Watching TV series during the endless evenings of the pandemic, I’ve been struck by a recurring theme: family downward mobility. In the US series Arrested Development, the jailing of the conman patriarch dismays his adult children, who had expected to live off the family business for ever. “Great,” grumbles his daughter, “so now we don’t have a car or a jet? Why don’t we just take an ad out in I’m Poor magazine?”
在疫情期間的漫漫長(zhǎng)夜看電視劇時(shí),我注意到一個(gè)反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的主題:家庭向下流動(dòng)(downward mobility)。在美劇《發(fā)展受阻》(Arrested Development)中,以詐騙為生的家族老大被判入獄令他的成年子女沮喪,后者曾以為可以永遠(yuǎn)依靠“家族企業(yè)”生活。“真棒,”他的女兒抱怨道,“這就是說,我們現(xiàn)在沒有汽車和私人飛機(jī)了?我們?yōu)槭裁床辉凇段液芨F》(I'm Poor)雜志登個(gè)廣告?”