Lost in translation: Friends may fail to show
( 2004-01-16 11:32) (China.org.cn)
The plan of China Central
Television (CCTV) to introduce the popular play Friends from the National
Broadcasting Company (NBC) of the United States may get stranded, according to
Wednesday's Shanghai Morning Post.
 Qin Mingxin, deputy director of the international
department of CCTV's Entertainment Program Center, recently feels greatly
worried about the work. "I had thought the play focused on friendship, but after
a careful preview I found each episode had something to do with sex. Also, the
attitudes of the six close-knit young friends in the play cannot be generally
accepted by Chinese audiences yet," he said. "We will face many problems in
translation and abridgement, but I'm unwilling to give it up."
According to Qin, a group of experts have been invited to review and evaluate
Friends, including old and young people as well as skillful English
practitioners and experienced TV workers. They came to the same conclusion: too
many difficulties! "Though the play is a TV series divided into 10 seasons, the
story is consistent. If we cut off some parts concentrated on sex, the
continuity of the play will be interrupted," Qin said.
In mid February, Friends will come to an end at NBC and bid farewell to its
eager audiences, which has been a great hit with American TV audiences for a
decade. CCTV had planned to take this opportunity to let the play debut here.
With 10 seasons altogether, each containing 24 episodes and each episode lasting
25 minutes, CCTV-8 would bring out two episodes in its "Overseas Theater" every
night starting from 22:45 and go on for half a year.
 However, the "nice" plan may have to be aborted. "Most
youths on the Chinese mainland have watched the play and feel passionate about
it. If we make too much trimming, I'm afraid they will not agree. But it is also
impossible to accept it uncritically," Qin explained. "First, a large number of
slang and jokes are hard to convey. Language is an important criterion in
judging the excellence of situation comedy. If translation falls short of
requirements, the viewing effect will subside. Second, much content of Friends,
considered healthy in the United States, still seems unacceptable to the
Chinese. This is totally different from introducing operas from the Republic of
Korea, for Koreans have similar ethics and values as the Chinese."
Qin said they even thought of making a concession: cutting one or two
episodes each season as Friends is a situation comedy, which demands little
consistency between plots. "But this would destroy the overall structure of the
play. If we introduce it, we must satisfy our audiences," said Qin.
Now the expert group are working hard and racking their brains to find a more
satisfactory decision. Everyone hopes to realize the introduction, but more
feasible suggestions are called for.
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