4 larger-than-life lessons from soap operas | Kate Adams

譯者: jackson leo 審譯者: SF Huang

In 1987, Tina Lord found herself in quite the pickle.

1987 年，蒂娜‧羅德 發現自己深陷困境。

See, this gold digger made sure she married sweet Cord Roberts

所以，這個拜金女決定在 善良的科德‧ 羅伯特

just before he inherited millions.

繼承百萬遺產之前嫁給他。

But when Cord found out Tina loved his money

但當科德發現她愛他的錢財，

as much as she loved him,

和愛他一樣多時，

he dumped her.

他甩了她。

Cord's mother Maria was thrilled

科德的媽媽瑪利亞很開心

until they hooked up again.

直到他們又搞在一起。

所以瑪利亞雇了 馬克思‧ 赫登引誘蒂娜，

So Maria hired Max Holden to romance Tina

and then made sure Cord didn't find out Tina was pregnant with his baby.

並確保科德不知道 蒂娜懷了他的孩子。

So Tina, still married but thinking Cord didn't love her

所以蒂娜還是嫁了， 但覺得科德不愛她了，

flew to Argentina with Max.

於是就和馬克思飛到阿根廷。

Cord finally figured out what was going on

科德後來知道了事情的真相，

and rushed after them, but he was too late.

趕去追他們，但為時已晚。

Tina had already been kidnapped,

當時蒂娜已經被綁架，

strapped to a raft and sent over a waterfall.

她被綁在一個木筏上， 沖下了瀑布。

She and her baby were presumed dead.

她和孩子被推斷已經死亡。

Cord was sad for a bit,

科德有點傷心，

but then he bounced right back

但是他恢復得很快，

with a supersmart archaeologist named Kate,

和一個叫凱特的 聰明考古學家在一起了，

and they had a gorgeous wedding

他們舉行了一場美麗的婚禮，

until Tina, seemingly back from the dead, ran into the church holding a baby.

直到看似死而復生的蒂娜 抱著一個嬰兒衝進教堂，

「停住！」她喊道。

"Stop!" she screamed.

"Am I too late?

「我來晚了嗎？

Cord, I've come so far.

科德，我克服萬難回來了。

This is your son."

這是你的兒子。」

And that, ladies and gentlemen,

各位女士、先生，

is how the soap opera "One Life to Live" introduced a love story

這就是肥皂劇《僅此一生》，

一齣在電視上播映了 25 年的愛情長壽劇。

that lasted 25 years.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, if you've ever seen a soap opera,

如果你看過肥皂劇，

you know the stories and the characters can be exaggerated, larger than life,

你就會知道那些故事和角色 可以很誇張，超越現實生活，

and if you're a fan, you find that exaggeration fun,

如果你是一個粉絲， 你會發現這種誇張很有意思，

and if you're not,

如果你不是粉絲，

maybe you find them melodramatic or unsophisticated.

你會發現它們太戲劇化和膚淺。

Maybe you think watching soap operas

可能你覺得看肥皂劇

is a waste of time,

是浪費時間，

that their bigness means their lessons are small or nonexistent.

誇張的劇情意味著沒什麽教育目的 或是子虛烏有。

But I believe the opposite to be true.

但是我認為，恰恰相反。

Soap operas reflect life, just bigger.

肥皂劇反映了真實人生， 只是誇大了些。

So there are real life lessons we can learn from soap operas,

因為我們能從肥皂劇中 學到真實人生的課題與道理，

and those lessons are as big and adventurous

而這些課題與肥皂劇劇情

as any soap opera storyline.

一樣誇張且驚險刺激。

Now, I've been a fan since I ran home from the bus stop in second grade

我是個大粉絲，從小二開始 我每天從公車站飛奔回家，

desperate to catch the end of Luke and Laura's wedding,

就為了看盧克和羅拉 婚禮的故事結局，

the biggest moment in "General Hospital" history.

那是《綜合醫院》最大的重頭戲。

（鼓掌）

(Applause)

So you can imagine how much I loved my eight years

所以你可以想像我有多熱愛

as the assistant casting director on "As the World Turns."

擔任《地球照轉》八年的選角副導。

My job was watching soap operas,

我的工作是看肥皂劇，

reading soap opera scripts

閱讀肥皂劇本

並面試肥皂劇演員。

and auditioning actors to be on soap operas.

So I know my stuff.

所以我知道自己在幹嘛。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And yes, soap operas

是的，肥皂劇

are larger than life,

比現實生活要誇張，

drama on a grand scale,

更大程度的戲劇化，

but our lives can be filled with as much intensity,

但我們的生活可能也一樣緊張刺激、

and the stakes can feel just as dramatic.

