SJA每周新闻--《蝴蝶马戏团》

April 30, 2018

The Butterfly Circus

《蝴蝶马戏团》

I have learned to pay attention when a series of similar events occur within the same day; they usually point me in a direction or reveal a fateful truth. So when I received three emails on Thursday morning all with similar content, I tuned in. One was from a young woman dealing with anxiety, guilt, shame, and the subsequent self-loathing; one was from a mother who was struggling with confusion and a feeling of helplessness as her child fought against mental illness; and one was from a middle-aged woman who was struggling with self-doubt, insecurity, and harsh judgment of her worth—from herself and others. In the midst of these emails, I also received an email from my youngest sister that contained a link to a short film, The Butterfly Circus, that had been recommended to her by a friend. The message of the film was exactly what the other women needed to hear.

我在一天之内可以同时关注好几件类似的事物，它们归根到底都指向同一个事实，就像我周四上午收到三封相似内容的邮件一样。一封是来自一位年轻女性，她被焦虑、负罪、羞愧以及自我厌恶困扰着；另一封邮件是一位因孩子精神疾病而挣扎困惑的母亲；还有一位是饱受自我怀疑、缺乏安全感以及难以评判自我价值的中年妇女。在这些邮件中，还有一封是我最小的妹妹发给我的包含链接的微电影《蝴蝶马戏团》，是一个朋友推荐给她的。这部微电影讲述的内容刚好解决了其他三位女性的困扰。

The film features a man named Mendez who runs a circus troupe called “The Butterfly Circus”, which includes a strongman, a trapeze artist, a contortionist, and a stilt walker, among others. Set in the Depression, the video opens with the troupe seeing a sign for a carnival and deciding to go for the rides. While there, the group enters a sideshow, where in a series of booths sits a variety of “attractions”: conjoined twins, a bearded lady, a 400-pound woman, a tattooed man, and finally—behind a curtain so he can be introduced as “a man upon whom even God has turned his back”—a limbless man. All of these people sit silently, gaze averted, obviously ashamed and tired of being gawked at as objects of derision, and no one receives more derision than the limbless man. Not only do people gawk and gasp, but they start to laugh as well, and then a boy decides to throw a rotten tomato. The look of dread is obvious on the limbless man’s face as he realizes how vulnerable he is to this attack, and the boy launches the tomato, hitting the man in the chest. The boy’s companion takes a tomato out of his pocket, too, but before he can throw it, Mendez steps in and grabs his hand, telling the boys to leave. Once alone with the man, Mendez draws close and gets down on his knee so he can whisper to the man: “You…are…magnificent.” After a moment of silence, the man spits in his face.

影片中有一个叫Mendez的男子，他经营着一个马戏团，名叫“蝴蝶马戏团”，其中包括一个大力士、一个空中特技演员、一个柔术演员和一个踩高跷的演员。这段视频讲述胡是在大萧条时期，一个剧团看到了狂欢节的海报，并决定去参加狂欢节活动。在狂欢节上，这个剧团表演的只是一个穿插节目，但是也为观众带来了很多不一样的亮点：连体双胞胎、长着胡须的夫人、400磅重的女人、有纹身的人，最后是一个躲在窗帘后面的人，被称作“上帝眷顾的人”——无肢的人。所有这些人都静静地坐着，目光漂移不定，明显地感到羞愧，厌烦被人当做嘲笑的对象，而且没有人比这个四肢不全的人受到更多的嘲笑。人们不光瞠目结舌地看着，还会大笑出声，还有一个男孩准备朝他扔烂番茄。当他意识到自己要受到攻击的时候，他的脸上露出恐惧的表情，男孩对着他扔了番茄，刚好击中胸部。男孩的同伴也从他的口袋里拿出一个番茄，但是在他扔之前，Mendez走进来抓住他的手，要求这两个男孩离开。有一次，Mendez和那人单独在一起，弯曲膝盖对那人小声说:“你……真是太棒了。”沉默了片刻之后，那个人在他的脸上吐了唾沫。

Later in the video, the limbless man (whose name we learn is Will) has somehow left the sideshow and ended up in the back of Mendez’ pickup, hidden among the luggage. Throughout the next scenes, as the man travels with the Butterfly Circus, he learns of the others troupe members’ pasts. Alcoholics, prostitutes, beggars, unwed mothers—all of them had pasts that could have caused them to hide in shame, fearing their vulnerability. However, they have developed amazing talents, and a close-knit community, based on their strengths. When Will refuses to see himself as part of the group, Mendez says, “Oh yes, you are the man upon whom even God has turned His back.” When Will angrily asks how Mendez, whom he now sees as his friend, could say such a thing, Mendez replies, “Because you believe it.”

在视频的后半段，这个无肢男（名字叫Will）因故离开了表演现场，躲在了行李后面，表演在Mendez出现后结束。影片的下一幕是这个无肢男在蝴蝶马戏团之后的旅途中，了解了其他剧团成员的过去。他们都有不堪回首的过去，嗜酒者、卖淫者、乞讨者、未婚妈妈，他们自卑又脆弱。然而，他们都有惊人的天赋才能，各自的强项使得他们成为一个团结一致的团队。当Will拒绝成为该剧团的一份子时，Mendez对他说：“你是上帝眷顾的人。”Will生气地质问他现在当作朋友的Mendez为什么要这样说，Mendez回答说：“因为你也这么认为。”

Without ruining the end of the film (I really hope you take the 22 minutes to watch it!), I will summarize to say that Will comes to believe in his goodness and gifts, and that the greatest of his gifts turns out to be courage.

