经济学人|人们为何钟爱三角恋？《我变美的那夏天》横扫全球

有趣灵魂说

这个夏天，全球观众为何为一部青春爱情剧陷入疯狂？《我变美的那夏天》第三季收官，亚马逊Prime视频的这部爆款剧不仅横扫多国收视榜首，更在社交媒体引爆 #康拉德战队与 #杰里米亚战队的世纪之争 。当三角恋的古老叙事遇上Z世代的狂热磕糖文化，就连25+女性也难以抗拒其魅力——甚至演发出死亡威胁的极端乱象。从《暮光之城》到《呼啸山庄》，爱欲与抉择的永恒命题，为何总能让人既交付真心，又丢掉理智？

译文为原创，仅供个人学习使用

The Economist | Culture

经济学人 | 文化

Three brings a crowd

三人成戏

People are going pretty mad for “The Summer I Turned Pretty”

人们为《我变美的那夏天》疯狂不已

The show, about a love triangle involving two brothers, is a global hit

这部涉及两兄弟的三角恋剧集已成为全球爆款

伊莎贝尔·“贝莉”·康克林（罗拉·董饰）曾陷入两难境地。她该嫁给青梅竹马的好友杰里米亚·费舍尔（加文·卡萨莱格诺饰）吗？还是该与年少时曾交往的哥哥康拉德（克里斯托弗·布里尼饰）重修旧好？这正是亚马逊Prime视频热播剧《我变美的那夏天》（简称TSITP，如图）第三季也是最终季的情节。9月17日，剧迷们终于揭晓了贝莉最终选择了费舍尔兄弟中的哪一位——如果她确实做出了选择的话。

该剧的前提设定略显荒诞，但其人气却是实打实的。TSITP已登上亚马逊在美国、澳大利亚、英国、加拿大、法国和德国等多国的收视榜首。该剧在社交媒体上引发热潮，大量剧迷发布表情包，并自豪地宣称自己属于 #康拉德战队或 #杰里米亚战队 。（看来，安静忧郁的康拉德赢得了更多观众的喜爱：他的标签在TikTok上浏览量达135亿，而 flirtatious、爱玩爱闹的杰里米亚仅有53亿。）

剧迷们还线下聚会，举办主题“TSITP晚餐”和“观剧派对”。亚马逊也组织了公开放映活动。数据公司Parrot Analytics发现，最终季的“需求”（通过剧集观看量、社交媒体提及度等指标衡量）达到普通爱情剧平均水平的116倍。

三角恋长期以来一直是引人入胜的故事素材。文学作品中比比皆是：希腊神话中的海伦、墨涅拉俄斯和帕里斯；《呼啸山庄》中的凯瑟琳、希斯克利夫和埃德加；《安娜·卡列尼娜》中的安娜、阿列克谢和渥伦斯基。这是因为叙事需要冲突——也需要人物做出以某种方式改变命运的选择。一个在感情上左右为难的主人公，其决定将决定未来的幸福，正好同时满足了这两个要求。

而且三角恋是一种灵活的戏剧手法。情人面对失去所爱的可能时，可能会做出怪异、暴力、高尚或娱乐性的行为。根据情境不同，这种局面可以是幽默的（《BJ单身日记》）、悲剧的（《了不起的盖茨比》）或令人心酸的（《卡萨布兰卡》）。

编剧们重新爱上了三角恋，因为近期此类故事层出不穷。在浪漫喜剧《 物质主义者 》中，职业红娘露西（达科塔·约翰逊饰）发现自己陷入三角恋，一方是她的落魄前男友约翰（克里斯·埃文斯饰），另一方是迷人的百万富翁哈利（佩德罗·帕斯卡饰）。在即将上映的电影《永恒》中，琼（伊丽莎白·奥尔森饰）必须选择是与战死沙场的第一任丈夫（卡勒姆·特纳饰）共度来世，还是与陪伴她度过余生的男人（迈尔斯·特勒饰）在一起。其他类似TSITP模式的剧集也相继出现，如Netflix的《我与沃尔特家的男孩们》，同样涉及两兄弟。

但为何TSITP尤其能吸引这么多观众？部分原因在于其设定的香艳感，以及故事的奢华背景。（大部分情节发生在一个虚构的海滨度假胜地“表亲海滩”。）TSITP还改编自一套畅销书系列。珍妮·汉的三部曲在2009-2011年出版时就是畅销书；改编剧再次带动了销量。剧迷们剖析书与剧的差异，讨论人物的抉择，或为场景添加旁白。