所承擔的賭注風險 亦是如此地戲劇化。

We cycle through tragedy and joy

人生不斷地經歷各種悲歡離合，

就像那些角色一樣。

just like these characters.

我們跨越困境，與惡魔征戰 並在無意中找到了救贖，

We cross thresholds, fight demons and find salvation unexpectedly,

and we do it again and again and again,

而且我們不斷地在這些情境中輪迴。

but just like soaps, we can flip the script,

但是就像肥皂劇一樣， 我們可以翻轉局面，

which means we can learn from these characters

也就是說，我們可以從 這些像大黃蜂一樣

that move like bumblebees,

為生活忙得焦頭爛額的角色身上

looping and swerving through life.

學到東西。

我們可以善用這些教訓，

And we can use those lessons

to craft our own life stories.

刻畫出我們自己的人生故事。

Soap operas teach us to push away doubt

肥皂劇教我們屏除疑慮

and believe in our capacity

並相信自己

for bravery, vulnerability,

勇敢、脆弱、

adaptability and resilience.

適應及復原的能力。

And most importantly, they show us

最重要的，它們告訴我們

it's never too late to change your story.

要改變自己的故事永遠不會太晚。

所以，我們從肥皂劇的第一課開始：

So with that, let's start with soap opera lesson one:

投降不是一個選項。

surrender is not an option.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

《我的孩子們》的艾瑞卡‧卡恩 是電視版的郝思嘉，

"All My Children"'s Erica Kane was daytime's version of Scarlett O'Hara,

a hyperbolically self-important princess

一個誇張、以自我為中心的公主，

who deep down was scrappy and daring.

其內心深處是好鬥和大膽的。

Now, in her 41 years on TV, perhaps Erica's most famous scene

艾瑞卡在她 41 年的電視生涯中， 可能是最出名的場景就是：

is her alone in the woods

她獨自在森林裏

suddenly face to face with a grizzly bear.

突然和一個灰熊面對面。

She screamed at the bear,

她朝灰熊大喊：

"You may not do this!

「你不能這樣！

Do you understand me?

你聽不懂嗎？

You may not come near me!

你不能靠近我！

I am Erica Kane

我是艾瑞卡‧卡恩

and you are a filthy beast!"

而你是一隻卑劣的野獸！」

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

And of course the bear left,

當然，灰熊離開了，

so what that teaches us

所以這教會我們

is obstacles are to be expected

人生總會有障礙，

and we can choose to surrender or we can stand and fight.

但我們可以選擇投降， 或者挺身奮戰。

Pandora's Tim Westergren knows this better than most.

潘多拉的提姆‧韋斯特格倫 最能了解這個道理。

你甚至可以叫他 矽谷的艾瑞卡‧卡恩。

You might even call him the Erica Kane of Silicon Valley.

提姆和其他聯合創始人

Tim and his cofounders launched the company

集資了兩百萬成立公司。

with two million dollars in funding.

They were out of cash the next year.

但他們在第二年就用光了資金。

Now, lots of companies fold at that point, but Tim chose to fight.

很多公司都在那個時候放棄， 但是提姆選擇繼續奮戰下去。

He maxed out 11 credit cards and racked up six figures in personal debt

他刷爆 11 張信用卡， 背負了六位數的債務，

and it still wasn't enough.

但這還不夠。

So every two weeks for two years on payday he stood in front of his employees

兩年來每兩周發工資的那天， 他都會站在他的員工前

and he asked them to sacrifice their salaries,

請求他們放棄他們的工資，

這有了成效。

and it worked.

More than 50 people deferred two million dollars,

50 多人貢獻了兩百萬美金，

and now, more than a decade later,

十多年後的現在，

Pandora is worth billions.

潘多拉的市值高達幾十億。

When you believe that there is a way

當你相信天無絕人之路，

around or through whatever is in front of you,

有志者事竟成時，

that surrender is not an option,

投降不會是一個選項，

you can overcome enormous obstacles.

你可以克服巨大的障礙。

Which brings us to soap opera lesson two:

來到肥皂劇的第二課：

sacrifice your ego and drop the superiority complex.

放下你的自大和高人一等的態度。

Now, this is scary.

這有點可怕。

It's an acknowledgment of need or fallibility.

這意味著認知到人是有需求 或難免會犯錯的。

Maybe it's even an admission

可能這甚至是對我們自己

that we're not as special as we might like to think.

並沒有想象中那樣特殊的覺悟。

《大膽而美麗》的 斯坦芬尼‧福瑞斯特

Stephanie Forrester of "The Bold and the Beautiful"

thought she was pretty darn special.

認為她自己與眾不同。

She thought she was so special,

她覺得她獨特到

she didn't need to mix with the riffraff from the valley,

不需要和來自村莊的普通人往來，

and she made sure valley girl Brooke knew it.

