【中文标题】小沈阳 － 中国最下流的男人
【原文标题】The Dirtiest Man in China
【登载媒体】新闻周刊
【原文链接】http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/23/the-dirtiest-man-in-china.html
穿着异性服装的喜剧演员小沈阳的成功，标志着性幽默浮出水面。中国准备好迎接这种粗俗了吗？
喜剧表演在中国越来越受欢迎，其中一个最不可思议的明星是穿着异性服装的小沈阳。这位29岁的喜剧演员出生在极度贫穷的中国东北部，他的标志性形象是穿着扭曲性别的服装（亮晶晶的发卡、女士上衣、运动胸衣）以及偶尔的粗口。这让他在全国舞台上的首次亮相异常引人注目。小沈阳在去年由政府中央电视台举办的春节联欢会上登台表演，这个节目类似一个年度的仪式，基本位于所有节目收视率的首位。尽管那天晚上他的包袱褪尽性别暗示的元素，但这个年轻的新面孔还是穿了一条裙子——他称此为“苏格兰百褶裙”。当他说出了一句有点娘娘腔的台词之后，另一位喜剧演员赵本山用一个中文单词来称呼他，这个单词的意思是“亲吻屁股”或者“屁股魔鬼”——属于针对同性恋的恶意脏话。（译者注：原话为“屁精”。）观众爆发出狂笑。（赵是小沈阳的师父，也是中国最受欢迎的电视明星。他在后来对新闻周刊否认了任何同性恋的含义，“我怎么会知道同性恋的人说什么话？我也没有和他们交往。”）小沈阳在这个有6亿忠实观众的节目中一炮打响，有无数的网民在谷歌中搜索他的名字，以至于搜索量一时间超过了毛泽东和耶稣基督的总和。
小沈阳摇身一变的明星身份反应出中国社会对宽容性的标准在发生变化。政府在越来越严厉地压制有关政治敏感话题的讨论，包括1989……、砝沦恭精神宗教，以及高层领导人的缺点。监察机构封锁了有争议政治观点的博客（所谓的“黑色”内容），逮捕了直言不讳的网民，与谷歌就官方禁止特定单词和短语问题正面交锋，还加紧控制传统媒体。然而与此同时，低俗的笑话和与性有关的话题——中国人称此为“黄色内容”——却开始大行其道，这些内容登上舞台，出现在公共演说的场合。中国社会科学家、同性恋文化领域专家李银河说：“很明显，‘黄色’幽默没问题，但‘黑色’幽默还是不被允许。”
不可否认，并不是所有的“黄色”内容都是被允许的。今年2月份，3000个网站和270个博客因“传播低俗和色情内容”被关闭。广东的网站管理员黄毅忠，因在自己的网站上贴出淫秽视频而被判处13年徒刑。近期最大的忌讳是把黄色幽默和黑色幽默结合在一起。例如，今年早些时候，官方压制了民间一个含有讽刺意味的滑稽故事：邪恶的“河蟹”大战高尚的“草泥马”。“河蟹”的中文读音很像“和谐”，即胡锦涛主题提出的政治口号；而“草泥马”与一句露骨的咒骂语“C你妈”同音不同意。草泥马的寓言广为流传，同时衍生出草泥马的毛绒玩具、有关该物种的学术论文，以及在YouTube上一首脍炙人口的儿童歌曲。
但是官方似乎更加愿意容忍那些初衷是有益身心的粗俗内容。实际上，小沈阳不仅是一个前卫的喜剧演员，还是一名有才华的歌手和脚踏实地的20来岁青年。在生活中，他谦虚、有礼貌，让人很难设想他在舞台上讲低俗的笑话、一口气喝下若干杯啤酒、化着浓妆蹦蹦跳跳、穿着燕尾服、戴着亮闪闪的发卡尖叫。在接受新闻周刊采访时，他说：“我是彻头彻尾的男人。”他否认自己的反传统舞台表演方式有传递任何同性恋信息。“我的表演实际上是在模仿我家乡的一个小男孩。他的父母非常想要一个女孩，（所以）就把他打扮成女孩的样子。这与同性恋话题无关。”他还否认了有关他是同性恋的猜测。他有一个5岁的女儿，他的妻子沈春阳经常和他同台演出。
在去年一飞冲天之后，他在著名导演张艺谋（《大红灯笼高高挂》、《英雄》）的影片中扮演了一个角色；在另外一位导演赵的影片中担任外景摄像；拍摄了一部MTV；还与其它演员在7月初共赴台湾，演出票销售一空。他有非常忠实的追随者。38岁的英文教师刘栓今年初在北京看过他的演出之后说：“他可以表演娘娘腔，也能表演男子汉。”另外一位粉丝，20多岁的孙晓敏在剧场前排挥舞着一个牌子，上面写着“小沈阳，我们爱你！”。她说：“他是一个天生的喜剧演员，他有优美的歌喉，他其实不需要做那些疯狂的举动。”
