Ticket sales for popular singer Taylor Swift’s first live performances in years went very poorly this month —and her fans are angry.
本月,流行歌手泰勒·斯威夫特多年來首次現場演出的門票銷售情況非常糟糕,她的粉絲非常憤怒。
Swift’s fans want people to know that they are not young anymore.
斯威夫特的粉絲想讓人們知道,他們已經不再年輕了。
They have jobs and resources.
他們有工作和資源。
That is a powerful political driver, researchers say.
研究人員表示,這是一個強大的政治推動力。
The problems started November 15 when millions of young people tried to use the service Ticketmaster to buy tickets for Swift’s Eras Tour.
問題始于11月15日,當時數百萬年輕人試圖使用Ticketmaster平臺購買斯威夫特名為Eras巡回演出的門票。
But their efforts resulted in computer problems, long waits and hurried purchases.
但他們的努力導致了電腦問題、漫長的等待和匆忙的購買。
Two days later, Ticketmaster had canceled the sale, saying there were not enough remaining tickets.
兩天后,Ticketmaster取消了門票銷售,稱剩余門票不夠了。
Swift herself said she was upset.
斯威夫特本人表示,她很難過。
Ticketmaster, a company based in Beverley Hills, California, apologized.
總部位于加利福尼亞州貝弗利山的Ticketmaster公司道歉。
But now fans, who call themselves Swifties, and politicians have started acting on the frustration.
但現在,自稱Swifties的粉絲和政客們開始針對這種挫敗感采取行動。
U.S. House Representative from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez directed Swift fans to the U.S. Department of Justice to make complaints.
來自紐約的美國眾議院眾議員亞歷山德里亞·奧卡西奧-科爾特斯引導斯威夫特的粉絲到美國司法部投訴。
Several state officials have announced investigations.
一些州政府官員已宣布對此展開調查。
Stephanie Aly is a New York-based professional who has worked on community organizing for political causes.
斯蒂芬妮·艾麗是紐約的一名專業人士,她致力于為政治事業而組織社區。
She thinks using groups of fans, called fandoms, for social progress is a good idea.
她認為利用粉絲群體來促進社會進步是一個好主意。
“Fandoms are natural organizers,” said the 33-year-old Aly.
33歲的艾麗說:“粉絲是天生的組織者。”
“If you find the right issues and you activate them and engage them then you can effect real change.”
“如果你發現了正確的問題,并動員他們,讓他們參與進來,那么你就能產生真正的變化。”
For example, K-pop fans, who follow Korean popular music groups, organized to support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
例如,關注韓國流行音樂組合的韓國流行音樂粉絲們在2020年組織了支持“黑人的命也是命”的運動。
Aly and other Swifties who work in different industries have teamed up to create Vigilante Legal.
艾麗和其他在不同行業工作的Swifties聯手創建了Vigilante Legal。
The group is made up of people with experience in law, public relations, cybersecurity and other fields.
該組織由在法律、公共關系、網絡安全等領域有經驗的人士組成。
It is targeting Ticketmaster by creating emails to petition top state lawyers, or attorneys general, and to provide antitrust information.
它針對Ticketmaster的做法是,創建電子郵件向州高級律師或總檢察長請愿,并提供反壟斷信息。
Thousands have expressed interest in helping.
數千人表示有興趣提供幫助。
“The level of anger that you’ve just seen in the country around this issue is astounding,” said Jean Sinzdak.
讓·辛茲達克說:“你在這個國家看到的人們對這個問題的憤怒程度是令人震驚的。”
She is with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
她就職于新澤西州羅格斯大學美國婦女與政治中心。
Sinzdak said the ticket problems are giving Swift’s many young fans a direct line to learning how policy is created.
辛茲達克表示,門票問題讓斯威夫特的許多年輕粉絲有機會直接了解政策是如何制定的。
The movement also is targeting young women who politicians often do not consider during election season.
這場運動還瞄準了年輕女性,而政客們在選舉期間通常不會考慮她們的問題。
“Nobody goes out and thinks, ‘Let’s target young women,’” said Gwen Nisbett, a University of North Texas professor.
北得克薩斯大學教授格溫·尼斯貝特說:“沒有人會出去想,‘我們把目標對準年輕女性吧’。”
She researches the connection between political activism and popular culture.
她研究政治激進主義和流行文化之間的聯系。
“Be it about abortion or student loans, that age group is super mobilized and young women are super mobilized.”
“無論是有關墮胎還是學生貸款的問題,這個年齡段的人都是非常積極的,年輕女性也是非常積極的。”
Being part of a fan community increases the chance of mobilization, Nisbett said.
尼斯貝特說,成為粉絲社區的一員會增加動員的機會。
She has studied developments that took place in 2018.
她研究了2018年發生的事的發展狀況。
At that time, Swift, who had been non-political, gave her support to Democratic candidates for office on social media.
當時,斯威夫特是非政治人士,她在社交媒體上對民主黨候選人表示了支持。
Nisbett found that such social media efforts do not decide fans' votes.
尼斯貝特發現,這樣的社交媒體行為并不能決定粉絲的投票。
But they influence fans to look for more information and to possibly vote.
但它們會影響粉絲去尋找更多信息,甚至可能會去投票。
This is not the first time fans or artists have targeted Ticketmaster.
這并不是粉絲或藝術家第一次把矛頭指向Ticketmaster。
The band Pearl Jam targeted the company in 1994 although the Justice Department decided not to bring a legal case against the company.
珍珠醬樂隊在1994年將矛頭指向該公司,盡管司法部決定不對該公司提起法律訴訟。
More recently, Bruce Springsteen fans were angered over high ticket prices because of Ticketmaster’s pricing system.
最近,布魯斯·斯普林斯汀的粉絲因為Ticketmaster的定價系統造成的高票價而感到憤怒。
Aly noted that many of the members of her group did get tickets.
艾麗指出,她組織中的許多成員確實搶到了票。
But she said the issue is bigger than Ticketmaster.
但她表示,這個問題比Ticketmaster更嚴重。
“…There are always enough of us to make a difference,” Aly said.
艾麗說:“……我們總有足夠的人來做出改變。”
She added: “Your involvement may be the thing that pushes it over the edge that forces the government to act.”
她還說:“你的參與可能是迫使政府采取行動的關鍵因素。”
I’m Dan Novak.
丹·諾瓦克為您播報。
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