珊達·萊梅斯：美劇圈兒里最霸氣的女人

Who’s the most powerful person in US television？

Arguably， it’s not an A-list star， nor a channel head. It’s Shonda Rhimes， the 44-year-old writer and producer known for her high-octane1） dramas and whiplash plot twists.

Consider last Thursday evening， when Rhimes fans were treated to three hours in Shondaland （the name of her production company） as her current shows—medical saga2） Grey’s Anatomy and political thriller Scandal， which she showruns， and new legal drama How to Get Away with Murder， which she executive produces—premiered back-to-back3） on ABC. It was a decision Scandal star Kerry Washington4） called “extraordinary， historical， important—and fabulous.”

Speaking on the phone from California， Rhimes is rather more down-to-earth. “It’s a wonderful compliment，” she admits， “although it does feel as though everybody else has had a bigger reaction to it … I find it fascinating that no one ever asks a man， for example [prolific sitcom creator] Chuck Lorre5）， if they’re going to find it hard juggling three shows. Plus I’m only producing How to Get Away with Murder. Pete Nowalk created it....”

In conversation， Rhimes comes across6） as something of a contradiction： a romantic pragmatist. Refreshingly no nonsense about the industry—“I don’t feel like there’s a boy’s club … but I do know that people wouldn’t call Scandal a guilty pleasure if it wasn’t a show starring a woman and written by a woman”—she is also an unashamed idealist who admits she is “very dewy-eyed7） about politics， almost frighteningly so，” even as she ramped up8） the villainy9） in Scandal so as “to create a different world to the one we are in， where people said these wonderful things but behind closed doors were monsters.”

Yet， despite this romantic streak10）， Rhimes is all too aware of the ugliness of life. We talk during the height of clashes between police and citizens in Ferguson， Missouri， after the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white policeman. Rhimes’s Twitter feed makes it clear how she feels about media coverage of Brown’s killing and the events leading up to it （e.g. a tweet from 20 August reads “why is it whites ‘commit crimes’ but blacks ‘are criminals？’” with a link to a CNN discussion on implicit racial bias）. Today， though， she says： “I have plenty of opinions about what is happening in Ferguson but I’m not going to discuss them now.”

The refusal is understandable： In an industry where diversity remains a hot-button issue， Rhimes has faced incessant focus on both her race and gender. Just last week The New York Times TV critic， Alessandra Stanley， created a storm with her entirely tone-deaf11） review of How to Get Away with Murder. It began： “When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography， it should be called ‘How to Get Away with Being an Angry Black Woman.’” Rhimes’s sardonic12） response on Twitter was to ask the show’s white male creator Nowalk “did u know u were ‘an angry black woman？’” before tweeting that she hadn’t read Stanley’s justification for her piece because “I’ve been too busy being angry and black. Also a woman. Takes up a lot of time.”

It was a more measured response than some would have managed， particularly given that the article ignores the fact that she writes complex， flawed and interesting characters of all races and gender.

“People talk about casting and ask whether it’s changing and I never know how to answer. [The question] seems to suggest that there’s some sense in which a diverse cast isn’t allowed，” she says. “I write the stories I want to write， with the characters I want to write.” And does so extremely successfully. Scandal pulls in more than 10 million viewers a week in the US； Grey’s， while no longer at its 20 million-plus peak， still averages nine million.

It’s a long way from the moment when she first realised the small screen was her future. “I was working in film writing teen movies [she provided scripts for Britney Spears13）’s Crossroads and The Princess Diaries 2] then I found myself with a new baby who never slept so I watched TV，” she says， laughing. “I watched the whole of the first season of 24 in 24 hours. I watched the first five seasons of Buffy in three or four days and I began to think ‘here on TV this is where the character development is happening.’”

After an early pilot about war correspondents failed to get off the ground14）， she wrote Grey’s Anatomy about a bunch of good-looking， workaholic medics. It was ordered to series and became a surprise hit. “I was fairly fearless—OK I have this TV show and I just have to write it，” says Rhimes， admitting she learnt how to write for TV on the hoof15）. “If I’d understood just how large an opportunity it was and what it would turn into I would have been terrified.”

She has always been skilled at tackling difficult subjects within a populist16） framework. “We’ve had conversations about race， women and feminism which I’m really proud of，” she says of Scandal. “[I love] the fact that we can have these conversations alongside the twisty-turny stuff and not be preachy17）.” Similarly in season eight of Grey’s Anatomy， she dealt with that great American taboo， abortion， when driven surgeon Cristina Yang had a termination because she did not want a child. “I just found it strange that American television chose never to portray something that one in four women in America actually does，” says Rhimes. “I wasn’t making a statement18） about choice. I was simply saying abortion happens and it is legal and it is necessary.”

Rhimes herself is mother to three daughters， the first of whom she adopted in the wake of 9/11. “I’d split up with a boyfriend and gone to Vermont to stare at my navel19）， and then 9/11 happened and I spent days being scared of what was happening in the world so I made a list of all the things I wanted to do and at the top was adopt a baby. Nine months and two days later， I brought my daughter home.”

