被吹爆的《魷魚遊戲》，就這？

「來源： ｜外刊手札 ID：ForeignJournal310」

終於恢復好心情了，我只想安安心心寫我自己的筆記。至於資源，喂到嘴邊了自己不看就是自己的問題啦！雖然我的初心還是加了群就要有收穫！具體的看第二條就行。

今天的外刊讀這篇，經濟學人報道的《魷魚遊戲》。我找了好幾篇主流外刊的平行文字，都發在群裡啦。

先看原文吧

South Koreans are bemused by the global success of “Squid Game”

Yet its theme of social injustice is a globally appealing one

When “squid game” appeared on Netflix in mid-September， many South Korean reviewers were underwhelmed by the home-grown survival drama。 They found the characters clichéd， the plot unconvincing and the violence gratuitous。 The whole thing， they complained， was too similar to older films， such as the Japanese “Battle Royale”， and added nothing new to the survival genre， notwithstanding the striking set designs and star-studded cast。 “Even though every genre has its clichés， too much in ‘Squid Game’ reminds you of every other movie you’ve ever seen，” complained one critic。

“Squid Game”， which takes its name from a common Korean schoolyard game， follows a group of debt-ridden losers， including an unemployed gambling addict， a North Korean refugee and a Pakistani migrant worker。 Dressed in green tracksuits evoking those worn by Korean pupils during school sports and policed by shadowy supervisors in black masks and hot-pink jumpsuits， they fight for a nearly $40m prize—and their lives—in violent versions of traditional Korean children’s games。 Rich spectators in embroidered robes watch from a vip lounge filled with exotic plants and crystal chandeliers。 Hwang Dong-hyuk， the director， says the show is an allegory about modern capitalism。

“Squid Game” has taken the world by storm。 It is currently the most-streamed show on Netflix in all but a handful of the company’s markets。 It has entered mainstream cultural consciousness， spawning millions of videos on TikTok， thousands of memes and dozens of earnest articles dissecting the show’s meaning。 Cafés all over the world have started selling their own takes on dalgona， a Korean candy featured in one episode。 In Paris fights broke out as fans tried to force their way into a pop-up shop where visitors could pose with staff dressed like the pink-suited enforcers from the show。

The brutality of the competition has also rung true for ordinary South Koreans struggling with unaffordable housing and a sluggish labour market。 Politicians have begun referring to the show when attacking opponents。 Yet after a brief spell at the top of the Korean Netflix charts， “Squid Game” has been overtaken by “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha”， a saccharine k-drama。

The global craze has prompted bemusement in South Korea。 “Nobody around me understands the global hype， and neither do I，” says In-young， a 26-year-old from Seoul who stopped watching after a couple of episodes because it disturbed her to see her childhood games depicted as a brutal struggle for survival。 One Korean critic speculates that the combination of violent entertainment with a very on-trend critique of capitalism explains the show’s appeal to Western audiences， who are used to such themes from American productions such as “The Hunger Games”， set in a dystopian world of grave social injustice。

No doubt the hypnotic geometry of the design， the lush costumes and eminently meme-able stills also help—as does Netflix’s strategy of dubbing and subtitling its productions in dozens of languages。 That had already created hits such as “Lupin”， a French thriller with an underlying theme of social injustice， which the Korean show is likely to dethrone as the company’s most successful non-English production。

The embrace of “Squid Game” is a reflection of South Korea’s outsize cultural power on the global stage。 It may also have benefited from following in the footsteps of “Parasite”， a film about—what else—social injustice， which won the Oscar for best picture in 2020。 But most of all， it shows that， like love and money， complaints about inequality have no language。

小獅子的英語筆記

1、先看標題

South Koreans are bemused by the global success of “Squid Game”

筆記：你知道關曉彤開的奶茶店名字嗎，我們這邊就開了一家「天然呆」

bemused 形容的就是一臉呆萌，困惑茫然的表情。【同】bewildered

a bemused expression

茫然的神情

搭配 ［+ by ］

He looked slightly bemused by all the questions。

對所有的這些問題，他感到有點困惑。

不只是韓國人，就連被告的中國人也是啊，怎麼就能這麼紅？

2、牆內開花牆外香

第一段：

① When “squid game” appeared on Netflix in mid-September， many South Korean reviewers were underwhelmed by the home-grown survival drama。

② They found the characters clichéd， the plot unconvincing and the violence gratuitous。

③ The whole thing， they complained， was too similar to older films， such as the Japanese “Battle Royale”， and added nothing new to the survival genre， notwithstanding the striking set designs and star-studded cast。

