No More Children's Tickets

父子觀影記

I have loved movies since I was a child. Every Sunday, I went to the Monroe Theater to enjoy a movie there. Then in 1970 I turned ten, and my tastes turned from Disney movies to more mature ones. Still, I was precluded from seeing R-rated movies .

從孩提時(shí)代起,，我就喜歡看電影。每個(gè)星期天,，我都會(huì)去門羅劇院看電影。1970年，我十歲,，我的興趣從迪士尼電影轉(zhuǎn)向了更為成熟的電影?？墒?，我仍然不能看R級(jí)片。

All at one,commercials appeared on TV for The French Connection . They looked exciting, streetwise , and very powerful. This was going to be a man's movie. And I was going to miss out, because I wasn't old enough. I can remember when my dad and older brother went to see it, stepping into the freezing night calling, 'We'll be back later,' Peter running ahead of my father in anticipation .

突然,，電視上開(kāi)始播放電影《法國(guó)販毒網(wǎng)》的廣告,。廣告看起來(lái)令人興奮，體現(xiàn)了城市生存智慧,，充滿了力量,。這將是一部男子漢的電影。但我卻將錯(cuò)過(guò)它,，因?yàn)槲疫€太小了,。我還記得當(dāng)爸爸帶著哥哥去看它時(shí)，他們一起走進(jìn)寒冷的冬夜里,，爸爸喊道：“我們晚些回來(lái),。”而彼得則搶先跑在了爸爸的前面,。

The French Connection broke new ground . The car chase was daring,edgy and thrilling, like nothing ever seen before. And this made me long to see it. Gene Hackman's portrayal of Popeye Doyle was far from the kind of cop that audiences were used to seeing. I was a movie fanatic , and I felt I was missing out on something historical, daring and new. Peter was thrilled to be seeing it. I, however, was relegated to another dreary night at home with my mom and my younger brother, Steven.

《法國(guó)販毒網(wǎng)》開(kāi)辟了一片新天地,。飆車場(chǎng)面又大膽又緊張又令人激動(dòng)，和以前看過(guò)的電影都不一樣,。這使得我非常想看這部電影,。吉恩·哈克曼飾演的波佩耶·多伊爾完全不是觀眾看慣的那種警察形象。我是一名狂熱的影迷,，我覺(jué)得自己錯(cuò)過(guò)了某個(gè)歷史性的,、大膽而新鮮的事件,。彼得興沖沖地去看它了。我卻只落得陪媽媽和弟弟史蒂文待在家中,，度過(guò)又一個(gè)沉悶的夜晚,。

When Peter and my dad got home, they expressed what I already knew. The movie was great. They talked about the car chase. 'Unbelievable!' Hackman was 'fantastic!' Oh, how I wished I were older and could ...

當(dāng)彼得和爸爸回來(lái)的時(shí)候，他們對(duì)電影的描述和我已知的一模一樣,。電影棒極了,。他們談?wù)撝j車?！昂?jiǎn)直令人難以置信,！”哈克曼“酷斃了”！噢,，我多么希望自己那時(shí)再大點(diǎn)兒,，就能……

You want to go see it, Leonard?

“你想去看嗎，倫納德,？”

Was that my father who just said that? Did I hear right? Confirmation came in a second , from my mother.

剛才說(shuō)那句話的是我爸爸嗎,？是我聽(tīng)錯(cuò)了嗎？媽媽立刻就為我證實(shí)了這一點(diǎn),。

Ed, do you really think he should see it? Oh Mom, don't kill my chances. Don't plant the seed of doubt. Be quiet for just a little longer until I can extract a promise. Then the sweet words came.

“埃德,，你真的認(rèn)為他能去看嗎？”噢,，媽媽,，不要扼殺我的機(jī)會(huì)。不要對(duì)此提出質(zhì)疑,。只要安靜一小會(huì)兒,，我就能得到爸爸的許諾。接著就傳來(lái)了那些動(dòng)人的話語(yǔ),。

I don't see why not. I think he's old enough to handle it. We can go tomorrow night.

