Why We Love Anti-heroes 我們?yōu)楹蜗矏?ài)反英雄

莫莉·愛(ài)德華茲

Cruella1， Loki， Boba Fett2， the Suicide Squad—what do they all have in common， aside from excellent fashion taste？ Theyre all anti-heroes3， not-quite-good-guys， grabbing the spotlight in 2021. In fact， were seeing a staggering amount of these characters leading projects—whether in movies or TV series.

庫(kù)伊拉、洛基、波巴·費(fèi)特與自殺小隊(duì)除了都有出色的時(shí)尚品味外，還有什么共同之處？他們都是反英雄人物，都不算什么好人，都在2021年出盡風(fēng)頭。事實(shí)上，數(shù)量驚人的反英雄角色正成為影視劇作品的主角。

But what makes us love them so much？ Why do we want to watch the origins of a puppy killer4？ Or bat for5 Batmans nemesis？ Lets find out about our ongoing love-affair with the outlaw.

但我們?yōu)楹稳绱讼矏?ài)這些反英雄？為何想了解小狗殺手庫(kù)伊拉的成長(zhǎng)史？又為何想支持蝙蝠俠的勁敵？讓我們看看為何人們一直鐘情于叛逆者。

What is an anti-hero？

什么是反英雄？

“Anti-heroes are， technically， characters who occupy the structural position of protagonist but tend to be morally compromised or， occasionally， are outright immoral in their interests and actions，” Dr. Aaron Taylor， Associate Professor in the Drama Department at the University of Lethbridge， explains. Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey is a good example—unlike traditional heroes， she thinks nothing of6 lobbing grenades and cracking skulls， yet Harleys positioned as the protagonist.

“嚴(yán)格來(lái)講，反英雄角色在故事結(jié)構(gòu)上占據(jù)主角位置，但往往道德立場(chǎng)有問(wèn)題或愛(ài)好和行為有時(shí)完全背德?！比R斯布里奇大學(xué)戲劇系副教授阿倫·泰勒博士解釋道。電影《猛禽小隊(duì)》里的哈莉·奎因就是個(gè)很好的例子——與傳統(tǒng)英雄角色不同，哈莉的設(shè)定雖然是主人公，但她卻沒(méi)把扔手榴彈和弄碎頭骨當(dāng)回事兒。

What differentiates an anti-hero against a villain， then？ “The villain should be considered as the character whose function is to interfere with the goals of the protagonist，” Dr. Taylor says. Basically， anti-heroes are main characters， and the villains are whoever is trying to stop them， no matter how good or bad either are.

那么，反英雄與反派之間又有什么區(qū)別？“反派的作用是干擾主角達(dá)成目標(biāo)?！碧├詹┦空f(shuō)。大體上看，反英雄是主要角色，凡是跟他們作對(duì)的人都是反派，不管這兩種角色有多好或多壞。

The age of anti-heroes

反英雄的時(shí)代

Movies and TV shows about morally dubious protagonists are more frequent now than ever. In 2021 alone， we had Emma Stone as the dastardly Cruella， Loki headlining his own Disney Plus7 series， Boba Fett blasting back onto the small screen8 in December， Harley Quinn returning in The Suicide Squad， and Eddie Brocks symbiote leading Venom 2. Even the man who broke the Avengers， Zemo， has become an unexpected fan-favorite thanks to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

以有道德缺陷的人物為主人公的影視作品比以往更頻繁地出現(xiàn)，僅2021年就有不少：艾瑪·斯通扮演了惡毒的庫(kù)伊拉，洛基有了以他為主角的獨(dú)立Disney+劇集，波巴·費(fèi)特在12月強(qiáng)勢(shì)回歸電視熒屏，哈莉·奎因在《自殺小隊(duì)》中再次現(xiàn)身，艾迪·布洛克的共生體是《毒液2》的主角。就連瓦解了復(fù)仇者聯(lián)盟的澤莫男爵也因《獵鷹與冬兵》的播出而意外受到粉絲們的喜愛(ài)。

The anti-hero has long been a staple of on-screen entertainment—Dr. Taylor points to shows like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos as earlier examples of this kind of character—yet they paved the way for the current influx.

反英雄早就成了影視娛樂(lè)作品的主要素材——泰勒博士指出，《絕命毒師》和《黑道家族》這類早期反英雄劇集為當(dāng)前該類題材的涌現(xiàn)創(chuàng)造了條件。

Whats also noticeable is the bad batch are primarily returning baddies9 who fans already know and… love.

