首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, 1 would say that Americans are more "down the line." They don’t hide their
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, 1 would say that Americans are more "down the line." They don’t hide their
admin
2012-12-01
66
问题
It’s often dangerous to generalize, but under threat, 1 would say that Americans are more "down the line." They don’t hide their hopes and fears. They applaud ambition and openly reward success. Brits are more comfortable with life’s losers. We embrace the underdog until it’s no longer the underdog. We like to bring authority down a peg or two. Americans say, "have a nice day" whether they mean it or not. Brits are terrified to say this. We tell ourselves it’s because we don’t want to sound insincere but I think it might be for the opposite reason. We don’t want to celebrate anything too soon. Failure and disappointment lurk around every corner. This is due to our upbringing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States. Brits are told, "It won’t happen for you."
There’s a received wisdom in the U. K. that Americans don’t get irony. This is of course not true. But what is true is that they don’t use it all the time. It shows up in the smarter comedies but Americans don’t use it as much socially as Brits. We use it as liberally as prepositions in every day speech. We tease our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out of people we like or dislike basically. And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation. This is our license to hand it out. This can sometimes be perceived as nasty if the recipients aren’t used to it. It isn’t. It’s almost a sign of affection if we like you, and ego bursting if we don’t. You just have to know which one it is.
I guess the biggest difference between the U. S. version and the U. K. version of The Office reflected this. We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy, with a rosier outlook to life. He could still be childish, and insecure, and even a bore, but he couldn’t be too mean. The irony is of course that I think David Brent’s dark descension and eventual redemption made him all the more compelling. But I think that’s a lot more palatable in Britain for the reasons already stated. Brits almost expect doom and gloom so to start off that way but then have a happy ending is an unexpected joy. Network America has to give people a reason to like you not just a reason to watch you. In Britain we stop watching things like Big Brother when the villain is evicted. We don’t want to watch a bunch of idiots having a good time. We want them to be as miserable as us. America rewards up front, on-your-sleeve niceness. A perceived wicked streak is somewhat frowned upon.
I never actively try to offend. That’s churlish, pointless and frankly too easy. But I believe you should say what you mean. Be honest. No one should ever be offended by truth. That way you’ll never have to apologize. I hate it when a comedian says, "Sorry for what I said." You shouldn’t say it if you didn’t mean it and you should never regret anything you meant to do. As a comedian, I think my job isn’t just to make people laugh but also make them think. As a famous comedian, I also want a strict door policy on my club. Not everyone will like what I say or find it funny. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are enough comedians who try to please everyone as it is. Good luck to them, but that’s not my game, I’m afraid.
I’m not one of those people who think that comedy is your conscience taking a day off. My conscience never takes a day off and I can justify everything I do. There’s no line to be drawn in comedy in the sense that there are things you should never joke about. There’s nothing that you should never joke about, but it depends what that joke is. Comedy comes from a good or a bad place. The subject of a joke isn’t necessarily the target of the joke. You can make jokes about race without any race being the butt of the joke. Racism itself can be the butt, for example. When dealing with a so-called taboo subject, the angst and discomfort of the audience is what’s under the microscope. Our own preconceptions and prejudices are often what are being challenged. I don’t like racist jokes. Not because they are offensive. I don’t like them because they’re not funny. And they’re not funny because they’re not true. They are almost always based on a falsehood somewhere along the way, which ruins the gag for me. Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Not a platform.
The word "butt" in the last paragraph probably means
选项
A、object.
B、point.
C、aspect.
D、field.
答案
A
解析
语义题。由题干直接定位至末段第七句和第八句“You can make jokes about race without anyrace being the butt of the joke.Racism itself can be the butt,for example.”。结合前一句的“Thesubject of a joke isn’t necessarily the target of the joke.”可以判断,这里butt与target含义相同,故[A]符合文意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/8GaO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
DuringtheAmericanCivilWar,thosewhodemandedimmediateliberationofblackslaveswerecalled
WhichofthefollowingsportsoriginatedfromScotland?
Itishardtoconceiveofalanguagewithoutnounsorverbs.ButthatisjustwhatRiauIndonesianis,accordingtoDavidGil,a
A、thepossibilityofthebuildingcollapsing.B、thelikelyexplosionfromthegastank.C、thepossiblesubsequentrockslides.D、
DemographyisthestatisticalstudyofhumanpopulationItcanbea-generalsciencethatcanbeappliedtoanykindofdynamicp
Inlasttwoyearstheworldhasseenanintensification【M1】______.inthesearchforsustainabledevelopmentandsocial【M2】__
WiththeexplosionofexcitementabouttheInternet,thereseemstobeanothertypeofaddictionthathasinvadedthehumanpsyc
你得承认,多媒体不只是一件东西.而是包括许多东西的复杂的组合:硬件、软件和这两者相遇时的界面。不,我们还忘了一件很重要的事情.多媒体还包括你。是的.就是!对于多媒体.你不再县一个被动的观众-株可以控制可以交互作用.可以让它按你的需要去做。这就意味着你可以按
Shelby’ssnackshopwasthenamethatBrianEgemoofBadger,Iowa,appliedtohiswife’ssideofthebed.In1994Shelly,whoha
谎言三叶草人总是要说谎的,谁要是说自己不说谎,这就是一个彻头彻尾的谎言。有的人一生都在说谎,他的存在就是一个谎言。有的人偶尔说谎,除了他自己,没有人知道这是一个谎言。谎言在某些时候只是说话人的善良愿望,只要不害人,说说也无妨。在我心灵深
随机试题
当今世界和平与发展的主要障碍是()
血清中抗线粒体抗体阳性多见于
甲粮油贸易公司与乙食用油脂厂签订一份合同,双方约定由甲方提供毛糖油10吨,乙方负责加工成精糖油。乙方应以甲方提供的毛糖油酸价为基数,降低8个酸价,并脱色去杂,使其达到食用标准,加工费由甲方提货时付清。合同签订后,乙方就甲方提供的毛糖油按约定降低8个酸价处理
沪深300成长指数和沪深300价值指数的样本数量均固定为( )只。
有人说喜欢吃甜食会让人发胖,但对某市各地区18至23岁年轻人进行的调查显示,喜欢吃甜食的年轻人比不喜欢吃甜食的年轻人的体重更轻。由此看来,经常吃甜食并不会让人发胖。下列选项如果为真,最能削弱上述论断的是:
依次填入下列各句横线处的词语,恰当的一组是()。①这是我们白家祖辈______下来的秘方,就是掉脑袋,也不能让日本人拿去!②几家上市公司的倒闭,引发了股市的大幅______;证监会对此予以高度关注。
人脑内神经元信号传递的主要方式是
法律的作用是指法律对人的行为和社会关系所产生的影响。社会主义法律除确立和维护社会主义的政治制度、经济制度、社会秩序以及推动社会改革与进步外,还具有指引、预测、评价、强制、教育等重要作用。在法律的所有这些作用之中,最首要的作用是
InWarMadeEasyNormanSolomondemolishesthemythofanindependentAmericanpresszealouslyguardingsacredvaluesoffreeex
Seafoodcouldbegoingoffalotofmenusastheworldwarms.Morethanhalfofagroupoffish【C1】______forthemarinefoodwe
最新回复
(
0
)