Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same, There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses All went to the university Where they were put in boxes And they came out all the same And there's doctors and lawyers And business executives And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course And drink their martinis dry And they all have pretty children And the children go to school, And the children go to summer camp And then to the university Where they are put in boxes And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business And marry and raise a family In boxes made of ticky tacky And they all look just the same, There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
让这部剧集声名显赫的,首先在于它对中产阶级生活方式的讥讽。特定的生活方式之所以很重要,原因就在于其表达了特定的意义和价值。这也就解释了为何Nancy在丈夫猝死之后情愿操起大麻生意,也不愿找份工作,辞掉女佣,离开自己熟悉的优渥环境。同时解释了为何Nancy在将名牌车抵押交换大麻后,不愿让Celia看到自己开着破车的窘境。而Celia在PTA(家长教师协会)的经历更是让人啼笑皆非,几个百无聊赖的中产阶级妇女为了协会主席之位勾心斗角,新官上任之后立刻发动辞掉被怀疑是gay的体育老师,因为觉得不利于自己孩子男性气质的培养。Celia的老公很早就跟网球教练偷欢(需要特别注意的是欧美影视中描述中产阶级男性通常是跟自己的女网球教练偷情,而中产阶级女性通常是跟自己的男高尔夫球教练偷情,运动也被赋予阶级性),最后这个事实还被自己的女儿抖露出来。剧中的中产阶级男性无论是律师还是会计,一样的空虚无聊,一样的无毒不欢,也正是这群顾客的存在,让Nancy的大麻生意开始起步。而最让人唏嘘的,莫过于第三季末尾,小镇起火,Nancy站在山坡上眺望,同伙询问哪座是她的房子,Nancy语塞,因为这些房子看起来几乎一模一样,就好象居住在这些房子里的中产阶级的人生也几乎无异,在这里就和剧集的主题音乐“Little boxes”形成完美的呼应:“And the people in the houses, All went to the university. Where they were put in boxes. And they came out all the same. And there's doctors and lawyers. And business executives. And they're all made out of ticky tacky. And they all look just the same. ”
前三季还有一个主要的叙事元素,那就是种族问题,主要通过大麻供货商Heylia一家的语言来展现。当然种族这种概念的存在,主要是由于种族主义这种意识形态的经久不衰。Heylia住进白人聚居的中产阶级社区之后,偶遇无数陌生的白人与她打招呼,而她对此的评论可谓是一针见血,“There's only one thing more powerful than white fear, and that's white guilt. Now,they say ‘good morning’,but what they're really saying is,‘I'm not racist’”。此类反讽也是不绝于耳,略下不表。
It started with Sam Fuller's "Naked Kiss", circa 1964. But it is not until after "American Beauty" that a sardonic view of suburan life has become mainstream. Then screens big an small have been flooded with cliched attacks on middle-class respectability. If "Weeds" has been built on this premise alone, the jokes would have got tiresome pretty quickly. But noooo-nooo-nooo-no!
The best jokes in "Weeds", in fact, have little to do with suburbia per se. As good jokes should be, they are more whimsical to fit into any easy social category. For example, where does the battery-for-dildo bit belong in the grand themes of contemporary American sociology? Or the situational joke of having Celia sitting down with the "Tennis Pro" for endless rounds of drinks, while the pendulum of her anger sways between her husband and his mistress?
Sometimes the writers let the same joke run a bit tired, like Celia's several fond farewells to her breasts. Then some of the actions ascribed to a character are not well thought out enough to be plausible; example: Nancy smashing the DV with her husband's memory. Sure, someone can do that and it wouldn't invalidate their emotions; but in the case of Nancy, we feel that the nice middle-class upbringing a=that we spot in her temperament wouldn't have allowed this particular outburst.
In fact, the greatest thing about Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy is her convincing middle-calss soccer-mom-ness. None of the high-baroqueness of the absurd characters in "Desperate Housewives", or the tropical-bird exotica of Annette Bening in ""American Beauty" or Frances Conroy (Ruth) in "Six Feet Under". Nancy is creditable and desirable as a mother and wife; one easily subscribes to her merits as a Longtime Companion (pun on her ground-breaking 1990 movie confronting AIDS).
Well, Parker has sure walked far since her "Fried Green Tomatoes" days. Bravo!