Life After Becoming a Viral Meme成為爆火模因之后的人生

Ah， memes. They make us laugh， get us thinking and hold up a mirror to society. But what becomes of the people behind our favourite faces on the internet？

哈，模因！它們讓我們歡笑，引發(fā)我們思考，反映社會現(xiàn)實。這一張張互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上我們喜聞樂見的面孔，它們的原型如今怎么樣了呢？

Imagine walking down the street and running into a stranger wearing a T-shirt with your face on it. How would you feel if you found out you were the butt of a family’s in-joke for a decade？ What about if you saw someone dressed up as you for Halloween？ Becoming a meme is an unusual experience. Here， we speak to three regular people who became meme-famous and lived to tell the tale.

設想一下：你走在街上，看到有個陌生人的T恤上印著你的臉。要是知道自己承包了某個人家十年的笑料，你會作何感想？那要是有人在萬圣夜打扮成你的樣子呢？成為模因是一種特殊的經(jīng)歷。我們采訪了三位因成為模因而人盡皆知的普通人，聽她們講述自己的故事。

Maggie Goldenberger： aka Ermahgerd1 Girl

瑪吉·戈登伯格：又名“天了嚕女孩”

I was about 11 years old， playing dress-up at my friend’s house and taking Polaroid photos. I pulled an outfit together from her dress-up box and she put my hair in pigtails and had me put my [dental] retainer in. She gathered some Goosebumps books2 and told me to give the most excited expression possible. That’s how the photo came about.

我當時大概11歲，在朋友家玩裝扮游戲，用拍立得照相。我從朋友的裝扮寶箱里隨便湊了套衣服穿上，她還給我扎起辮子，讓我戴上牙套，又找來幾本《雞皮疙瘩》。她讓我盡可能擠出最興奮的表情，于是就有了那張照片。

I was backpacking in India [in 2012， at age 23] when I got a message from a friend [about the photo]. It was before smart phonemm+3NXQUPvphyQnDHaFvgPLMcbVwBBsgjGfZCdxgmqI=s， so I was at an internet cafe? when I found out a guy from high school had posted my photo not knowing it was me.

我在印度背包旅行期間（2012年，23歲），突然收到一個朋友的短信（告訴了我照片的事情）。那時還沒有智能手機，于是我跑到網(wǎng)吧，發(fā)現(xiàn)是一個高中同學在不知道那是我的情況下把照片發(fā)到了網(wǎng)上。

Originally， my friend had put the photo on her MySpace3 profile， but we were very naive and didn’t realise our MySpace photo albums were all public. That’s how ‘Ermahgerd Girl’ was born.

起初是我朋友把那張照片上傳到自己的聚友網(wǎng)個人主頁，但我們那時都太天真，沒想到聚友網(wǎng)相冊都是公開的?！疤炝藝Ｅⅰ本瓦@樣誕生了。

I thought the whole thing was very bizarre， and I still do. I’ve seen Ermahgerd cross-stitch patterns， hand-drawn artwork and birthday cards. A new friend had dressed up as me at Halloween almost 10 years ago， which was a funny discovery. The best perk of meme-fame is when I meet someone who has loved the meme and they’re truly excited to meet me.

我當時就覺得整件事情很離奇，現(xiàn)在我仍這樣認為。我見過“天了嚕女孩”圖案的十字繡、手繪插畫和生日賀卡。還有一個有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)：有個新朋友大約十年前曾在萬圣夜打扮成我的樣子。成為模因名人最大的好處就是會遇到喜歡我這個模因的人，而且他們見到我真的會非常興奮。

I think the hardest part has been the invasion of privacy. My brother’s friend posted a lot of personal information and photos of me in Reddit forums to prove it was really me， and that turned me off from coming forward. But once I stepped back away from it and kind of released my attachment of my personal life being associated with the meme， it all felt much better.

我覺得最難以忍受的是隱私被侵犯。我弟弟的朋友把我的大量個人信息和照片發(fā)到“紅迪網(wǎng)”來證明“天了嚕女孩”確實是我，這讓我不敢也不想認領(lǐng)這個模因。不過，自從我不再在意這個模因，將其從私人生活中稍稍剝離，我就感覺好多了。

I can’t believe the meme is still around after more than 10 years; at the time it came out， I thought for sure it’d be gone in a week. Since that first year， it has had zero effect on my everyday life. I’m currently a nurse living in Phoenix， Arizona， and I spend most of my free time with my partner and our dog.

