2017.10.4 翻译练习

Resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/southpark/comments/73lii5/are_the_south_park_kids_doomed_to_become_their/

I'm going to specifically focus on Cartman here. Some of the other boys, like Kyle and especially Stan, could easily end up like their parents. But Cartman? He's a whole other beast. Warning, long as all bloody hell.

接下来我的重点会特别放在Cartman这一角色身上。其他的男孩子们，比如Kyle，尤其是Stan，他们的（性格行为）可能最终会成为他们父母的翻版。但Cartman，他的情况是迥然不同的。警告：接下来的文章巨长无比。

Let's start at the beginning of the series. When you watch early seasons, you'll notice that Cartman actually isn't the instigator of the insults. In later seasons we often see him as the bully, the one calling Kyle a Jew, calling Butters a pussy, insulting Kenny's family, etc, but in the first few seasons, he's actually the victim. Kyle is actually more of a bully early on, often insulting Cartman's weight without getting any flack back. (Re-watching some old episodes surprised me how often it's Kyle whose the jackass, with Cartman saying little more than "Hey!" or "screw you guys" to defend himself.) During this time, his mom is also largely addicted to crack and is the town's prostitute. We can tell she's more than just a whore for comments like, "Freebie next week!" (From the Tooth Fairy Tats ep). Now, the boys, as well as many others in town, including adults make comments and jokes about this. Cartman is very aware of his mom's addiction and her profession. So we have an overweight boy who is constantly mocked and ridiculed for his weight, who doesn't fight back, who sees his mom being used and made fun of by kids and adults, as well as lives in a home environment where he can get away with anything. (Even in the early seasons we see how Liane spoils him with food and lots of presents, such as buying him a top of the line trapper keeper, and then replacing it immediately after he says he "lost it.")

让我们从南方公园最初的剧集开始讨论。当你在看最早的几个季度时，你会注意到Cartman通常不是作为煽动嘲笑、侮辱的人物出现的。在比较晚的季度剧情中，我们通常把他看作暴凌者：他管Kyle叫“犹太佬”，管Butters叫“娘炮”，嘲笑Kenny的家庭，不一而足。但事实上，在最初的几个季度中，他才是受害者。而那个时候的暴凌者则是Kyle。他嘲笑Cartman的体重，却没有因此受到任何严厉批评。（重看一些老的剧集，我很惊讶地发现Kyle的混球行为如此频繁，而Cartman往往除了一句“嘿！”或“去你们的”以外，不会再说任何别的话来捍卫自己。）在这段时间里，他（Cartman）的母亲也有着严重的可卡因成瘾问题，并且还是小镇上的妓女。而从“Freebie next week!”（出自Tooth Fairy Tats这一集）这样的评论，我们可以看出她还不仅是一个荡妇那么简单。在这个时间点，这些男孩子们，如其他的许多镇上的男孩一样，甚至包括镇上的大人们，都会把这些当作笑谈。Cartman非常清楚地意识到他的母亲的毒瘾问题，以及她的职业。所以，我们看到，在这里的是一个超重的小男孩，他常常因为自己的体重被嘲笑、被戏弄，而他不曾反击；他看着自己的母亲被使用，被其他的孩子和大人们嘲笑；同时，他还生活在一个无论他做了什么都不必承担任何后果的家庭环境中。（就算是在早期剧集中，我们也能看到Liane在饮食、礼物方面对Cartman的纵容，例如Liane给Cartman买了一个顶级line trapper keeper，而在Cartman说东西“丢了”以后，Liane立刻给他换了一个新的。）

Then we hit "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut" where the entire town becomes involved in finding out who Cartman's real father is. In the two episodes, Cartman is really just a boy searching for a father. All the while his family is mocked by the whole town, and in the end the answer Cartman gets is his mom is his dad, as she is a hermaphrodite and impregnated herself (which later in the series we discover is a lie that the town told Cartman to cover up the fact that his father is a married man, Jack Tenorman, with a wife and son, in order to protect Jack's career as a Denver Bronco.) Consider this: your entire town, including your mother, lies to you about your father, in order to protect his "real" family, and the lie itself is so degrading and humiliating that you don't even want to speak about it afterwards. What would that do to a person? For Cartman, it seriously destroys any bit of empathy he has left.