因此，该剧成功融入了线上粉丝文化，正如之前的《暮光之城》那样。“暮光粉”（Stephenie Meyer奇幻小说的爱好者自称）曾激烈地分为 #雅各布战队或 #爱德华战队 。粉丝们认为，支持谁反映了你的个性。TSITP也是如此。“如果你是杰里米亚战队，”一位年轻女性在Instagram上发文，“我们做不了朋友。”

有趣的是，尽管TSITP是一部青少年剧，却深受成年人喜爱。其主要观众是25至54岁的女性。这并未阻止粉丝们表现得像孩子一样：亚马逊已要求TSITP的粉丝“在线上行为正常”，停止对他们不喜欢的角色演员进行侮辱——甚至死亡威胁。观众们为杰里米亚和康拉德倾心，看来他们也有些失去理智了。■

ISABEL “BELLY” Conklin (Lola Tung) was in a tricky situation. Should she have married Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno), her childhood best friend? Or should she have reunited with his brother, Conrad (Christopher Briney), whom she dated as a teenager? That was the plot of the third and final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (“TSITP”, pictured), a hit show on Amazon Prime Video. On September 17th fans found out which, if either, of the Fisher brothers Belly chose.

The show’s premise is faintly preposterous. But its popularity is real. “TSITP”has topped Amazon’s charts in America, Australia, Britain, Canada, France and Germany, among other countries. The programme has become a sensation on social media, with legions of fans posting memes and boasting of their affiliation to #TeamConrad or #TeamJeremiah . (It seems it is the quiet, brooding Conrad who has won more viewers’ affection: his hashtag has 13.5bn views on TikTok, whereas flirty, fun-loving Jeremiah has only 5.3bn.)

Devotees have gathered in person for themed “TSITP” dinners and “watch parties”. Amazon has hosted public screenings. Parrot Analytics, a data firm, has found that “demand” for the final season—measured by episode views, mentions on social media and more—has been 116 times that of the average romance series.

Love triangles have long made for enticing stories. Literature is full of them: Helen, Menelaus and Paris in Greek mythology; Catherine, Heathcliff and Edgar in “Wuthering Heights”; Anna, Alexei and Vronsky in “Anna Karenina”. This is because narratives require conflict—and they require characters to make choices that will change their fate in some way. A protagonist with divided romantic loyalties, whose decision will determine their future happiness, ticks both of those boxes.

And the love triangle is a flexible dramatic device. Paramours, faced with the prospect of losing their beloved, may behave in strange, violent, noble or entertaining ways. Depending on the circumstances, the situation can be humorous (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”), tragic (“The Great Gatsby”) or poignant (“Casablanca”).

Screenwriters have fallen back in love with love triangles, for there has been a spate of such stories of late. In “Materialists”, a romantic comedy, a professional matchmaker called Lucy (Dakota Johnson) finds herself in a love triangle with John (Chris Evans), her hard-up ex-boyfriend, and Harry (Pedro Pascal), a charming millionaire. In “Eternity”, a forthcoming movie, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) must choose whether to spend the afterlife with her first husband (Callum Turner), who died at war, or the man she spent the rest of her life with (Miles Teller). Other shows have emerged in the mould of“TSITP”, such as Netflix’s “My Life With The Walter Boys”, also involving two brothers.

But why has “TSITP”,in particular, seduced so many viewers? In part it is because of the salaciousness of the set-up, as well as the story’s luxurious setting. (Most of the action takes place at Cousins Beach, a fictional coastal resort.) “TSITP”is also based on a popular series of books. Jenny Han’s trilogy was a bestseller when it was published in 2 009-11; the adaptation has boosted sales again. Fans dissect the differences between the books and the series, debating characters’ decisions or adding narration to scenes.

As a result, the show has managed to tap into online fan culture in the way that “Twilight” did before it. “Twihards”, as enthusiasts of Stephenie Meyer’s fantasy saga called themselves, were fiercely #TeamJacob or #TeamEdward . Fans felt that who you supported said something about who you were. The same is true of “TSITP”. “If you’re team Jeremiah,” one young woman posted on Instagram, “we can’t be friends.”

What is interesting is that, though it is a teen drama,“TSITP”is popular with adults. Its main audience is women aged between 25 and 54. That has not stopped fans from behaving like children: Amazon has asked fans of “TSITP” to “act normal online” and stop hurling insults—and even death threats—at actors who play characters they do not like. Viewers have lost their hearts to Jeremiah and Conrad. It seems they have lost their heads, too. ■