小沈阳现象主要起源于中国的80后一代，也就是那些在1989……之后成长起来的年轻人。但这也可以算作是一种回归，回归到社会相对宽松的时代。西方人有时错误地认为中国社会在性方面极为保守，这种过于拘谨的形象源于共产主义中国政权对社会控制的着迷。实际上，在共产党1949年执掌政权之前，穿着异性服装的演员和同性恋文化已经在中国兴盛了几个世纪。在毛泽东时代，尤其是1966到1976年间狂乱的文化大革命时期，艺术家和演员被限制在“革命”的艺术形式和主题上。同性恋受到迫害，好管闲事的居委会随时监控人们的婚姻状况。
毛在1976年逝世之后，当局开始收敛对性问题的干预。今天，政府依然会时不时地压制高调的男女同性恋社交活动，比如1月份在北京的“中国同性恋先生”游行事件。在这种背景下，小沈阳对中国解放前艺术形式的唤起既是前卫的，也是守旧的。中国著名的独立乐队二手玫瑰的主唱梁龙也是一个穿着异性服装的表演者，他说：“一个人在有6亿观众观看的舞台上，表演不男不女的角色，这显然是中国的一个突破。”
实际上，小沈阳的喜剧形式——二人转有深厚的传统根源和固定表演方式。与西方的单人脱口秀不同，二人转的表演方式包括男女间的斗嘴（通常是夫妻）、流行歌曲演唱、类似Jerry Lewis那种穿着让人难以忍受的服装爆粗口的笑料。（一个最有名的表演是，一名男性喜剧演员在椅子上用头倒立，同时喝下一瓶啤酒。）远溯到至少300年前，这种喜剧方式发源在中国东北。一些流动的猥亵表演者为寒冷冬季农闲的农民们表演低俗的笑话、唱歌、跳舞。（小沈阳出生在东北辽宁省，沈阳是省会，他的艺名因此而来。他的真名叫沈鹤。）
这个地区的男人被认为是中国的Archie Bunkers（译者注：美国情景喜剧《All in the Family》中，二战退伍老兵、保守顽固有家室的蓝领工人这类角色。），典型特点是固执、强壮、原始和愚昧。这个地区的喜剧形式陈腐而又老套，尽管小沈阳的二尾子形象给他带来了一些现代因素。在最近的一次表演中，他穿着类似皇帝的丝袍，背一个Hello Kitty的背包。而且，他最近的演出显然受到了西方幽默标准的影响，节目中的笑料更像50年代的情景戏剧《我爱露西》，而与Jim Carrey或Andy Kaufman的搞笑方式相距甚远。不久前的一次演出中，他说他可以“立即分辨出一对男女是不是夫妻。”怎么做到的呢？“如果女人向一面平滑的大玻璃直走过去，男人如果提醒他注意不要受伤，他们肯定不是夫妻。但是如果男人冲她大喊‘你瞎了吗？’他们肯定是两口子。”
实际上，下流幽默或许在中国有抬头的趋势，但是它依然依附在暗讽、寓言和双关语的俏皮话中，这让表演者可以否认他们是“低俗的”，官方对此的态度依然是不支持。小沈阳说：“我不知道什么内容被认定为‘低俗’，我只知道观众喜欢我的表演。二人转喜剧形式曾经有很多性方面的内容，但是我的老师赵本山做了一些改革。”表演者拿出的都是这种喜剧形式的“绿色”或健康版本。
小沈阳把自己成功的大部分因素归功于赵的支持。作为企业家的赵在东北开办了一所学校，专门培训这种喜剧形式的演员。赵说，尽管性幽默是这个地区解放前的核心喜剧内容，但是他要“彻底清理”二人转，“这样所有人都可以欣赏它。”他还承认，现场演出要比电视转播包含更多的低俗笑料。例如，在沈阳的一次公开演出中，一名演员取笑乐队指挥，说他和日本人在一起的时候闹肚子了：“你知道，日本人很先进，他们早就不用手机了，他们伸出手来就可以打电话。第二天他们再见面的时候，指挥屁股里露出一些手纸。日本人问：‘这是怎么回事？’指挥说：‘我们中国人也相当先进，我在发传真。’”
允许与禁忌之间的界限往往比较微妙。在赵的学校中的一次私下演出中，一个男人穿着女性服装，露出假乳房，把奶挤到一个临死的中国士兵的脸上。赵说，这一幕不会被允许出现在公共演出场合，因为它会引导不良的品味。