接下来我们到了“Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut”这一集。这一集里，整个小镇都投入到了寻找Cartman的亲生父亲的活动之中。在整整两集中，Cartman完全只是一个寻找自己父亲的男孩。在此期间，他的家庭被整个镇上的人所嘲弄，而在最后Cartman得到的回答，则是他的母亲就是他的父亲，因为她是个双性人，自交生下了孩子（在后来的剧集中我们知道了这只是一个谎言，为了掩盖Cartman的父亲Jack Tenorman是一个有妻有子的已婚男性的事实，以使他能够继续在Denver Bronco效力）。试想一下：你所居住的整个小镇，包括你的母亲，都就你的父亲的事情对你说谎，只是为了保护你的父亲“真正的”家庭，而这个谎言过于侮辱你的人格，以至于你在听到之后都不愿再提第二次。这会对一个人造成怎样的影响？对于Cartman而言，后果就是他的最后一点同理心都被摧毁。

In the seasons after, we see a real degradation of Cartman's character. He is no longer just "taking" the abuse from the other kids-- now he's dishing back. We see him becoming more and more of an asshole, stemming from responding to insults with insults to just straight on attacking people with little provocation. Still, he's not really "evil," just severally maltreated and responding to that treatment.

在之后的季度之中，我们看到了Cartman的人物性格真正开始恶化。他不再只是“承受”其他孩子的欺凌——现在他会反击了。我们看到他变得越来越混球，从“以辱骂对抗辱骂”，发展到“稍一被挑衅就直接攻击他人”。不过，他还不算是真正的“邪恶”，现在的他还只是在反击那些针对他的虐待而已。

Then we have Scott Tenorman. Scott essentially embodies all the bullshit that Cartman has endured. Cartman has long wanted to be seen as more mature, intelligent, or older. It partly goes back to being belittled all the time by his peers, in response he tries to be seen as special or different in order to elevate himself and make his peers see him differently. Scott preys on this by selling Cartman his pubes for 10$, convincing him that this means he's hit "puberty." When Cartman is told by the guys that obviously this isn't true, Cartman is determined to get his money back in an attempt to save face. But with each attempt, he loses more ground. Scott insults his weight, insults his mother, takes more of his money, and publicly humiliates him through his "I'm a little piggy" show, all of which are huge triggers for Cartman. Ultimately, this is his breaking point. He is desperate to save face and get even. And growing up in an environment with a transient mother with no boundaries, Cartman has no sense of what's too far. Then, after Cartman kills Scott's parents, he is never punished, mostly due to South Park's crappy police and the fact that it's a fucking cartoon, which cements this idea in his head. Not only can he meet his own needs through violence, but he can get away with it too.

接下来我们到了Scott Tenorman的剧情。Scott本质上映射了Cartman所经受的所有遭遇。长久以来，Cartman都希望自己能够被认为是更加成熟、聪慧，或年长的角色。一部分因为他总是被他的同侪所轻视，作为回应，他试图通过拔高自己，以使自己显得特别、与众不同，从而使他的同伴对他刮目相看。Scott利用了Cartman的这种心理，以10刀的价格把自己的阴毛卖给Cartman，使Cartman相信这样做意味着Cartman进入了“青春期”。当Cartman的同伴告诉他这只是谎言时，Cartman打定主意要把他的钱要回来以挽回自己的颜面。但每一次他尝试这么做，他都会损失更多阵地。Scott嘲笑他的体重，嘲笑他的母亲，拿走他更多钱，并且用“I’m a little piggy”表演公开羞辱他。这一切都对Cartman造成了很大的刺激。最终，Scott的行为打破了临界点。Cartman为了挽回颜面、获得平等对待，变得极端了起来。而且由于自幼生长在有着一个无底线纵容他的母亲的家庭中，Cartman完全不知道“过分”一词的含义。

