Why We Love Anti-heroes 我們為何喜愛反英雄

莫莉·愛德華茲

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.

庫伊拉、洛基、波巴·費特與自殺小隊除了都有出色的時尚品味外，還有什么共同之處？他們都是反英雄人物，都不算什么好人，都在2021年出盡風頭。事實上，數量驚人的反英雄角色正成為影視劇作品的主角。

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.

但我們為何如此喜愛這些反英雄？為何想了解小狗殺手庫伊拉的成長史？又為何想支持蝙蝠俠的勁敵？讓我們看看為何人們一直鐘情于叛逆者。

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.

“嚴格來講，反英雄角色在故事結構上占據主角位置，但往往道德立場有問題或愛好和行為有時完全背德。”萊斯布里奇大學戲劇系副教授阿倫·泰勒博士解釋道。電影《猛禽小隊》里的哈莉·奎因就是個很好的例子——與傳統英雄角色不同，哈莉的設定雖然是主人公，但她卻沒把扔手榴彈和弄碎頭骨當回事兒。

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，反英雄與反派之間又有什么區別？“反派的作用是干擾主角達成目標。”泰勒博士說。大體上看，反英雄是主要角色，凡是跟他們作對的人都是反派，不管這兩種角色有多好或多壞。

The age of anti-heroes

反英雄的時代

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為主人公的影視作品比以往更頻繁地出現，僅2021年就有不少：艾瑪·斯通扮演了惡毒的庫伊拉，洛基有了以他為主角的獨立Disney+劇集，波巴·費特在12月強勢回歸電視熒屏，哈莉·奎因在《自殺小隊》中再次現身，艾迪·布洛克的共生體是《毒液2》的主角。就連瓦解了復仇者聯盟的澤莫男爵也因《獵鷹與冬兵》的播出而意外受到粉絲們的喜愛。

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.

反英雄早就成了影視娛樂作品的主要素材——泰勒博士指出，《絕命毒師》和《黑道家族》這類早期反英雄劇集為當前該類題材的涌現創造了條件。

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

同樣值得注意的是，這一批反英雄大多是復出的角色，粉絲們此前已經了解并喜愛他們。

“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‘吸引不意味著我們希望他們得逞，或認同他們的價值觀、信仰和/或行為。”泰勒博士解釋，“喜愛可看作是一種迷戀，而這種吸引力可能來自許多品質：角色的異國風情、人格魅力、活力、幽默感、邪惡智慧以及其他‘與道德無關的特質——演員對角色行為進行風格化詮釋時所使用的技巧或手法也包括在內。”

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.

如果你發現自己喜愛上了無道德原則的角色，這份喜愛也許不源于你對角色的認同，更可能是因為你認為角色充滿趣味，或是欣賞演員的演技。

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.

泰勒博士也說明，有時劇情本身的作用，就是為反英雄的行為進行辯解或正名，“雖然我們無法做到完全同情一個卑鄙的主角，但劇情這樣安排的初衷是我們能更好理解反英雄人物的行為，或是對他們產生同理心（即想象角色是什么樣的感受或與他們持有的價值觀相同）”。例如，在電影《黑白魔女庫伊拉》中，庫伊拉與艾瑪·湯普森扮演的伯爵夫人間存在沖突，二者的關系在一定程度上成為庫伊拉黑化（艾斯黛拉變為庫伊拉后必然要做壞事）的正當理由。或者看看《絕命毒師》里的沃爾特·懷特，他的無恥行為被無數次地合理化。

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，對反英雄產生的“同情、共情、迷戀或幾種情感兼而有之”讓我們感覺良好，也使角色更討喜。“這些令人愉悅的情感能否或是否確實凌駕于我們的道德判斷之上（即我們忽視他們的‘壞并為此而找借口，或更充分地理解他們的‘壞行為），這是個非常古老的哲學辯論。” 他說，“但反英雄的故事故意設定這種哲學困境或將其夸大！”

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.

故事的結構也在另一方面促成了反英雄的吸引力。因為主角們通常品行端正，所以我們常出于習慣而支持他們。“為了避免‘熟生蔑的情況（即我們在品行不良的主角身上花費的時間越多，就越不喜歡他們），作者會采取策略，使這類人物也同時具備一些美德，稍稍削弱或‘鈍化角色的壞。”泰勒博士繼續說道。波巴·費特幫助曼佬營救尤達寶寶，哈莉與黑金絲雀組隊救援卡珊德拉·該隱的情節就是如此。

Good vs. evil

正邪兩立

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.

顯然，正邪兩類角色都有發揮空間甚至可能彼此需要。泰勒博士提及更具英雄氣派的人物能突出或批判反英雄道德的敗壞，并以死侍和相較而言品行更高尚的X戰警成員鋼力士為例。他解釋道，雖然死侍的作用是嘲笑鋼力士遵守的僵化道德，但如果沒有鋼力士的陪襯，并（在某種程度上）約束死侍，我們也許會最終厭煩他的荒唐行為，畢竟其行為并非亦正亦邪。其他電影和電視劇中也有類似安排：《自殺小隊》需要瑞克·弗萊格，《懲罰者》需要超膽俠，《洛基》需要雷神（也許在新劇集中需要歐文·威爾遜扮演的莫比烏斯）。甚至可以更進一步地說，如果沒有傳統的黑白對立、善惡分明，我們也許會認為反英雄的故事枯燥乏味——反之亦然，如果故事中沒有任何品德不良的主角，我們也會厭倦看到英雄們輕而易舉地拯救世界。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1電影《黑白魔女庫伊拉》（Cruella）的女主角，是1961年迪士尼動畫長片《101 忠狗》（101 Dalmatians）的經典反派角色。這部衍生真人電影講述她如何走上“黑化”之路。? 2指賞金獵人波巴·費特，是《星球大戰》系列衍生作品中的重要角色。? 3 anti-hero反英雄（故事中不按傳統主角品格塑造的主人公）。? 4指庫伊拉，她在《101忠狗》中為了制作皮草大衣而綁架了女下屬家的一群斑點狗。? 5 bat for支持。

6 think nothing of sth認為……容易，看輕。? 7 迪士尼旗下的影視平臺。? 8 指2021年12月底《星球大戰》真人劇集《曼達洛人》（The Mandalorian）的衍生劇集《波巴·費特之書》（The Book of Boba Fett）在Disney+開播。

9 baddy（電影、小說等中的）壞蛋，反派角色。? 10 any number of things許多，大量。? 11 diabolical邪惡的，惡魔般的。

12 familiarity breeds contempt〈習語〉親不敬，熟生蔑。

13指《曼達洛人》的主人公丁·賈林（Din Djarin），“曼達洛人”（the Mandalorian）或“曼佬”（Mando）是他的綽號。? 14 antics荒唐行為；危險舉動。