文/溫迪·艾德 譯/吳曉雷

It’s a contentious issue.The Hollywood age gap romance—the habitual casting of an older male actor and a much younger female actor, for so long accepted as the norm—is now meeting with increasing scrutiny and criticism from audiences.Some filmmakers,identifying a hot-button topic, have started to respond.

2At the Sundance Film Festival1圣丹斯電影節(jié)專為獨(dú)立電影人設(shè)立，號(hào)稱“全球獨(dú)立電影領(lǐng)域的風(fēng)向標(biāo)”。該電影節(jié)是美國(guó)乃至全球知名的電影圣地，也是眾多國(guó)際大導(dǎo)演、大明星的出道福地。last month, age gaps in relationships were a recurring theme.But rather than the traditional approach, of hoping that people wouldn’t notice an age difference which could practically be measured on a geological time2地質(zhì)年代，地球形成以來(lái)的漫長(zhǎng)時(shí)期，一般以最古老的巖石記錄作為開始的依據(jù)。frame, filmmakers are instead emphasising and examining the issue.

3Approaches include flipping the gender roles, as with Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, which starred Emma Thompson, who is 62, opposite 29-yearold Daryl McCormack, or the audience prize-winner Cha Cha Real Smooth,which explored the attraction between a young male college leaver and a thirtysomething divorcee.

這是個(gè)頗具爭(zhēng)議的話題。好萊塢大銀幕上的“忘年戀”，往往男演員年齡大得多，女演員卻小得多。這種搭配長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)被視作慣例，但如今觀眾對(duì)此越來(lái)越較真，批評(píng)聲也越來(lái)越大。一些電影制作人也注意到了這一敏感話題，并已有所行動(dòng)。

2在2022 年1 月的圣丹斯電影節(jié)上，“忘年戀”是反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的主題。不過(guò)，有別于傳統(tǒng)的處理方式，對(duì)快要以地質(zhì)年代來(lái)計(jì)算的年齡差，電影制作人不再期待觀眾熟視無(wú)睹，而是改為強(qiáng)調(diào)、剖析年齡差問(wèn)題。

3新的處理方式包括對(duì)調(diào)角色性別。就像影片《祝你好運(yùn)，利奧·格蘭德》，62歲的艾瑪·湯普森飾演女主角，29 歲的達(dá)里爾·麥科馬克與她演對(duì)手戲。另一個(gè)例子是獲得了觀眾獎(jiǎng)的影片《恰恰絲滑》。這部影片探討了剛大學(xué)畢業(yè)的男青年與30 多歲離婚女人之間的相互吸引。

4Other films, like the potent but gruelling Palm Trees and Power Lines and Sharp Stick, delved into the realities of the power imbalance between a young woman and a much older man.One thing is certain: the debate about onscreen age differences is not about to die down.

5On the contrary, if the polarised reactions to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza are anything to go by, the conversation, amplified perhaps by the fact that it frequently plays out on social media, is only set to grow more heated.Another film which flips the gender roles of the traditional age gap, Licorice Pizza is a defiantly unconventional picture.

6At the heart of the film is, if not quite a romance between a 15-year-old boy and a woman at least 10 years his senior, then certainly a mutual attraction.

4還有幾部影片，像頗為勁爆卻讓人備感疲憊的《棕櫚樹與輸電線》和《鋒利的棍子》，深入探索了現(xiàn)實(shí)問(wèn)題，即年輕女人和年長(zhǎng)許多的男人之間權(quán)力不平衡。有一點(diǎn)是確定無(wú)疑的，那就是有關(guān)銀幕上“忘年戀”的爭(zhēng)議不會(huì)平息。

5不僅如此，保羅·托馬斯·安德森執(zhí)導(dǎo)的《甘草披薩》上映后，觀眾的評(píng)價(jià)兩極分化。如果說(shuō)這種現(xiàn)象能反映什么問(wèn)題的話，那就是針鋒相對(duì)的討論注定會(huì)愈演愈烈?；蛟S是由于這種討論經(jīng)常發(fā)生在社交媒體上，因而爭(zhēng)議加劇?！陡什菖_》也對(duì)調(diào)了傳統(tǒng)“忘年戀”中的性別角色，大膽地挑戰(zhàn)了傳統(tǒng)。

6這部電影的核心，即使談不上是15 歲男孩和至少年長(zhǎng)10 歲的女人之間的愛情，起碼也是二人之間的相互吸引。

72021 年，安德森在接受《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的采訪時(shí)，對(duì)影片中的“忘年戀”輕描淡寫?！皼](méi)有任何出格之處，只有一番好意。要是有什么爭(zhēng)議，那還真出乎我的意料……這部電影沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)煽動(dòng)性要素。”

7Anderson, talking to The New York Times last year, downplayed the age gap aspect.“There’s no line that’s crossed,and there’s nothing but the right intentions.It would surprise me if there was some kind of kerfuffle3kerfuffle 混亂。about it… There isn’t a provocative bone in this film’s body.”