同樣值得注意的是，這一批反英雄大多是復(fù)出的角色，粉絲們此前已經(jīng)了解并喜愛(ài)他們。

“We may be ‘a(chǎn)ttracted to a villain or anti-hero， but that doesnt mean we want them to succeed or support their values， beliefs， and/or actions，” Dr. Taylor explains. “Attraction is taken to serve as a kind of fascination， and this captivation can be directed to any number of10 qualities： their exoticism， charisma or dynamism， sense of humour， diabolical11 intelligence， or other ‘non-moral traits—including the skill or craft by which an actor brings to the stylistic expression of their behaviour.”

“被反派或反英雄‘吸引不意味著我們希望他們得逞，或認(rèn)同他們的價(jià)值觀、信仰和/或行為?！碧├詹┦拷忉?，“喜愛(ài)可看作是一種迷戀，而這種吸引力可能來(lái)自許多品質(zhì)：角色的異國(guó)風(fēng)情、人格魅力、活力、幽默感、邪惡智慧以及其他‘與道德無(wú)關(guān)的特質(zhì)——演員對(duì)角色行為進(jìn)行風(fēng)格化詮釋時(shí)所使用的技巧或手法也包括在內(nèi)?！?/p>

If you find yourself a fan of an unscrupulous character， then， its probably not because you agree with them and more likely that you find them interesting or love the actors performance.

如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己喜愛(ài)上了無(wú)道德原則的角色，這份喜愛(ài)也許不源于你對(duì)角色的認(rèn)同，更可能是因?yàn)槟阏J(rèn)為角色充滿趣味，或是欣賞演員的演技。

Im the baaaaaaad guy， duh

嘿，我就是大反派

Dr. Taylor also explains that sometimes the story itself is set up to explain or justify the anti-heros behavior， meaning “even if we dont outright sympathize completely with a scummy protagonist， the idea is that we may better understand their actions， or perhaps even empathize with them （i.e.， imagine feeling the way they do or holding the values they hold）.” Cruella， for instance， clashes with Emma Thompsons Baroness， and their relationship goes some way to justify Estella-turned-Cruellas inevitably immoral actions. Or look at Breaking Bad and the countless times Walter Whites outrageous behavior was rationalized.

泰勒博士也說(shuō)明，有時(shí)劇情本身的作用，就是為反英雄的行為進(jìn)行辯解或正名，“雖然我們無(wú)法做到完全同情一個(gè)卑鄙的主角，但劇情這樣安排的初衷是我們能更好理解反英雄人物的行為，或是對(duì)他們產(chǎn)生同理心（即想象角色是什么樣的感受或與他們持有的價(jià)值觀相同）”。例如，在電影《黑白魔女庫(kù)伊拉》中，庫(kù)伊拉與艾瑪·湯普森扮演的伯爵夫人間存在沖突，二者的關(guān)系在一定程度上成為庫(kù)伊拉黑化（艾斯黛拉變?yōu)閹?kù)伊拉后必然要做壞事）的正當(dāng)理由。或者看看《絕命毒師》里的沃爾特·懷特，他的無(wú)恥行為被無(wú)數(shù)次地合理化。

Dr. Taylor points out that feeling “sympathy， empathy， fascination， or a blend of these things” for an anti-hero makes us feel good， which can make the character more likeable. “Whether or not these pleasurable feelings can or do override our moral judgment （i.e.， we overlook， make excuses for， or more fully understand their ‘bad behaviour） is a very old philosophical debate，” he says. “But antiheroic narratives deliberately mobilize or dramatize this dilemma！”

泰勒博士指出，對(duì)反英雄產(chǎn)生的“同情、共情、迷戀或幾種情感兼而有之”讓我們感覺(jué)良好，也使角色更討喜?！斑@些令人愉悅的情感能否或是否確實(shí)凌駕于我們的道德判斷之上（即我們忽視他們的‘壞并為此而找借口，或更充分地理解他們的‘壞行為），這是個(gè)非常古老的哲學(xué)辯論。” 他說(shuō)，“但反英雄的故事故意設(shè)定這種哲學(xué)困境或?qū)⑵淇浯螅　?/p>

Narrative structure has something else to do with the anti-heros appeal， too. We normally root for a protagonist out of habit， as lead characters are normally virtuous. “To avoid familiarity breeding contempt12 （that is， actively disliking morally compromised protagonists the longer we spend with them）， authors will strategically blend morally virtuous traits that slightly mitigate against or ‘dull the bad ones，” Dr. Taylor continues. Think Boba Fett helping Mando13 rescue Baby Yoda， or Harley teaming up with Black Canary to save Cassandra Cain.

