魔獸電影在中國歷史性的成功有黑暗的一面

With its fantastical realms and motley cast of supernatural miscreants, World of Warcraft broke new ground in multiplayer online role-playing computer games, and has now spawned the most successful computer game movie adaptation of all time.

憑藉神奇的地域和多樣的超自然怪物，《魔獸世界》爲多用戶在線角色扮演遊戲立下了新標杆，如今又衍生出了有史以來最成功的遊戲改編電影。

After its second weekend at the box office, Warcraft: The Beginning has recouped $377.6 million globally, despite bombing in the U.S. The movie received a meager 32% on and took just $24.4 million in its first five days in American cinemas, and dropped a whopping 73% on its second weekend, bringing in a paltry $6.5 million. Yet the movie remains a financial triumph almost entirely owed to its showing in China, where cinema-goers have so far shelled out more than $200 million on it, even eclipsing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which took $125.4 million in its entire run in China.

到第二個週末爲止，儘管在美國遭遇慘敗，電影《魔獸》依然獲得了3.776億美元全球票房。影片在metacritic網站只被打了可憐的32分，在美國院線五天入賬2440萬美元，並在第二個週末驟跌73%，只有微不足道的650萬美元。然而，影片依然獲得了經濟上的巨大成功，這主要歸功於其在中國的表現，那裏的觀衆爲此花了超過2億美元，甚至蓋過了在中國共入賬1.254億美元的《星球大戰：原力覺醒》。

Since its launch in 2004, WoW, as it’s better known to fans, has drawn over 100 million players — a record for a role-playing computer game. Half of the current five-million-strong playing roster resides in China, where the game is aptly know as “World of Magic Beasts.” They are typically young men aged 15-25.

這個遊戲更爲人熟知的名字是WOW，自2004年發行後，已經擁有了超過1億用戶——創造了角色扮演遊戲的紀錄。其500萬活躍用戶中有一半生活在中國，在那裏這個遊戲被恰當地稱爲“魔法野獸的世界”。他們是典型的青年，在15-25歲之間。

“I can still remember me and my roommates in college staying up late and playing Warcraft together,” posted another fan. “We were really bonding through this game. The success of Warcraft is not because how good the movie is, but it represents the years of our burning passions, and the unforgettable brotherhood.”

“我依然記得我和室友一起玩魔獸世界到深夜，”另一位用戶說，“我們就是靠這個遊戲混熟的。魔獸的成功不在於電影多好，而是它體現了我們那些年燃燒的激情和難忘的友誼。”

Chinese kids regularly get so hooked on WoW that they forget to eat, drink or sleep — one player even died after a marathon, 19-hour session. WoW is so popular that there are professional players who are treated like movie stars, complete with sponsorship deals with fawning groupies. There are Chinese boot camps set up especially for kids who suffer from role-player game addiction.

中國孩子經常因爲過於沉迷魔獸世界而忘記吃喝睡覺——一位玩家甚至在19個小時的馬拉松遊戲後死去。魔獸在中國太流行了，甚至有專業玩家，由支持的團體贊助，像電影明星一樣。中國還有專門爲沉迷角色扮演遊戲而開設的夏令營。

This obsession with role-playing escapism could have much to do with the highly regimented lives led by middle-class Chinese kids, who cope with enormous pressure. Due to China’s only recently rescinded One-Child Policy, many are only children, and are solely relied upon to support their aging parents and grandparents.

這種對角色扮演、逃避現實的沉迷應該是和中國中產階級孩子被嚴格管制的生活有關，用以抵抗這種巨大的壓力。由於最近才取消的獨生子女政策，他們許多人是獨子，是他們年長的父母、祖父母的唯一依靠。

This month, 9.4 million Chinese kids took the gaokao — China’s university entrance exam equivalent to America’s SAT — yet there were only 3 million college places up for grabs, and only a small fraction of those were at “top-tier” institutions. Exam-related suicide is so common that one school even installed special barriers to prevent students flinging themselves to their deaths.

本月，940萬中國孩子參加了“高考”——中國大學的入學考試，相當於美國的SAT——而只有300萬個大學名額可用，其中只有很少一部分屬於“頂級”學府。考試引發的自殺太普遍了，有一所學校甚至安裝了護欄防止學生跳樓自殺。

Adulthood doesn’t bring respite. Deviant behavior massively jeopardizes career advancement in a one-party state where every citizen has a dangan, or personal file, that lists their misdeeds from their entry into public life — typically enrollment at elementary school — until their death.

成年後也好不到哪裏去。在一個一黨國家，每個公民都有一份“檔案”，即個人檔案，列出了他們的違法行爲，從踏進社會的時候起——即在初級學校註冊時——至到他們的死亡。因此，離經叛道的行爲會極大損害人們的職業發展。

Zhou agrees: “The government doesn’t like the idea of young people getting involved in sensitive issues,” he adds. “Comments concerning such sensitive issues are quickly removed, but entertainment content is free of control.”

周孝正同意。“政府不喜歡青年介入到敏感事件中，”他補充道，“涉及敏感事件的評論會很快被刪除，但娛樂內容就較爲自由。”