迈克尔出身贫苦,因为母亲吸毒,从小被寄养在不同人家。感恩节前夜,被收养人赶出家门的迈克尔流落街头,遇到图伊一家。动了恻隐之心的利·安妮决定收留他。迈克尔在这个富裕的白人家庭开始了新生活,他的体育天分也渐渐显露出来……
“the blind side”是橄榄球用语,表示球员看不见的盲区,在电影里被赋予了多重涵义。从某种意义上来说,《弱点》的2亿票房和桑德拉·布洛克(Sandra Bullock)的奥斯卡影后桂冠都是顺理成章的——橄榄球是美国最受欢迎的运动项目,体育励志题材也是票房保证;这个故事改编自迈克尔·刘易斯(Michael Lewis)所著的《弱点:比赛进程》(The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game),讲述了美国国家橄榄球联盟(NFL)2009年选秀状元的真人真事。但撇开所有的光环,这其实只是一首献给母亲、献给家庭的颂歌,在简单平淡中流淌着脉脉温情,一下就击中我们内心最柔软的地方……
迈克尔渐渐融入了图伊家,利·安妮十分同情他的遭遇,想让他真正成为这个家的一份子……
Sean: You wanna do what?!
Leigh Anne: You heard me.
Sean: Shouldn’t we at least talk about this?
Leigh Anne: What do you think we’re doing? And don’t act like I’m going behind your back[背着某人]. I know you put us down as Michael’s medical contact at school.
Sean: There’s a huge difference between paying for a broken arm and being legally responsible for
someone. I mean, a kid we barely know.
Leigh Anne: That’s another thing. We need to find out more about his past.
Sean: He won’t talk about it. He’s like an onion. You have to peel[剥] him back a layer at a time.
Leigh Anne: Not if you use a knife. What if we took him to a child psychologist[心理学家] or something?
Sean: Do you really expect Big Mike…
Leigh Anne: “Michael”!
Sean: You really expect Michael to lie down on a couch and talk about his childhood like he’s Woody Allen注 or something? I mean, Michael’s gift is his
ability to forget. He’s mad at no one and he really didn’t care what happened in the past.
Leigh Anne: You’re right.
Sean: Excuse me? “You’re right”? How’d those words taste coming out of your mouth?
Leigh Anne: Like vinegar[醋]. Well, at least promise me you’ll think about it.
Sean: Alright.
Leigh Anne: “Alright you’ll think about it” or “Alright we should do it”?
Sean: (laughs) Is there a difference?
肖恩:你说你想干嘛?!
利·安妮:你明明听见了。
肖恩:我们至少应该讨论一下吧?
利·安妮:我们现在不就是在讨论吗?别弄得像我背着你做了什么事,我知道你在迈克尔学校的“医疗联系人”那一栏填了我们的名字。
肖恩:为受伤的手臂付医疗费和对某人负上法律责任有很大不同。我的意思是,我们还不了解这个孩子。
利·安妮:那是另外一回事。我们需要更多地了解他的过去。
肖恩:他不会说的。他就像一个洋葱,每次只能剥开一层。
利·安妮:如果用刀子就不必这样。我们不如带他去找儿童心理专家之类的吧?
肖恩:你真的认为大个子迈克……
利·安妮:“迈克尔”!
肖恩:你真的认为迈克尔会像伍迪·艾伦那样躺在沙发上聊自己的童年吗?我是说,迈克尔的天赋在于他善于遗忘——他从不记仇,也确实不在乎过去发生的事情。
利·安妮:你是对的。
肖恩:什么?“你是对的”?这话从你嘴里说出来是什么味道?
利·安妮:酸极了。至少答应我你会考虑一下。
肖恩:好吧。
利·安妮:“好吧,你会考虑一下”还是“好吧,我们应该这样做”?
肖恩:(笑)这有区别么?
口语锦囊
“or something”用于非正式语境,表示说话人也不能肯定或者大概举一个例子,意思是“或是什么的,或是……之类”,例如:
He said he was going shopping or something. (他说他要去购物什么的。)
注:伍迪·艾伦是美国电影业的传奇人物,以其富含独特个人见解的喜剧才华为人所津津乐道,1977年凭《安妮·霍尔》(Annie Hall)获得奥斯卡最佳导演奖。
迈克尔开始参加橄榄球训练,却总是找不到感觉。他的教练非常失望,利·安妮这时灵机一动……
Leigh Anne: Come here. Come on, Michael. Do you remember when we first met, and we went to that
horrible part of town to buy those dreadful[糟糕的] clothes? And I was a little bit scared and you told me not to worry about it, because you had my back. Do you remember that?
Michael: Yes, Ma’am.
Leigh Anne: And if anyone tried to get to me, you would have stopped them, right? And when you and S.J. were in that car wreck[残骸], what did you do to the airbag[安全气囊]?
Michael: I stopped it.