After Cartman kills the Tenormans, we see the complete transformation of his character into what most people recognize him as today: a bully, a sociopath, evil, and completely self-absorbed. It might be easy to try to call mental illness on Cartman, but there's a lot of evidence to support his transformation as completely a result of Nurture. Cartman is the way he is because he literally had no one to depend on before this. Even his other mother was too wrapped up in drugs and sex to worry about what was going on in his life. Out of necessity he becomes completely self-absorbed, because no one else has ever cared about his needs. Post season 5, he is completely psychopathic. Early after, we see him being mean for mean's sake, but later on, around season 10, we see him start to internalize what he's been saying. Suddenly his bigoted comments are no longer being screamed, they're used in rational discussions. By Season 13's Fatbeard, we have Cartman calmly stating over the PA that Jews, gingers and Mexicans cannot be pirates. There's lots of examples of the kids trying to debate Cartman's racist views, where he just simply doesn't understand where they're coming from, mostly to show how far he's internalized the views. We also see how far his warped reality stretches in episodes like Fishsticks, where he literally alters his memories in order to view himself as the hero. This distorted reality comes back to his defense mechanisms-- in order to survive constant abuse from adults and peers alike, Cartman created a reality in his head where he's the good guy, and now it's the only way that he can get through life. Unfortunately, it also blinds him to valid criticisms of his behaviour.

在Cartman杀死Tenorman夫妇之后，我们看到Cartman彻底完成了他的角色转变，他变成了今天我们所熟悉的样子：一个暴凌者、一个反社会精神病、邪恶，且极度自我陶醉。要把这样的Cartman称作精神病或许没什么难的，但有足够的证据证明，他的转变完全是培养的结果。Cartman变成现在的样子，因为他在此之前根本没有一个可以依赖的对象。甚至他的母亲都因为严重的药瘾和性瘾，而无法照顾到Cartman的生活。出于必然的需求，他完全陷入自我陶醉中，因为没有其他人在乎过他的需要。第五季后半部分，他变成了一个彻底的心理变态。最开始，我们还能看出他在为了残忍而表现得残忍，但随着时间的推移，到了第10季，我们能看到他开始逐渐内化他一直挂在嘴上的话了。突然之间，他那些偏执的言论不再只是他吓唬人的话，它们成为了理性讨论的一部分。在第13季的Fatbeard中，我们看到Cartman冷静地对PA陈述，他认为犹太人、姜黄人，和墨西哥人不能成为海盗。在许多例子中，孩子们试图驳倒Cartman的种族歧视论点，而Cartman往往连这些论点的源头都不理解，大部分时候他只是简单粗暴地认同并接受了这些观点。我们同样在诸如Fishsticks的剧集中看到Cartman究竟能够扭曲、夸大事实到什么样的地步，在这一集中，他为了使自己被视作英雄，直接扭曲了自己的记忆。这种扭曲事实的手段，成为了他的自我保护机制——为了在周围的大人和同侪持续不断的欺凌中生存下去，Cartman在他的脑海中创造出了一种“现实”，在这个现实中，他是正义的一方，而如今这是他唯一一种继续生活的手段。不幸的是，这同样使他在面对那些对他的行为的有力批判时，变得盲目起来。

Now, around season 10 we notice a change in Liane as well. She's no longer hooked on drugs, she's no longer a prostitute, though she still spoils her son relentlessly. Still, she is attempting to become a better mother. In Tsst, she hires Cesar Millan to get Cartman's behaviour under control, and it works for a bit. Cartman starts to straighten up during that episode, relapsing when Liane does when she goes back to giving into his demands. Despite that, we've seen more responsible behaviour from her in later seasons, such as in season 15's Humancentipad, where she holds firm on not buying him an iPad after he tantrums in the store, which shows promise for her. In that episode we see Cartman morphing his usual manipulative behaviour, going from the sweet son to almost blackmailing her, which shows his desperation to get her to back down on her decision. Despite that, she holds firm, and as her lack of boundaries was a huge cause for Cartman to act out in the first place, when she holds firm we see a change in Cartman. The last few seasons have seen a serious deescalation of Cartman's serious acting out. In season 20, he's got a girlfriend, is seemingly against the harassment by skankhunt42, and works with Heidi to do good like organizing the school to bake danishes for Denmark.

