《教父》：来自三句经典台词的教训
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老桑说
The Godfather
教父
3 classic lines, 3 classic lessons
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「 朋友，你好，我是老桑。」
老桑在东方州立监狱
《教父》是迄今为止最具影响力的小说和电影系列之一。1969年由马里奥·普佐(Mario Puzo)出版的《教父》系列小说催生了电影三部曲(分别于1972年、1974年和1990年上映)，上映后便震撼了好莱坞，吸引了众多影迷，并扩展了黑帮电影的主题类型。
Michael Corleone
《教父1》被认为是最伟大的电影之一，而《教父2》通常是被誉为是历史上最好的sequel（续集）电影。该部作品获得了28项奥斯卡提名中的9项。《教父》在中国也很受欢迎，一直在豆瓣电影250强榜单中保持前20名之内。
Corleone Family
故事围绕柯里昂家族中的父亲维托和儿子迈克展开。1901年，还是个小男孩的维托从西西里岛移民到了纽约。到1920年，他和两个朋友组成了一个盗贼团伙。随着时间的推移，维托控制了这个团伙，通过整合橄榄油进口业务与赌博卖淫服务，建立了一个地下王国。不过，他始终拒绝让自己卷入毒品交易。
维托于1955年去世，当时他30多岁的儿子迈克成为了这个家庭的新主人。电影系列的第二和第三部分发展了迈克的故事，他在建立自己的帝国、coopt（拉拢）政客以及威胁对手时变得更加无情。然而，他的有组织犯罪生涯最终却是痛苦且可预见的失败，他孤独地死去，被人遗忘。
Vito Corleone
在基督教中，教父（或代父）要为受洗后的信徒进行灵魂上的教导。在黑手党中，教父也是一个犯罪家族的首领。他们也可能被称为“don”或“capo”，这是意大利语中对有权势的黑手党头目的称呼。在流行文化中，维托·柯里昂被称为“教父”或“唐·柯里昂”。
尽管这部小说和电影系列经久不衰，但它最主要还是出于娱乐的目的，而绝非弘扬社会美德。维托和迈克都是反面英雄，尽管他们是故事的主角，但他们缺乏传统意义上的英雄特质。尽管他们有雄心壮志和勇气，但他们并不总是出于正当的理由来运用它们。
话虽如此，我们可以从这个故事中学到三个教训。
当维托打算与一位迟疑的伙伴达成交易时，他说:“我会开出一个他无法拒绝的条件。”他的决定此时已经做出，其他人不能拒绝这个提议。虽然在电影中这是一个死亡威胁，但在现实生活中，唐·柯里昂给我们上了重要的一节商业课：行事要果断。
成功人士是果断的。他们在压力下很冷静，并且有担当，有计划。而优柔寡断的人则磨磨蹭蹭，进展缓慢，当果断的人做出决定时，他们总是显得很中立。
为了做出一个好的决定，我们需要获得尽可能多的信息，列一张利弊清单，想象一下10年后的自己，想想过去的决定，避免重蹈覆辙。为这个决策过程设定一个时间限制是很重要的，这样我们能够避免太多的犹豫。如果我们等得太久，我们可能无法做出决定。
有时候你在匆忙中做出决定，以至于没有时间去思考。在这些情况下，重要的是退后一步，休息五分钟，然后相信你的直觉。研究表明，我们的直觉是相当理性的。与此同时，你需要通过随时掌握工作和个人事务的最新进展，为各种情况下的工作做准备。
美国电影协会认为这句话是电影史上第二著名的台词，紧随于瑞特·白瑞德的那句：“坦白说,亲爱的,我一点也不在乎。”——《乱世佳人》。
尽管维托的生意很nefarious（罪恶），但他最初拒绝参与毒品交易。当另一个纽约犯罪家族implore（恳求）维托——拉上他的政治资源一起——加入他们的毒品交易中时，维托拒绝了。之后，那个家族雇了刺客试图杀死维托。尽管开了几枪，坚强的维托还是活了下来。
当维托正处在康复期时，迈克打算去杀死那些幕后黑手。他的哥哥桑尼却不同意他的想法，他说这将导致纽约黑帮家族之间的全面战争，并导致迈克被流放到西西里岛。桑尼还恳求迈克不要把这类事情往心里去。但迈克反驳说:“这不关乎我个人，桑尼，这完全是生意。”
Sonny Corleone
这是一个关于把自己的情绪从工作中抽离出来的教训。如果我们陷入情绪化的决定，我们可能会为了满足短期的情绪而失去长期目标的重点。然而，我们都知道，当我们做出情绪化的决定时，往往没有什么好的结果。
例如，你是否曾经在生气、伤心或情绪激动的时候发过电子邮件或短信?或者，你是否曾经在你被激怒或激动的时候给别人打电话，而不是在休息一会平静下来以后再打给别人电话?通常情况下，我们并不认为这只是生意上的事，而是把它当成了私事。给自己一些时间和空间来把这两者区分开来。