小沈阳和赵的走红部分原因还在于他们驾驭表演远离政治敏感话题的能力，尽管他们有无数的机会来批判中国的政治家（讽刺模仿是二人转的另一大特色）。年轻的徒弟说他的表演“与政治毫不沾边”，他绝不模仿知名人士，也不模仿成名的歌星。
小沈阳依然在考虑要不要走歌星这条路。他在贫穷的环境中长大，小学毕业之后，他跟随剧团四处履行，夜里在火车站的长椅上睡觉。他的母亲是一个业余的二人转演员，有时候会带着年幼的儿子去葬礼上表演。小沈阳从那时起练就了一副甜美、令人心碎的嗓音，吸引了如今众多的粉丝。为了进一步提高，他坚持长期、艰苦的训练来克服怯场、忍受同僚的嘲笑和邻居居高临下的姿态。他说：“我小时候在台上表演，别人都笑话我，还喊‘下去吧！’我宁可被堂堂正正地击败，也不愿意忍受这样的嘲弄。”今天的小沈阳是他家乡的英雄，他为父母盖了一所新房子，笼罩在身上的光环是他以前做梦也没有想到过的。看看现在还有谁在笑话他。
原文：
Comedy is on the rise in China, and one of its unlikeliest stars is a cross-dressing performer known as Xiao Shenyang, or “Little Shenyang.” Born in hardscrabble northeast China, the 29-year-old comedian has a reputation for gender-bending costumes (sparkly hair bows, women’s blouses, a sports bra) and occasional vulgarity. That made his debut on the national stage all the more remarkable. Little Shenyang appeared in last year’s Lunar New Year gala show organized by state-run CCTV, a yearly holiday ritual that typically tops the charts for TV viewership. While his jokes were scrubbed clean of sexual innuendo that night, the fresh-faced youth did wear a skirt—calling it a “Scottish kilt.” After he said something perceived as effeminate, another comedian, Zhao Benshan, called him a Chinese name that means either “ass kisser” or “ass demon”—derogatory slang for homosexual. The audience roared with laughter. (Later Zhao, who is Little Shenyang’s mentor and China's most popular TV star, denied any homosexual connotations. “How do I know what words gay people use? I don’t associate with them,” he told NEWSWEEK.) Little Shenyang was an instant hit with the show’s 600 million–strong audience, prompting so many Netizens to Google his name that his hits temporarily exceeded those for Mao Zedong and Jesus Christ combined.