现在，在第10季左右，我们注意到Liane也发生了变化。她不再沉溺于毒品，她也不再是一个妓女，虽然她依旧毫无底线地溺爱她的儿子。而一如既往地，她尝试想成为一个更称职的母亲。在Tsst中，她雇佣了Cesar Millan去管理Cartman的行为，而这起到了些许作用。Cartman在那一集中开始改邪归正，却又在Liane重新对他有求必应时回到解放前。除此之外，我们在之后的季度中，看到了更多她负担责任的表现。例如在第15季Humancentipad中，Cartman在商店里大发脾气之后，当她坚持不给他购买ipad，这体现出了她的言行如一。在这一集中，我们看见Cartman一贯操控他人的行为的渐变，从一个乖宝宝逐渐变为一个几近恐吓母亲的恐吓犯，这体现出了Cartman强烈希望改变母亲的决定的心理。但即便如此，她依旧坚守自己的决定，并且，由于她无底线的溺爱是造成Cartman行为失控的根本原因，所以当她变得强硬、坚持以后，我们也看到Cartman改变了自己。在最新的几个季度中，我们看到Cartman夸张的行为表现急剧减少。在20季中，他有了一个女朋友，他看起来反对skankhunt42的骚扰行为，且和Heidi一起努力去把学校的学生们团结到一起，为丹麦一起烤制丹麦点心。

Could it be that because things at home have finally stabilized and he's no longer being ridiculed as often, he hasn't had to rely on negative coping skills (delusions and hostility) to survive? Yeah, he's got his issues still, as we can see in season 21's Put It Down, where Cartman tries to convince everyone Heidi is mentally abusive, but that can even be tied back to being exposed to his mom's prostitution and having warped ideas of what a healthy relationship should look like.

是否因为他的家庭逐渐稳定下来，而他也不像以前那样总是被嘲笑，所以他不必再依赖之前我们提到的方法（自我欺骗、敌对行为）以生存下去了？的确，他身上还是有很多问题，正如我们在21季Put It Down中看到的，Cartman试图说服所有人Heidi对他进行了精神折磨，但这也可能是受到他的母亲卖淫这一事实的影响，他并不知道健康的情侣关系究竟应该是什么样的。

Cartman will no way end up like his mom, but she is highly influential on his character and behaviour. What will really determine how Cartman turns out is how Liane will continue to parent him over the series. If she continues on this responsible trajectory, we could see Cartman become almost normal (for Cartman), but if she lets down her guard for one minute, Cartman's proved he can take advantage of her inconsistencies. It's definitely a battle of wills in that house. It would be interesting to see Liane get a long-term boyfriend, and how Cartman would respond to that new dynamic in his household.

Cartman绝不可能会变得像他的母亲，但她对他的性格与行为有着极其深远的影响。究竟最后Cartman会变成什么样，取决于在接下来的剧集中Liane会如何抚养他。如果她继续这种比较负责的表现，我们也许能看到Cartman逐渐变得几乎接近正常（以Cartman而言），但如果她对他的管制松懈哪怕一分钟，Cartman就可能趁虚而入。毫无疑问这会成为Cartman家的一场战争。我想，如果Liane交了一个稳定的男友，看Cartman究竟会对家庭中所形成的新的动态关系作何反应，会令人觉得非常有趣。

TL;DR: Nurture had more of an effect on Cartman's character than nature did. Liane's parenting has a huge impact on Cartman's behaviour, and Cartman's instability is often a reflection of her instability.

太长不看版：抚养方式对Cartman的性格的影响要远超自然影响。Liane的教养方式对Cartman的行为的影响极为巨大，且Cartman的不安定表现通常是她的不安定的体现。