Why We Love Anti-heroes 我们为何喜爱反英雄

莫莉·爱德华兹

Cruella1， Loki， Boba Fett2， the Suicide Squad—what do they all have in common， aside from excellent fashion taste？ Theyre all anti-heroes3， not-quite-good-guys， grabbing the spotlight in 2021. In fact， were seeing a staggering amount of these characters leading projects—whether in movies or TV series.

库伊拉、洛基、波巴·费特与自杀小队除了都有出色的时尚品味外，还有什么共同之处？他们都是反英雄人物，都不算什么好人，都在2021年出尽风头。事实上，数量惊人的反英雄角色正成为影视剧作品的主角。

But what makes us love them so much？ Why do we want to watch the origins of a puppy killer4？ Or bat for5 Batmans nemesis？ Lets find out about our ongoing love-affair with the outlaw.

但我们为何如此喜爱这些反英雄？为何想了解小狗杀手库伊拉的成长史？又为何想支持蝙蝠侠的劲敌？让我们看看为何人们一直钟情于叛逆者。

What is an anti-hero？

什么是反英雄？

“Anti-heroes are， technically， characters who occupy the structural position of protagonist but tend to be morally compromised or， occasionally， are outright immoral in their interests and actions，” Dr. Aaron Taylor， Associate Professor in the Drama Department at the University of Lethbridge， explains. Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey is a good example—unlike traditional heroes， she thinks nothing of6 lobbing grenades and cracking skulls， yet Harleys positioned as the protagonist.

“嚴格来讲，反英雄角色在故事结构上占据主角位置，但往往道德立场有问题或爱好和行为有时完全背德。”莱斯布里奇大学戏剧系副教授阿伦·泰勒博士解释道。电影《猛禽小队》里的哈莉·奎因就是个很好的例子——与传统英雄角色不同，哈莉的设定虽然是主人公，但她却没把扔手榴弹和弄碎头骨当回事儿。

What differentiates an anti-hero against a villain， then？ “The villain should be considered as the character whose function is to interfere with the goals of the protagonist，” Dr. Taylor says. Basically， anti-heroes are main characters， and the villains are whoever is trying to stop them， no matter how good or bad either are.

那么，反英雄与反派之间又有什么区别？“反派的作用是干扰主角达成目标。”泰勒博士说。大体上看，反英雄是主要角色，凡是跟他们作对的人都是反派，不管这两种角色有多好或多坏。

The age of anti-heroes

反英雄的时代

Movies and TV shows about morally dubious protagonists are more frequent now than ever. In 2021 alone， we had Emma Stone as the dastardly Cruella， Loki headlining his own Disney Plus7 series， Boba Fett blasting back onto the small screen8 in December， Harley Quinn returning in The Suicide Squad， and Eddie Brocks symbiote leading Venom 2. Even the man who broke the Avengers， Zemo， has become an unexpected fan-favorite thanks to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

以有道德缺陷的人物为主人公的影视作品比以往更频繁地出现，仅2021年就有不少：艾玛·斯通扮演了恶毒的库伊拉，洛基有了以他为主角的独立Disney+剧集，波巴·费特在12月强势回归电视荧屏，哈莉·奎因在《自杀小队》中再次现身，艾迪·布洛克的共生体是《毒液2》的主角。就连瓦解了复仇者联盟的泽莫男爵也因《猎鹰与冬兵》的播出而意外受到粉丝们的喜爱。

The anti-hero has long been a staple of on-screen entertainment—Dr. Taylor points to shows like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos as earlier examples of this kind of character—yet they paved the way for the current influx.

反英雄早就成了影视娱乐作品的主要素材——泰勒博士指出，《绝命毒师》和《黑道家族》这类早期反英雄剧集为当前该类题材的涌现创造了条件。

Whats also noticeable is the bad batch are primarily returning baddies9 who fans already know and… love.

同样值得注意的是，这一批反英雄大多是复出的角色，粉丝们此前已经了解并喜爱他们。

“We may be ‘attracted to a villain or anti-hero， but that doesnt mean we want them to succeed or support their values， beliefs， and/or actions，” Dr. Taylor explains. “Attraction is taken to serve as a kind of fascination， and this captivation can be directed to any number of10 qualities： their exoticism， charisma or dynamism， sense of humour， diabolical11 intelligence， or other ‘non-moral traits—including the skill or craft by which an actor brings to the stylistic expression of their behaviour.”

“被反派或反英雄‘吸引不意味著我们希望他们得逞，或认同他们的价值观、信仰和/或行为。”泰勒博士解释，“喜爱可看作是一种迷恋，而这种吸引力可能来自许多品质：角色的异国风情、人格魅力、活力、幽默感、邪恶智慧以及其他‘与道德无关的特质——演员对角色行为进行风格化诠释时所使用的技巧或手法也包括在内。”

If you find yourself a fan of an unscrupulous character， then， its probably not because you agree with them and more likely that you find them interesting or love the actors performance.

如果你发现自己喜爱上了无道德原则的角色，这份喜爱也许不源于你对角色的认同，更可能是因为你认为角色充满趣味，或是欣赏演员的演技。

Im the baaaaaaad guy， duh

嘿，我就是大反派

Dr. Taylor also explains that sometimes the story itself is set up to explain or justify the anti-heros behavior， meaning “even if we dont outright sympathize completely with a scummy protagonist， the idea is that we may better understand their actions， or perhaps even empathize with them （i.e.， imagine feeling the way they do or holding the values they hold）.” Cruella， for instance， clashes with Emma Thompsons Baroness， and their relationship goes some way to justify Estella-turned-Cruellas inevitably immoral actions. Or look at Breaking Bad and the countless times Walter Whites outrageous behavior was rationalized.

