At no point did I think superheroes would become such a huge part of my life. As a kid, I looked at them, and I saw everything I wasn't. They had big muscles, supermodel good looks, and phenomenal cosmic powers. And me? I kind of looked like this, except shorter and with frizzier hair, and I never felt powerful. I was always just one big ball of nervous, soft energy, and superheroes, much like the bullies at school, didn't seem to have a lot of room for that, for me. So I stayed away. And besides, who needs superheroes when you're surrounded by Puerto Rican women from the Bronx?
我從來沒有想過超級英雄 會成為我人生中這麼重要的一部分。 小時候,我看著他們, 看到的是他們有,而我卻沒有的。 他們有大肌肉、 名模的好看外表, 和非凡的宇宙能力。 那我呢? 我看起來就像這個樣子, 只是更矮且頭髮更鬈曲, 且我從來不覺得我有什麼能力。 我向來就只是 一團緊張、軟弱的能量, 而超級英雄, 就像是學校裡的霸王孩子, 似乎沒有許多空間 容納那能量,容納我。 所以我躲得遠遠的。 此外,當你身邊都是 來自布朗克斯區的 波多黎各女子, 誰還需要超級英雄?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
My tías were cops and paramedics, my abuelas were seamstresses and sold jewelry up the street, and my mom got her master's degree in education and taught kindergarten in New York City public schools for over 30 years. So my superheroes were sitting around the dinner table with me.
我的阿姨是警察和醫務人員, 我的祖母是女裁縫師 且在街上賣珠寶, 我媽媽取得了教育碩士學位, 在紐約市公立學校教幼稚園孩子, 長達三十年。 我的超級英雄就是 和我同桌共進晚餐的那些人。
And I don't know how much time you've spent with Puerto Rican women from the Bronx, but we're also some of the world's greatest storytellers. And I'd sit there at my grandmother's dining room table and I'd listen to the women in my family tell these wild, rambunctious tales about navigating their lives in the Bronx. And I wanted to be them so bad. But I wasn't tough like them either. So mostly, I listened, and I soaked it in, and I found myself gravitating to the soft threads in their stories, and I wrote those down. The funny, the goofy, the gentle -- those were my in to storytelling, so much so that I wrote a young-adult novel called "Juliet Takes a Breath," about a chubby, queer Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx navigating sexuality, family and identity. And on the strength of "Juliet," Marvel Comics tapped me to write the solo series for their first-ever Latina lesbian superhero, America Chavez.
我不知道你們花過多少時間和來自 布朗克斯區的波多黎各女子相處, 但我們也是世界上頂尖的說故事者。 我會坐在我祖母的餐桌邊, 聽著我家中的女性 訴說她們在布朗克斯區 過生活的狂野、熱鬧的故事。 我好想要成為她們。 但我也沒有她們那麼強悍。 所以,我通常只是聽, 我沉浸在其中, 我發現我自己被她們故事中的 柔軟思路給牽引著, 我把這些都寫下了。 有趣的事、愚蠢的事、 溫柔的事—— 那些是我進入說故事的門路, 足以讓我寫出了一本青春小說, 書名叫《茱麗葉緩口氣》, 故事講的是一位豐腴的波多黎各 酷兒女孩,來自布朗克斯區, 在性向、家庭, 和身分中尋找方向。 拜「茱麗葉」所賜, 漫威漫畫找我來為他們史上第一個 拉丁美洲裔的女同志 超級英雄寫單獨的系列: 《艾美莉卡查韋斯》。
Yeah!
是啊!
(Cheers)
(歡呼)
(Laughter) Listen, OK. Created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta for the Marvel miniseries "Vengeance," America Chavez has been in the Marvel Universe for over seven years. She's tough, Latina, and she's so strong that she can punch portals into other dimensions.
(笑聲) 聽著,好。 艾美莉卡查韋斯是由喬凱西 和尼克德拉戈塔為漫威的短連載 《復仇者聯盟》所創造的角色, 已經存在於漫威宇宙 至少七年了。 她很強悍,是拉丁美洲裔, 她非常強壯,能夠打出 通往其他次元的傳送口。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I know, right?
我知道,是吧?
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And people were so excited, because finally, someone who shared her identities -- queer and Latina -- would be writing her story. And I saw that, right? And also, when I looked at America, I saw a young Latina in survival mode. See, because her moms had sacrificed themselves to the universe when she was a kid, and she'd been on her own ever since. No wonder she had to be tough. And that link, that link of having to be tough, that rested heavy with me. Like I said, I'm from the Bronx, and the Bronx is tough, tough like walking past sidewalk memorials and dodging cop towers on your way to the train type of tough. When stuff happens that's bad, people are like, "Yo, you gotta keep it moving. You gotta keep trucking. Don't cry. Don't let it get to you." And my mom and my tías and my abuelas, I never saw them take a moment to rest or to invest in self-care. And their soft? It never left the house.
