Black and White: how Dangerous kicked off Michael Jackson's race paradox
黑與白：《Dangerous》如何成為邁克爾·杰克遜種族悖論的源起
For a figure as enigmatic as Michael Jackson, one of the more fascinating paradoxes about his career is this: as he became whiter, he became blacker.
對于像邁克爾·杰克遜這樣神秘莫測的人物來說，他職業(yè)生涯中最引人注目的悖論之一就是：當(dāng)他變得更“白”的時候，他變得更“黑”了。
To elaborate, we must rewind to a crucial turning point: the early 1990s. In 1991, Jackson released Black or White from his Dangerous album. It was his most successful solo single since Beat It.
欲聞其詳，我們得回顧一個至關(guān)重要的轉(zhuǎn)折點：上世紀(jì)九十年代初。1991 年，杰克遜發(fā)布了他 Dangerous 專輯中的 Black or White。這是他自 Beat it 之后最成功的單曲。
The conversation surrounding Jackson at this point, however, was about his race. Critics said, he might sing that it “don’t matter if you’re black or white”, but then why had he turned himself white? To this day, many assume Jackson bleached his skin to become white—that it was a wilful cosmetic decision because he was ashamed of his race. Yet in the mid-1980s Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo.
然而，那時圍繞杰克遜的話題卻只關(guān)乎他的種族。批評者說，他或許能唱，“不管你是黑人還是白人，這都不重要”，那他為什么要把自己變成白人呢？直至今日，許多人仍舊認(rèn)為杰克遜故意采取整容手段漂白皮膚變身白人，是因為他為自己的種族而感到羞愧。然而其實在上世紀(jì) 80 年代中期杰克遜就已被診斷為白癜風(fēng)。
For Jackson, then, there was no ambivalence about his racial identity and heritage. The first indication of this came in the video for Black or White, in which ebullient faces of various races seamlessly blend from one to another. The message seemed to be that we are all part of the human family regardless of cosmetic variations.?
對杰克遜自己來說，他關(guān)于種族認(rèn)同和黑人文化的態(tài)度并不自相矛盾。第一個證據(jù)就在 Black or White 的 MV 中，種族各異、熱情洋溢的面孔一個接一個交替漸變。這似乎是在傳達(dá)這樣的信息：無論我們外表如何變化，我們都是人類大家庭的一部分。
The second indication is Remember the Time. Featuring some of the era’s most prominent black luminaries, the video is set in ancient Egypt. In contrast to Hollywood’s stereotypical representations of African Americans as servants, Jackson presents them here as royalty.
第二個證據(jù)是 Remember the Time。該 MV 由幾個當(dāng)時最杰出的黑人名人主演，并將場景設(shè)于古埃及。與好萊塢一貫把非洲裔美國人描繪成仆人相反，杰克遜把他們描繪成皇室貴族。
Jackson demonstrated that race is about more than mere pigmentation or physical features. While his skin became whiter, his work in the 1990s was never more infused with black pride, talent, inspiration and culture.
杰克遜證明，種族不只是一個人的膚色或生理特征這么簡單。盡管他的皮膚越來越白，但他在上世紀(jì) 90 年代的作品卻蘊藏了大量的黑人驕傲、才華、靈感和文化。
—————? 文章來源 / 衛(wèi)報
重點詞匯
paradox/?p?r?dɑ?ks/
n. 悖論
e.g.
It's a curious paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
enigmatic/?en?ɡ?m?t?k/
adj. 神秘的；難以捉摸的 (enigma n.)
e.g.
She is something of an enigma.
enigmatic smile
elaborate/??l?b?r?t/
v. 闡述；詳盡說明
rewind/?ri??wa?nd/
v. 倒帶；回放
e.g.
rewind live television
bleach/bli?t?/
v. 漂白
wilful/?w?lfl/
adj. 故意的；固執(zhí)的
e.g.
I eat huge quantities of sweet, in wilful disregard of my health.
cosmetic/kɑ?z?met?k/
adj. 美容的；表面的
e.g.
cosmetic surgery
They were offered a few cosmetic improvements to their working conditions, but nothing of significance.
diagnose/?da??ɡ?no?s/
v. 診斷出（病癥）
e.g.
The specialist diagnosed cancer.
She was diagnosed with diabetes/as having diabetes.
vitiligo/?v?t?'la?go/
n. 白癜風(fēng)
ambivalence/?m?b?v?l?ns/
n.矛盾心理
e.g.
The metropolis is a place of ambivalence, a place of promise and of threat.
ebullient/??b?li?nt/
adj. 熱情洋溢的；精力充沛的
seamlessly/?si?ml?sli/
adv. 無縫地
e.g.
a seamless dress (adj.)
feature/?fi?t??r/
v. 給...顯著地位；由...主演
luminary/?lu?m?neri/
n. （某領(lǐng)域）知名人士
e.g.
luminaries of stage and screen
stereotypical/?steri??t?p?kl/
adj. 有著刻板印象的
pigmentation/?p?ɡm(xù)en?te??n/
n. （生物的）天然顏色；色素沉著
e.g.
Vitiligo is an incurable pigmentation disorder.
infuse/?n?fju?z/
v. 將（某特性）注入
e.g.
Today's lesson infused new life into your weekend.