You might think that raising three daughters in addition to overseeing three shows would leave little downtime but Rhimes is still a television addict. “I’m just obsessed with Game of Thrones especially Arya Stark20），” she says. “And I love Orange Is the New Black. Although I just want to inhale that all at once， I keep trying to stretch it out， but it’s so hard.”

As evidenced by her swift response to Stanley’s piece， she also maintains a healthy Twitter habit： “I actually really love Twitter—I used to feel angry and insulted when people criticised me or the shows but now I don’t take it too seriously. What I do love is that there’s this great direct line to fans.”

Does she have any advice for aspiring writers？ “There have to be practical steps，” she says slowly. “There’s no point in holding out for a magic door because there are no magic doors. You can dream your life away or actually do what you dream of doing. That’s the most valuable advice I can give.”

誰是美國電視界最有影響力的人？

可以說，這個人不是一線明星，也不是哪個頻道的老總，而是現年44歲（編注：英文原文發表于2014年9月）的編劇和制作人珊達·萊梅斯，她以扣人心弦的情節和突如其來的劇情轉折而著稱。

想想上周四晚上的情景吧。當晚，由于萊梅斯當前的幾部戲——由她擔綱制作的長篇醫療劇《實習醫生格蕾》和政治驚悚劇《丑聞》以及由她監制的律政新劇《逍遙法外》——在美國廣播公司接連首播，她的忠實粉絲得以享受了三個小時由“珊達樂園”（她的制作公司的名字）出品的劇集。《丑聞》的主演凱麗·華盛頓稱這一安排“非同凡響，具有歷史意義，重大，而且美妙”。

從加州接受我的電話采訪時，萊梅斯表現得更加樸實一些?！斑@番夸贊令人愉快，”她坦陳，“雖然我確實覺得大家好像對這件事反應過度了……我覺得有意思的是，從來沒有人問過一位男性——比如（高產的情景喜劇編?。┎榭恕ち_瑞——他們是否會覺得同時做三部戲有難度。而且，我只是《逍遙法外》的制片人，編劇是皮特·諾沃克……”

在談話中，萊梅斯給人的印象是個有些矛盾的人：一個浪漫的實用主義者。對于電視行業，她說話直截了當，令人耳目一新——“我不覺得存在一個男生俱樂部……不過我的確知道，如果不是因為《丑聞》的主演和編劇都是女性，人們也不會把它稱為罪惡的享受”。她也是一個毫不遮掩的理想主義者，承認自己“對于政治非常天真，簡直到了令人震驚的地步”，而與此同時，她又增加了《丑聞》中的罪惡情節，以“創造出一個和我們身處的世界不同的世界——在那里，人們嘴上說得好聽，背地里卻是禽獸”。

不過，盡管萊梅斯具有這種浪漫的性格特點，但她對于生活中的丑惡再清楚不過了。我們談話時正值密蘇里州弗格森市的警民沖突達到高潮時，此前一位白人警察射殺了手無寸鐵的黑人少年邁克爾·布朗。對于媒體就布朗被殺事件及事件前因所做的報道，萊梅斯在推特上的發言清楚地表明了她的所感所想（例如，她在8月20日發的一條推文中寫道：“為什么在說到白人時用‘犯了罪’，而說到黑人時卻說‘是罪犯’？”她還附上了一個鏈接，內容是在美國有線電視新聞網進行的一場有關隱性種族偏見的討論）。不過，她今天表示：“我對當前在弗格森發生的事情有許多看法，但我現在不想討論。”

這種拒絕是可以理解的：在她所在的行業，多樣性依然是個敏感話題，萊梅斯要不斷面對人們對于她的種族和性別的關注。就在上周，《紐約時報》的電視評論員亞歷山德拉·斯坦利寫了一篇完全沒有搞清楚狀況的評論，由此掀起了一場風波。這篇評論針對的是《逍遙法外》，文章開篇寫道：“如果珊達·萊梅斯要寫自傳，書名應該叫《憤怒的黑人女性如何逍遙》?！比R梅斯在推特上對這篇評論的諷刺性回應是問這部劇集的白人男編劇諾沃克：“你知道自己是個‘憤怒的黑人女性’嗎？”之后她又發推文說自己沒有讀斯坦利為那篇文章所做的辯解，因為“我太忙了，忙著憤怒，忙著當黑人，還是女性。太花時間了”。

比起其他人可能做出的反應，萊梅斯的回應是比較有分寸的，特別是考慮到那篇文章忽略了一個事實：萊梅斯筆下那些復雜、有缺陷又有趣的角色囊括了各個種族和性別的人。

“人們談論演員人選，問我會不會有變化，我總是不知道該怎么回答。（這個問題）似乎在暗示，從某種意義上說，演員班底不能多元化，”她說，“我寫我想寫的故事，塑造我想塑造的角色?！倍沧龅脴O為成功。在美國，《丑聞》每周吸引的收視人數超過1000萬；《實習醫生格蕾》雖然已不再處于2000多萬人的收視巔峰，但平均收視人數仍然有900萬。

