My identity is a superpower -- not an obstacle | America Ferrera | TED

翻译人员: Zining Pearl Yuan 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

On the red tiles in my family's den

在我家休息厅的红地砖上，

I would dance and sing to the made-for-TV movie "Gypsy,"

我曾伴着电视上播放的电影 《玫瑰舞后》又唱又跳，

starring Bette Midler.

该电影是由贝特·米德勒主演的。

(Singing) "I had a dream.

（歌词）“我曾经有过梦想，

一个美好的梦，爸爸。”

A wonderful dream, papa."

I would sing it with the urgency and the burning desire of a nine-year-old

我会带着一个九岁孩子怀有的 迫切心情和强烈欲望歌唱。

who did, in fact, have a dream.

而事实上，我的确有一个梦想。

My dream was to be an actress.

我的梦想是成为一名演员，

And it's true that I never saw anyone who looked like me

而实际上，我从没有见过 任何一个和我相像的人

in television or in films,

出现在电视或电影节目中。

and sure, my family and friends and teachers all constantly warned me

当然，我的家人，朋友 和老师都经常提醒我，

that people like me didn't make it in Hollywood.

像我这样的人不会有机会进好莱坞。

But I was an American.

但我是个美国人。

I had been taught to believe that anyone could achieve anything,

我所经历过的教育告诉我，无论肤色，

regardless of the color of their skin,

每个人都有可能做成任何事。

the fact that my parents immigrated from Honduras,

即便我的父母是洪都拉斯移民，

the fact that I had no money.

尽管我没有钱。

I didn't need my dream to be easy,

我不需要使我的梦想变得简单，

I just needed it to be possible.

我只希望它是可以被实现的。

And when I was 15,

在我15岁那年，

I got my first professional audition.

我得到了第一个正式试镜的机会。

It was a commercial for cable subscriptions

这是一条关于电视节目订阅 或保释金的广告，

or bail bonds, I don't really remember.

我记得不是很具体了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

What I do remember is that the casting director asked me,

我能记得的是，选角色的导演问过我，

"Could you do that again, but just this time, sound more Latina."

“你能再来一遍吗？希望这次听起来 更加有拉丁裔的感觉。”

"Um, OK.

“嗯···好的，

所以你希望我用西班牙语 重复一遍？” 我问。

So you want me to do it in Spanish?" I asked.

"No, no, do it in English, just sound Latina."

“哦不，用英语，只是 听起来像拉丁美洲的英语。”

"Well, I am a Latina, so isn't this what a Latina sounds like?"

“呃，我就是拉丁裔，我说的不像吗？“

There was a long and awkward silence,

过了一段长时间尴尬的沉默后，

and then finally,

她终于说，

"OK, sweetie, never mind, thank you for coming in, bye!"

“好的，亲爱的，不用在意， 谢谢你能来试镜，再见！”

It took me most of the car ride home to realize that by "sound more Latina"

直到我坐车回到家以后， 我才明白“听起来更拉丁美洲”

she was asking me to speak in broken English.

代表她希望让我讲蹩脚的英语。

And I couldn't figure out why the fact

我不能明白为什么

that I was an actual, real-life, authentic Latina

她并不在意我是一个真正的

didn't really seem to matter.

拉丁裔的事实。

Anyway, I didn't get the job.

长话短说，我并没有得到这份工作。

I didn't get a lot of the jobs people were willing to see me for:

我错失了很多机会， 那些人更希望看到我饰演：

混混的女朋友，

the gang-banger's girlfriend,

the sassy shoplifter,

时髦霸气的扒手，

pregnant chola number two.

第二位拉美孕妇。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

These were the kinds of roles that existed for someone like me.

就好像生来就有角色给像我这样的人。

Someone they looked at and saw as too brown, too fat,

像我这样，看起来皮肤太黑，太胖，

too poor, too unsophisticated.

太穷，太肤浅，不够老练。

These roles were stereotypes

这些角色是人们的刻板印象，

and couldn't have been further from my own reality

离真实的我，或者是离我梦想的角色

or from the roles I dreamt of playing.

相隔甚远。

I wanted to play people who were complex and multidimensional,

我希望我饰演的角色性格丰富，

people who existed in the center of their own lives.

是自己人生的主角，

Not cardboard cutouts that stood in the background of someone else's.

