Everybody is fair game
似乎不少朋友对我大力推荐的Overheard in New York有意见。没错，那里的对话不时会有Chink、Chinaman之类的贬义词，也隔三差五就拿华人开玩笑，但我必须强调的是，网站没有特别针对我们的意思。事实上，它只是一个窗口，反映日常生活中老百姓的观点。里面当然有愚昧的、带偏见的。如果给大家看的都是很温和的、没有任何脏话或不良字眼的对话，那就不真实了。
教大家一个词儿：fair game。不要想当然认为它是“公平的比赛”。它的定义是：a legitimate or likely object of attack, mockery, etc. （可开玩笑、嘲弄、攻击的对象）
美国有句很流行的话，叫：Everybody is fair game. （每个人都可以拿来开玩笑。）OINY就是最好的例子。管你是白人、黑人，管你是美国人、外国人，管你是明星、老百姓，谁都有可能“遭殃”。只要听到有人放了“厥词”，网站就会不删节地登出来。
所以，大家不用太在意那些看似侮辱华人的对话。OINY没有要宣扬“恶”的意思，只不过是暴露“丑”罢了。今年的奥斯卡最佳影片Crash不也有异曲同工之妙？
不是我崇洋媚外，但美国人这种everybody is fair game的心态真的很可取。而能够有这种心态，说到底还是因为他们信奉那句被讲滥了的话：我不一定同意你的观点，但我誓死捍卫你说话的权利。（不光是信奉，还真这么做。）
新鲜出炉的例子：最新一期的滚石杂志拿现任总统George W. Bush开涮，毫不留情地问道：The Worst President in History? （文章很长，封面上又是夸张的漫画形象，足以见得多么不给Bush面子。）
再回过头去看看那些OINY里拿Chinese做文章的对话，大家心里还觉得不舒畅吗？ 
Bonus video: Fort Minor featuring Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga - Where’d You Go （这首歌显然也是对Bush竖的中指）
P.S. 鉴于spam越来越猖獗，不得已只好出此下策：从今以后，大家若想留言，点击comments会看到一个要求登陆的相关链接。按指示步骤申请了用户名并且登陆之后才可以发表评论。
April 24th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
从前有一位大贤，好像是胡适，说，除了上帝，没有什么人什么事是不能批评的。
我觉得应该把限制成分去掉，再在“批评”后面加上“和嘲弄”三个字。
April 25th, 2006 at 8:00 am
说起fair game，South Park乃是经典的经典。但我个人觉得很多美国人，不在少数吧，恰恰不太包容fair game的思想的。真正能对人对己如一的少啊。
Yan:
其实这是human nature啦。但人家至少比我们更有fair game的意识，还是值得我们学习的。
April 25th, 2006 at 9:12 am
美国人对话看似简单，但到正经场合自己倒说不出来一句。
April 25th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Something off-topic: While learning from “one of America’s leading historians” why their incumbent President is the worst ever, I found something that interested me more. Kiefer Sutherland: Heart of Darkness. But the story is a little too sad. Can’t believe Jack is going to be killed off!
April 25th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
YOU ROCK!!
Yan:
Thanks. Welcome back.
April 26th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
对于没在美国生活过的人，OVERHEARD IN NEW YORK很难懂啊。
Yan:
的确有难度。有空切磋切磋。
April 27th, 2006 at 4:42 am
David Letterman就常常在自己的talk show裏面調侃MR.Bush的。
米国人貌似是連上帝都敢嘲笑的。不過，話又說回來，他們也非常地有自嘲精神，呵呵。
Yan:
That’s what I like about them.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Well, first post here.
Apologies if my poor English confuses you or somebody, but it’s hard for me to type Chinese when working under Japanese system.
Nice to meet you here, guys.
Yan:
No worries. Nice to meet you too.
April 28th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
I think you’d need to approve before the comments can come out and you would moderate them. Even with this, the spam could not be prevented?
Anyway, I’m okay with logging in for comments. It’s cool. Not so many bloggers have such power.
Yan:
Unfortunately, that’s true. The spam problem is that bad. Just because those comments don’t show up doesn’t mean they are not there. I have to get rid of them by hand. Sure, I can check “mark all for spam” when I moderate comments, but some of the real feedback will be deleted by accident. It’s simply getting ridiculous.
Now with the log-in requirement, the spam won’t even reach here, and I sure as hell don’t need to delete it manually. It’s the same reason some sites ask you to type letters/numbers to prove you are human nowadays.