Unfavourable comparisons between America now and in its golden decade of capitalism are understandable. Yet 1950s nostalgists should find comfort in the decade’s cultural endurance. That goes beyond board games. The warm civic-mindedness Americans exude in their mid-century pursuits recalls that confident time. When your columnist’s neighbours at Bengies discovered it was his children’s first trip to a drive-in, they bought them a celebratory ice-cream. That would not happen in a video arcade.
美国的现在与资本主义黄金十年之间的不利比较是可以理解的。然而，20世纪50年代的怀旧主义者应该能够这十年的文化承受力中找到安慰。不仅仅是玩棋盘游戏。美国人在追求中世纪的过程中散发出的热情的公民意识让人回想起那段自信的时代。在Bengies汽车影院，列克星顿专栏作者附近的观影人们发现这是自己的孩子第一次去汽车影院，他们会买一个冰淇淋以示庆祝。这样的情况不会发生在电子游戏机上。
Nostalgists should also consider two cautionary points. First, as per Bengies’ rules, the 1950s was a hectoring time. For all its thrust and novelty, there was usually someone telling you what to do. The suburbs were an experiment in social engineering. Housewives there were bombarded with home economics, their teenagers with “mental-hygiene films”. Americans would not submit to that today because they are freer. (Though it would be good if they would submit to wearing face-masks, as you must at Bengies.)
怀旧主义者们还应该考虑两点注意事项。首先，按照Bengies汽车影院的规则，20世纪50年代是一个威吓的年代。尽管这家影院的主旨和新颖性，通常都会有人告诉你该怎么做。郊区是社会工程的一场实验。那里的家庭妇女们被家政轰炸，青少年们被“心理卫生电影”轰炸。今天的美国人们不会受束于这一点，他们更加自由了。（不过，如果他们愿意戴上口罩就好了，就像在Bengies强制要求的那样。）
Second, many Americans were barred from the 1950s cultural treats because of their skin colour. Cinemas were segregated in the South until the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. So were many state parks. When Sandy Point, a small beach on Chesapeake Bay, opened in 1952, it was the only one in Maryland available to African- Americans. And they could use only a scruffy corner of it. When your white columnist and his family visited the teeming beach this summer, they were in the minority. It is now a magnet for Hispanic families from Prince George’s County and black ones from Baltimore. Hip-hop and salsa fight it out above the multilingual, multiracial throng. All things considered, 1950s America is better now than it was in the original.
第二，许多美国人当时因为肤色而被禁止参加20世纪50年代的文化盛宴。在1964年通过民权法案之前，南方的电影院一直实行种族隔离。许多州立公园也是如此。1952年，切萨皮克湾的一个小海滩Sandy Point开业，它是马里兰州唯一一个对非裔美国人开放的海滩。而他们只能使用这个海滩的一个邋遢的角落。今年夏天，列克星顿的白人专栏作家和他的家人来到了人山人海的海滩，他们是少数人。现在，这个海滩吸引了乔治王子郡的西班牙裔家庭和巴尔的摩的黑人家庭。嘻哈和萨尔萨在多语种、多种族人群中奋力拼搏。综上所述，现在的人们过着20世纪50年代的生活方式要比原来更好了。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
评论
打印