④ “Even though every genre has its clichés， too much in ‘Squid Game’ reminds you of every other movie you’ve ever seen，” complained one critic。

筆記：① underwhelmed 之前只知道overwhelm，一個讓我感覺相當“迷妹”的單詞，大概就是「（感情或感覺）充溢，難以承受」

比如：

The beauty of the landscape overwhelmed me。 秀麗的風光令我深深地陶醉。

那underwhelmed就是overwhelm的反義詞啦！

形容「無動於衷的；毫不激動的」 【例句】We were distinctly underwhelmed by the director‘s speech。主任的講話顯然令我們感覺索然無味。記一下，動詞 【underwhelm】 未給…留下深刻印象〔幽默用法〕

home-grown原來不只是說植物哈「蔬菜和水果〕自家園子裡種植的」；也形容「本國製造（出產）的； 本地製造（出產）的」 homegrown rock stars 本地的搖滾明星

② 三個形容詞嫌棄《魷魚遊戲》：

clichéd 陳詞濫調；陳腐的套語

unconvincing 不令人信服的； 難以置信的

gratuitous 無正當理由的，無端的

③

notwithstanding 儘管（介詞）Notwithstanding differences， there are clear similarities in all of the world’s religions。 世界上的宗教儘管各不相同，但都有明顯的相似之處。

3、所謂的無限流

第二段：

① “Squid Game”， which takes its name from a common Korean schoolyard game， follows a group of debt-ridden losers， including an unemployed gambling addict， a North Korean refugee and a Pakistani migrant worker。

② Dressed in green tracksuits evoking those worn by Korean pupils during school sports and policed by shadowy supervisors in black masks and hot-pink jumpsuits， they fight for a nearly $40m prize—and their lives—in violent versions of traditional Korean children’s games。

③ Rich spectators in embroidered robes watch from a vip lounge filled with exotic plants and crystal chandeliers。 ④ Hwang Dong-hyuk， the director， says the show is an allegory about modern capitalism

。

筆記：

① 看一個字尾debt-ridden：-ridden表示“為…所苦的”，“為…所累的”，“充滿…的”//。。。the debt-ridden economies of Latin America。。。 拉丁美洲負債累累的經濟

② 看一下這裡的evoking，是主動的哈！……tracksuits evoking those worn by Korean pupils during school sports and policed by shadowy supervisors in black masks and hot-pink jumpsuits 他們穿著tracksuits （運動練習時或作便衣穿的）寬鬆暖和的衣褲；運動服，evoking（讓人想起）那些東東，被Korean pupils穿著，被shadowy supervisors管著（policed）。

③ embroider 刺繡；加以渲染（或潤飾）；對…添枝加葉；對〔故事或報道〕加以渲染 eg。 He told some lies and sometimes just embroidered the truth。 他說了些謊，有時只是對事實添油加醋了一番。

④ allegory 寓言，諷喻

4、韓國人看不起的，結果全球爆紅了？

① “Squid Game” has taken the world by storm。

② It is currently the most-streamed show on Netflix in all but a handful of the company’s markets。

③ It has entered mainstream cultural consciousness， spawning millions of videos on TikTok， thousands of memes and dozens of earnest articles dissecting the show’s meaning。

④ Cafés all over the world have started selling their own takes on dalgona， a Korean candy featured in one episode。

⑤ In Paris fights broke out as fans tried to force their way into a pop-up shop where visitors could pose with staff dressed like the pink-suited enforcers from the show。

筆記：① 一句話形容紅遍全球的紅：take the world by storm

例句：Soon thereafter， they took the world by storm。 此後不久，他們就席捲了整個世界。

我記得08年可口可樂贊助，還出了首歌《紅遍全球》，好多人都唱過。這不是重點，我查了下！

xx是被綁架了哇！

② in all but 是啥呀？看下例句：

So， these charges are headline news in all but his own newspaper。

所以這些指控都登上報刊頭條，只有他的報紙例外。

所以：It is currently the most-streamed show on Netflix in all but a handful of the company’s markets。 就是除了Netflix公司的一小部分市場以外，它的播放量最高。

③ 原文：It has entered mainstream cultural consciousness， spawning millions of videos on TikTok， thousands of memes and dozens of earnest articles dissecting the show’s meaning。

spawn 使大量出現，使大量產生； 釀成 【例句】 New technology has spawned new business opportunities。 新技術創造了大量新的商機。

dissect 解剖（人或動植物）；仔細研究；詳細評論；剖析：Her latest novel was dissected by the critics。評論家對她最近出版的一部小說作了詳細剖析。