不是什么人肉背景或路人甲。

But when I dared to say that to my manager --

但当我大胆向我的经纪人 ，

that's the person I pay to help me find opportunity --

我雇佣来帮我寻找演出机会的人反映时，

his response was,

他对此的反应是，

"Someone has to tell that girl she has unrealistic expectations."

“必须要有个人来告诉这个女孩， 她的期待太不切实际了。”

And he wasn't wrong.

他并没有错。

I mean, I fired him, but he wasn't wrong.

虽然我解雇了他，但他并没有错。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

Because whenever I did try to get a role that wasn't a poorly written stereotype,

每当我尝试去得到一个 并非刻板，可怜的角色时，

I would hear,

我通常会听到：

"We're not looking to cast this role diversely."

“我们不准备改变这个角色的特点，“

Or, "We love her, but she's too specifically ethnic."

或是“我们喜爱这个角色， 但是她的种族太特殊了。”

Or, "Unfortunately, we already have one Latino in this movie."

或者是“非常不幸，我们的电影里 已经有拉丁美裔演员了。”

I kept receiving the same message again and again and again.

我一遍又一遍的收到这样的信息。

That my identity was an obstacle I had to overcome.

这告诉我我的身份特征 是我必须跨越过的障碍 。

And so I thought,

所以我想：

"Come at me, obstacle.

“让苦难来得更猛烈些吧。

I'm an American. My name is America.

我是美国人，我的名字是 艾美莉卡（America）。

I trained my whole life for this, I'll just follow the playbook,

我的一生都在为此做准备， 我会循规蹈矩，

I'll work harder."

我会更加努力。”

And so I did, I worked my hardest

我这么做了，我尽了最大的努力

to overcome all the things that people said were wrong with me.

来克服人们反对的声音。

I stayed out of the sun so that my skin wouldn't get too brown,

我几乎不站在阳光下， 只为了让我的皮肤不会太黑，

I straightened my curls into submission.

我拉直了我原本的卷发。

I constantly tried to lose weight,

我一直在减肥，

I bought fancier and more expensive clothes.

我买那些更花哨并且更昂贵的衣服。

All so that when people looked at me,

这都是为了当人们再看到我时，

they wouldn't see a too fat, too brown, too poor Latina.

他们见到的不会是一个太胖， 太黑，太穷的拉丁美洲人。

They would see what I was capable of.

他们会见到一个我能 展现出来的符合他们要求的人，

And maybe they would give me a chance.

这样也许他们会给我一个机会。

And in an ironic twist of fate,

讽刺的是，在命运的转折点，

when I finally did get a role that would make all my dreams come true,

我终于得到了一个让我能圆梦的角色，

it was a role that required me to be exactly who I was.

这是一个要求我本色出演的角色。

Ana in "Real Women Have Curves"

《真女有型》中的安娜，

was a brown, poor, fat Latina.

一个黑皮肤，贫穷，丰腴的拉丁美洲女人。

I had never seen anyone like her, anyone like me,

我从未看见过任何活在 自己书写的生命故事中的人，

existing in the center of her own life story.

像她一样，像我一样。

I traveled throughout the US

我曾和这部电影在美国和其他国家

and to multiple countries with this film

四处宣传，

where people, regardless of their age, ethnicity, body type,

人们在安娜身上都能看到他们自己，

saw themselves in Ana.

无论年龄，无论肤色，无论体型。

A 17-year-old chubby Mexican American girl

一个胖乎乎的17岁墨西哥裔美国女孩，

为了实现她看似遥远的梦， 和世俗对抗着。

struggling against cultural norms to fulfill her unlikely dream.

In spite of what I had been told my whole life,

尽管我常被他人评头论足，

I saw firsthand that people actually did want to see stories about people like me.

我知道人们还是会想要看 和我一样的人的生活。

And that my unrealistic expectations

我那些不切实际的，

to see myself authentically represented in the culture

想要在世俗文化中看到 真实的自我，

were other people’s expectations, too.

也是其他人的期望。

"Real Women Have Curves"

《真女有型》

was a critical, cultural and financial success.

是一个带有批判性的， 有文化底蕴的，经济上的成功。

"Great," I thought, "We did it!

“太好了，”我想，“我们做到了！

We proved our stories have value.

