动画片，让消失的男孩回归

⊙ By David Edelstein

翻译：蒺藜

动画片，让消失的男孩回归

⊙ By David Edelstein

翻译：蒺藜

对于很多人来说，动画片是用来娱乐消遣的，但是对于本文的主人公欧文来说，迪士尼动画片却是引领他重回这个世界的灯塔。催泪记录片《生活，动画》（Life, Animated）根据欧文父亲罗恩·萨斯坎德（普利策新闻奖得主）写的小说《消失的男孩》拍摄而成。导演罗杰·罗斯·威廉姆斯说：“我想要述说主角欧文的动人故事，同时开创一个深入探讨自闭症的空间。欧文是个特别的孩子，对人生的观察极为独特，因为他完全不受社会化的影响与阻挠。他活在自己的童话寓言里，寻找自己的方式来理解这个世界，也因此对人生有许多丰富且睿智的体会。”

Owen Suskind, who has autism,2)figures out how to navigate the world using Disney cartoons as a reference point. When Owen (Ron Suskind and his wife Cornelia’s second son) was born, he seemed “normal” until age three when, as Suskind puts it, “he vanished.” His3)motor skills4)deteriorated. He lost what language he’d attained. “Autism was5)diagnosed,” says Suskind. “Someone6)kidnapped our son.”

One day, he came to his parents saying words they could barely understand, which turned out to be “just your voice.” It’s a phrase from The Little Mermaid, whose7)heroine is told she’ll have to8)surrender something. “Just your voice.” Over and over, he says those words. And a doctor tells the Suskinds it might be9)echolalia—that is, mere repetition. “Or it might

be,” says Suskind, “a sign that he’s still in there.”

Ron Suskind (Owen’s Father): So I go up to his room. I see Owen on the bed10)flipping through a Disney book. And I see…sort of over to my left, I see Iago the11)puppet. I grab the puppet. I pull it up to my elbow. And I begin to12)crawl across the rug as quietly as I can. And Owen turns to the puppet like he’s13)bumping into an old friend. (Imitating Iago’s voice) I say to him, “Owen, Owen. How does it feel to be you?”

Owen: And I said, “Not good ’cause I don’t have any friends.”

Ron: Now I’m under the14)bedspread, and I just bite down hard, you know? (Imitating Iago’s voice) And I said, “OK, OK. Owen, when did you and I become such good friends?”

And he said, “When I watched Aladdin, youmade me laugh.”

And then we talk—Owen and Iago—for a minute…minute and a half! It’s the first conversation we’ve ever had!

There’s no way of knowing if or when Owen would have found his voice without Disney, no way of exploring that road not taken. But as I watched Owen pace, hands behind his back, showing anxiety and self-15)consciousness as he tried to learn social16)cues, I thought, maybe it helps that he can identify with a character in a movie. Maybe this is how someone with autism can learn17)empathy.

Today, Owen is 23, and in the process of graduating from a special school in Cape Cod. He’ll be moving into his own apartment in an assisted-living18)facility. He has a girlfriend. He’s still watching Disney cartoons. He even runs a Disney cartoon club, which, he says, makes him popular with other students.

1) autism [΄ɔːtIz(ə)m] n. 孤独症，自闭症

2) figure out 弄明白

3) motor skill 运动技能，指人有效地完成动作的一种能力，包括大脑皮质调节下不同肌肉群间的协调性，即在空间内正确运用肌肉工作的能力，这里指穿衣、使用筷子或刀叉等基本生活技能。

4) deteriorate [dI΄tIərIəreIt] v. 使恶化，变糟

5) diagnose [daIəɡ΄nəʊz] v. 诊断

6) kidnap [΄kIdnæp] v. 绑架，拐带

7) heroine [΄herəʊIn] n. 女主人公，女主角

8) surrender [sə΄rendə(r)] v. 投降，放弃

9) echolalia [΄ekəʊ΄leIlIə] n. 模仿言语症，尤指精神不正常的一种症候。

10) flip through 匆匆翻看

11) puppet [΄pʌpIt] n. 木偶，布偶

12) crawl [krɔːl] v. 爬，爬行

13) bump into 偶然碰见

14) bedspread [΄bedspred] n. 床罩

15) consciousness [΄kɒnʃəsnIs] n. 意识，知觉，感觉

16) cue [kjuː] n. 提示，暗示

17) empathy [΄empəθI] n. 感情移入，同感

18) facility [fə΄sIlItI] n. 设施，设备

欧文·萨斯坎德是一名自闭症患者，他借助迪士尼动画片摸索出游历这个世界的方式。当欧文（萨斯坎德和他妻子科妮莉亚的第二个儿子）诞生时，他看上去“很正常”——直到他三岁那年，用萨斯坎德的话来说就是“他突然消失了”。他的运动技能衰退了。他失去了此前已习得的语言能力。……