故事的結(jié)構(gòu)也在另一方面促成了反英雄的吸引力。因?yàn)橹鹘莻兺ǔＦ沸卸苏?，所以我們常出于?xí)慣而支持他們?！盀榱吮苊狻焐锏那闆r（即我們?cè)谄沸胁涣嫉闹鹘巧砩匣ㄙM(fèi)的時(shí)間越多，就越不喜歡他們），作者會(huì)采取策略，使這類人物也同時(shí)具備一些美德，稍稍削弱或‘鈍化角色的壞?！碧├詹┦坷^續(xù)說(shuō)道。波巴·費(fèi)特幫助曼佬營(yíng)救尤達(dá)寶寶，哈莉與黑金絲雀組隊(duì)救援卡珊德拉·該隱的情節(jié)就是如此。

Good vs. evil

正邪兩立

Theres clearly room for both archetypes—and they might even need each other. Dr. Taylor talks about how more heroic characters can emphasize or critique an anti-heros immorality， and uses the example of Deadpool and the more virtuous X-Men member Colossus. He explains that， while Deadpool serves to poke fun at Colossus rigid mor-ality， if Colossus wasnt there as a foil keeping Deadpool （kind of） in check， we might end up getting tired of Deadpools antics14 since he doesnt have that blend of morally good and bad behavior. This can be seen in other movies and TV shows： The Suicide Squad need Rick Flag， The Punisher needs Daredevil， and Loki needed Thor （or， likely， Owen Wilsons Mobius in the new series）. We can even go one step further： without traditional black and white， good vs. evil stories， we could get tired of anti-hero tales—and vice versa， where without any morally compromised protagonists， we get bored of seeing heroes simply save the day.

顯然，正邪兩類角色都有發(fā)揮空間甚至可能彼此需要。泰勒博士提及更具英雄氣派的人物能突出或批判反英雄道德的敗壞，并以死侍和相較而言品行更高尚的X戰(zhàn)警成員鋼力士為例。他解釋道，雖然死侍的作用是嘲笑鋼力士遵守的僵化道德，但如果沒(méi)有鋼力士的陪襯，并（在某種程度上）約束死侍，我們也許會(huì)最終厭煩他的荒唐行為，畢竟其行為并非亦正亦邪。其他電影和電視劇中也有類似安排：《自殺小隊(duì)》需要瑞克·弗萊格，《懲罰者》需要超膽俠，《洛基》需要雷神（也許在新劇集中需要?dú)W文·威爾遜扮演的莫比烏斯）。甚至可以更進(jìn)一步地說(shuō)，如果沒(méi)有傳統(tǒng)的黑白對(duì)立、善惡分明，我們也許會(huì)認(rèn)為反英雄的故事枯燥乏味——反之亦然，如果故事中沒(méi)有任何品德不良的主角，我們也會(huì)厭倦看到英雄們輕而易舉地拯救世界。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1電影《黑白魔女庫(kù)伊拉》（Cruella）的女主角，是1961年迪士尼動(dòng)畫(huà)長(zhǎng)片《101 忠狗》（101 Dalmatians）的經(jīng)典反派角色。這部衍生真人電影講述她如何走上“黑化”之路。? 2指賞金獵人波巴·費(fèi)特，是《星球大戰(zhàn)》系列衍生作品中的重要角色。? 3 anti-hero反英雄（故事中不按傳統(tǒng)主角品格塑造的主人公）。? 4指庫(kù)伊拉，她在《101忠狗》中為了制作皮草大衣而綁架了女下屬家的一群斑點(diǎn)狗。? 5 bat for支持。

6 think nothing of sth認(rèn)為……容易，看輕。? 7 迪士尼旗下的影視平臺(tái)。? 8 指2021年12月底《星球大戰(zhàn)》真人劇集《曼達(dá)洛人》（The Mandalorian）的衍生劇集《波巴·費(fèi)特之書(shū)》（The Book of Boba Fett）在Disney+開(kāi)播。

9 baddy（電影、小說(shuō)等中的）壞蛋，反派角色。? 10 any number of things許多，大量。? 11 diabolical邪惡的，惡魔般的。

12 familiarity breeds contempt〈習(xí)語(yǔ)〉親不敬，熟生蔑。

13指《曼達(dá)洛人》的主人公丁·賈林（Din Djarin），“曼達(dá)洛人”（the Mandalorian）或“曼佬”（Mando）是他的綽號(hào)。? 14 antics荒唐行為；危險(xiǎn)舉動(dòng)。