韩圆圆-第二次作业-对白

from House of Cards  season1 episode1(纸牌屋第一季第一集)

Linda：Frank. I'm gonna stop you there. We are not nominating you for the Secretary of State. I know, he made you a promise, but circumstances have changed.

Frank: The nature of promises, Linda, is that they remain immune to changing circumstances.

Linda：Garrett has thought long and hard about this. And he's decided we need you to stay in Congress.

Frank: When was this decision made?And why wasn't I part of a conversation?  

Linda：I'm sorry, Frank, if it been up to me, I wouldn't have waited this long to tell you. So you knew, you were going to do this. It has been an evolving discussion.  

Frank:It's a chicken-*** move.  

Linda:Frank...

Frank:I was vetted. Was that a ruse?  

Linda：No.

Frank:Let's be absolutely clear. you wouldn't have won without me.  

Linda：You're right, but now we have tolead. And that means *** tough choices. As you know, education is a top priority for us. A complete federal overhaul. But it's not just the education, Frank, Congress has split. We need you there, more than we need you in the State Department.  

Frank: I got you hired, Linda.  

Linda：I know.

Frank:Donations, endorsements. I wrote the campaign's entire foreign policy platform. ...I bring years of Foreign Affairs Committee...

Linda：Frank. Please.  

Frank:I want to speak to Walker personally

Linda：The decision is made.We need you, Frank. Will you stand beside us or not?  

(After a long break)
Frank: Of course, if that's what the President wants.

Linda：I'm very glad to hear that.

Frank: I'm curious. If not me then who?

Linda：Michael Kern.  

Frank:Michael Kern? Well...  that is an excellent choice.  


comment：
From this conversation, we can take a glimpse of politics, which is full of intrigues. Politics is so changeable and unpredictable that we could not tell your deadly foes from your friends. The definition of “promise” given by Frank indirectly reflects that there is no credibility in politics. “Chicken-***”and“ruse” here convey Frank’s indignation and indicates the common practice committed by state leaders: breaking their words and then purposely avoiding meeting you. We can learn that Frank is frank (maybe his name is deliberately chosen ) and somewhat arrogant.Nursing a grievance, Frank lastly took a commendatory term “excellent”as an irony to express his complicate feeling. However, he still choose to stay, having no choice or having a long-tern plan. As for Linda, she speaks less but there is no doubt that she is politically astute. she is trying her best to placate Frank by using“hard”, “tough”, and “we need you”. While she seems to say “I am sorry. I sympathize with you” she is actually telling Frank “you have to follow the decision.”

嗯，神剧，不解释…… 虽然略久没追了…… 分析的挺好的，We need you, Frank. 其实是给对方一个台阶下，你觉得呢? Will you stand beside us or not? Of course, if that's what the President wants. 虽然是被迫勉强给出了自己的答案，但还要给自己留点面子，老子答应还不是看在总统的份儿上。