Sex and the City《欲望城市》（精讲之五）

影片对白

Carrie: While at home, all the English I seemed to encounter was "bills, bills, bills." I envied Amalita. Her life was a blur of rich men, designer clothes and glamorous resorts. She didn't actually work for a living, yet possessed a dazzling sexual power that she exploited to her full advantage. Which presented a certain conundrum: Where's the line between professional girlfriend and just plain professional?

Samantha: Women have the right to use every meansat their disposalto achieve power.

Miranda: Short of sleeping their way to the top.

Samantha: Not if that's what it takes to compete.

Charlotte: But that's exploitation!

Samantha: Of men-- which is perfectly legal.

Carrie: Saturday night. In an effort to save money and maybe even pick up a few extra bucks, I invited the girls over for poker.

Charlotte:I'll buy two.

Carrie:I'm in for three.So you advocate a double standard. Women can use their sexuality to get ahead whenever possible, but men should not be allowed to take advantage of it?

Samantha: No. I'm just saying that men and women are equal-opportunity exploiters.

Miranda: Ifold.

Charlotte: What if you sense that someone is giving you a professional advantage because they find you charming?

Miranda: Charming?

Samantha: This I gotta hear.

Charlotte: Well, a few days ago, Neville Morgan, the notoriously reclusive painter paid a visit to the gallery.

Carrie: Neville was making his yearly pilgrimage to Manhattan to check out what was new and hot on the art scene. And he found it--Charlotte. It was only a matter of moments before he invited her to his farm upstate to view his latest work.

Charlotte: So, if I could get him to show at the gallery, it would be an incredible coup. But what if he wants me to, you know.

Carrie: Hold his brush?

Miranda: If he so much as suggests what she's suggesting you give me a call and we'llsue the hell out ofhim. That's the only proper way to trade sex for power.

Samantha: I can't believe what I'm hearing. You're like the Harvard Law Lorena Bobbitt.

Miranda: It's Skipper. I told him I was here. He insisted on picking me up, but he's not supposed to be here till 11:00.

Carrie: He's like a sweet little seal pup.

Miranda: That you sometimes want to club. You're an hour early.

Skipper: Oh, I can wait in the hall.

Carrie: No, Skipper, come in.

Miranda: It's all right. I'm leaving anyway. You guys havecleaned me out. Good night, ladies. Charlotte,keep me posted.

Carrie: A couple of hours later, I was looking forward tocalling it an early night, when-- Hello?

Amalita: Carrie, you bitch! What are you doing?

Carrie: Actually I'm getting ready to go to sleep.

Amalita: Why don't you come and join us? We are at Balzac, and there is someone here Iam dying foryou to meet.

Carrie: I'd love to, but I'm really trying tocut back. You know, pinch a few pennies.

Amalita: You are crazy, you know that? Why don't you just come down here and be your fabulous self?

Carrie: The truth was I could barely afford that either. But I rationalized that my new shoes shouldn't be punished just because I can't budget.

妙语佳句,活学活用

1. At someone's disposal

意为"由某人做主，听某人之便，受其管理，由其支配"，例如：They put their car at our disposal for our entire stay.

2. Fold
这里的fold 特指玩游戏时的一种行为--收回：在失利时收回（手），如把牌面朝下放在桌上。
上文中Charlotte 提到"I'll buy two."，Carrie 提到" I'm in for three. "均指玩牌时赌的钱数。

3. Sue the hell out of

"Hell" here is simply a swear word used for emphasis. "Sue"指得是"诉讼"，意思是"（打官司）让某人输得一败涂地"。

4. Clean out

意思是"to drive out by force"，例如：The new CEO tried to get away with cleaning out all employees over the age of 60.

5. Keep me posted

意思是"有消息通知我"。我们在The Queen《女王》中也学过一个同样意思的表达：keep me updated。

6. Call it a night

Call it a day 的意思大家应该都知道吧，就是"Stop a particular activity for the rest of the day"，比如快到下课的时候，老师说"Let's call it a day."意思就是"这节课结束了"。同样的，call it a night 的意思就是"to stop something for the rest of the night"，例如：One more hand of bridge and then let's call it a night.

7. Be dying for

这个片语的原形是die for，意思是"long for, desire excessively渴望，强烈的希望"，例如：I'm dying for some ice cream.

8. Cut back

意思是"Reduce, decrease"，例如：They are going to cut back defense spending.

文化面面观

John and Lorena Bobbitt

电影中 Samantha 提到 Harvard Law Lorena Bobbitt，这个说法其实大有来历。

John Wayne Bobbitt (born March 23, 1967 in Buffalo, New York) and Lorena Leonor Gallo de Bobbitt (born 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador) were an American couple, married on June 18, 1989, known for a 1993 incident in which Lorena severed John's penis with a kitchen knife.

On the night of June 23, 1993, Lorena Bobbitt chopped off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife as he lay sleeping in their Manassas, Virginia, home. She then drove off with the severed penis and flung it out her car window. Police performed a diligent search and located it, and it was then surgically reattached.

In statements to police, she explained that she had cut off the penis because her husband "raped her" and "wouldn't stop." John contested these accusations by elaborately detailing his allegedly unsuccessful attempts at talking to her the previous night.

Two trials followed this incident. In the first, John faced charges stemming from accusations of assault against Lorena. He was acquitted of this charge in September 1993.

