Much ado has been made about Andy Lau and his "girlfriend" Carol Chu recently, not least from Sin Chew Daily, who labeled a photo of them hand-in-hand leaving KL International Airport in Malaysia "the photo of the century". Lau's appearance at Chu's father's funeral led to some guessing. Then, in a letter on his official website, Lau confirmed his marriage to Chu, apologized to his fans and cleared rumors that have been circulating for 24 years. Twenty-four years? They may have a child for goodness sake.
近來(lái)，劉德華和“女友”朱麗倩被推到了風(fēng)頭浪尖上。之前《星洲日?qǐng)?bào)》曾刊登兩人十指緊扣離開(kāi)馬來(lái)西亞吉隆坡國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)的照片，該照被稱為“世紀(jì)之照”。而劉德華在朱麗倩父親葬禮上的現(xiàn)身更是引發(fā)猜議紛紛。之后，劉德華終于在自己的官網(wǎng)上證實(shí)已與朱麗倩結(jié)婚，澄清了流傳24年之久的傳言，并向粉絲們道歉。24年？天哪，他們可能連孩子都有了！
But give credit to Lau for sticking to his principles. As old-fashioned, unnecessary and hollow as his principles may seem, 24 years is a long time to pretend you don't have a girlfriend.
我們?cè)摲Q贊一下堅(jiān)持原則的劉德華?；蛟S這種原則看起來(lái)有些過(guò)時(shí)、毫無(wú)必要甚至虛偽，但24年假裝沒(méi)女友也絕非易事。
Young celebrities are much more open about their relationships. In July, Liu Ye married French photographer Anais Martane and photos were soon released showing them kissing and flirting. Yuan Quan and Xia Yu, who have been similarly open about their romance, just anounced their marriage to the public.
如今年輕明星們對(duì)待戀情的態(tài)度則更為開(kāi)放。今年7月，劉燁和他的法國(guó)攝影師女友安娜伊絲·馬田正式結(jié)婚，二人親吻調(diào)請(qǐng)的照片不久便公開(kāi)流傳了。同樣，袁泉和夏雨對(duì)待戀情也十分大方，二人新近公布了結(jié)婚的消息。
For Western celebrities, being secretive about a relationship is a short-lived affair. Paparazzi pictures of the "couple" soon lead to confirmation. Besides, celebrities can profit. In Hollywood there isn't a more money-making deal than hooking up with a fellow celeb. Think of the earning machine that Brad and Angelina are.
而西方明星們只會(huì)對(duì)那些新戀情遮遮掩掩。緋聞男女一旦被狗仔隊(duì)拍到照片，關(guān)系基本上也就明確了。此外，明星自己也能從中獲利。在好萊塢，沒(méi)有什么比跟明星家庭有關(guān)更賺錢(qián)的了。想想“印鈔機(jī)”布拉德和安吉麗娜吧。
Celebs soon learn they can cash in on their wedding by signing contracts with magazines worth millions of dollars. David and Victoria Beckham set the standard in 1999, when they sold their pictures to OK! for a record 2 million. Britney Spears and Kevin Federline followed suit, selling their pictures to OK!
名人們很快就知道如何利用婚禮來(lái)賺錢(qián)了——他們會(huì)和雜志社簽署價(jià)值數(shù)百萬(wàn)美元的合同。1999年，貝克漢姆夫婦為此樹(shù)立了一個(gè)標(biāo)桿——他們以200萬(wàn)美元的價(jià)格將照片賣(mài)給了《OK》雜志。之后，布蘭妮和和凱文·費(fèi)德林照貓畫(huà)虎，也將照片賣(mài)給了該雜志。
While being open about the fact that they are engaged, most celebrities will attempt to keep the ceremony a secret. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony told friends to gather at Lopez's home for a simple "afternoon party". The news that it was their wedding got out and paparazzi helicopters circled the house. Nicole Kidman went to extreme lengths to keep her wedding to Keith Urban private. She set the time at 6.30 pm so that the dark would keep out snooping eyes, and reportedly hired false brides to look like her.
雖然西方明星對(duì)結(jié)婚并不保密，他們?nèi)詴?huì)讓婚禮充滿神秘色彩。珍妮弗·洛佩茲和馬克·安東尼曾邀請(qǐng)朋友們到女方家里參加一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的午后聚會(huì)。不想二人要結(jié)婚的消息不脛而走，狗仔隊(duì)甚至出動(dòng)了直升機(jī)在洛佩茲家上空盯梢。妮可·基德曼也絞盡腦汁想讓自己和凱斯·厄本的婚禮悄悄進(jìn)行。她把時(shí)間安排在晚上6：30，希望黃昏能夠阻止那些窺探者的目光。據(jù)報(bào)道，她甚至雇了長(zhǎng)得很像自己的人假扮新娘。
For Hollywood celebrities, secrecy isn't of the "are they/aren't they?" type. Secrecy is about details of the wedding--the date, the dress, the number of dancing monkeys. These are kept under wraps to ensure exclusivity--often meaning exclusivity to one magazine.
對(duì)好萊塢的名人而言，所謂的秘密并非“他們是不是結(jié)婚了？”，而是婚禮的細(xì)節(jié)問(wèn)題：日期、著裝、豪華程度。為了確保媒體報(bào)道的獨(dú)家性，這些內(nèi)容通常被嚴(yán)格保密。
It's also a handy way to get a bit of self-promotion. "In a way, when these couples act very shy to the press and the public, it keeps the fires of interest burning even brighter," explained ex-OK! editor Sarah Ivens to USA Today. " If I was a smart person with an album to promote, I'd do it as well."
同時(shí)，這也是明星自我炒作的一條捷徑。前《OK》雜志總編輯莎拉·艾云斯在接受《今日美國(guó)》采訪時(shí)說(shuō)：“從某種程度上講，這些明星情侶越是在媒體和大眾前表現(xiàn)得十分害羞，人們對(duì)其反而越感興趣。如果我有張專輯要推廣，夠聰明的話我肯定也會(huì)這么做?！?/p>
Lau came into the public eye in the 80s, when being a celebrity was more about talent. Now it's about presence. There's dignity in Lau's attempt to save a private life, but he ends up looking out-of-date. It would be a shame if the rumors about their marriage were true since they've wasted that photo opportunity. Still, they can always do it again.
劉德華成名于20世紀(jì)80年代，那時(shí)候當(dāng)明星要靠才華。而現(xiàn)在，曝光率變得越來(lái)越重要。劉德華試圖給自己的私生活留一點(diǎn)尊嚴(yán)，結(jié)果卻顯得有些落伍了。如果兩人結(jié)婚的消息屬實(shí)，真可惜他錯(cuò)過(guò)了一個(gè)大賣(mài)婚禮照片的機(jī)會(huì)。不過(guò)，他們也可以再辦一次！
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（來(lái)源：北外網(wǎng)院，英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津編輯）