8One suspects that Anderson was being a touch disingenuous in his claims:surely the whole point of pushing the age gap to the front of the story was to create a degree of discomfort.Anderson is, after all, a filmmaker who has made a career out of getting under the skin of a series of broken screw-ups.

9Malcolm & Marie, a Netflix production written and directed by Sam Levinson, about a film director, played by John David Washington, 36, and his girlfriend, played by then a 24-year-old Zendaya, sparked criticism for the 12-year age gap between the two.This is in part, as Zendaya pointed out, because audiences were accustomed to seeing her in high school-age roles in films like the Spider-Man franchise.Even so,the fact that the comparatively modest age difference between Zendaya and Washington drew complaints might be an indication that audience tolerance for multi-decade gaps is waning.

10Not before time4not before time 早該發(fā)生；早該如此。.“Men on screen have a whole life, and women only have a shelf life,” says Nicky Clark, the founder of campaign group Acting Your Age,which lobbies for age-appropriate casting and representation for older women on screen.“Since the medium began,women were expected to retire at 40 and not do anything particularly interesting if they were working after that age.And that hasn’t really changed.”

8有人懷疑安德森的這番說(shuō)辭有點(diǎn)不真誠(chéng)：之所以要讓故事里的“忘年戀”如此醒目，顯然是為了制造些許不適。畢竟，安德森正是靠著接連制造支離破碎的混亂，讓人煩躁不安，才在自己的職業(yè)生涯里得志的。

9由薩姆·萊文森編劇、執(zhí)導(dǎo)，并由網(wǎng)飛出品的《馬爾科姆與瑪麗》，講述了一名電影導(dǎo)演和他女朋友之間的故事。36 歲的約翰·戴維·華盛頓飾演導(dǎo)演，當(dāng)時(shí)24 歲的贊達(dá)亞飾演他的女友，兩人之間12 歲的年齡差招來(lái)了不少批評(píng)。究其原因，就像贊達(dá)亞指出的一樣，部分是因?yàn)橛^眾看慣了她演高中生，比如《蜘蛛俠》系列。即便如此，贊達(dá)亞和華盛頓之間相對(duì)而言并不算太大的年齡差，依舊引來(lái)了怨言。這或許說(shuō)明，觀眾越來(lái)越不能容忍幾十歲的年齡差了。

10早該如此了?！澳腥丝梢栽阢y幕上活躍一生，女人卻總有保鮮期?！蹦峄た死巳缡钦f(shuō)。她發(fā)起的“演出你的年齡風(fēng)采”運(yùn)動(dòng)旨在號(hào)召選角要與年齡相符，號(hào)召在銀幕上刻畫年紀(jì)較大的女性?！皬碾娪斑@種媒體剛出現(xiàn)時(shí)起，人們就覺得女演員到了40 歲就該退休。就算過(guò)了40 歲還在演戲，也演不出什么特別有趣的東西。即使到了今天，這一切也沒(méi)有真正改變。”

11According to actor and co-founder of the ERA5指Equal Representation for Actresses，在銀幕上給予女演員同等機(jī)會(huì)。50:50 campaign Polly Kemp,there’s no mystery behind the tendency to cast much younger women opposite older actors.“I think it’s to do with the fact that it was predominantly white,older men who commissioned, financed and produced.They were casting their preferences… I think things are changing slowly, certainly in terms of diversity.But certainly for middle-aged women it’s still a bit of a struggle.”

12A-list status offers some protection to female actors being seen as a viable romantic lead over 30, but it’s by no means a certainty.At 37, Maggie Gyllenhaal was told she was too old to play the lover of a 55-year-old man.“It was astonishing to me,” she said at the time.“It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”

11“平等上鏡50:50”運(yùn)動(dòng)的聯(lián)合發(fā)起人、演員波莉·肯普認(rèn)為，選角時(shí)常選年輕得多的女性和年長(zhǎng)男性演對(duì)手戲，其背后原因并不神秘?！霸谖铱磥?lái)，這是因?yàn)槲腥艘埠茫顿Y人也好，制片人也好，絕大多數(shù)是年齡偏大的白人男性。他們依照自己的喜好選角……我覺得，情況正在慢慢改變，當(dāng)然是變得越來(lái)越多元。不過(guò)，對(duì)于中年女演員來(lái)說(shuō)，依然有點(diǎn)困難?！?/p>

13Meanwhile, in films such as Entrapment, the 39-year gap between Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones was barely more credible than a plot which suggested the 68-year-old Connery could parachute down a ventilation shaft to escape pursuers.Then there’s Woody Allen, a repeat offender when it comes to dubious casting decisions,who assigned himself the then 26-yearold Charlize Theron as a love interest in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.When he shares the screen with her, he looks like a liver-spotted Galapagos tortoise trying to take a bite out of a peach.

