮點。

2003年，她推出《艾倫·德杰尼勒斯秀》，結(jié)合名人嘉賓和幽默滑稽場面——和觀眾一起跳舞，吐糟大眾媒體洋相事件——有趣生動又不失自在與親民，與奧普拉走的感化風(fēng)格形成鮮明對比。節(jié)目在開播的第一年就贏得了幾座艾美獎，收視率攀升。直到今天，這個節(jié)目還在播。

2004年，德杰尼勒斯開始與演員波西亞·德·羅西交往，2008年兩人結(jié)婚，過著與八卦小報絕緣的低調(diào)家庭生活，顯然幸福不已。

當(dāng)2007年德杰尼勒斯第一次主持奧斯卡頒獎典禮的時候，她在新主流大眾中的影響力不斷深入。她是首位公開了自己同性戀身份的主持人，這一點比起她的表現(xiàn)可能更不足以成為談資，因為她積極向上的論調(diào)，比起前兩屆的主持人（克里斯·洛克以及喬恩·斯圖爾特）明顯的尖酸刻薄大相徑庭?，F(xiàn)在，德杰尼勒斯是讓所有人冷靜的關(guān)鍵人物。

“今天似乎所有人都愛德杰尼勒斯，”《W》雜志撰寫道，“她獨具特色的時尚平民主義輕松征服了意見分歧的廣大觀眾，但又沒有冷落任何人……她就是看上去那么的親切和普通。”這可能花了十年的時間，不過德杰尼勒斯一直以來都是以一種“國民好兄弟”的身份自居。但是她的名氣在變大。她的脫口秀越來越受歡迎，收視率屢創(chuàng)新高，迄今為止已經(jīng)獲得了33項艾美獎，上節(jié)目的明星嘉賓都是超級巨星（近幾周邀請的是李奧納多·迪卡普里奧和梅麗爾·斯特里普）?！都~約時報》稱她為新的“奧普拉”，提到她對廣告贊助商的驚人吸引力，商品代言以及媒體合作對象的范圍不斷擴(kuò)大，并且暗示她的節(jié)目“幫助宣傳成熟的文化運(yùn)動，告訴人們欺凌打擊是不對的”。

當(dāng)然，德杰尼勒斯在利用自己的影響力來推動事業(yè)的發(fā)展。通過她的公司，“好利來制片”，她目前正在制作情景喜劇《開心快樂人》。德杰尼勒斯甚至在電影《海底總動員2》中完成了從滑稽配角到魚主角的過渡，該片預(yù)計在2016年上映。

當(dāng)然，她又再一次獲邀主持奧斯卡頒獎典禮，尤其是又經(jīng)過了怨聲四起的兩年之后——因2012年怪異的“海瑟薇—弗朗哥”吵吵鬧鬧雙人組以及2013年塞思·麥克法蘭低俗的意外驚喜所引發(fā)。

曾經(jīng)有人問德杰尼勒斯當(dāng)她在《今夜秀》的處女秀之后，受約翰尼·卡森邀請，上節(jié)目訪談，她是什么感受。“這是我事業(yè)的騰飛點，”她承認(rèn)，但是“這不是我要上這個節(jié)目的原因。我想上這個節(jié)目是因為……我希望大家了解我。”經(jīng)過了三十年的風(fēng)風(fēng)雨雨，現(xiàn)在可以放言，美國了解艾倫·德杰尼勒斯，美國喜歡艾倫·德杰尼勒斯。