Little Shenyang’s sudden stardom reflects the shifting standards of permissiveness in Chinese society. The government is cracking down harder than ever on discussion of politically sensitive topics, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the banned Falun Gong spiritual sect, and the failings of top leaders. Censors have shut down blogs featuring controversial political views (called “black” content), jailed outspoken Netizens, crossed swords with Google over the official ban on certain words and phrases, and tightened controls over traditional media. Yet at the same time, dirty jokes and other sex-related topics—which Chinese have dubbed “yellow content”—are venturing out of the closet, onto the stage, and into public discourse. “It’s clear that ‘yellow’ humor’s okay, but ‘black’ humor is still not allowed,” says Li Yinhe, a social scientist and China’s leading expert on gay culture.
To be sure, not all “yellow” content is publicly permissible. This February, 3,000 Web sites and 270 blogs were shut down for “vulgarity or pornography.” Guangdong Webmaster Huang Yizhong was sentenced to 13 years after showing porn clips on his site. One of the biggest taboos these days is the pairing of yellow and black humor. Earlier this year, for instance, authorities clamped down on satirical spoofs pitting evil “river crabs”—which in Chinese sound like the words for “harmony,” a political mantra identified with President Hu Jintao—against the virtuous “grass mud horse,” or caonima, which is a homonym for the sexually explicit expletive “f--k your mother.” The wildly popular “grass mud horse” allegories spawned the manufacture of caonima plush toys, droning scholarly treatises about the beast, and a children’s song that went viral on YouTube.
But authorities seem more tolerant when the raunch comes from a wholesome source. Indeed, Little Shenyang comes across not just as an edgy comedian but as a talented singer and down-to-earth 20-something as well. In person, he is modest, even polite, making it hard to imagine him telling off-color jokes, chugging multiple beers onstage, and prancing about in full makeup, a tuxedo, and sequined hair clips, squeaking, “I’m all man!” In an interview with NEWSWEEK, he denied that his unconventional stage persona had any homosexual message. “It’s just a performing style to make people laugh, to be closer to real life,” he says. “I act in the way a boy I once knew in my hometown village did. His parents had longed for a girl, [so] they dressed him up as one. It has nothing to do with gay issues.” He denies speculation that he’s homosexual, and has a 5-year-old daughter with his wife, Shen Chunyang, who often performs with him onstage.
Since he catapulted to fame last year, he’s acted in a film by renowned director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Hero), filmed on location for another movie directed by Zhao, cut a music video, and traveled to Taiwan with other performers for a sold-out show in early July. His following is devoted. “He can play the sissy, and he can also be macho,” says English teacher Liu Shuan, 38, after she watched him perform earlier this year in Beijing. Another fan, 20-something Sun Xiaomin, waved a signboard declaring LITTLE SHENYANG, WE LOVE YOU! from her front-row seat at the same show. “He’s a natural-born comedian and sings so well,” she says. “He doesn’t need to do crazy stuff.”
The Little Shenyang phenomenon is mainly the provenance of China’s post-’80s generation—youths who became adults after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. But it’s also a throwback to earlier, less uptight times. Westerners sometimes perceive Chinese society—incorrectly—as sexually conservative. That prudish image grew out of the communist Chinese regime’s obsession with social control. In fact, cross-dressing performers and gay culture had thrived in China for centuries before the communists grabbed power in 1949. In Mao’s time, especially during the tumultuous 1966–76 Cultural Revolution, artists and performers were restricted to “revolutionary” styles and themes, homosexuals were persecuted, and nosy neighborhood committees monitored marriage and divorce.
Only after Mao’s death in 1976 did authorities begin to dial back on their intervention in sexual matters. Today, authorities still occasionally crack down on high-profile gay and lesbian community activities—as they did in January at a “Mr. Gay China” pageant in Beijing. Against this backdrop, Little Shenyang is both cutting-edge and old-fashioned in his evocation of prerevolutionary China. “That someone who acts as a character that’s neither a man nor a woman can get on a stage and be seen by 600 million people, that’s clearly a breakthrough in China,” says Liang Long, the cross-dressing lead singer of Second Hand Rose, a popular Chinese indie band.