大家都好興奮, 因為,終於,一個有著 和她相同身分的人—— 拉丁美洲裔的酷兒—— 要來主筆她的故事。 我看到了那一點,對吧? 此外,當我看著艾美莉卡時, 我看到一個拉丁美洲裔 年輕人在求生存。 因為,在她小時候,她的媽媽們 為了宇宙而犧牲了自己, 她從此之後就一直靠自己。 難怪她需要很強悍。 而那連結, 那必須要強悍起來的連結, 那主要是取決於我。 我說過,我來自布朗克斯區, 而布朗克斯區很強悍, 所謂的強悍是在去搭火車的路上 要經過人行道上的紀念碑 且要躲開警察塔。 當不好的事情發生,大家會說: 「你得繼續向前走。繼續向前 開車。別哭。別讓它影響你。」 至於我媽媽、阿姨,和祖母, 我從來沒有看過她們有時間休息 或是花在自我照顧上。 她們的軟弱面呢? 從不曾帶出家門。
And so that was the first thing that I wanted to give to America, the thing that I wished I'd been able to give to my abuelas and my tías, the thing that I'm trying to give to my mom now: permission to be soft. Like, it's OK to sit in silence and go on a journey just to discover yourself, and your pain will make you crumble and you will fall and you will need to ask people for help, and that's OK, and that being vulnerable is good for us.
所以這是我想要給予 艾美莉卡的第一樣東西, 我希望我當初能給予 我的阿姨和祖母的東西, 我現在正在試圖給予我媽媽的東西: 能展現軟弱的許可。 像是可以沉默地坐著, 單純為了發現自我而去旅行沒關係, 你的痛苦會讓你崩潰, 且你會摔跤, 你會需要向他人求助, 那是沒關係的, 脆弱對我們來說是好的。
But see, I didn't come to all this compassion and healing stuff like, you know, out of nowhere, and so when it came to America's story, I wanted to give her the space to be human, to mess up, and to find soft on her own.
但,我並不是平白無故就生出 這些同理心和療癒的東西, 所以,針對艾美莉卡的故事, 我想要給她空間, 讓她可以當人類,可以搞砸, 可以靠她自己找到軟弱。
So she kind of had to quit her day job. You know what I'm saying? I had to give her a superhero sabbatical,
所以她得要辭掉她白天的工作。 你們懂我的意思嗎? 我得要給她超級英雄的公休日,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
and the first thing I did was enroll her in Justice Sonia Sotomayor University.
是讓她就讀 正義索尼婭索托瑪約大學。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Because where else would she feel safe and represented and liberated but a university dedicated to the first Puerto Rican woman nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States? And her first class is "Intergalactic Revolutionaries and You," and America is so excited, she's ready to show off her strength, she's ready to show off her portal-punching skills,
因為唯一能讓她感到安全、 被充分代表、且自由解放的地方, 就是獻給美國最高法院提名的 第一位波多黎各女子的大學了。 她的第一堂課是 「銀河革命者與你」, 艾美莉卡很興奮, 她已經準備好炫耀她的力量, 她已經準備好炫耀 能打開傳送口的技能,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
and I stripped that safety net from her right away. And I limited her powers, and I changed up her location and shook up her world, because that is what college is like,
而我馬上拿掉了她的安全保護網。 我限制了她的能力, 我改變了她的所在, 且撼動了她的世界, 因為大學就是這樣子的,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
especially if you're alone. But I didn't want America to be alone for long, and so in a homework assignment gone totally wrong, she lands on a battlefield with the X-Men.
特別是當你孤單一人時。 但我並不希望艾美莉卡 一直都孤單一人, 所以,有一次回家作業大出包, 她和 X 戰警一起降落在一個戰場上。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Because, when I was in college, the Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas was my mentor, and I knew that America Chavez needed one, too. And who better to mentor America Chavez than Storm, the first black female superhero and one of the most powerful members of the X-Men? Nobody, that's who.
因為,當我讀大學時, 凱利道格拉斯布朗牧師是我的導師, 我知道艾美莉卡查韋斯 也需要一個導師。 誰會比暴風女更適合 當艾美莉卡查韋斯的導師? 她是第一個黑人 女性超級英雄角色, 也是 X 戰警中最強大的成員之一。 沒有人比她更適合。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And Storm teaches America how to quiet her mind inside of a star portal, and when America quiets her mind, she opens up the dimensions, and in that silence, she can listen for anything and anyone. And no one has ever offered her silence and deep reflection as a way to be powerful. And at first, she rejects it, but with Storm's encouragement, it clicks, and America quiets the world around her, and she leans into a deep vulnerability. I mean, her and Storm even hug. I know. And that's because my mentors loved me enough to encourage me to investigate myself and my ancestors, and when you're 19, how do you even know what that means? I didn't learn about the history of my people in college. I learned about the history of my people sitting on my grandmother's lap when she pulled out the photo album and she named everyone that was here and everyone still left on the island.
