How did the '80s become a punchline?-英语课

时间：2019-01-17 作者：英语课 分类：阅读空间

英语课

How did the '80s become a punchline 1?

Give anything 20 years and it'll start to look like the makings of a joke. And so -- welcome back to the '80s, or, as LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge" put it, "borrowed nostalgia 2 for the unremembered '80s." You don't even need to have had first-hand experience with the decade to make fun of it.

Today's opening of "MacGruber" -- which Karina Longworth's review clusters alongside "Hot Tub Time Machine" and "Cop Out" as movies whose primary subject is a decade's worth of pop culture rather than actual people -- confirms what we already knew: VH1's "I Love The 80s" was far, far more insidious 3 than we figured.
Compare and contrast -- the trailers for "MacGruber" and "Hot Tub Time Machine" are below:
The '70s didn't suddenly see a big spate 4 of films mocking the '50s, nor the '80s the '60s and so forth 5. There is a joke in "Dazed and Confused" -- the only one that really guns for the low-hanging fruit -- where a character speculates on the rule of how every other decade is awesome 6, and figures out since the '70s suck, maybe the '80s will be totally awesome. But that's about it.
That an entire decade's worth of pop culture is, in and of itself, a punchline, is new and unnerving. It's different from the numerous films taking old TV franchises 7 as a starting point for a movie. The idea isn't playing with an established brand and resurrecting familiar images; it's toying with passed-down imagery as a joke whose currency is already established.
HealthTop TipsNutritionLoveLifestyleHappinessWeight Loss
The idea that changes in fashion (accessories, clothing, music, so on) automatically constitute hilarity 8, then, is a special rule we've come up with for the '80s. Familiarity breeds contemptuous affection for a decade that's just stupid, which was VH1's whole premise 9 -- mention just a title or name, then laugh away. What's unclear is whether thirtysomethings now getting to make their own movies will be able to sell that to kids too young to directly remember the '80s, those for whom the below montage conjures 10 no nostalgia.
What really gives me pause is wondering whether this is a one-off or a harbinger of something more sinister 11. 20 years hence, will we be deluged 12 with movies portraying 13 the aughts as a time of toxic 14 smart-phone abuse, American Apparel and people writing their own Wikipedia entries? It's easy to reduce a decade to its pop-culture sound-bites and trend topics when you have no memory of being complicit with them. Sneering 15 is easy, compassion 16 is hard.

1 punchline

n.（笑话、故事等的）结尾警语，点睛之笔

Even then,the magical pause can strengthen the punchline.即使这样，有魔力的停顿依然可以增强笑点。
A good joke or a mystery novel has along wind up to the final punchline.好的笑话或神秘小说都是一路曲折，直至最后的笑料或真相。

2 nostalgia

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

3 insidious

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

4 spate

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

5 forth

adv.向前；向外，往外

The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 awesome

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

7 franchises

n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 )