12一線地位能為30 歲以上女演員提供一定的保護(hù)，讓人們認(rèn)為她們適合演言情戲女主角，但這絕不是板上釘釘?shù)氖隆，敿ぜ獋惞?7 歲時(shí)，有人跟她說(shuō)她太老了，沒(méi)法演55 歲男人的情人?！斑@話讓我震驚?！彼?dāng)時(shí)說(shuō)道，“也讓我十分難過(guò)，然后讓我感到憤怒，再然后又讓我笑出聲來(lái)?！?/p>

13《偷天陷阱》這部電影，戲外的肖恩·康納利和凱瑟琳·澤塔-瓊斯相差39 歲，而戲里的劇情則在暗示，68 歲的康納利為了躲避追殺，還可以從通風(fēng)井一躍而下。兩位演員懸殊的年齡恐怕和這段劇情一樣讓人不可思議。說(shuō)到選角不當(dāng)，伍迪·艾倫一再令人不快，譬如在《玉蝎子的魔咒》中，他為自己選的戀人是當(dāng)時(shí)只有26 歲的查理茲·西倫。二人同框時(shí)，伍迪·艾倫看上去就像一只渾身長(zhǎng)滿褐斑卻試圖咬一口鮮桃的加拉帕戈斯象龜。

14The film industry can be notoriously complacent and slow moving when it comes to enacting meaningful change.However, it does tend to respond to the threat of commercial failure.The Sundance trend for films which interrogate or disrupt the traditional age gap may be as much to do with the box office ramifications of a shift in audience appetites as to do with a reframing of female roles after #metoo.Still the fact that they exist at all is a step forward, surely?

14談到做出重大改變，電影業(yè)可是出了名的滿不在乎、行動(dòng)遲緩。然而，對(duì)于票房慘敗的威脅，電影業(yè)一定會(huì)及時(shí)應(yīng)對(duì)。圣丹斯電影節(jié)上質(zhì)疑、打破“忘年戀”傳統(tǒng)的電影成為熱門話題，可能既是因?yàn)椤拔乙彩恰边\(yùn)動(dòng)后女性角色得到重塑，也同樣是因?yàn)橛^眾口味改變，最終影響了票房。不過(guò)，想必這類影片的存在本身就意味著進(jìn)步吧。

15肯普對(duì)此持謹(jǐn)慎的樂(lè)觀態(tài)度?！拔矣X得很有意思的是，有那么幾部影片關(guān)注年齡差，他們拍的電影也不再只是一個(gè)非常年輕的女演員搭上一個(gè)年紀(jì)大的男人了。很明顯，電影業(yè)正在花時(shí)間關(guān)注這件事?！?/p>

15Kemp is cautiously positive.“I think it’s very interesting that there’s a number of films that are looking at that age gap and they’re not just producing films where there is very much a younger actress being paired up with an older man.Clearly the industry is taking some time to look at that.”

16Clark is not so sure.On Emma Thompson’s widely praised performance in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, she says: “Depressingly, she’s being referred to as ‘brave’ for being either naked or featuring in sex scenes.We don’t hear Brad Pitt called brave when he takes his shirt off in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.It’s making these steps forward, but with the caveat that the permission is being granted, and everybody knows that she’s older, and isn’t that quite charming and endearing,really? When no, it’s not charming and endearing.It’s an actress who’s still at the top of her game, performing brilliantly and telling a story that isn’t often told.So there are small steps, but then they’re pulled back again.” ■

16克拉克就不那么肯定了。對(duì)于艾瑪·湯普森在《祝你好運(yùn)，利奧·格蘭德》中廣受贊譽(yù)的表演，她說(shuō)：“讓人沮喪的是，大家總說(shuō)她‘勇敢’，不是因?yàn)槁懵渡眢w，就是因?yàn)檠莩鲂詯矍楣?jié)。布拉德·皮特在《好萊塢往事》中脫去了襯衫，我們可沒(méi)聽人說(shuō)他勇敢。電影業(yè)是進(jìn)步了一點(diǎn)，不過(guò)條件是允許電影這樣拍。每個(gè)人都覺得她年紀(jì)大了，但老了不是更有魅力，也更迷人嗎？如果不是，那跟迷人與否就沒(méi)有關(guān)系了——她只是一位女演員，仍在事業(yè)巔峰，用出眾的演技為我們講述了一個(gè)不常聽到的故事。電影業(yè)是有些許進(jìn)步之處，但又退回去了。” □