我不敢相信，這十多年前的模因現(xiàn)在還有人到處發(fā)。剛開始，我確信它火不過一周。誕生一年后，這個模因?qū)ξ业娜粘Ｉ罹蜎]有任何影響了。我現(xiàn)在是一名護士，住在亞利桑那州鳳凰城，大部分空閑時間都和戀人還有我們的狗待在一起。

Silvia Bottini： aka First World Problems4 Woman

西爾維婭·博蒂尼：又名“第一世界問題女人”

I didn’t even know what a meme was！ It was 2011 when the webmaster who built my [acting portfolio] website contacted me and excitedly told me， ‘You’re a meme.’ Even when he explained what it was to me， I didn’t really get it， and I certainly didn’t under-stand the impact of it.

我當時連模因是什么都不知道！那是2011年，幫我建立（演藝經(jīng)歷）個人主頁的網(wǎng)站管理員和我取得聯(lián)系，興奮地告訴我：“你成模因啦！”即使他向我解釋了模因是什么，我還是不懂，而且我根本不明白會有什么影響。

The photo from the meme had been taken a few years earlier by my ex-boyfriend， who was a photographer. We were living in China and I was modelling for him—for free—doing stock photographs. That day， we were shooting in a temple， and I was posing for the photos. Then my ex asked me to cry. I did. I’m a trained actress so I knew how to pull out my emotions and tears. That’s how the picture happened.

成為模因的那張照片是幾年前我前男友拍的，他是一位攝影師。我們當時住在中國，他為多家圖庫網(wǎng)站供圖，我給他當模特——還是免費模特。那天，我們在一個寺廟里面拍攝，我在鏡頭前拗造型。我前任讓我哭，我照做了。我是訓練有素的演員，知道如何調(diào)動自己的情緒和眼淚，于是就有了那張照片。

When it went viral， I was disappointed because I’d signed a release form with the stock image agencies， which said they would protect my image. They didn’t， and people were saying whatever they wanted on my face. I had no control over how my image was being used—and I still don’t.

照片在網(wǎng)上瘋傳后，我很失望，因為我和幾家圖庫公司簽訂了授權(quán)書，他們承諾會保護我的肖像，卻沒能說到做到。人們?yōu)槲疫@張臉配上任何他們想說的話。當時的我沒法控制照片的用途——現(xiàn)在的我也一樣。

There are many versions of the meme， and one really offended me. I was really upset by it， so much so when I found it on Facebook， I messaged the person who posted it asking them to please take it down because it wasn’t respectful. I didn’t get a response. The internet is a wasteland; once something is out there， anybody can use it.

這個模因有很多版本，有一個真的冒犯到我了。我很生氣，在“臉書”上看到那張圖片后就馬上私信發(fā)布者，要求對方把圖片刪掉，因為那張圖片不尊重我。我沒有收到回復?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)是一片未開化之地，什么東西一旦上了網(wǎng)，誰都可以用。

I don’t get recognised from the meme because it’s a very dramatic image of me， and [in real life] I smile all the time. When people do find out about it， they are usually shocked， then excited. For a ‘non-famous’ person， I’m extremely famous. Millions of people know my face， pretty much everyone who owns a computer or phone has seen my image.

沒人會認出我就是那個“第一世界問題女人”，因為照片里我的表情實在太戲劇化了?，F(xiàn)實生活中，我總把微笑掛在臉上。人們發(fā)現(xiàn)真相后，通常先是震驚，然后興奮。作為一個“不出名的人”，我“名聲大振”，數(shù)百萬人認識我這張臉，幾乎每個有電腦或手機的人都看過我那張照片。

The meme hasn’t had an impact on my acting career. I’m still auditioning here in Los Angeles， where I live with my husband and have founded the Rebelot Theatre Company. Recently， I came up with the idea for a webseries， First World Problems： The Movie， because I want to turn my experience into something creative and something good. I want to take back my power and tell my own story.