Leigh Anne: You stopped it. YOU stopped it. This team is your family, Michael. You have to protect them from those guys, okay? Listen. (dragging a player closer) Okay, Tony here is your quarterback, alright? You protect his blind side. When you look at him, you think of me. How you have my back, how you have his. Okay? Alright, Tony, go back. (dragging another player closer) Alright, Oompa Loompa here is your tailback. When you look at him, you think of S.J. and how you never let anyone or anything hurt him. You understand me? Alright, go back. (to Michael) Got it?
Michael: What about Collins and Mr. Tuohy?
Leigh Anne: Fine, they can be on the team too. Are you gonna protect the family, Michael?
Michael: Yes, Ma’am.
Leigh Anne: Good boy. Now, go have some fun.
利·安妮:来这边。过来,迈克尔。还记不记得我们刚认识的时候,我们去城里很乱的那一带买那些难看的衣服?我有点儿害怕,但你告诉我不用担心,因为有你在。还记得吗?
迈克尔:是的,夫人。
利·安妮:如果有人想接近我,你就会拦住他们,对吧?你和S·J在那破车里时,你怎么对付安全气囊的?
迈克尔:我挡住它。
利·安妮:你挡住它。你挡住它了。球队就是你的家人,迈克尔。你得保护他们不受那些家伙的伤害,知道吗?听着。(拉一个球员过来)好,托尼是你的四分卫,对吧?你得保护他的盲区。每当你看着他的时候,你就想着我。你怎样保护我,就怎样保护他。好吗?行了,托尼,
归队吧。(拉另一个球员过来)好,
奥姆帕·卢姆帕是你的殿卫。每当你看着他的时候,就想想S·J,你不会让任何人或任何事伤到他。明白我的意思了吗?好了,你归队吧。(对迈克尔)明白了吗?
迈克尔:那柯林斯和图伊先生呢?
利·安妮:好吧,他们也可能在队里。你会保护家人吗,迈克尔?
迈克尔:是的,夫人。
利·安妮:好孩子。现在去好好玩吧。
口语锦囊
在美国,橄榄球是最热门的体育运动之一。每年赛季始于初秋,人们会去现场或者通过电视观看比赛。角逐到最后的两支球队将在“超级碗”(Super Bowl)大赛中争夺冠军,这是美国最重要的体育赛事之一。由于橄榄球与美国人的生活息息相关,一些关于球员的词汇经常出现在他们的日常对话里,如“quarterback”(四分卫)、“tailback”(殿卫)、“running back”(跑锋)和“left tackle”(左内线锋)等。感兴趣的同学可以将相关词汇整理下来,集中记忆哦!
迈克尔还差一篇作文才能达到奖学金的学分要求。肖恩用橄榄球为例给他讲解诗歌《轻骑旅进击》,帮迈克尔找到下笔点……
Michael: Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb[笨的] idea or a mistake, but you’re not supposed to question adults, or your coach, or your teacher, because they make the rules. Maybe they know best. But maybe they don’t. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn’t at least one of the 600 guys think about giving up and joining with the other side? I mean, Valley of Death – that’s pretty salty stuff. That’s why courage is tricky[棘手的,微妙的].
Should you always do what others tell you to do?
Sometimes you might not even know why you’re doing something. I mean, any fool can have courage. But honor, that’s the real reason you either do something or you don’t. It’s who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for[努力获得] something important, then you have both honor and courage. And that’s pretty good. I think that’s what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor, and maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some, too.
迈克尔:要理解勇气并不容易。你可以因为一个笨主意或者一个错误而产生勇气,但一般来说,我们不应该质疑大人,例如你的教练或者老师。因为是他们制定的规则。也许他们最懂,但也许不是。这都取决于你是谁,来自什么地方。难道那
600名士兵中没有一个人考虑过放弃,向对手投诚吗?我是说,“死亡之谷”——那真是一个浸满血泪的故事。所以勇气是一种很微妙的东西。你应该总是对别人言听计从吗?
有时候,你可能根本不知道自己为什么要这样做。我的意思是,任何一个笨蛋都可能有勇气。但是,荣耀才是你有所为、有所不为的真正动因。那才是真正的你,才是你想成为的那个人。若是为了实现重要的使命而失去生命,那就是荣耀与勇气兼得。那实在太棒了。我认为这就是作者想要表达的东西——你要渴求勇气,努力获得荣耀,也许更要祈祷那些对你下达指令的人同样具备勇气和荣耀。
口语锦囊
这段原声材料是《轻骑兵进击》(The Charge of the Light Brigade)的读后感。1854年10月25日,600多名英国轻骑旅士兵在克里米亚战争期间冒着枪林弹雨袭击俄国火炮部队,由于指挥决策失败,造成严重伤亡,战斗地点被后人称为“死亡之谷”。英国著名诗人丁尼生(Alfred Tennyson)后来写下《轻骑兵进击》以歌颂这批勇士——
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Someone had blunder’d:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
…
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
迈克尔准备入读养父母的母校,美国大学体育总会怀疑图伊夫妇收养迈克尔的目的,派人进行调查。迈克尔离家出走,利·安妮意识到自己从未考虑过养子的处境和意愿……
Leigh Anne: I swore I would never ask this, but how did you get out of there, Michael?
