What ‘La La Land’ and ‘Fifty Shades’ Get Wrong About Love

Romantic love is getting a reboot at the movies. Two big current pictures—“La La Land,” which has been nominated for 14 Oscars, and “Fifty Shades Darker,” a sequel to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which has grossed more than a half-billion dollars world-wide since its 2015 release—offer radically different takes on intimate relationships and the role of sexual passion in contemporary life.

浪 漫爱情在电影中重燃烈火。围绕当代人生活中的亲密关系以及性欲之于恋爱的意义，近期的两部大热影片展现了两种极端的不同态度。一部是斩获14项奥斯卡奖提 名的《爱乐之城》；另一部是《五十度黑》，这部电影是2015年上映以来在全球范围内票房超五亿美元的《五十度灰》的续集。

Both movies depict tumultuous liaisons of heterosexual couples, but there the similarity ends (warning: plot spoilers ahead). “La La Land,” the candy-colored throwback musical about an actress and a jazz pianist struggling to make it in Los Angeles, begins as a standard love story: The lovers start out disliking each other, only to become each other’s fans and cheerleaders. But their success ultimately pushes them apart. Though both fulfill their artistic dreams, their union is undone by an inability to commit and to deal with obstacles. 

两 部电影都描绘了一对异性情侣之间跌宕起伏的恋情，但却有着相似的结局。《爱乐之城》是一部色调甜美的复古歌舞剧，剧中演绎了一段发生在一名怀揣梦想的女演 员和爵士钢琴师之间的爱情故事，片中以典型的爱情故事开场：两人一开始看对方不顺眼，后来渐渐成为了对方的粉丝，互相加油鼓励。但是随着各自在事业上取得 成功，两人走向了分手。虽然双方实现了各自的艺术梦想，却因履行不了承诺，跨越不了障碍，最终走向了分手。

Despite their self-consciously naughty accouterments, the “Fifty Shades” movies are actually a steamy variant of a very old fantasy: the idea that the love of a good woman—and in this case, her submission to degrading sexual practices to save her beloved from his tortured past—can transform a cold man into a warm one.

But it never does. It’s a pernicious fantasy of relentless hope. As for the tormented billionaire hero of the “Fifty Shades” saga, he may stop whipping the heroine in Part II, but it doesn’t change his insanely controlling personality. It’s a transformation of sorts—but not exactly a recipe for a good marriage.

而《五十度》系列，虽然剧中刻意挑逗的装扮呈现给我们的是一部情色剧，但它实际上是一种旧日爱情幻想的情色变体，这种爱情幻想即是：好女人的爱，能够感化一个冷漠的男人。反映在在该电影里我们看到的是，女主以忍受让自己受辱的性行为，去拯救有过受虐史的爱人。

但是，这一幻想在现实中从未实现。这是一种无望而危险的幻想。有过被虐经历的亿万富豪男主可能在续集中停止对女主的性虐，但这并未改变他病态的控制型人格。虽然男主勉强称的上有所改变，但要成就一段美满的婚姻，这种改变还远远不够。

“La La Land” is more radical in its way. It’s a genuine departure from the typical romantic formula because ambition, in the end, trumps love. The seemingly ill-assorted hero and heroine encourage and applaud each other—he tempering her insecurity and she his grandiosity—but they can’t figure out how to stay together through a temporary separation. When lovers are too immature to deal with conflicts, love does not conquer all. 

《爱乐之城》则在自己的爱情观上更加激进。它确实有别于以往典型的爱情剧，因为影片最后，对事业的野心战胜了爱情。电影中，看似不相配的男女主角互相鼓励和欣赏，男主治愈着女主的不安全感，女主则缓和了男主的浮夸自大。然而，两人短暂的分离后却没能找到继续在一起的方法。当恋人双方不能成熟地处理纷争，那么爱情将不会无往不胜。

I very much believe that modern life offers valuable new perspectives on the old story of romantic love, but I also wonder what have we lost. To my mind, both of these blockbuster movies miss an essential point: that change has to come first from within before anyone can be truly receptive to someone else’s love.

In “La La Land” and “Fifty Shades Darker,” we see no evidence of characters learning anything new about themselves. What strikes me most about both films is the utter absence of self-reflection, no moment suggesting that the key to profound and lasting love is the inner development of the lover.

That’s an insight that no classic love story lacks. As they used to say in the movies, happiness must be earned.

相对经典的浪漫爱情故事，我十分相信现代版本为之提供了宝贵的新观点。但我也对现代人的迷失感到惊讶。在我看来，这两部热门影片都没能体现爱情的一个核心要素：任何人在真正敞开心扉，获得真爱前，都需要发自内心地做出改变。

在《爱乐之城》和《五十度黑》中，我们没有看到主人公因爱情重新塑造自身的迹象。这两部片子使我感触最强烈的地方，是自我审视的完全缺失，没有任何一个情节体现了建立深刻和持久爱情的关键──爱人的自我成长。

而所有经典的爱情故事都未放弃对这一内涵的诠释。就像电影中常说的那样，幸福需要努力才能获得。