“我看不出有什么不妥,。我覺(jué)得他年齡夠大，可以正確對(duì)待它了,。我們可以明晚去,。”

But you just went with Peter tonight. You're going to go again tomorrow?

“可是你今晚剛帶彼得去看過(guò),。你明天還要再去嗎,？”

My dad looked over at me. He must have seen my eyes, filled with excitement and anticipation.

爸爸低頭看著我。他肯定看見(jiàn)了我眼里閃爍著的興奮與期盼,。

Sure, why not? he said.

“當(dāng)然,，為什么不？”他說(shuō)。

Yeah! I cried and leapt into the air.

“好耶,！”我大叫著跳了起來(lái),。

The next night I could hardly eat my dinner. I couldn't wait to get out of the house and see something that I had thought only my elder brother would be allowed to see.

第二天晚上,，我?guī)缀醭圆幌峦盹?。我迫不及待地想離開(kāi)家，去看那部我原以為只有哥哥才會(huì)被允許去看的電影,。

Leonard, if you don't eat something, you're going to be hungry at the movies, he said, smiling.

“倫納德,，不吃東西，你看電影的時(shí)候可會(huì)餓的呀,?！卑职治⑿χf(shuō)。

There it was again-confirmation of the event. Yes, we were actually going to see this R-rated movie together. It would be my first one. At last, dinner was over. We got our winter coats and stepped to the front door. My dad grinned , tossed his head back and called out, 'We'll be back later.'

又一次,，這件事得到了證實(shí),。是的，我們真的要一起去看這部R級(jí)電影了,。它將會(huì)成為我看的第一部R級(jí)影片,。晚餐終于結(jié)束了。我們穿上冬衣,，向前門走去,。爸爸咧嘴笑著，回過(guò)頭喊道：“我們晚一點(diǎn)回來(lái),?！?/p>

Okay, said my mom, 'have fun.' I was so thrilled. Now it was Peter's turn to stay home with Mom and Steven.

“好的，”媽媽說(shuō),，“祝你們玩得開(kāi)心,。”我真是太興奮了?，F(xiàn)在,， 輪到彼得待在家里陪媽媽和史蒂文了。

We got into the car. It was freezing. My dad's cologne gently enveloped me, and the car warmed as the heater kicked in . I could feel his love for me. Even though he had just seen the movie the night before, he was going to take me tonight. He didn't even wait for a few weeks. I was impressed and felt special.

我們上了汽車,。天冷極了,。爸爸身上的古龍香水味輕輕地將我包圍，車上的暖氣開(kāi)了,，車?yán)锱土似饋?lái),。我能夠感受到父親對(duì)我的愛(ài)。盡管昨晚他剛剛看過(guò)這部電影,，他今晚還是要帶我去看,，甚至都沒(méi)等幾個(gè)星期再說(shuō)。我深受感動(dòng)，覺(jué)得自己很特別,。

The Monroe Theater was big and smelled of heat, popcorn and seat cloth. Back then, anyone under age twelve couldn't get into an R-rated movie. I looked older than I was, and my dad paid the extra money so we wouldn't have any trouble from the ticket lady. I was thrilled that my father thought I was mature enough to see an R-rated movie and that he had no problem saying, 'Two adults, please,' when buying our tickets.

門羅影劇院很大,，一股熱浪夾著爆米花和座椅布的味道撲面而來(lái)。那個(gè)年代,，任何一個(gè)不滿12歲的孩子都不能看R級(jí)影片,。我看起來(lái)比我的實(shí)際年齡要大一些，爸爸也多付了些錢,，以免檢票的女士找我們麻煩,。我感到十分興奮，因?yàn)榘职终J(rèn)為我已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)大了,，能看R級(jí)片了,；而且他在買票時(shí)毫不猶豫地說(shuō)：“請(qǐng)來(lái)兩張成人票?！?/p>

The French Connection was better than I had anticipated. It was the most exciting movie I'd ever seen, and the most adult.