我们证明了我们的故事有某些价值。

Things are going to change now."

事情将会一点点变好。”

But I watched as very little happened.

但是我没有看到任何改变，

并没有什么转折点。

There was no watershed.

No one in the industry was rushing to tell more stories

在这个行业的人，没有一个 急着要去讲更多的故事，

about the audience that was hungry and willing to pay to see them.

讲那些观众们渴望听， 也愿意付钱去看的故事。

Four years later, when I got to play Ugly Betty,

四年后，当我可以扮演 《丑女贝蒂》里的人物，

I saw the same phenomenon play out.

同样的现象依然存在。

"Ugly Betty" premiered in the US to 16 million viewers

《丑女贝蒂》在上映的第一年 仅在美国就有一千六百万次观看，

and was nominated for 11 Emmys in its first year.

还在艾美奖获得了11项提名。

(Applause)

（掌声）

But in spite of "Ugly Betty's" success,

尽管如此，

there would not be another television show

在之后的8年里，再没有另一部 由一位拉丁美裔演员

led by a Latina actress

主演的电视节目

on American television for eight years.

出现在美国电视节目里。

It's been 12 years

现在离我成为第一也仅此一位的

since I became the first and only Latina

拉丁美裔艾美奖获得者

to ever win an Emmy in a lead category.

已经过去12年了。

That is not a point of pride.

这不是一个应该值得骄傲的事情。

That is a point of deep frustration.

这使我感到深深的失望。

Not because awards prove our worth,

不是因为奖项才能够证明我们的价值，

but because who we see thriving in the world

而是因为那些闪闪发光的人物

teaches us how to see ourselves,

能教会我们如何看待自己，

how to think about our own value,

教会我们思考自己的价值，

how to dream about our futures.

教会我们如何去梦想未来。

And anytime I begin to doubt that,

每当我开始质疑这句话，

I remember that there was a little girl, living in the Swat Valley of Pakistan.

我都会想起那个住在 巴基斯坦斯瓦特谷的小女孩，

And somehow, she got her hands on some DVDs

每当她将手放在一堆

of an American television show

美国电视节目的DVD光盘上，

in which she saw her own dream of becoming a writer reflected.

都会看到她的梦想成真。

In her autobiography, Malala wrote,

马拉拉在她的自传里写道，

"I had become interested in journalism

“在看见了我的话语 能做出怎样的改变，

after seeing how my own words could make a difference

并且看了关于在美国杂志社工作的剧集

and also from watching the "Ugly Betty" DVDs

《丑女贝蒂》的光盘后，

我对新闻业产生了兴趣。”

about life at an American magazine."

(Applause)

（掌声）

For 17 years of my career,

我在职场的这17年，

I have witnessed the power our voices have

我见证了我们的声音是如何在

when they can access presence in the culture.

这个文化中迸发出力量的。

I've seen it.

我见过。

I've lived it, we've all seen it.

我生活中有过，我们都见过。

In entertainment, in politics,

在娱乐圈，在政界，

in business, in social change.

在商业中，在社会变革里。

We cannot deny it -- presence creates possibility.

我们不能否认——存在就能创造可能。

But for the last 17 years,

但是在过去的17年里，

I've also heard the same excuses

我还是听到过相同的理由，

for why some of us can access presence in the culture

关于为什么有些人 能够在这个文化中露面，

and some of us can't.

有些人却不能。

Our stories don't have an audience,

我们的故事没有观众，

our experiences won't resonate in the mainstream,

我们的经历和主流无法共鸣，

our voices are too big a financial risk.

我们的声音会为电影带来财务问题。

Just a few years ago, my agent called

就在几年前，我的代理人打电话来

to explain to me why I wasn't getting a role in a movie.

解释为什么我没有 获得一个电影中的角色。

He said, "They loved you

他说：“他们很喜欢你，

and they really, really do want to cast diversely,

他们也真的希望演员 来自各个国家各个文化，

but the movie isn't financeable until they cast the white role first."

但是不将白人演员先招全， 这部电影就无法获得足够的钱。”

He delivered the message with a broken heart

他心碎地将这个消息传达给我，

and with a tone that communicated, "I understand how messed up this is."

