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This is a new structural reading of “The Sopranos” was encapsulated neatly by Felix Biederman, a co-host of the leftist podcast “Chapo Trap House.”
左派播客《矮子陷阱之家》的联合主持人费利克斯·比德曼对《黑道家族》的新结构进行了精练的解读。
Recording another podcast in November 2020 — after the presidential election was held but before it was called for Biden,
在2020年11月录制了另一个播客——在总统选举之后，但在拜登当选之前，
a moment when nothing in this country seemed to be working
在这一时刻，这个国家的一切似乎都不起作用
— Biederman argued that the show is, at its heart, about the bathetic nature of decline.
-比德曼认为，这部剧的核心是衰落的陈腐本质。
“Decline not as a romantic, singular, aesthetically breathtaking act of destruction,” he said,
“衰落不是一种浪漫的、独特的、美学上令人惊叹的毁灭行为，”他说，
but as a humiliating, slow-motion slide down a hill into a puddle of filth.
而是像慢镜头一样，从山上滑落，掉进一滩污浊的泥坑。
“You don’t flee a burning Rome with your beautiful beloved in your arms, barely escaping a murderous horde of barbarians;
“你不会抱着你美丽的爱人逃离燃烧的罗马，勉强逃过一群凶残的野蛮人;
you sit down for 18 hours a day, enjoy fewer things than you used to,
你每天坐18个小时，享受的东西比以前少了，
and take on the worst qualities of your parents while you watch your kids take on the worst qualities of you.
当你看到你的孩子接受了你最坏的品质时，你也接受了你父母最坏的品质。
The show’s depiction of contemporary America as relentlessly banal and hollow is plainly at the core of the current interest in the show,
这部剧对当代美国的描绘是无尽的平庸和空洞乏味，这显然是人们对这部剧兴趣的核心，
which coincides with an era of crisis across just about every major institution in American life.
与此对应的时代是，美国生活中几乎所有主要机构都面临着危机。
“The Sopranos” has a persistent focus on the spiritual and moral vacuum at the center of this country,
《黑道家族》持续关注这个国家中心的精神和道德空虚，
and is oddly prescient about its coming troubles:
奇怪的是，它预见了即将到来的问题:
the opioid epidemic, the crisis of meritocracy, teenage depression and suicide, fights over the meaning of American history.
阿片类药物泛滥、精英统治危机、青少年抑郁症和自杀，以及关于美国历史意义的争论。
Even the flight of the ducks who had taken up residence in Tony’s swimming pool
甚至连住在托尼游泳池里的鸭子也逃了出来
— not to mention all the lingering shots on the swaying flora of North Jersey
——更不用说那些在北泽西摇摆不定的植物群上挥之不去的镜头了
— reads differently now, in an era of unprecedented environmental degradation and ruin.
在一个前所未有的环境恶化和破坏的时代，现在的解读就不同了。
This sense of decline is present from the show’s very beginnings.
这种衰落感从这部剧一开始就存在。
In his first therapy session with Dr. Melfi, Tony tries to explain why he thinks he has panic attacks, why he suffers from stress.
在梅尔菲医生的第一次治疗中，托尼试图解释他为什么会恐慌症发作，为什么会有压力。
“The morning of the day I got sick, I’d been thinking: It’s good to be in something from the ground floor,” he says.
他说：“我生病的那天早上，我一直在想：从最基础的开始做就好了。”
“I came too late for that, I know.
“我知道，我来得太晚了。
But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.”
但最近，我有一种感觉，我是在最后才进来的。最好的已经过去了。”
Melfi tells him that many Americans feel that way.
梅尔菲告诉他，很多美国人都有这种感觉。
Tony presses on: “I think about my father: He never reached the heights like me, but in a lot of ways he had it better.
托尼继续说：“我想起了我的父亲：他从来没有达到过我这样的高度，但在很多方面他都过得更好。
He had his people, they had their standards, they had their pride.Today, what do we got?”
他有他的人民，他们有他们的标准，他们有他们的骄傲。今天，我们有什么呢？”
When the show completed its run, famously ending on a cut to black at Holsten’s as Tony, Carmela and A. J.Wait for Meadow to finish parallel parking,
当这部剧结束的时候，著名的结局是在豪斯顿里剪到黑色，当托尼，卡梅拉和A. J.等着梅多完成平行停车时。
some critics cast the show’s creator, David Chase, as a vengeful god who was punishing his viewers for their trespasses against decency.
一些评论家把该剧的主创大卫·蔡斯塑造成一个复仇心切的上帝，因为观众违反了道德规范而惩罚他们。
Writing in New York magazine, Emily Nussbaum interpreted the show as a dialogue between Chase and his viewers
艾米丽·努斯鲍姆在《纽约》杂志上撰文，将这部剧解读为蔡斯与其观众之间的对话
— “a collaboration, with viewer response providing a crucial feedback loop.”
-“一种合作，观众的反应提供了一个关键的反馈循环。”
In her reading, Chase watched those viewers become more vile in their willingness
在她的解读中，蔡斯看到这些观众在他们的意愿中变得更加卑鄙
to side with an increasingly reprehensible Tony and “did not always like what he saw.”
站在越来越应该受到谴责的托尼一边，“并不总是喜欢他所看到的一切。”
So he spurned us, robbing the characters of their charm until, in the very final shot, he “slammed the door on us.”
所以他抛弃了我们，剥夺了角色的魅力，直到最后一幕，他“砰的一声关上了我们的门”。
And perhaps Chase did slam the door on his viewers at the time.
也许蔡斯当时确实把他的观众拒之门外。
But back then, they were the fortunate 28 million Americans who had HBO subscriptions and, possibly, TiVo.
但在当时，他们是幸运的2800万美国人，他们订阅了HBO，可能还有TiVo。