泰勒博士也说明，有时剧情本身的作用，就是为反英雄的行为进行辩解或正名，“虽然我们无法做到完全同情一个卑鄙的主角，但剧情这样安排的初衷是我们能更好理解反英雄人物的行为，或是对他们产生同理心（即想象角色是什么样的感受或与他们持有的价值观相同）”。例如，在电影《黑白魔女库伊拉》中，库伊拉与艾玛·汤普森扮演的伯爵夫人间存在冲突，二者的关系在一定程度上成为库伊拉黑化（艾斯黛拉变为库伊拉后必然要做坏事）的正当理由。或者看看《绝命毒师》里的沃尔特·怀特，他的无耻行为被无数次地合理化。

Dr. Taylor points out that feeling “sympathy， empathy， fascination， or a blend of these things” for an anti-hero makes us feel good， which can make the character more likeable. “Whether or not these pleasurable feelings can or do override our moral judgment （i.e.， we overlook， make excuses for， or more fully understand their ‘bad behaviour） is a very old philosophical debate，” he says. “But antiheroic narratives deliberately mobilize or dramatize this dilemma！”

泰勒博士指出，对反英雄产生的“同情、共情、迷恋或几种情感兼而有之”让我们感觉良好，也使角色更讨喜。“这些令人愉悦的情感能否或是否确实凌驾于我们的道德判断之上（即我们忽视他们的‘坏并为此而找借口，或更充分地理解他们的‘坏行为），这是个非常古老的哲学辩论。” 他说，“但反英雄的故事故意设定这种哲学困境或将其夸大！”

Narrative structure has something else to do with the anti-heros appeal， too. We normally root for a protagonist out of habit， as lead characters are normally virtuous. “To avoid familiarity breeding contempt12 （that is， actively disliking morally compromised protagonists the longer we spend with them）， authors will strategically blend morally virtuous traits that slightly mitigate against or ‘dull the bad ones，” Dr. Taylor continues. Think Boba Fett helping Mando13 rescue Baby Yoda， or Harley teaming up with Black Canary to save Cassandra Cain.

故事的結构也在另一方面促成了反英雄的吸引力。因为主角们通常品行端正，所以我们常出于习惯而支持他们。“为了避免‘熟生蔑的情况（即我们在品行不良的主角身上花费的时间越多，就越不喜欢他们），作者会采取策略，使这类人物也同时具备一些美德，稍稍削弱或‘钝化角色的坏。”泰勒博士继续说道。波巴·费特帮助曼佬营救尤达宝宝，哈莉与黑金丝雀组队救援卡珊德拉·该隐的情节就是如此。

Good vs. evil

正邪两立

Theres clearly room for both archetypes—and they might even need each other. Dr. Taylor talks about how more heroic characters can emphasize or critique an anti-heros immorality， and uses the example of Deadpool and the more virtuous X-Men member Colossus. He explains that， while Deadpool serves to poke fun at Colossus rigid mor-ality， if Colossus wasnt there as a foil keeping Deadpool （kind of） in check， we might end up getting tired of Deadpools antics14 since he doesnt have that blend of morally good and bad behavior. This can be seen in other movies and TV shows： The Suicide Squad need Rick Flag， The Punisher needs Daredevil， and Loki needed Thor （or， likely， Owen Wilsons Mobius in the new series）. We can even go one step further： without traditional black and white， good vs. evil stories， we could get tired of anti-hero tales—and vice versa， where without any morally compromised protagonists， we get bored of seeing heroes simply save the day.

显然，正邪两类角色都有发挥空间甚至可能彼此需要。泰勒博士提及更具英雄气派的人物能突出或批判反英雄道德的败坏，并以死侍和相较而言品行更高尚的X战警成员钢力士为例。他解释道，虽然死侍的作用是嘲笑钢力士遵守的僵化道德，但如果没有钢力士的陪衬，并（在某种程度上）约束死侍，我们也许会最终厌烦他的荒唐行为，毕竟其行为并非亦正亦邪。其他电影和电视剧中也有类似安排：《自杀小队》需要瑞克·弗莱格，《惩罚者》需要超胆侠，《洛基》需要雷神（也许在新剧集中需要欧文·威尔逊扮演的莫比乌斯）。甚至可以更进一步地说，如果没有传统的黑白对立、善恶分明，我们也许会认为反英雄的故事枯燥乏味——反之亦然，如果故事中没有任何品德不良的主角，我们也会厌倦看到英雄们轻而易举地拯救世界。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）

1电影《黑白魔女库伊拉》（Cruella）的女主角，是1961年迪士尼动画长片《101 忠狗》（101 Dalmatians）的经典反派角色。这部衍生真人电影讲述她如何走上“黑化”之路。  2指赏金猎人波巴·费特，是《星球大战》系列衍生作品中的重要角色。  3 anti-hero反英雄（故事中不按传统主角品格塑造的主人公）。  4指库伊拉，她在《101忠狗》中为了制作皮草大衣而绑架了女下属家的一群斑点狗。  5 bat for支持。

6 think nothing of sth认为……容易，看轻。  7 迪士尼旗下的影视平台。  8 指2021年12月底《星球大战》真人剧集《曼达洛人》（The Mandalorian）的衍生剧集《波巴·费特之书》（The Book of Boba Fett）在Disney+开播。

9 baddy（电影、小说等中的）坏蛋，反派角色。  10 any number of things许多，大量。  11 diabolical邪恶的，恶魔般的。

12 familiarity breeds contempt〈习语〉亲不敬，熟生蔑。

13指《曼达洛人》的主人公丁·贾林（Din Djarin），“曼达洛人”（the Mandalorian）或“曼佬”（Mando）是他的绰号。  14 antics荒唐行为；危险举动。