“这只是生意，不针对个人，”这句话以及一些它的变体大概是整个三部曲点原因中最常出现的台词了。
在《教父2》中，迈克在一次阴暗的商业伙伴暗杀行动中幸存了下来，他想到了自己父亲教给他的智慧：“亲近你的朋友，但更要亲近你的敌人。”迈克没有杀死他的对手，而是设计了一个方案，与他合作，找出他的弱点。迈克把敌人拉拢的很近，但最终打败了他和他的盟友。
Michael Corleone
这在商业场景中可能看起来很奇怪，因为我们可能没有充分考虑我们的竞争对手，而只是着眼于塑造我们自己的发展方式。大公司和市场领导者在制定自己的路线时可能有更多的灵活性，但对其他人来说，谨慎的做法是去看清藩篱之外的情形，了解竞争对手在做什么。
我们也必须让我们的朋友和伙伴保持亲密，并确保可以联系上他们。但了解竞争对手的行动、创新、下一步计划和营销信息的更多细节，也能帮助我们明确自己在做什么。
维托和迈克建议我们应该把敌人当作朋友。在《教父3》中，迈克尔对他那头脑发热的侄子文森特说:“永远不要恨你的敌人，它影响你的判断。“他在教导文森特不要仓促做出判断。
Vincent Corleone
《教父》是一个虚构的故事，但有许多真实世界里高调的黑帮歹徒。阿尔·卡彭(1899-1947)是其中最臭名昭著的一个。1929年，卡彭因携带一支隐蔽的无证左轮手枪在费城东部州立监狱被监禁一年。我最近参观了这座监狱，并给他的牢房拍了一张照片。
东方州立监狱
东方州立监狱内部
卡彭的牢房
Take a critical view
批判的视角
在《教父》之前，大多数动作片都是西部片，描绘的是美国旧西部骑着马的牛仔和持枪战士。《教父》通过探索黑帮及其家庭的情感深度，揭示了地下社会的复杂性，以及他们如何相互依赖而非依靠政府的态度，丰富了犯罪题材类型的电影。
这部电影也受到了一些批评。例如，美国的意大利后裔组织 (Sons and Daughters of Italy in America)的反诽谤部门就decry（谴责）了娱乐圈对意大利裔美国人持续存在的负面刻板印象。他们声称《教父》和随后的黑帮电影延续了这样的刻板印象，即意大利裔美国人是黑帮或他们的同谋。
《教父》描绘了许多刻板印象。它几乎完全把美籍意大利人描绘成黑帮。黑人和拉丁美洲人被描绘成绝望的吸毒者，没有可取之处。而犹太人被描绘成鬼鬼祟祟、不值得信任的人。基于这些原因，我并不推崇《教父》，而是希望我们所有人以批判的眼光来看待它。
Vincent and Michael Corleone
我的朋友，《教父》教导我们要行事果断，做出非情绪化的决定，认识到自己的竞争态势——所有这些技能都是生意兴隆所需要的。与此同时，这个故事对各个种族群体的负面描述也在呼吁我们挑战刻板印象。勇于奋斗，也许你可以成为一位“教父”，推动一项事业向好的方向发展。
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The Godfather:
3 classic lines, 3 classic lessons
▾
「 Hello, my friend！
I'm John Smagula. 」
The Godfather is one of the most influential novels and movie series ever released. Published by Mario Puzo in 1969, The Godfather novel gave rise to a movie trilogy (released, respectively, in 1972, 1974, and 1990) that rocked the Hollywood scene, riveted moviegoers, and expanded the gangster movie genre.
The Godfather (Part I) is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, while The Godfather Part II is often lauded as the best sequel in cinematic history. The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 28 total Academy Award nominations. The Godfather is also respected in China, consistently remaining in the top 20 of the Douban Top 250 movie list.
