General Introduction:

Ugly Betty is an American dramedy television series that revolve around the character Betty Suarez. Betty is a quirky, 22-year-old Mexican American woman from Queens, New York who is sorely lacking in fashion sense. She is known to be bold, good-hearted, and slightly na?ve. She is abruptly thrust into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy, high fashion magazine that is part of the publishing empire of the wealthy Bradford Meade. Bradford’s son Daniel has been installed as Editor-in-Chief of Mode. Bradford hires the inexperienced Betty as his womanizing son’s newest personal assistant to curb his habit of sleeping with his assistants. As time goes by, Betty and Daniel become friends and help each other navigate their individual professional and personal lives.

美剧Ugly Betty中文翻译为：丑女贝蒂。女主角是一个善良多才但是却挺丑的丫头，阴差阳错掉进高端时装杂志，因为大老板不希望将来继位的儿子一直和女秘书暧昧不清，于是安排了这位丑姑娘做儿子的秘书。于是乎，一个时尚界的女版阿甘就此诞生。在家族阴谋、事业陷阱、爱情纠葛、人生思考等等诸如此类剧情中，我们的女主角硬是靠着自己的美德和智慧，得到了大家的尊重，更是与老板家的公子Daniel渐生情愫。

初一听，多么三流的剧情，灰姑娘赶上了精灵的南瓜车，遇到白马王子。就连那些丑女的常有细节——黑胶框眼镜、牙套、厚唇等等都无一落下，不过编剧识趣的是没有让我们的女主角变成大美女，最后的最后，她依然是那个胖胖的，带着眼镜的Betty，她衣服或许更合身了，妆容或许更宜人了，但更多的改变是她用了这个世界最古老、古老到几乎被遗忘了的美德——坚持和忠诚完成一个初入社会的女孩的成长。所以，在这里为各位奉上Betty第一天去面试的场景，从中或许你可以学习到这个女孩身上的一些精神。

There are some people waiting to be interviewed in a grand hall. Betty comes in and sits beside a modern blonde.

Betty: I like your poncho. My dad got me one in Guadalajara.

Charmaine: Milan. Dolce & Gabbana. Fall.

第一集就是从Betty这个面试开始的，她穿着夸张的斗篷（poncho），南美特产的那种中间有一洞来伸头的毯形披风，来到一个高级时装杂志面试，配合她矮胖的身材、笨重的黑框眼镜、还有明显的牙套，好吧，坦白一点，这样的打扮对于任何一场面试都是一种灾难。当她坐在一位打扮摩登的金发美女旁，称赞美女身上的衣服，以为是和她的一样在墨西哥城市Guadalajara买的斗篷，美女显然不悦，用非常简洁的话告诉她，这是米兰时装大牌D&G 的秋季新品（Milan. Dolce & Gabbana. Fall.），言下之意——我们不在一个档次，拜托你走开一点。

Then the reception of the company, Marc comes out. When he sees Betty, he is shocked, of course.

Marc: Betty Suarez? Betty Suarez?

Betty: Hi. That’s me. Um, I have a hard copy of my resume if you need it. Should I follow you?

Marc: Actually... there’s been a mistake.

Betty: A mistake?

Marc: All the entry-level positions we were hiring for... they’ve been filled. I’m sorry.

Marc其实不仅仅是一个接待员，他也算是杂志主编之一的高级助理，当他看到其貌不扬外加穿着惊悚的Betty时，尽管Betty面试材料准备充分，自带简历（I have a hard copy of my resume if you need it），他依旧非常不待见Betty，直接告诉她情况有变（there’s been a mistake），他们要招聘的最低级别职位（entry-level positions）都已经招满了。连多说一句话都不愿意，Marc一出场可谓是个典型以貌取人的家伙。

Though given cold shoulder, Betty doesn’t lose heart and tries to seize the chance to be interviewed.

Betty: Um, sir? While you got me here, I thought I could tell you a little about myself. Magazines are my passion, ever since I was a kid, and I can’t imagine a more amazing place to start my career than Meade Publications. I know most of your magazines inside out. I try to devour as much as I can. Also, I’ve learned so much through them. You know, stuff so beyond my world, like…like who the up-and-comers are on the London art scene, or…or what the political machinations in Darfur are all about, or which Bali Resort is considered the most romantic in the world. And I have tons of ideas. I’m always jotting stuff down on the subway. But I’m getting ahead of myself, sir. All I really want is a chance... In any position or publication…I can type 100 words a minute!

Marc: Good-bye!

虽然惨遭拒绝，Betty怎么就可能就此放弃，她不断跟在Marc的后面介绍更多的自己，陈述着自己对杂志的喜爱（Magazines are my passion.），对应聘公司的杂志也是熟读于心（I know most of your magazines inside out），从中收获良多：比如谁是伦敦艺术展的新星（who the up-and-comers are on the London art scene），或者苏丹政治阴谋的原委（what the political machinations in Darfur are all about），巴厘岛的浪漫（which Bali Resort is considered the most romantic）。另外Betty还有一堆的创意（tons of ideas），喜欢在坐地铁的时候做笔记（jotting stuff down on the subway），之后还不忘调侃一句，我简直就是超越自我了（I’m getting ahead of myself.）但是Marc仍然没有停止离开的脚步，眼见Marc进到电梯，Betty甚至开始有点祈求的意味，是的，她想要的不过就是一个机会，一个面试的机会（All I really want is a chance.），只要是出版社，任何职位都可以，她能一分钟能打100个字（I can type 100 words a minute!）。但是Marc丝毫没有听进去，一句Good-bye，毫不犹豫地把电梯门关上。

Betty的面试大概根本算不上一场面试，但是从这半个面试中，我们却看到了一个勇敢无畏，对杂志充满兴趣，对梦想充满执着的女孩。她或许并不光鲜亮丽，甚至并非冰雪聪明，但即使遭遇白眼和冷遇，她都能以最饱满的热情坚持到底。正是她这样的热情与精神，被一旁的大老板Bradford Meade看到，决定应聘她做他的儿子Daniel的助手，当然也是为了防止儿子的不务正业，于是正式拉开了整个故事的序幕。

编后记：从整个制作和编剧上说，Ugly Betty应该算不上一部特别上乘的美剧，即使Betty最后没有俗套地变成大美人，我们也不得不感叹她有时候运气也太好了点。而该剧的收视率从开播到终结也未有一次能给人惊喜，以至于最后落得个不能顺利完季的下场，后面匆忙收尾。但我相信，对于很多人而言，四年追剧一路看下来，从中一定感受到不少温暖与乐观。最后，把Betty的姐姐Hilda对她说的一句话送给大家：You’re living your dream, and I’m so proud of you. 人生，即使生得不美丽，即使世界不完美，也总需要相信美好。

（文/Helen Luo）