Indeed, Little Shenyang’s style of comedy—called er ren zhuan, or “two-person twist”—has deep traditional roots and routines. Unlike Western stand-up comedy, two-person twist is part verbal sparring between a man and a woman (often a married couple), part pop concert, and part rambunctious physical comedy à la Jerry Lewis with outrageous costumes. (One favorite skit involves a male comedian chugging a bottle of beer onstage while standing on his head on a chair.) Dating back at least 300 years, this form of comedy originated in northeast China, where ribald itinerant performers told dirty jokes, sang, and danced in farming communities to entertain peasants during the frigid and fallow winter months. (Little Shenyang was born in northern Liaoning, where Shenyang is the provincial capital and the origin of his stage name; his real name is Shen He.)
Men from this area are perceived as the Archie Bunkers of China—stubborn, beefy, primitive, and goofy. The region’s comedy plays up that stereotype, although Little Shenyang’s gender-bending ambiguity has lent him a more contemporary image. In one recent show, he wore imperial-style silk robes with a pink Hello Kitty backpack. Still, his recent public performances are tame by Western standards. The banter is more 1950s I Love Lucy style than Jim Carrey or Andy Kaufman. In one performance not long ago, he declared he could “tell immediately whether a man and a woman are a couple.” How? “If the woman walks into a plate-glass window and the man immediately massages her injury, they definitely aren’t a couple. But if the man shouts at her ‘Are you blind?’ they must be married!”
Indeed, ribald humor may be ascendant in China, but it nonetheless relies on innuendo, allegory, and puns, which allow performers to deny they’re being “vulgar”—a characterization that remains officially frowned upon. “I don’t know what is regarded as ‘vulgar,’ but I know audiences like my performances,” Little Shenyang says. “Er ren zhuan comedy used to have sexual content in the past, but my teacher Zhao Benshan made reforms.” Both performers practice a “green,” or healthy version of the comedic form.
Little Shenyang attributes much of his success to Zhao’s support. The entrepreneurial Zhao opened a school in northeast China to train performers in the style. Although sex jokes were a staple of prerevolutionary comedy in the region, Zhao says he aimed to “clean up” the two-person twist “so everyone can appreciate it.” He also acknowledges that live performances may include dirtier jokes than televised ones. For example, during a public stage performance in Shenyang, one comedian made fun of the bandleader for having tummy trouble while traveling with a Japanese acquaintance: “You know, the Japanese are really advanced; they don’t have cell phones anymore, they just make phone calls out of their hands. Then the next day the bandleader shows up, and he’s got toilet paper sticking out of his butt. The Japanese guy says, ‘What’s that?’ and the bandleader says, ‘We Chinese are pretty advanced too. This is a fax machine.’ ”
The line between acceptable and taboo can seem very fine. In a more private performance at Zhao’s school, a man dressed as a woman exposed a fake breast and squirted milk into the face of a dying Chinese soldier—a scene Zhao says wouldn’t be allowed in a public performance because it bordered on bad taste.
The immense popularity of both Little Shenyang and Zhao relies on their ability to steer clear of political sensitivities—despite the obvious opportunities to take pot shots at Chinese politicians. (Satirical mimicry is another feature of er ren zhuan.) The young protégé says his performances “are disconnected from politics,” and he restricts his imitations of famous people to other singing stars.
Little Shenyang still toys with becoming a singing star himself. Growing up in poverty, he slept on train-station benches while traveling with the performing troupe he joined after grade school. His mother was an amateur er ren zhuan performer who sometimes brought her young son along to sing at funerals. There Little Shenyang developed the sweet, poignant voice that captivates fans today. Eager for more, he trained long and hard to overcome stage fright, the jeering of his peers, and the condescension of his neighbors. “When I was young, colleagues used to laugh at me when I performed and shout ‘Get off the stage,’ ” he says. “I’d rather be beaten up than endure that.” Today Little Shenyang is a hero in his hometown, where he had a new house built for his parents and enjoys a fame he never dreamed possible. Look who’s laughing now.
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狗仔卡
楼主
提升卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
发表于 2010-7-31 14:47
