“The L Word” Book （选译）

Page 89

Jennifer:

For me, second season was excruciating in the best kind of way. Nothing good happened to Bette. Everything was a struggle, romantically and professionally. As an actor it was a delight but still I remember bursting into tears of joy, and running around the circus after I read script number. I believe it’s 208, where Bette has a brief victory at work, proclaiming, “Something good happens to Bette! Something good happens to Bette!” It was a delicious reprieve.

Season Two, everyone else in the cast was feeling uncomfortable. Leisha said, “It felt like something was threatening what we had all created that first season. We were all filled with so much hope and something pierced the bubble. And I’m not sure exactly what is was but we were like a mother lion protecting her cubs. We all became very protective of something we loved so much.” The ground seemed to be moving under our feet and later we came to find there were seismic shifts happening in the front office. But at the time we couldn’t quite place what was going on, so in an attempt to change things, to make it positive instead of fighting, we boldly went where no cast had gone before: we painted the craft-service room. In an attempt to alter our environment we painted the previously militaristic room in a pastel rainbow. It looked like a nursery, which in retrospect, with six cast members later giving birth, proved prescient. Mia made a little wishing tree where cast and crew offered up their aspirations and jokes. We were still hopeful. The season was painful, but not without purpose.

对我来说，第二季是最为痛苦的一季。Bette身上就没一件好事，不管爱情还是事业都要她努力挣扎。不过作为演员，这样的剧本倒是令人愉悦。我还记得按场景编号读完剧本后我不仅高兴地流泪，还高兴地到处乱跑。应该是S2E8那集，Bette在工作上终于有了小小的成功，我忍不住到处宣称说：“Bette身上终于有好事发生了！Bette身上终于有好事发生了！”①这赦免真是令人愉悦。

所有参演第二季的演员都对这季的故事感到很不舒服。Leisha说：“这感觉就像背叛了我们第一季时所创造的一切。我们的一切希望都像泡泡一样被戳破，但我们全然不知原因，只能如同母狮护崽一样努力保护它。我们变得像是护卫来努力保护一切我们深爱的东西。”从感受变化到一切成型，整个过程中我们都不知道发生了什么。为了改变现状，我们只好以超出演员的身份斗胆为之努力：我们粉刷了工艺间。②我们把先前看上去充满肃杀气氛的工艺间刷上了柔和的彩虹，这让它看上去像是托儿所。现在想起来这仿佛先见之明——因为之后有6个演员生了孩子。Mia做了一棵小小的许愿树，演职员们就把期待和笑话挂在上面。尽管这一季让我们依旧痛苦，但是因为目标明确，所以我们依旧充满希望。

1. 我得说，第一次看到Bette正面击败Helena这里，我感觉是真的爽。
2. craft-service room：一个向演员和工作人员提供小吃，饮料和其他帮助的工作人员所在房间。

Page 123

Jennifer:

Enclosed please find a CD with two guided meditations. For our purpose I recommend you listen to the Heart Meditation because it has more imagery. I don’t have a CD that has the exact meditation that is written in the script, But I hope that this gives you more of a sense of it. When you read the new draft of the script, you’ll see that I’ve revised the scene and simplified it a great deal. I’ve taken out the most surreal imagery and brought it more to breathing and relaxation. Bette simply leads Dana to envision a peaceful place, and the rest is left to Dana. We establish now, explicitly, that the meditation Bette does with Dana in 307 has not to do with her own meditation practice but rather to do with a practice that’s done by therapists and clinicians to help sick and grieving people.

For me, this scene still resonates with Bette’s own practice but no longer conflates with it. I think it will work powerfully in the episode. It portrays Bette as a compassionate friend who has the insight to know what will soothe Dana in a moment of great distress.

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to address all of your wishes in this script. My choices weren’t made cavalierly. In reviewing the episodes leading up to this one, I’m confident that we’ve established Bette as a devoted and loving parent. I added the scene before you go to the concert (with game additional beats in this latest revision) to underscore. It was equally important to see you come through for your sister, and to see as part of the ensemble. In the next episode, Bette goes away on retreat. we won’t see you with the group again until episode 311 or 312. The beat in which you learn that Tina is with Josh is vital to the drama (and it was absolutely vital to the network), and this was the best way I could devise to play that moment .

Please let me know if you want to talk any further about this material before we shoot it.

Best

Ilene

Jennifer：

随信附上含有2个冥想内容的CD。出于剧本表达的目的，我建议你先听听这CD借以感受一下它所能表达的意向。剧本里并没有明确的冥想内容，但我希望这CD能让你感受到。新剧本里我修改了场景并简化了部分内容。我已尽我所能地描绘出某种能够让人感到放松与呼吸的场景。Bette仅仅只是引领Dana到能够感受平和的地方，剩下的事，只有Dana自己能够处理。我们现在可以确定的是，S3E7里，Bette会和Dana一起冥想。而且这冥想与Bette自己的冥想练习无关，而是与医生、治疗师帮助病人和伤心的人有关。

我认为这一幕对Bette来说会产生共鸣但不会与之融合。我认为它能够勾画出Bette是一个富有同情心又有洞察力的朋友，Bette知道在什么时候抚慰Dana最为合适。

很抱歉我无法在剧本里表达出你所有的愿望。我并不是轻视你的愿望，而是我认为在这一集之前，Bette已经建立了全心全意抚养女儿的形象，我会在你去演唱会那幕前添加一个场景来强调这点。而且与慈母形象同样重要的是，你也爱你姐姐，并且支持她参加演出。在下一集里，Bette将会离开，直到S3E11或S3E12之前，你都是独自一人而不是和朋友们在一起。③你知道Tina和Josh在一起对整个故事极为重要（尤其对广播网来说必不可少），直到目前为止这是我能想到的最好的表演方式。

拍摄之前，如果你对剧情还有其他想法，请和我说。

Best

Ilene

• 此处指的是Bette上山冥想去了。