Society's preoccupation with beauty puts extra pressure on young people who are already busy trying to build a good career and enjoy life. Society says we have to be beautiful and slim if we want to be happy and successful. But do we？ Does a pretty face and a good-looking body make you a better person？ Better at your job？ More important than someone who got hit with the ugly stick at birth and could afford to lose some weight？ A hit TV show is certainly questioning our obsession with beauty. Ugly Betty， an American sitcom， is generating plenty of buzz with viewers around the world， notonly because it is smart， funny， and easy for viewers to identify with， but also because it highlights the problems with society's obsession with beauty， all in an easy to digest and amusing TV show.

    當今社會對美麗的盲崇給那些疲于創(chuàng)業(yè)和享受生活的年輕人帶來了額外的壓力。社會輿論無時無刻不在叫囂：想要幸福和成功，天使臉孔和魔鬼身材是不二法門。但果真如此嗎？是不是有了姣好的面容和玲瓏的身段，我們的人格就能升華，我們的事業(yè)就能成功了？是不是外表完美了，我們就比那些天生相貌平凡、身材臃腫的人更有價值了呢？最近一部正在熱播的美國連續(xù)劇就對我們已經(jīng)走火入魔的“美麗”情結(jié)提出了質(zhì)疑�！冻笈�貝蒂》在全球觀眾中掀起熱潮，該劇之所以能成功，不僅因為其劇情幽默、充滿智慧、使觀眾容易產(chǎn)生共鳴，更重要的是，它用一種輕松詼諧的手法將我們這個社會對外在美近乎瘋狂的崇拜表現(xiàn)得淋漓盡致。

    Betty Suarez （America Ferrera）， the star of the show， has just graduated from college and is looking for a job. With good qualifications and references， intelligence， a warm personality， and low expectations， she should easily be able to find a good position in her chosen industry - magazine publishing. But after knocking on every door， she still can't find a job. When she finally lands a job interview at Mode - the most important fashion magazine in the country， she is practically thrown out because her appearance doesn't cut it. However， through a unique turn of events， she is eventually hired by owner Bradford Meade to be his son's assistant， purely due to the fact that she is unattractive - Bradford Meade knows his son certainly won't make any moves on her， so he might finally get some work done.

    該劇的主角貝蒂（亞美莉卡？弗倫拉）是一個剛從大學畢業(yè)、正在四處 求職 的大學生。貝蒂有很好的學歷背景和推薦信，加上她聰明熱心，而且對第一份工作的要求也不高，按常理說，她很容易就能在自己喜歡的行業(yè)內(nèi)找到一份好工作——雜志出版業(yè)。但事實上她卻到處碰壁，最后好不容易才得到一個去全國著名的時尚雜志社 面試 的機會，卻因長相和氣質(zhì)平平而被拒之門外。但柳暗花明，機緣巧合，她最終被雜志社的老板布拉德福德？米德相中，做了他兒子的助理。而雇傭貝蒂的原因竟是她毫無吸引力的長相——布拉德福德？米德相信他的兒子絕不會對貝蒂動心，這樣就有可能專心工作。

    Betty suffers all of the usual problems many of us suffer when starting a new job - working out how to fit in with her co-workers， trying to dress appropriately， and trying to make some new friends. However Betty's situation is exacerbated by the fact that almost all of her coworkersonly care about appearances. With Betty's poor dress sense and "ugliness"， she becomes the laughing stock of the company， as well as a target for mean pranks and nasty jokes.

    最初貝蒂遇到了所有工作新手都無法逃避的問題——絞盡腦汁和新同事打好關系，著裝得體，結(jié)交新朋友。但是幾乎貝蒂所有的同事都只在乎外表，這使得貝蒂陷入困境。因為穿衣服沒品以及“丑陋”，貝蒂成了全公司的笑柄以及各種惡作劇和下流笑話的攻擊對象。

    Somehow， Betty manages to walk with her head held high and focus on what she's there to do - help her boss run the magazine， while also managing to foil attempts by her co-workers to make him fail so they can take over. Betty's confidence comes from deep in her heart - she has loving family members who care much more about looking after each other and focusing on the positive things in their life rather than worrying about superficial things such as appearance. It's this support from her family that helps her through her most difficult times.

    但是貝蒂從未向挫折低頭，而是專心于自己的工作——幫助她的老板管理雜志社，這期間她還要小心那些覬覦她工作的人從中作梗。不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，貝蒂的自信源于內(nèi)心深處——家人對她的愛，每個家庭成員都相互照顧關心，珍惜生活中的美好，而不是像外表這樣膚淺的東西。也正是家人的支持幫助貝蒂戰(zhàn)勝生活中的各種困難。

    While reluctant to have such an "ugly" assistant at first， Daniel Meade slowly starts to realise that he can't survive without Betty. New to the job himself， and with others in the company waiting gleefully for him to fail， Daniel needs all the help he can get， and Betty has great ideas and knows how to get things done. While she may not be beautiful to look at， Betty certainly is useful around the office.

    丹尼爾？米德最初并不原意接受這么個“丑”助理，不過漸漸地，他卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己越來越離不開貝蒂了。對于工作，丹尼爾自己也是個菜鳥，公司里還有很多人在暗地里等著看他的笑話，所以丹尼爾需要多方求助。而貝蒂很有想法，辦事能力出眾�？赡芩�相貌平��，但卻是辦公室里不可多得的 人才 .

    Ugly Betty challenges us to look at ourselves and realise that beauty is not the most important thing in the world. While it's easy to laugh at the jokes and entertaining to see what Betty's co-workers are capable of， you'll quickly find yourself reflecting on the show's message long after you have turned off the TV. While many of the characters may be exaggerated， it sometimes takes an extreme portrayal to recognise elements of these same issues in society. Inone scene， Betty walks into the company cafeteria， and we see tables of stick-thin girls eating tiny amounts of food and looking very serious and depressed - it looks like a form of self-torture： they are starving themselves thin. Between these thin-obsessed co-workers， it becomes almost a competitive sport to see who can consume the least amount of food. At Betty's table， we see everyone happily talking and laughing and each enjoying their meal - normal-sized portions of food - completely oblivious to the competitive weight-loss happening around them. Without the stress of worrying about how much weight they are going to put on just from eating lunch， Betty and her like-minded co-workers are able to enjoy their lunch break.

    《丑女貝蒂》促使我們正視自己，讓我們意識到外表絕不是生活中最重要的東西。劇中的情節(jié)幽默，人物搞笑，關上電視后你會發(fā)現(xiàn)劇中傳遞的信息讓你久久不能平靜。雖然劇中很多人物都有點兒夸張，但重病須猛藥，似乎只有近乎極端的表述才能讓我們意識到現(xiàn)實中存在的問題。劇中一個情節(jié)是這樣的：貝蒂走進公司的自助餐廳，接著我們看到滿眼盡是骨瘦如柴的女生，表情僵硬沮喪，面前的食物少到不夠喂貓——與自虐沒什么區(qū)別：她們要把自己餓瘦。這些一門心思想著如何變瘦的女生正在進行一場激烈的角逐，看誰吃的東西最少。而在貝蒂的那張桌子邊，我們看到大家都有說有笑，盡情享受午餐——正常分量的午餐——毫不在意周圍正進行得火熱的減肥大賽。因為不用擔心吃頓午飯就會增加體重，所以貝蒂和與她想法類似的同事可以好好享受午餐。