The story centers on the Corleone family: father Vito and son Michael. As a young boy in 1901, Vito immigrated from Sicily to New York City. By 1920, he and two friends had formed a gang of thieves. Over time, Vito took control over the gang and built an empire by mixing an olive oil import business with gambling and prostitution. He refused to get involved in drugs, though.
Vito dies in 1955, at which time his son Michael, then in his mid-30s, becomes the new head of the family. Parts II and III of the movie series develop Michael’s story as he becomes more ruthless in building his empire, coopting politicians and menacing his enemies. Yet his life of organized crime led to a painful and predictable failure, and he dies alone and forgotten.
In Christianity, a godfather takes responsibility for the religious education of a child at baptism. In the Mafia, the godfather is also the head of a crime family. They may also be called a “don” or “capo,” which are Italian terms for a powerful Mafia leader. In popular culture, Vito Corleone is known as “The Godfather” or “Don Corleone.”
Despite the novel and movie series’ enduring recognition, it is best observed for entertainment purposes and not for modeling moral virtue. Vito and Michael are both antiheroes, in that even though they are central characters in the story, they lack conventional heroic attributes. Despite their ambition and courage, they do not always use them for the right reasons.
That being said, here are three lessons we can learn from the story.
When Vito intended to close a deal with a reluctant partner, he said, “I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.” The decision has been made, and others cannot refuse that offer. Although this amounts to a death threat in the movies, in real life, Don Corleone is teaching us an important business lesson: be decisive.
Successful people are decisive. They are calm and cool under pressure, they take charge, and they have a plan. Indecisive people dilly-dally, make slow progress, and always seem to be stuck in neutral while decisive people pass them by.
To make a good decision, we need to get as much information as possible, make a list of pros and cons, imagine yourself 10 years from now, and think about past decisions to avoid repeating mistakes. It’s important to set a time limit to this process, though, as we want to avoid too much dithering. If we wait too long, the decision may be taken out of our hands.
Sometimes you make a decision on the fly, where you don’t have time to think things out. In these cases, it’s important to step back and take five, and then trust your gut feeling. Studies have shown that our intuition can be quite rational. At the same time, you can prepare for what to do in a variety of situations by keeping up to date on work and personal matters.
The American Film Institute has ranked this quote as the second best of all time, right behind Rhett Butler’s "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone With the Wind.
Despite Vito’s nefarious businesses, he originally refused to get involved in the drug trade. When another New York crime family implored Vito—along with his political connections—to join their drug operations, Vito said no. That family then hired assassins to try to kill Vito. Despite multiple shots, the toughened Vito survived.
Sonny Corleone
As Vito lay in recovery, Michael wanted to kill those who were behind the attack. His older brother Sonny disagreed, saying that it would cause an all-out war among the New York crime families and result in Michael’s exile to Sicily. Sonny also implored Michael not to take these kinds of things personally. But Michael retorted, “It’s not personal, Sonny, it’s strictly business.”
This is a lesson for us to take the emotion out of business. If we get caught up in making emotional decisions, we can lose focus of our long-term goals in an attempt to satisfy a short-term emotion. Yet we all know that when we make emotional decisions, very often nothing good comes from it.
For example, have you ever fired off an email or text when you are angry, sad, or emotional? Or, have you ever called someone when you were agitated or excited, rather than taking five and calling after you calmed down? Often, we’re not thinking it’s just business, but we’re taking it personally. Give yourself the time and space to separate the two.
“It’s business, not personal,” as well as its several variations, is probably the most repeated line in the entire trilogy.
In Godfather II, Michael survived an assassination attempt by a shady business partner and reflected on some wisdom his father Vito taught him: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” Rather than kill his opponent, Michael created a scheme to work with him to find his vulnerabilities. By keeping his enemy close, he ultimately defeated him and his allies.
This may seem strange in the business context, as we may not think enough about our competitors and just try to forge the way ourselves. Big-name corporations and market leaders may have some more flexibility in charting their own course, but for the rest of us, it is prudent to look over the fence and see what competitors are doing.
We do have to keep our friends and partners close, too, and make sure they’re on message. But knowing more details about our competitors’ actions, innovations, next steps, and marketing messages can also help us define what we are doing.