Michael: When I was little and something awful was
happening, my Mama would tell me to close my eyes. She was tryin’ to keep me from seeing her do drugs or other bad things. And when she was finished or the bad things were over, she’d say, “Now when I count to three, you open your eyes. The past is gone, the world is a good place, and it’s all gonna be okay.”
Leigh Anne: You closed your eyes. You know, when I was driving all over Kingdom come looking for you, I kept thinking about one thing: Ferdinand the Bull. I know I shoulda asked you this a long time ago, Michael. Do you even wanna play football? I mean, do you even like it?
Michael: I’m pretty good at it.
Leigh Anne: Yeah, you are. Sean and I have been
talking, and…Michael, if you’re gonna accept a football scholarship, we think it should be to Tennessee. And I promise that I will be at every game cheering for you.
Michael: Every game?
Leigh Anne: Every game. But I will not wear that
gaudy[艳俗的] orange. I will not. It is not in my color wheel and I’m not gonna wear it.
Michael: So you, you want me to go to Tennessee?
Leigh Anne: I want you to do whatever you want. It’s your decision, Michael, it’s your life.
Michael: What if I wanted to flip[抛] burgers?
Leigh Anne: It’s your decision; it’s your life.
Michael: Okay.
Leigh Anne: Okay what?
(Days later.)
Michael: I’m sorry I left the other day.
Investigator: You were pretty upset.
Michael: You asked a lot of questions.
Investigator: I’m just trying to get to the bottom of[找出原因] this.
Michael: But all the questions you asked were about why everybody else wanted me to go to Ole Miss.
Investigator: Okay.
Michael: Not once did you ask – why did I want to go there?
Investigator: Alright, fine, Michael. Why do you want to go to Ole Miss?
Michael: Because it’s where my family goes to school. It’s where they’ve always gone to school.
利·安妮:我发誓,我真的不想问这个问题,但你怎么会出淤泥而不染的呢,迈克尔?
迈克尔:小时候,每当有坏事发生的时候,妈妈总会叫我闭上眼睛。她尽量不让我看见她吸毒或者干坏事。等她吸完了,或者坏事过去了,她就会说:“我数到‘三’,你就可以睁开眼睛。过去的已经过去,世界依然美好,一切都会没事的。”
利·安妮:你闭上了眼睛。你知道吗,我从金德姆路开车过来找你的时候,一直在想一件事:公牛费迪南德。我知道我早该问这个问题了,迈克尔。你到底愿不愿意打橄榄球?我的意思是,你到底喜不喜欢这项运动?
迈克尔:我蛮在行的。
利·安妮:是啊,没错。肖恩和我已经谈过了……迈克尔,如果你真想得到橄榄球奖学金的话,我们认为还是去田纳西大学好了。我保证每一场比赛都会到场,为你加油。
迈克尔:每一场比赛?
利·安妮:每一场比赛。但我不会穿那俗气的橙色队服,一定不会。那不是我喜欢的颜色,我不会穿的。
迈克尔:这么说……你希望我去田纳西?
利·安妮:我希望你尽情做自己想做的事情。这由你决定,迈克尔,这是你自己的人生。
迈克尔:如果我想去卖汉堡包呢?
利·安妮:这由你决定,这是你自己的人生。
迈克尔:好吧。
利·安妮:好吧什么?
(几天后。)
迈克尔:对不起,前几天我就这样走掉了。
调查员:你当时很不开心。
迈克尔:你问了很多问题。
调查员:我只是想搞清楚事情的真相。
迈克尔:但你问的所有问题都是关于别人为什么要我上密西西比大学。
调查员:是的。
迈克尔:你从没问过——为什么我想去那里?
调查员:那好,迈克尔,你为什么想去密西西比大学?
迈克尔:因为那是我家人上学的地方。他们向来都在那里念书。
口语锦囊
公牛费迪南德在美国是脍炙人口的儿童故事形象,出自美国作家曼罗·里夫(Munro Leaf)所著的《爱花的牛》(The Story of Ferdinand, 1936)。这本儿童读物讲述了一头不喜欢打架,只爱花花草草的小公牛的故事,1938年被沃尔特·迪斯尼(Walt Disney)改编为动画片《公牛费迪南德》,并获得奥斯卡最佳动画短片奖。
“Ole Miss”是人们对密西西比大学(The University of Mississippi)的昵称。1897年,该大学第一次印制年册,为了给年册找一个响亮的名字,校内举行了一次命名比赛,从而得名。后来这个名字流传开来,被广泛用于各种场合。