她還警告村莊的女孩 布魯克要知道這點。

But after nearly 25 years of epic fighting,

但在近 25 年漫長的苦鬥後，

Stephanie got sick and let Brooke in.

斯坦芬尼生病了， 讓布魯克進入了她的內心。

They made amends,

她們重修舊好，

archenemies became soul mates

從敵人變成了靈魂伴侶，

and Stephanie died in Brooke's arms,

最後斯坦芬尼死在布魯克的懷裏，

這就是我們學到的：

and here's our takeaway.

Drop your ego.

放下你的自大。

人生談的不是你，

Life is not about you.

It's about us,

人生談的我們，

and our ability to experience joy

只有在我們展現脆弱

and love and to improve our reality

並對自己的所作所為

comes only when we make ourselves vulnerable

和無所作為去負責的時候，

and we accept responsibility for our actions

我們才能體驗到喜樂、愛

並改善現實生活，

and our inactions,

kind of like Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks.

有點像霍華德‧舒爾茨， 星巴克的執行長，

Now, after a great run as CEO,

他在任內表現得極為出色，

Howard stepped down in 2000,

霍華德在 2000 年辭職，

and Starbucks quickly overextended itself

但星巴克因迅速地過度擴張，

and stock prices fell.

造成股價下跌。

Howard rejoined the team in 2008,

霍華德在 2008 年重新加入團隊，

and one of the first things he did

他做的第一件事，

was apologize to all 180,000 employees.

就是向 18 萬名員工道歉。

He apologized.

他向員工道歉，

And then he asked for help, honesty, and ideas in return.

並尋求幫助、真誠和建議。

And now, Starbucks has more than doubled

現在，自從霍華德歸隊後，

its net revenue since Howard came back.

星巴克的凈利超過兩倍。

所以放下自己永遠要正確 和安全的渴望，

So sacrifice your desire to be right or safe all the time.

它並不會幫助到任何人， 至少幫不了你們自己。

It's not helping anyone, least of all you.

Sacrifice your ego.

放下你的自大。

Soap opera lesson three:

肥皂劇課程三：

evolution is real.

進化是真實的。

You're not meant to be static characters.

你的風格特性並非一成不變。

On television, static equals boring and boring equals fired.

在電視圈，一成不變意味著無聊， 無聊意味著隨時會被解雇。

Characters are supposed to grow and change.

角色應該有成長和變化。

Now, on TV, those dynamic changes

在電視上，那些充滿變數的改變，

可以創造出一些劇烈的轉變，

can make for some rough transitions,

particularly when a character is played by one person yesterday

特別是當一個角色昨天是由甲演員，

and played by someone new today.

今天卻是由新面孔的乙演員來飾演。

Recasting happens all the time on soaps.

在肥皂劇裏，換角是很常見的。

Over the last 20 years,

過去的 20 年裏，

four different actors have played the same key role

四個不同的演員都扮演過

of Carly Benson on "General Hospital."

《綜合醫院》的重要角色， 卡莉‧本森。

Each new face triggered a change in the character's life and personality.

每一個嶄新的臉龐都引發了 角色的生活和人格變化。

Now, there was always an essential nugget of Carly in there,

雖然卡莉的本質還在，

but the character and the story adapted to whomever was playing her.

但是角色性格和故事 都會依不同的扮演者而做調整。

And here's what that means for us.

對我們來說，這意味著

While we may not swap faces in our own lives,

雖然我們不能在生活中變換面容，

但我們可以進化。

we can evolve too.

We can choose to draw a circle around our feet and stay in that spot,

我們可以選擇畫地自限，

or we can open ourselves to opportunities

或者我們可以向機會敞開心扉，

like Carly, who went from nursing student to hotel owner,

像卡莉，從一個護校學生 變成酒店業主，

or like Julia Child.

像茱莉亞·柴爾德，

Julia was a World War II spy,

茱莉亞是一個二戰間諜，

and when the war ended, she got married, moved to France,

當戰爭結束候， 她結了婚、搬到法國，

and decided to give culinary school a shot.

並決定去烹飪學校學習。

茱莉亞，她的書和電視節目 顛覆了美國烹飪的方式。

Julia, her books and her TV shows revolutionized the way America cooks.

We all have the power to initiate change in our lives,

我們都有啟動改變生命的能力，

to evolve and adapt.

為了進化和適應環境，

We make the choice,

我們做出選擇，

but sometimes life chooses for us, and we don't get a heads up.

但有時候我們不得不向生活低頭，

意外搧了你一記耳光，

Surprise slams us in the face.

You're flat on the ground, the air is gone,

你躺在地板上，不知所措，

and you need resuscitation.