在不破坏电影结尾的前提下（我强烈推荐你们花22分钟来观看此影片！），我认为Will是真的坚信他的才能与天赋，而最大的天赋是他的勇气。

There are several powerful messages within this film, and I’d like to highlight two of them. First, the film highlights the prevalence of mockery as people choose to put the imperfections of others on display and treat differences as laughable. I refuse to watch the current television shows or YouTube channels that intentionally encourage mockery of those who are trying to share what they think is a gift they have. The number of hits and likes those videos get is disturbing to me, and if I could reach out and grab the hands of those about to click on them, I would. One of the major tragedies of this age of viral videos and public shaming is that many young people have internalized these mocking voices; they hear the mockers in their head, imagining how others must see them. These young people end up emotionally exhausted as they try to shield themselves from the humiliation they feel they deserve.

在这个影片中出现了几个非常有意义的点，我在这里强调其中两点。第一，该影片突出了嘲笑他人的普遍现象，尤其是在看到别人的缺陷时大声地笑出来。我一般不会看现在的电视节目或者油管视频中故意教唆人们嘲笑那些努力展示自己才能的人。视频点击量和获得的赞的数量让我很不舒服，如果我能抓住那些点赞的人的手，我一定会这样做。这些视频盛行造成的其中一个悲剧是很多年轻人普遍认同这些嘲笑的声音，他们学那些嘲笑者的行为，想象别人怎么看待自己。这些年轻人在竭力保护自己不受羞辱的同时，最终情绪也受到了影响。

And this leads to the second message I want to highlight: it matters where you stand, and if you stand with those who are marginalized, mocked, and outcast, you risk getting hurt. Even if you are not personally threatened with humiliation or violence, you risk sharing the inner pain of those with whom you stand. Empathy can be painful, and standing for the human dignity of every person can be exhausting. But as “The Butterfly Circus” shows, there is nothing more powerful than love and kindness. Nothing else has the power to topple injustice, stop inhumanity, or heal insecurities.

这就引出了我要强调的第二点：你所处的位置很重要，如果你和那些被边缘化、嘲弄和被排斥的人站在一起，你就也有可能受到伤害。即使你没有受到羞辱或暴力的威胁，你也有可能遭受与你并肩的人内心的痛苦。移情作用可能会让人很痛苦，并且维护每一个人的尊严都会让人筋疲力尽。但正如《蝴蝶马戏团》所展示的，没有比爱情和仁慈更强大的东西了。没有其他能够推翻不公正、阻止不人道或缓解不安的力量了。

I have strong opinions on a lot of social, moral, and educational issues, but I have come to understand that it is far less important that I take the right stance than it is that I stand in the right place—and that is alongside the marginalized and mocked. If we stand with the outsiders, we widen the circle of our compassion and start to put an end to injustice. Our very presence at the side of the outcast will help protect the most vulnerable from being victimized and assure them that they are not alone, and that they are worthy of dignity. We might share their pain, but we will certainly share our love.

我对很多社会、道德和教育问题有着强烈的看法，但我明白，采取正确的立场远不及与被边缘化和嘲弄的人站在一起重要。如果我们与他们站在一起，就放大了我们的同情心，开始杜绝不公正的事物。我们与被驱逐者站在一起将有助于保护最脆弱的人免受伤害，并保证他们不会孤单，他们值得被人尊重。我们可以分担他们的痛苦，但我们也一定会分享我们的爱。

After watching the video, I was moved to write the same three-part message to the three women who had sent me emails, a message that I want to share with each of you. First, each one of us has gifts, maybe beyond our knowing. Second, through sharing our gifts, we celebrate our strengths. And third, each one of us can strive to make sure that no one is outside the circle of our compassion, including ourselves. It is my hope that through our awareness of these three things, we all might recognize the innate gifts possessed by each of us, and through that recognition, work toward compassion.

看了影片后，我深受感动，在这里想要给我发邮件的三位女性以及每一个人分享一个信息。首先，我们每个人都有天赋，也许超出我们对自己的认知。第二，通过展示我们的才能来庆祝我们的长处。第三，我们每个人都可以努力保有对自己和他人的同情心。我希望通过对这三件事的认识，我们都可以意识到每个人所拥有的天赋，并通过这种认识，努力培养同情心。

Freshmen prepared for their Capstone presentations at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium.

九年级学生在Fairbanks博物馆和天文馆为他们的尖石顶级课程展示做准备。

Four junior girls will attend Girls' State: Emily Steen, Grace Phelps, Alexis Collins, and Emma Mauceli.

四位十一年级女生将会参加女子州际比赛：Emily Steen, Grace Phelps, Alexis Collins和Emma Mauceli。

Four junior boys will attend Boys' State: Carter Brochu, Joe Brody, Dillon Ryan, and Jack Fannon, who is currently serving as a Senate page in Washington, D.C.

四位十一年级男生将会参加男子州际比赛：Carter Brochu, Joe Brody, Dillon Ryan和Jack Fannon，Jack Fannon目前是华盛顿特区的参议员助理。

The SJA Theatre tech crew constructed a "marble" floor for the upcoming production of Arcadia. The show will take place on Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. in Fuller Hall.

SJA剧院技术部成员为即将到来的Arcadia表演铺设了一个“大理石”地板。该节目将于5月17日、18日下午7点、19日下午2点在Fuller举办。

In sports, boys' lacrosse photos are here.

男子长曲棍球照片。

Boys' Ultimate photos are here.

男子极限运动照片。

And photos of the freshman track meet are here.

九年级田径运动会照片。

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