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翻译：菜菜
过时的衣服，土气的发型，有时甚至还会戴着一副黑框眼镜，他们过去一直是被校园风云人物嗤之以鼻的路人甲。好一点的称呼是“极客”（geek），也有人经常喊他们“呆子、蠢货”（nerd），甚至有人说他们就是一群“怪人”（freak）或者“失败者”（loser）。然而风水轮流转，自从Adam Brody早些年凭“塞思”这个超级漫迷的角色在《橘子郡男孩》中一炮而红，极客们便开始一步步地对娱乐圈进行反攻—2007年，大获全胜的他们才是至潮一族！
Step aside Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Orlando Bloom. These men with chiselled[凿出来的] features are now dangerously close to outdated, while some average-looking Joes[平凡人] with big brains and even bigger hearts have taken the lead.
Take the socially inept[无能的] guy who won a gorgeous girl in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2006). Then a fat slacker[懒鬼]
impregnated[使怀孕] a way-out-of-his-league girl in Knocked Up (2007). Now a trio[三人组] of un-appreciated, unnoticed and unloved geeks go wild in their last days of high school in the comedy Superbad, which knocked The Bourne Ultimatum out of the No. 1 spot at the US box office, and made its entire $20 million budget back in its opening weekend.
These three are among the highest grossing[总共赚得]comedies of all time. The newest bankable Hollywood stars are no-name actors playing flawed[有瑕疵的] yet more realistic characters that cinema-goers can relate to.
“Everything I do tends to root for the underdog[弱者],”Judd Apatow, the writer-director of the three movies says. “I always felt as a kid that I was under-appreciated, invisible or weird[怪异的].
But I’ve always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I’m always putting that message out there. Eventually, the nerds and the geeks will have their day.”
That’s really the fact. In the high-school world that I experienced, kids were extremely status-conscious[有意识的]and sometimes unforgivably mean[刻毒的]. Outcasts[被驱逐者]and outsiders had little chance to succeed socially. Same things happened when they grew up. They were nobody, only known as “nerds,” “geeks” or “losers.”
Times have changed. Being excited about learning and sharing your knowledge is now considered...well, cool.
In fact, you can simply say 2007 is the Year of the Nerds. Simon Pegg’s newest hit Hot Fuzz shares its in-jokes[内部笑话] with cop-movie fans. Bruce Willis turns to a young geek and his friend for help in Live Free or Die Hard. The Simpsons Movie is basically about a loser saving his town. Meanwhile, from Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, The Big Bang Theory to Aliens in America, the new TV season is obsessed[迷住] with nerddom. Instead of boring smarties[自作聪明者],today’s nerds are intelligent guys who solve crimes, possess special powers, and debunk[揭穿] myths. Most importantly, they make us chuckle[咯咯笑]. After all, one of the reasons for this whole nerd trend is fun; another, wish fulfillment – isn’t it great to watch people like us living our wildest dreams?
让布莱德·皮特、马
特·达蒙和奥兰多·布鲁姆靠边站吧。这些外形俊朗的男人现在面临即将过时的危险，而一些相貌平平却头脑聪明、心地善良的平庸小辈正在领跑娱乐。
比方说，在《40岁的老处男》（2006年）中赢得漂亮小姐芳心的社交白痴。还有《一夜大肚》（2007年）里让一个他完全配不起的女孩怀孕的胖懒鬼。如今在电影《男孩不坏》里，三个不受赏识、寂寂无闻又没人喜欢的极客在高中的最后时光疯玩了一把。这部电影打败《谍影重重3》登上美国票房榜首位。公映一星期，制片方就收回了两千万美元的成本。
这三部电影都能进入史上票房最高的喜剧之列。好莱坞最新的卖座明星是一群籍籍无名的演员，他们饰演的角色虽有缺点却也更真实，能引起电影观众的共鸣。
“我所做的一切总倾向于给弱者打气，”这三部电影的编导贾德·阿帕图说。“小时候，我总觉得自己没人赏识，很不显眼，也特别怪异。但我总会暗自想，有一天别人会欣赏我的与众不同。我总是在传播这样的信息——总有一天，呆头鹅也有出头之日。”
事实确实如此。在我经历过的中学时代，小孩子都极为在意自己的身份地位，有时候还刻薄得让人无法容忍。被排挤的人、不合群的人都很难建立良好的人际关系。就算长大以后，情况也一样。除了“呆子”、“极客”或“失败者”之外，这些人什么都不是。
现在时代不一样了。人们认为好学并乐于与人分享是……呃，很酷的事情。
事实上，你简直可以说2007年是“呆子年”。西蒙·派格的最新大片《终棘警探》与警匪片粉丝分享内部笑话。在《虎胆龙威4》里，布鲁斯·威利斯要向一个年轻的极客和他的朋友求助。《辛普森一家大电影》基本上就是一个失败者拯救自己的小镇的故事。与此同时，从《超市特工》、《冥侦探艾艾》、《狙魂交易》、《生活大爆炸》到《外国人在美国》，新一季的电视剧对呆子们钟爱有加。今天的书呆子不再是自作聪明的闷蛋，他们智慧超群，可以解决罪案，拥有特殊能力并能揭开谜团。最重要的是，他们能让我们开怀大笑。毕竟，极客潮出现的原因之一就是趣味性，另外就是能给人带来实现愿望的满足感——看着像我们这样的人实现我们最疯狂的梦想，难道不是棒极了吗？
过时的衣服，土气的发型，有时甚至还会戴着一副黑框眼镜，他们过去一直是被校园风云人物嗤之以鼻的路人甲。好一点的称呼是“极客”（geek），也有人经常喊他们“呆子、蠢货”（nerd），甚至有人说他们就是一群“怪人”（freak）或者“失败者”（loser）。然而风水轮流转，自从Adam Brody早些年凭“塞思”这个超级漫迷的角色在《橘子郡男孩》中一炮而红，极客们便开始一步步地对娱乐圈进行反攻—2007年，大获全胜的他们才是至潮一族！
Step aside Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Orlando Bloom. These men with chiselled[凿出来的] features are now dangerously close to outdated, while some average-looking Joes[平凡人] with big brains and even bigger hearts have taken the lead.