In the second, Lorena was charged with "malicious wounding" of which she was found not guilty in January of 1994 on the basis of expert testimony that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of her husband's abuse. According to her defense lawyers, on the night of the attack, Lorena's PTSD manifested itself in a form of temporary insanity causing an irresistible impulse to sexually wound her husband. As a result, she could not be held liable for her actions. After the jury issued a verdict of not guilty, Lorena was ordered to spend 45 days in a psychiatric hospital.

Explanations for the incident

One hypotheses for the timing and form of Lorena's attack centers on her testimony of how John has pushed her into an unwanted abortion a year after they had been married, and almost exactly three years before the attack. The theory that this incident was an extreme manifestation of post-abortion trauma was first proposed by David Reardon, Ph.D. In support of this view, Reardon analyzes dozens of facts reported from the trial, three of which are described here. First, Lorena testified that she had experienced flashbacks to the abortion just before picking up the knife used for the attack. Secondly, she testified that she had experienced an anxiety attack and psychosomatic abdominal cramping four days before the attack. Reardon interprets this as evidence that she was experiencing a post-traumatic anniversary reaction, which involves an intensified period of PTSD symptoms. Third, Lorena testified to experiencing fears she would never be able to have children following the abortion. From these and other bits of evidence, Reardon asserts: "It takes no leap of imagination to see how a woman, such as Lorena who, on an unconscious level felt that she had been sexually mutilated by her abortion, would, in a moment of bitter passion, attempt to 'castrate' her husband. Lorena's subconscious decision to limit her attack to his penis, I would suggest, may have reflected an 'eye for an eye' form of justice. He had robbed her of her fertility; she robbed him of his."

Trivia and popular culture

The case created a popular sensation at the time and was a frequent subject of jokes and joking references. It even seemed possible for a while that the Bobbitt name might enter the language.

哈佛法学院是美国最好的法学院之一，Miranda 本身是个律师，Lorena Bobbitt 是涉案女主角。Samantha 把这三者综合起来开了个玩笑。

5. Keep me posted

意思是"有消息通知我"。我们在The Queen《女王》中也学过一个同样意思的表达：keep me updated。

6. Call it a night

Call it a day 的意思大家应该都知道吧，就是"Stop a particular activity for the rest of the day"，比如快到下课的时候，老师说"Let's call it a day."意思就是"这节课结束了"。同样的，call it a night 的意思就是"to stop something for the rest of the night"，例如：One more hand of bridge and then let's call it a night.

7. Be dying for

这个片语的原形是die for，意思是"long for, desire excessively渴望，强烈的希望"，例如：I'm dying for some ice cream.

8. Cut back

意思是"Reduce, decrease"，例如：They are going to cut back defense spending.

文化面面观

John and Lorena Bobbitt

电影中 Samantha 提到 Harvard Law Lorena Bobbitt，这个说法其实大有来历。

John Wayne Bobbitt (born March 23, 1967 in Buffalo, New York) and Lorena Leonor Gallo de Bobbitt (born 1970 in Bucay, Ecuador) were an American couple, married on June 18, 1989, known for a 1993 incident in which Lorena severed John's penis with a kitchen knife.

On the night of June 23, 1993, Lorena Bobbitt chopped off her husband's penis with a kitchen knife as he lay sleeping in their Manassas, Virginia, home. She then drove off with the severed penis and flung it out her car window. Police performed a diligent search and located it, and it was then surgically reattached.

In statements to police, she explained that she had cut off the penis because her husband "raped her" and "wouldn't stop." John contested these accusations by elaborately detailing his allegedly unsuccessful attempts at talking to her the previous night.

Two trials followed this incident. In the first, John faced charges stemming from accusations of assault against Lorena. He was acquitted of this charge in September 1993.

In the second, Lorena was charged with "malicious wounding" of which she was found not guilty in January of 1994 on the basis of expert testimony that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of her husband's abuse. According to her defense lawyers, on the night of the attack, Lorena's PTSD manifested itself in a form of temporary insanity causing an irresistible impulse to sexually wound her husband. As a result, she could not be held liable for her actions. After the jury issued a verdict of not guilty, Lorena was ordered to spend 45 days in a psychiatric hospital.

Explanations for the incident

One hypotheses for the timing and form of Lorena's attack centers on her testimony of how John has pushed her into an unwanted abortion a year after they had been married, and almost exactly three years before the attack. The theory that this incident was an extreme manifestation of post-abortion trauma was first proposed by David Reardon, Ph.D. In support of this view, Reardon analyzes dozens of facts reported from the trial, three of which are described here. First, Lorena testified that she had experienced flashbacks to the abortion just before picking up the knife used for the attack. Secondly, she testified that she had experienced an anxiety attack and psychosomatic abdominal cramping four days before the attack. Reardon interprets this as evidence that she was experiencing a post-traumatic anniversary reaction, which involves an intensified period of PTSD symptoms. Third, Lorena testified to experiencing fears she would never be able to have children following the abortion. From these and other bits of evidence, Reardon asserts: "It takes no leap of imagination to see how a woman, such as Lorena who, on an unconscious level felt that she had been sexually mutilated by her abortion, would, in a moment of bitter passion, attempt to 'castrate' her husband. Lorena's subconscious decision to limit her attack to his penis, I would suggest, may have reflected an 'eye for an eye' form of justice. He had robbed her of her fertility; she robbed him of his."

Trivia and popular culture

The case created a popular sensation at the time and was a frequent subject of jokes and joking references. It even seemed possible for a while that the Bobbitt name might enter the language.

哈佛法学院是美国最好的法学院之一，Miranda 本身是个律师，Lorena Bobbitt 是涉案女主角。Samantha 把这三者综合起来开了个玩笑。