你需要恢復知覺。

So thank goodness for soap opera lesson four:

所以，感謝肥皂劇的第四課：

重生是有可能的。

resurrection is possible.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

In 1983, "Days of Our Lives"' Stefano DiMera died of a stroke,

1983年，《我們的日子》的 斯特凡諾‧德米拉死於中風，

但那不是真的，因為在 1984 年

but not really, because in 1984

he died when his car plunged into the harbor,

他因車子掉進海港而死亡，

and yet he was back in 1985 with a brain tumor.

但是他在 1985 年 帶著腦瘤復活了。

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

在腫瘤殺死他之前，

But before the tumor could kill him,

Marlena shot him, and he tumbled off a catwalk to his death.

馬裏拉朝他開槍， 他從架台上摔落死亡。

And so it went for 30 years.

死而復生的劇碼持續演了30年。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Even when we saw the body,

當我們看到他的屍體，

we knew better.

我們很清楚，

He's called the Phoenix for a reason.

他被稱作鳳凰是有原因的。

And here's what that means for us.

這對我們的意義是，

只要劇還在播出，

As long as the show is still on the air,

or you're still breathing,

或者你還在呼吸，

nothing is permanent.

沒什麼是不變的。

Resurrection is possible.

重生是有可能的。

Now, of course, just like life,

當然，就像生活一樣，

soap operas do ultimately meet the big finale.

肥皂劇總會有大結局。

CBS canceled my show, "As The World Turns," in December 2009,

CBS 在 2009 年 12 月宣布 要下檔我的肥皂劇《地球照轉》，

and we shot our final episode

我們在 2010 年 6 月，

in June 2010.

錄製了最後一集。

It was six months of dying

在那痛苦的六個月當中，

and I rode that train right into the mountain.

我的人生看不到光明。

And even though we were in the middle of a huge recession

即使我們的經濟仍在衰退，

百萬人掙扎著尋找工作，

and millions of people were struggling to find work,

I somehow thought everything would be OK.

但我覺得一切都會變好。

我帶著孩子離開布魯克林的公寓，

So I packed up the kids and the Brooklyn apartment,

and we moved in with my in-laws

和公婆一起

in Alabama.

居住在阿拉巴馬州。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Three months later, nothing was OK.

三個月後，沒有好轉的跡象。

That was when I watched the final episode air,

在我看了最後一集的播出後，

and I realized the show was not the only fatality.

我意識到不僅那個電視劇結束了，

我也失業了。

I was one too.

我沒有了工作，

I was unemployed and living on the second floor

住在公婆家的二樓。

of my in-laws' home,

and that's enough to make anyone feel dead inside.

真的有夠難受的。

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

但是我知道我的故事還沒有結束，

But I knew my story wasn't over,

that it couldn't be over.

也不會結束。

I just had to tap into everything I had ever learned about soap operas.

我只要運用我從肥皂劇裏 學到的所有東西。

I had to be brave like Erica and refuse to surrender,

我要像艾瑞卡一樣勇敢並拒絕投降。

so every day, I made a decision to fight.

所以每天，我都選擇奮戰到底。

我要像斯坦芬尼一樣脆弱，

I had to be vulnerable like Stephanie

and sacrifice my ego.

放下自大。

我要在很多州尋求很多幫助。

I had to ask for help a lot of times across many states.

I had to be adaptable like Carly

我需要像卡莉一樣善於適應

and evolve my skills, my mindset, and my circumstances,

並進化我的技能、思考和境遇，

and then I had to be resilient, like Stefano,

然後我還要像斯特凡諾一樣頑強，

and resurrect myself and my career

使我自己和我的職業重生

like a phoenix from the ashes.

就像鳳凰浴火重生一樣。

Eventually I got an interview.

最後，我得到了一個面試。

After 15 years in news and entertainment,

在新聞和娛樂界工作了 15 年，

nine months of unemployment

失業了 9 個月

and this one interview,

在這次面試之後，

I had an offer for an entry level job.

我得到了一個入門級別的工作機會，

我當時已經 37 歲，

I was 37 years old

and I was back from the dead.

我復活重生。

We will all experience what looks like an ending,

我們都會經歷人生低潮，

and we can choose to make it a beginning.

我們可以選擇讓低潮成為一個起點。

像蒂娜奇蹟般地從瀑布中存活下來，

Kind of like Tina, who miraculously survived that waterfall,

and because I hate to leave a cliffhanger hanging,

因為我不喜歡劇情有懸念，

Tina and Cord did get divorced,

蒂娜和科德真的離婚了，

但是他們在 2012 年 劇終之前結了三次婚。

but they got remarried three times before the show went off the air in 2012.

所以記住，

So remember,

as long as there is breath in your body,

只要你還有一口氣在，

it's never too late to change your story.

改變你的故事永遠不會太晚。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）