Take the socially inept[无能的] guy who won a gorgeous girl in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2006). Then a fat slacker[懒鬼]
impregnated[使怀孕] a way-out-of-his-league girl in Knocked Up (2007). Now a trio[三人组] of un-appreciated, unnoticed and unloved geeks go wild in their last days of high school in the comedy Superbad, which knocked The Bourne Ultimatum out of the No. 1 spot at the US box office, and made its entire $20 million budget back in its opening weekend.
These three are among the highest grossing[总共赚得]comedies of all time. The newest bankable Hollywood stars are no-name actors playing flawed[有瑕疵的] yet more realistic characters that cinema-goers can relate to.
“Everything I do tends to root for the underdog[弱者],”Judd Apatow, the writer-director of the three movies says. “I always felt as a kid that I was under-appreciated, invisible or weird[怪异的].
But I’ve always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I’m always putting that message out there. Eventually, the nerds and the geeks will have their day.”
That’s really the fact. In the high-school world that I experienced, kids were extremely status-conscious[有意识的]and sometimes unforgivably mean[刻毒的]. Outcasts[被驱逐者]and outsiders had little chance to succeed socially. Same things happened when they grew up. They were nobody, only known as “nerds,” “geeks” or “losers.”
Times have changed. Being excited about learning and sharing your knowledge is now considered...well, cool.
In fact, you can simply say 2007 is the Year of the Nerds. Simon Pegg’s newest hit Hot Fuzz shares its in-jokes[内部笑话] with cop-movie fans. Bruce Willis turns to a young geek and his friend for help in Live Free or Die Hard. The Simpsons Movie is basically about a loser saving his town. Meanwhile, from Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, The Big Bang Theory to Aliens in America, the new TV season is obsessed[迷住] with nerddom. Instead of boring smarties[自作聪明者],today’s nerds are intelligent guys who solve crimes, possess special powers, and debunk[揭穿] myths. Most importantly, they make us chuckle[咯咯笑]. After all, one of the reasons for this whole nerd trend is fun; another, wish fulfillment – isn’t it great to watch people like us living our wildest dreams?
让布莱德·皮特、马
特·达蒙和奥兰多·布鲁姆靠边站吧。这些外形俊朗的男人现在面临即将过时的危险，而一些相貌平平却头脑聪明、心地善良的平庸小辈正在领跑娱乐。
比方说，在《40岁的老处男》（2006年）中赢得漂亮小姐芳心的社交白痴。还有《一夜大肚》（2007年）里让一个他完全配不起的女孩怀孕的胖懒鬼。如今在电影《男孩不坏》里，三个不受赏识、寂寂无闻又没人喜欢的极客在高中的最后时光疯玩了一把。这部电影打败《谍影重重3》登上美国票房榜首位。公映一星期，制片方就收回了两千万美元的成本。
这三部电影都能进入史上票房最高的喜剧之列。好莱坞最新的卖座明星是一群籍籍无名的演员，他们饰演的角色虽有缺点却也更真实，能引起电影观众的共鸣。
“我所做的一切总倾向于给弱者打气，”这三部电影的编导贾德·阿帕图说。“小时候，我总觉得自己没人赏识，很不显眼，也特别怪异。但我总会暗自想，有一天别人会欣赏我的与众不同。我总是在传播这样的信息——总有一天，呆头鹅也有出头之日。”
事实确实如此。在我经历过的中学时代，小孩子都极为在意自己的身份地位，有时候还刻薄得让人无法容忍。被排挤的人、不合群的人都很难建立良好的人际关系。就算长大以后，情况也一样。除了“呆子”、“极客”或“失败者”之外，这些人什么都不是。
现在时代不一样了。人们认为好学并乐于与人分享是……呃，很酷的事情。
事实上，你简直可以说2007年是“呆子年”。西蒙·派格的最新大片《终棘警探》与警匪片粉丝分享内部笑话。在《虎胆龙威4》里，布鲁斯·威利斯要向一个年轻的极客和他的朋友求助。《辛普森一家大电影》基本上就是一个失败者拯救自己的小镇的故事。与此同时，从《超市特工》、《冥侦探艾艾》、《狙魂交易》、《生活大爆炸》到《外国人在美国》，新一季的电视剧对呆子们钟爱有加。今天的书呆子不再是自作聪明的闷蛋，他们智慧超群，可以解决罪案，拥有特殊能力并能揭开谜团。最重要的是，他们能让我们开怀大笑。毕竟，极客潮出现的原因之一就是趣味性，另外就是能给人带来实现愿望的满足感——看着像我们这样的人实现我们最疯狂的梦想，难道不是棒极了吗？