在一個星際傳送口內, 暴風女教導艾美莉卡 如何讓她的心靈平靜下來, 當艾美莉卡的心靈平靜下來, 她便開啟了其他次元, 在那沉靜之中,她能夠 聽見任何事物、任何人。 從來沒有人教過她, 沉靜和深刻的反思是 可以成為變強大的一種方式。 一開始,她會排拒, 但靠著暴風女的鼓勵, 成功了, 艾美莉卡讓她周圍的世界靜下來, 她進入了更深的脆弱。 我是指,她和暴風女甚至會擁抱。 我知道。 那是因為我的導師愛我愛到足以 鼓勵我去探究我自己和我的祖先, 當你十九歲時,你怎麼 會知道那是什麼意思? 我並沒有在大學時學到 關於我的族人的知識。 我是坐在我祖母的膝上時學到的, 她會把相簿拿出來, 她會指出在這裡的每個人, 及仍然被留在島上的每個人。
So obviously, I had to crash-land a grandma on America Chavez, and not just any grandma -- a big, strong, luchador grandma, one that loved her enough to take her to the ancestral plain, where America Chavez could see the history of her people play out in the skies above.
很明顯,我得要丟一個祖母 給艾美莉卡查韋斯, 且不是任何祖母—— 是個高大強壯會摔角的祖母, 這個祖母非常愛她, 因此帶她到祖先的平原, 在那裡,艾美莉卡查韋斯 能夠看到她的族人的歷史, 在天空上呈現出來。
And America gets to see Planeta Fuertona, the birth planet of her grandmother, and she sees it get invaded, and she sees her grandmother and her mom flee. And she also sees the joy that they experience when their new homeland accepts them openly and offers them tremendous care. She gets to see great pain met with even greater compassion, and that's right alongside the tremendous strength of her family. And so everywhere that I could, right, I wrote her little love notes for her and for all the other queer kids of color trying to be magnificent. Like, when you lose yourself, dig deep into your ancestry, because you will find the pieces there.
艾美莉卡得以看到佛雷托納星, 那是她祖母出生的星球, 她看到那個星球被入侵, 她看到她祖母和她媽媽逃亡。 她也看到,當她們的新家鄉 很開放地接受她們 並熱心照顧她們時, 她們所經歷的喜悅。 她看見很大的痛苦 遇上更大的同情, 那伴隨著她的家庭 所擁有的強大力量。 所以,在任何適合的地方, 我都會寫給她愛的小紙條, 給她,也給所有試著想要有所為的 有色人種酷兒孩子。 像是,當你失去自我的時候, 不妨深入探究你的祖先, 因為你可以在那裡找到一些片段。
And also, reminders that soft is not a pass to duck, to hide, to be silent, to cower. Soft is also a push to hold ourselves accountable. Kind of like when America lands in World War II and comes face-to-face with Hitler, and she knocks him the hell out ...
那也會提醒你,軟弱並不表示 閃躲、躲藏、沉默、懦弱。 軟弱同時也是一種推力, 要讓我們自己負責。 就有一點像當艾美莉卡 參與第二次世界大戰時, 她和希特勒面對面, 把他海扁一頓……
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
just like Captain America did in 1941, and who knew we'd need America Chavez to punch Nazis in 2018.
就像是 1941 年美國隊長所做的, 當時誰會料到 2018 年我們會需要 艾美莉卡查韋斯來修理納粹。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And even that, that justified act kind of wrecks her a little bit, so I made sure that she linked up with her best friend, and they talk feelings and they go on a road trip and they sing "Just a Girl" by No Doubt at the top of their lungs.
即使那舉動有著正當的理由, 仍然讓她有些受挫, 所以我確保她 和她最好的朋友有連結, 她們能談感受, 能一起來一趟公路之旅, 她們會聲嘶力竭地唱「不要懷疑」 合唱團的「只是個女孩」。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And when Midas, a sinister corporation, takes control of Sotomayor, threatens to ban portals and almost kills America ... her ancestors reach for her ... because they know that she needs to heal. And it is that burst of care, that healing, that gives her the fuel to defeat Midas and reclaim herself.
當邁德斯,一家邪惡的企業, 控制了索托瑪約, 威脅要禁止傳送口 且幾乎殺了艾美莉卡…… 她的祖先向她伸出援手…… 因為他們知道她需要治癒。 正是那突發的照顧、治癒, 給了她動力, 來打敗邁德斯並改造她自己。
See, because that myth of having to go it alone and having to be tough ... doesn't serve us. America Chavez is a whole superhero, and she still needed a team of support to help her find herself. And she needed that gentleness, the type of gentleness that is rooted in compassion and still very much invested in justice and liberation. Because it's in that space where softness and vulnerability meet strength that we transcend our everyday selves, that we become something greater, something majestic, maybe even something super.
因為那種必須要獨自一人, 且必須要強悍的謎思…… 並不適合我們。 艾美莉卡查韋斯 是一個完整的超級英雄, 她還是需要一個團隊來支持她, 協助她找到自我。 她需要那種溫柔, 那種深根在同情當中, 且同時也仍然 投入在正義和自由當中的溫柔。 因為正是在軟弱和脆弱 碰上力量的那個空間中, 我們才能超越日常的自我, 才能變得更了不起、更崇高, 甚至變得更超級。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)