這個模因并沒有給我的演藝生涯造成影響。我仍在洛杉磯試鏡，我和丈夫就住在洛杉磯，還在那里創(chuàng)立了雷貝洛戲劇公司。最近，我萌生了拍網(wǎng)劇的想法，劇名就叫《第一世界問題：電影》，因為我想將這段經(jīng)歷轉(zhuǎn)化為既有創(chuàng)意又很美好的事情。我想奪回自己的權(quán)力，講述自己的故事。

Chloe Clem： aka Side-Eyeing Chloe

克洛伊·克萊姆：又名“斜視克洛伊”

It’s really cool to feel famous. I was two when my mum filmed my sister reacting to being surprised with a trip to Disneyland. My sister was crying， so I pulled a face like， ‘Why is she crying？ What is happening？’ That face became a meme， and the video has been viewed 21 million times.

出名的感覺太棒了。我兩歲那年，我媽錄下了我姐知道要去迪士尼樂園后的驚喜反應。我姐在哭，而我扮了個鬼臉，就像在說：“她為什么要哭？發(fā)生什么事了？”那張鬼臉成了一個模因，到現(xiàn)在那個視頻的播放量已經(jīng)達到2100萬次。

After I went viral， I remember sitting on my mum’s lap when I was younger and her showing me a photo of me sitting next to 50 Cent5 in a Cadillac convertible. I was like， ‘I don’t remember being in 50 Cent’s car.’ As well as that， my photo has been photoshopped on Miley Cyrus’ wrecking ball6 and Taylor Swift’s body. I’ve been called the patron saint of Tumblr7 and the queen and goddess of the internet.

我還記得小時候有一次（那時我已經(jīng)火了），我媽把我抱在大腿上，給我看了一張照片——我和“50美分”并排坐在一輛凱迪拉克敞篷車里。我尋思：“我怎么不記得坐過50美分的車啊。”除此之外，還有人把我的照片疊加在麥莉·賽勒斯的破碎球和泰勒·斯威夫特的身體上。網(wǎng)友們稱我為“湯博樂”的守護神、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)女王、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)女神。

The best bit of being meme-famous was getting to go to Brazil with Google when I was six. I’m really famous in Brazil; my mum says it’s like the Beatles. All these people came to meet me， and my face was on billboards.

我六歲時，和谷歌公司一塊兒前往巴西，這是成為模因名人給我?guī)淼淖畲蟾＠?。在巴西，我可是大明星——我媽說就像披頭士一樣。那些人都來看我，我的臉還被印在廣告牌上。

We’ve just moved from Arizona to Tennessee， and recently everyone at my new school found out that I was famous. They’re all like， ‘Oh my gosh you’re the famous girl！ Can you sign this for me？ Can I have a picture？’

我們剛從亞利桑那州搬到田納西州。最近，我是名人的事情在新學校已經(jīng)人盡皆知，他們的反應都是：“天啊，你就是那個很出名的女孩！你能給我簽個名嗎？我能和你合照嗎？”

I love doing videos and making people laugh， and one day I want to be an actress. Or a basketball player. To anyone having 15 minutes of fame， I’d say enjoy every moment. It only happened to a few of us， and it goes fast. But I think my meme will live forever.

我喜歡拍視頻，喜歡給人們帶來歡笑，以后我想當演員或者籃球運動員。我想對每個出過一陣風頭的人說：享受每一刻吧。這樣的好事只會落在少數(shù)人身上，而且稍縱即逝。但我覺得，我的模因?qū)⒂啦贿^時。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：中國人民大學外國語學院）

1 ermahgerd模仿戴著牙套說oh my God的發(fā)音。

2“雞皮疙瘩系列叢書”（Goosebumps Book Series）是美國作家R. L. 斯坦（R. L. Stine）所著驚險小說系列。該系列以“過山車似的閱讀體驗”和反轉(zhuǎn)結(jié)局為特色。 3曾經(jīng)是最受歡迎的社交網(wǎng)站之一，號稱可以掀起音樂、政治、約會和流行文化革命，但是如今已經(jīng)風光不再。

4第一世界問題指富人或特權(quán)階級的煩惱，通常都是瑣碎的問題，和貧窮及不發(fā)達地區(qū)人民的困難形成鮮明對比。

5美國知名說唱歌手。 6此處指麥莉·賽勒斯《破碎球》（Wrecking Ball）音樂錄影帶中的道具。 7成立于2007年的輕博客網(wǎng)站，是輕博客網(wǎng)站的始祖。