1.
We care
that Aniston's getting married. Why?
CNN
Aug.
14, 2012
(CNN) -- Jennifer Aniston is getting married and this
seems to be a matter of intense interest to women around the world. Why do we
care?
To begin, there is the incredible proliferation of mass
media, the huge amount of coverage on celebrities and the self-exposure stars
are willing to endure -- even prefer -- these days. "Stars" have
changed from glamorous, unfathomables, to "friends" we follow on
Twitter, in intimate, unguarded photos in entertainment magazines (which we
don't even have to buy; the headlines and pictures capture us in our doctors'
offices and at the check out counter). We turn on the TV talk shows and learn
more than we should as heartbroken or apologetic celebrity guests share details
of their romantic misadventures.
Women like Jennifer Aniston become girlfriends, or
friends of friends, who we listen to, judge, identify with and commiserate
with. The wall separating us from stardom has been replaced by a penetrable
surface, with celebrities just one tweet or book group away. She is no longer
Jennifer Aniston, the star; she is Jennifer, a friend once removed and we talk
about her among friends as if she were one of us.
News: Jennifer Aniston engaged to actor Justin Theroux
She is not, though, so why do we feel so strongly about
what happens to a movie star who has no apparent connection to our lives? Two
reasons. First, we know enough about her travail to identity with her and
project ourselves into her situation. Here is a woman, who, like many of us,
has wanted someone very badly 非常, made mutual vows of fidelity and loyalty, and
had that person leave for another lover -- in this case, an exceptionally
talented and gorgeous woman, who now lays claim to everything she (or we) ever
wanted. There are few women who haven't lost someone they loved -- and they
immediately take up her cause, and her feelings, as their own.
Secondly, we follow her life because in a strange way, it
comforts us. If a man could be unfaithful to such a lovely, successful and nice
woman, we can know that perhaps we weren't left because we weren't pretty
enough or sexy enough or witty enough, but because some men just fall in love
with someone else.
2.
Navigating
the 'Isles of Wonder': A guide to the Olympic opening ceremony
CNN.com July 31, 2012
London (CNN) -- Hundreds of millions around the world
have been dazzled by the sights and sounds of director Danny Boyle's opening
ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The four-hour, £27 million ($42.4 million) spectacle
contained references to such globally-recognized British icons such as James
Bond, David Bowie and Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort.
But with the production tossing out historical and
cultural references at a rapid rate, even the most ardent Anglophiles in the
audience may have felt some allusions whiz over their head like an airborne
nanny.
The Oscar-winning director of "Slumdog
Millionaire" says the ceremony, titled "Isles of Wonder," was
inspired by a passage in Shakespeare's The Tempest, believed to have been
written in 1610 and set on a remote, magical island.
Although that phrase itself appears nowhere in the play,
the character Caliban refers to his home as an isle "full of noises,
sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not."
The line encapsulates the vision fellow film director
Stephen Daldry, the ceremony's creative director, says the production sought to
represent, in capturing "the rich heritage, diversity, energy,
inventiveness, wit and creativity that truly defines the British Isles."
unfathomables 不可理解的
counter 櫃臺
apologetic 道歉的
commiserate with 憐憫; 同情
stardom 名演員
travail 辛勤工作
mutual vows 相互誓言
someone else 別人,其他人
someone 某人
Isles 群島
dazzle 目眩眼花
ardent Anglophiles 英國癡
airborne nanny 空降褓姆
heritage 文化遺產
wit 智慧