5、現實比劇更慘

我一直覺得，韓國的現實比電影更慘，張紫妍就是典型。衛報寫過這部劇的劇評，最後一句是：

“You have to pay to watch it and I don’t know anyone who will let me use their Netflix account，” he says。 “In any case， why would I want to watch a bunch of people with huge debts？ I can just look in the mirror。”

崔英秀說：“這部劇必須付錢才能觀看，我也不認識能讓我借用奈飛賬戶的人。再說了，我幹嘛要看一堆負債累累的人？我自己照照鏡子就好了啊。”

看一下經濟學人怎麼寫的韓國現狀（ ▽｀）

① The brutality of the competition has also rung true for ordinary South Koreans struggling with unaffordable housing and a sluggish labor market。

② Politicians have begun referring to the show when attacking opponents。

③ Yet after a brief spell at the top of the Korean Netflix charts， “Squid Game” has been overtaken by “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha”， a saccharine k-drama。

筆記：

①

ring true/ hollow/ false 釋義「to give the impression of being sincere/true or not sincere/true 給人以真實（或空洞、虛假）的印象」 「例句」 It may seem a strange story， but it rings true to me。 這個故事也許顯得離奇，但我卻覺得很真實。

② “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” 海岸村恰恰恰 （聽說這個好看） a saccharine k-drama saccharine 故作多情的； 過分甜蜜的

6、韓國人就是不懂為啥紅

① The global craze has prompted bemusement in South Korea。

② “Nobody around me understands the global hype， and neither do I，” says In-young， a 26-year-old from Seoul who stopped watching after a couple of episodes because it disturbed her to see her childhood games depicted as a brutal struggle for survival。

③ One Korean critic speculates that the combination of violent entertainment with a very on-trend critique of capitalism explains the show’s appeal to Western audiences， who are used to such themes from American productions such as “The Hunger Games”， set in a dystopian world of grave social injustice。

筆記：

① prompt bemusement

prompt促使； 激勵 【例句】 prompt sb to do sth What prompted you to buy that suit？什麼原因讓你買下了那套西裝？

bemusement 困惑；疑惑

② brutal 野蠻的；殘暴的；直截了當的；直言不諱的；直率的；殘酷無情的；難以忍受的

看一下副詞：brutally

The early-morning New York air can be brutally cold。

紐約清晨的空氣會冷得讓人難以忍受。（說的就是今天的天氣！

③ critique 評論；評論文章

7、翻譯對於傳播很重要

No doubt the hypnotic geometry of the design， the lush costumes and eminently meme-able stills also help—as does Netflix’s strategy of dubbing and subtitling its productions in dozens of languages。 That had already created hits such as “Lupin”， a French thriller with an underlying theme of social injustice， which the Korean show is likely to dethrone as the company’s most successful non-English production。

筆記：

這段話沒啥看，我就是覺得，文化出海太重要。字幕翻譯的報酬和質量都該up up！

看一個動詞dethrone「廢黜〔君主〕；攆〔某人〕下臺，使〔某人〕失去要職」。一個很正式的詞，在這裡形容取代大熱劇Lupin，成為網飛公司最成功的非英語劇集。

8、愛和抱怨，都無國界

① The embrace of “Squid Game” is a reflection of South Korea’s outsize cultural power on the global stage。

② It may also have benefited from following in the footsteps of “Parasite”， a film about—what else—social injustice， which won the Oscar for best picture in 2020。

③ But most of all， it shows that， like love and money， complaints about inequality have no language。

筆記：

① 為啥要擁抱呢？因為喜歡啊，舉高高抱抱！the embrace of就是說喜歡xx。

比如ECO這個：

The city‘s embrace of high-tech has already begun。

紐約早已對高科技產生青睞。

② 學一個表達，追隨xx的腳步：follow in the footsteps of

《海底兩萬裡》：

But I catch myself following in the Canadian’s footsteps。

我覺得我也跟加拿大人是同道了。

③ But most of all， it shows that， like love and money， complaints about inequality have no language。

這才不是無語哈。有部電影是《愛無國界》，這裡也是，對不平等的抱怨也是不分語言和國界的。

今天想分享經濟學人的這句話，平凡事做好就是不平凡。

我寫好了，聽著《知否》寫完了。啥時候中國也能有一部這麼紅的劇就好了。不服，就憑本事自己上唄。