用一种“我理解这简直是糟透了”的语气。

But nonetheless, just like hundreds of times before,

尽管如此，就像之前 数不清的情况一样，

I felt the tears roll down my face.

我感受到了眼泪慢慢流过我的脸颊。

And the pang of rejection rise up in me

被拒绝的痛苦在我心中升起，

and then the voice of shame scolding me,

羞愧的声音谴责我：

"You are a grown woman, stop crying over a job."

“你是个成年女性了， 别为了一个工作而流泪。”

I went through this process for years of accepting the failure as my own

几年过去了，我一直在努力 接受我自己的失败，

and then feeling deep shame that I couldn't overcome the obstacles.

同时为我不能克服 这些困难而感到羞愧难当。

But this time, I heard a new voice.

不同的是，这一次我听到了新的声音。

A voice that said, "I'm tired.

这个声音说：“我累了，

I've had enough."

我受够了。”

A voice that understood

这个声音能够理解

my tears and my pain were not about losing a job.

我的眼泪和痛苦 不是因为我失去了一份工作，

They were about what was actually being said about me.

而是别人对我说的话。

What had been said about me my whole life

那些关于我整个人生，

by executives and producers

从行政高层到制片人，

and directors and writers and agents and managers

从导演到剧作家，到代理人和经纪人，

and teachers and friends and family.

再到老师，朋友，和家人说的话，

That I was a person of less value.

“我是个没什么价值的人。”

I thought sunscreen and straightening irons

我以为防晒霜和直发棒可以

would bring about change in this deeply entrenched value system.

给这个深深定型的价值系统带来些改变。

But what I realized in that moment

但是那一刻我醒悟了，

was that I was never actually asking the system to change.

其实我从来没有要这个系统做出改变。

I was asking it to let me in, and those aren't the same thing.

我一直在恳请他们让我 进入这个系统，这是不同的。

I couldn't change what a system believed about me,

如果我相信这个系统对我的看法，

while I believed what the system believed about me.

那我就没能力做出改变。

And I did.

是这样的。

I, like everyone around me,

我，就像所有在我身边的人一样，

believed that it wasn't possible for me to exist in my dream as I was.

相信我不可能变成梦想中的我。

And I went about trying to make myself invisible.

我一直在隐藏自己的想法。

What this revealed to me was that it is possible

这个想法向我揭示了一点，

to be the person who genuinely wants to see change

在我的言行举止不变的同时，

while also being the person whose actions keep things the way they are.

我也可以是那个我一直想成为的人。

And what it's led me to believe is that change isn't going to come

这个想法也让我相信，

by identifying the good guys and the bad guys.

判断好人坏人不能带来任何改变。

That conversation lets us all off the hook.

这次谈话使我们都得以脱身，

Because most of us are neither one of those.

因为大多数人都不是其中的一个。

Change will come

在我们有足够的勇气

when each of us has the courage

质疑我们根本的

to question our own fundamental values and beliefs.

价值观和信念的时候，改变就会到来。

And then see to it that our actions lead to our best intentions.

然后我们就可以看到 我们通过行动实现了目标。

I am just one of millions of people

很多人都被告知

who have been told that in order to fulfill my dreams,

如果要实现梦想，

in order to contribute my talents to the world

为世界贡献自己的力量，

I have to resist the truth of who I am.

就必须掩盖真实的自我， 而我正是其中的一员。

I for one, am ready to stop resisting

我已经准备好接纳自己，

and to start existing as my full and authentic self.

展现完全真实的自己。

If I could go back and say anything

如果我可以回过头去，

对那个在红砖上跳舞， 做梦的九岁小女孩说些什么，

to that nine-year-old, dancing in the den, dreaming her dreams,

I would say,

我会告诉她，

你的身份特征不是你的绊脚石，

my identity is not my obstacle.

My identity is my superpower.

你的身份特征是你的超能力。

Because the truth is,

因为事情的真相是，

I am what the world looks like.

我就是世界的样子。

You are what the world looks like.

你就是世界的样子。

Collectively, we are what the world actually looks like.

所有人在一起就是世界真正的样子。

And in order for our systems to reflect that,

为了使我们的制度可以反映出这一点，

they don't have to create a new reality.

他们不需要创造一个新的现实，

They just have to stop resisting the one we already live in.

他们只需要面对现实。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）