Vincent Corleone
Vito and Michael are suggesting that we should treat our enemies as our friends. In Godfather III, Michael tells his hot-headed nephew Vincent, “Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.” He was teaching Vincent not to make snap judgments.
The Godfather is a fictional story, but there were many real-world, high-profile Mafia gangsters. Al Capone (1899-1947) was one of the most notorious. In 1929, Capone was imprisoned for one year in Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary for carrying a concealed, unlicensed revolver. I recently visited the prison and took a picture of his cell.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Take a critical view
Prior to The Godfather, most action films were westerns that depicted horseback-riding cowboys and gunfighters in the American Old West. The Godfather elevated the crime genre by exploring the emotional depths of the gangsters and their families and exposing the complexity of underground society—and how they relied on each other instead of the state.
The movie has also drawn criticism. For example, the anti-defamation branch of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America decry the persistent negative stereotyping of Italian Americans in entertainment. They claim The Godfather and subsequent mobster movies perpetuate stereotypes that Italian Americans are mobsters or their accomplices.
The Godfather perpetuates many stereotypes. It portrays Italian Americans almost exclusively as gangsters. Blacks and Latinos are portrayed as hopeless drug users with no redeeming qualities. Jews are portrayed as sneaky and untrustworthy. For these reasons, I do not celebrate The Godfather, but rather, invite us all to take a critical view.
Vito Corleone
My friend, The Godfather teaches us to be decisive, to make unemotional decisions, and to be aware of your competition—all skills needed to thrive in business. At the same time, the story’s negative portrayal of various ethnic groups is a call for us to challenge stereotypes. Take a stand, and maybe you can become a “Godfather” to advance a cause for good.
{ 今日英文速记卡 }
1.Sequel \ ˈsē-kwəl \
a)含义：n. 续集；后果
b)例句：
i.The Godfather (Part I) is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, while The Godfather Part II is often lauded as the best sequel in cinematic history.
《教父》(第一部分)被认为是最伟大的电影之一，而《教父》第二部分通常是被誉为是历史上最好的续集电影。
ii.I love doing sequels. But this is my favorite sequel.
我喜欢拍续集，但是这次无疑是我最爱的续集。
c)近义词：continuation, outcome, upshot
2.Coopt \ kō-ˈäpt \
a)含义：v. 笼络；拉拢
b)例句：
i.Parts II and III of the movie series develop Michael’s story as he becomes more ruthless in building his empire, coopting politicians and menacing his enemies.
电影系列的第二和第三部分发展了迈克的故事，他在建立自己的帝国拉拢政客和威胁他的敌人时变得更加无情。
ii.Social scientists were co-opted to work with the development agencies.
社会科学家被拉拢和开发机构合作。
c)近义词：absorb, assimilate, rope in
3.Nefarious \ ni-ˈfer-ē-əs \
a)含义：adj. 邪恶的
b)例句：
i.Despite Vito’s nefarious businesses, he originally refused to get involved in the drug trade.
尽管维托的生意很罪恶，但他最初拒绝参与毒品交易。
ii.My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.
我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
c)近义词：evil, unrighteous, wicked
4.Implore \ im-ˈplȯr \
a)含义：v. 恳求
b)例句：
i.When another New York crime family implored Vito—along with his political connections—to join their drug operations, Vito said no.
当另一个纽约犯罪家族恳求维托——拉上他的政治资源一起——加入他们的毒品交易中时，维托拒绝了。
ii.If you missed that post, I implore you to go back and look at the comments.
如果你错过了那篇文章，我恳请你移步看看那些评论。
c)近义词： appeal (to), beseech, entreat
5.Decry \ di-ˈkrī \
a)含义：v. 责难；谴责
b)例句：
i.For example, the anti-defamation branch of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America decry the persistent negative stereotyping of Italian Americans in entertainment.
例如，美国的意大利儿女反诽谤组织(anti-defamation branch of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America)就谴责了娱乐圈对意大利裔美国人持续存在的负面刻板印象。
ii.We might decry this on a public-policy basis, but at least as far as public markets are concerned, it is a Darwinian world.
我们可能因考虑到公共政策而谴责这种做法，但至少从公共市场角度讲，这是达尔文所说的适者生存的世界。
c)近义词：condemn, disapprove, put down
Thank you for watching me to inspire, encourage, and accompany you.
See you next time.
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