在萊梅斯第一次認識到自己的未來屬于電視熒屏之前，她走過了一段漫長的路?！拔耶敃r在電影界工作，寫青少年題材的電影劇本（她為《公主日記2》和布蘭妮·斯皮爾斯主演的電影《穿越鄉間路》創作過劇本）。后來我有了一個總是不肯睡覺的小寶寶，于是我就看電視，”她大笑著說，“我在24小時內看完了《24小時》的第一季，用三四天時間看完了《吸血鬼獵人巴菲》的前五季，然后開始覺得‘在電視劇里人物才能有性格發展’?！?/p>

萊梅斯早期創作的一個有關戰地記者的試播劇未能成功進行下去，之后她寫了《實習醫生格蕾》，講述一群工作起來不要命的俊男美女醫生的故事。電視臺預定了這部劇集。出人意料的是，這部戲大受歡迎。“我當時什么都不怕——好吧，我手里有這部戲，那就得寫?！比R梅斯說。她承認自己是在毫無準備的情況下學著寫電視劇的。“如果我當時知道這是個多么大的機遇，后來會發展成什么樣子，我會被嚇壞的。”

她一向善于以普通人的角度來探討難解決的問題。“我們戲里的對白中涉及了種族、女性和女權主義的話題，對此我感到很自豪，”談到《丑聞》時她說，“（我很高興）我們能在曲折的故事情節中加入這些對話，又不會讓人有說教的感覺?！蓖瑯樱凇秾嵙曖t生格蕾》第八季中，當寫到事業心強的外科醫生克里斯蒂娜·楊因為不想要孩子而終止妊娠時，她又觸碰了美國人的一大禁忌——墮胎?！八姆种坏拿绹詫嶋H上都這么做，美國的電視臺卻從來不愿呈現這樣的事，我覺得這很怪異，”萊梅斯說，“我并不是在主張要如何選擇，只是說墮胎確實會發生，它是合法的，而且不可避免。”

萊梅斯本人是三個女兒的母親，大女兒是她在“9·11”事件之后領養的?！拔耶敃r跟男友分手了，去了佛蒙特州思考自己的人生，然后‘9·11’事件就發生了。有好多天我都對這世上發生的事感到恐懼，于是我列出了所有我想做的事情，排在首位的就是領養一個孩子。九個月零兩天之后，我就把女兒領回了家?！?/p>

你也許會以為，在撫養三個女兒和負責三部劇集之余，萊梅斯不會有什么空閑時間了，但她依然是個電視迷。“我特別迷《權利的游戲》，尤其是艾莉亞·史塔克，”她說，“我還愛看《女子監獄》，真想一口氣把它看完，但我還是一直試著慢點兒看，可太難了。”

從她對斯坦利那篇文章的迅速回應可以看出，她還保持著經常使用推特的習慣：“我其實真的喜歡玩推特。過去有人批評我或者我的劇集時，我總是會生氣，感覺受到了侮辱，但現在我不怎么把這些當回事了。我真正喜歡的是這種直接和粉絲交流的方式。”

對于那些胸懷大志的編劇，她有什么建議嗎？“必須有實際的行動，”她緩緩說道，“等待某扇神奇之門出現是沒用的，因為根本就沒有神奇之門。你可以在夢想中蹉跎年華，也可以切實地將夢想付諸行動。我能給出的最有價值的建議就是這個?！?/p>

1.high-octane：激動人心的；扣人心弦的

2.saga [?sɑ?ɡ?] n.〈口〉長篇故事；一長串事件

3.back-to-back：（一個接著一個）連續的

4.Kerry Washington：凱麗·華盛頓（1977～），美國演員，在美劇《丑聞》中飾演女主角Olivia Pope。

5.Chuck Lorre：查克·羅瑞（1952～），美國電視編劇、導演、制片人，創作了《生活大爆炸》（The Big Bang Theory）、《好漢兩個半》（Two and a Half Men）等情景喜劇。

6.come across：給人深刻印象，看上去似乎是（as）

7.dewy-eyed [?dju?i?a?d] adj. 天真無邪的，易信的

8.ramp up：增加，提高

9.villainy [?v?l?ni] n. 惡行；罪惡

10.streak [stri?k] n. （行為、氣質等的）個性特征（或傾向）

11.tone-deaf：不能（或不善于）辨別音高的

12.sardonic [sɑ?（r）?d?n?k] adj. 冷嘲的，譏諷的

13.Britney Spears：布蘭妮·斯皮爾斯（1981～），美國歌手、演員

14.get off the ground：開始；（使）取得進展

15.on the hoof：事先無準備地

16.populist [?p?pj?l?st] adj. 平民主義的

17.preachy [?pri?t?i] adj. 帶有說教意味的，說教性的

18.make a statement：通過某種特定做法來表明觀點

19.stare at my navel：活用自短語gaze at your navel，意為“花費太多時間考慮自己的事”。

20.Arya Stark：艾莉亞·史塔克，美劇《權力的游戲》中的角色，是一個活潑好動的假小子。