《法國(guó)販毒網(wǎng)》比我預(yù)料中的還要好看,。它是我所看過(guò)的電影中最令人興奮的一部，也是最成熟的一部,。

As we walked up the steps at home after the movie, I turned to my dad and really looked at him. I wanted him to know how happy he'd made me, how wonderful it was to believe he thought of me as an adult (at least in some way). But all I could come up with was, 'Thanks for taking me, Dad.'

我們看完電影,，走上家門前的臺(tái)階時(shí)，我轉(zhuǎn)身面向爸爸,，非常認(rèn)真地看著他,。我想讓他知道他讓我多么快樂(lè)，他把我看作成年人(至少在某些方面)的感覺(jué)有多棒,?？墒俏耶?dāng)時(shí)能說(shuō)出來(lái)的卻只是“謝謝您帶我去，爸爸”,。

He hugged me, his big arms wrapping me tightly, and held me for just a little longer than usual. Cologne never smelled so sweet.

他擁抱我,，結(jié)實(shí)的臂膀緊緊摟著我，并且比平時(shí)擁抱我的時(shí)間多了那么一小會(huì)兒,。我覺(jué)得古龍香水從來(lái)沒(méi)這么好聞過(guò),。

Oh, my pleasure, he said, 'my pleasure!'

“噢，我很樂(lè)意這么做,，”他說(shuō),，“我很樂(lè)意！”

And it was.

的確如此,。

After that, we went to the movies together all the time. The R-rating lost its importance and was no longer considered a sticking point . I had seen one and could now see all of them. My rite of passage was over. But when I was fifteen, things changed a bit and I went to the movies with my friends more than with my dad.

從那以后,，我們倆一直一起去看電影。R級(jí)片已不再重要,，不再是我心中的癥結(jié),。我已經(jīng)看過(guò)一部,，而現(xiàn)在全部都能看了。我的“成人儀式”結(jié)束了,?？稍谖?5歲時(shí)，情況有了一點(diǎn)變化,，我和朋友們?nèi)タ措娪岸噙^(guò)和老爸一起,。

In 1975, Peter and I, and my two friends waited in line for two hours (this was very unusual back then!) to see Jaws . I went home raving about it. What a fantastic movie! I could see my father wishing he had been allowed to go with the teenagers to see this 'event,' because there was no way my mother was going to go with him and he certainly wouldn't see it by himself. But he was the parent now. Teenagers don't really want their parents around when going to the movies as a group.

1975年，為了看《大白鯊》,，我和彼得以及我的兩位朋友排了兩個(gè)小時(shí)的隊(duì)買票(這在當(dāng)時(shí)可十分不同尋常,！)?；氐郊依铮覍?duì)電影贊不絕口,。多么棒的一部影片?。∥夷芸吹贸?，爸爸非常希望能跟我們這些十幾歲的孩子們一起去見(jiàn)識(shí)這場(chǎng)“大事件”,。因?yàn)閶寢屖遣粫?huì)陪他去看的，而他肯定也不會(huì)一個(gè)人去看,?？墒牵F(xiàn)在是家長(zhǎng),。青少年三五成群去看電影的時(shí)候,，真的不希望父母坐在身旁。

Hey, Dad, I said. 'You wanna go see it?'

“嗨,，老爸,，”我說(shuō)，“您想去看嗎,？”

He seemed a little surprised. He hesitated, knowing how his place had changed, but said, 'Well, yes. I'd love to.'

爸爸似乎有一點(diǎn)兒吃驚,。他知道自己的位置已經(jīng)發(fā)生了變化，猶豫了一下,，但還是說(shuō)：“嗯,，是的。我想去,?！?/p>

Okay, we'll go. Tomorrow night. Just you and me.

“那好，咱們一起去,。明天晚上,，就你和我,。”

Terrific, he said, turning away so I couldn't see him smiling from ear to ear .

“太好了,?！彼贿呎f(shuō)著一邊轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)臉去，以免我看到他笑得合不攏嘴,。

The next night we waited in line for two hours to see Jaws. And this time, it was my pleasure to 'take' my father to the movies. My pleasure.

第二天晚上,，我們排了兩個(gè)小時(shí)隊(duì)去看《大白鯊》。這一次,，是我很樂(lè)意“帶”父親去看電影,。我很樂(lè)意。