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The first rule is...
第一條規則是……
Twenty-five years on, people are still talking about “Fight Club”.
二十五年之后，人們仍在談論《搏擊俱樂部》。
In the scheme of history, the late 1990s were—for many in the West—a kind of nirvana.
在歷史譜系中，20世紀90年代末——對于許多西方人來說——是一種涅槃超脫。
The cold war was won; liberal democracy was rampant.
冷戰勝利了，自由民主盛行。
The phantom millennium bug was as big a worry as any.
幽靈般縹緲的千禧年計算機漏洞問題都能算是與其他問題同樣重大的擔憂。（注：千禧年計算機漏洞指一些人認為到了2000年，許多計算機將無法準確識別日期，從而可能造成大范圍的基礎設施癱瘓，因為此前計算機只用后兩位表示日期，所以2000年與1900年將無法區分。）
In this becalmed era Chuck Palahniuk published “Fight Club”, his scabrous novel of male alienation, which the director David Fincher adapted for the screen.
在這個風平浪靜的時代，恰克·帕拉尼克出版了《搏擊俱樂部》，一部關于男性異化的粗野小說，導演大衛·芬奇將其改編成了電影。
Starring Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, the red-leather-jacketed id of modern man, the film had its premiere 25 years ago, in September 1999.
布拉德·皮特飾演泰勒·德登，一位身穿紅色皮夾克的現代男性的本我，電影于25年前的1999年9月首映。（注：本我是在潛意識中，受意識壓抑的欲望、需求、情感等。）
Contrary to the rules, people have never stopped talking about “Fight Club”, whether they consider it profound, offensive, pretentious or silly.
與電影中的規則相反，人們從未停止談論《搏擊俱樂部》，無論他們認為這部電影是深刻的、冒犯的、自負的還是愚蠢的。（注：電影中搏擊俱樂部的第一條規則是“永遠不要談論搏擊俱樂部”。）
Particularly among men of a certain age, it is a cultural monument of its era.
尤其是對某個年齡段的男性而言，這部電影是那個時代的一座文化豐碑。
As cult classics should, it had a limp run in cinemas but became a sensation on DVD, spawning copycat incidents, endless parodies and enduring controversy (its fascination with violence has been labelled “fascist”).
與邪典電影應該有的命運一樣，《搏擊俱樂部》的影院票房成績不佳，但在DVD上卻轟動一時，引發了模仿事件、無數的惡搞和持久的爭議（電影對暴力的癡迷被貼上了“法西斯主義”的標簽）。
A quarter of a century on it has lost none of its punch.
四分之一個世紀過去了，它的影響力絲毫未減。
The reverse is true. It resonates more today than in the tame late 1990s.
反之亦然。它在如今引起的共鳴比在平淡的20世紀90年代末更強烈。
Played by Edward Norton, the unnamed narrator meets Durden on a plane.
電影的無名敘述者（由愛德華·諾頓飾演）在飛機上遇到了德頓。
In contrast to the usual in-flight small talk, Durden is soon explaining how to make napalm (this is a story with a lot of amateur chemistry).
與在飛機上的通常閑聊不同的是，德頓很快就開始解釋如何制造凝固汽油炸彈（其中有很多業余化學知識）。
He works as a cinema projectionist, splicing frames of pornography into family movies, and as a waiter at banquets, where he pees in the lobster bisque.
德頓是電影院的放映員，會把色情片段剪接到家庭電影里，他還是宴會服務員，會在龍蝦濃湯里放精液。
For his part, the narrator is a wage-slave at the ultra-cynical end of capitalism: he calculates whether recalling faulty cars will cost or save the manufacturer money.
對他而言，諾頓飾演的敘述者是極端憤世嫉俗版本的資本主義中的工資奴隸：他計算召回有缺陷的汽車會讓汽車制造商花錢還是省錢。
Along with its noirish palette and air of insomniac hallucination, the film has a mega-twist that it is still a shame to give away.
這部電影不僅有著黑色電影的色調和失眠者的迷幻氛圍，還有一個巨大的反轉，劇透了仍然很可惜。
Suffice it to say that, after an explosion in his flat, the narrator moves into Durden’s crumbling mansion.
只需說，在敘述者的公寓發生爆炸后，他搬進了德頓的搖搖欲墜的廢棄豪宅。
They fight for kicks outside a bar; other men pick up their taste for blood and bare knuckles.
兩人在酒吧外打了一架以尋求刺激，其他人則像他倆一樣喜歡上了流血和赤手搏斗。
Brawling is an ecstasy that dispels the anaesthesia of modern life.
打架斗毆能帶來一種驅除現代生活麻木感的狂喜。
Amid all the thwacking and bleeding in dank basements—and the shots of Mr Pitt’s glistening torso—“Fight Club” is pugnaciously political.
除了陰冷地下室里的打斗和流血——還有布拉德·皮特因流汗而亮晶晶的赤裸上身——《搏擊俱樂部》也是一部充滿斗爭意味的政治電影。
But its politics are confused.
但其政治立場混亂不清。
First it takes a swing at the false promises and deadening satiety of consumerism.
首先，它對消費主義的虛假承諾和令人麻木的飽足感揮了一記重拳。
“The things you own”, Durden declares, “end up owning you.”
“你擁有的東西，” 德頓宣稱，“最終會成為你的主人。”
Later, when he bemoans the plight of the downtrodden proletariat, the problem is not too much affluence but too little.
后來，當他哀嘆被壓迫的無產階級的困境時，他又說問題不是財富太多，而是太少。
The ideology on show is a hazy anarcho-nihilism, with the odd environmental flourish.
電影所展示的意識形態是一種模糊的無政府虛無主義，帶有奇怪的環保主義色彩。
Yet now, especially, there is wisdom within this incoherence.
然而尤其是現在，這種不一致性其實蘊含著智慧。
Indeed, the incoherence is itself an insight.
的確，這種不一致性本身就是一種洞察。
Consider the radicalisation process in the movie.
想一想電影中的激化過程。
As ever more unfulfilled men join the club, the aims and activities escalate.
隨著越來越多空虛的男性加入俱樂部，其宗旨和活動也在不斷升級。
From knocking one another’s teeth out, an elite cohort moves on to vandalism and assault, then onwards to revolution.
從打掉彼此的牙齒開始，一群精英接著進行了蓄意破壞和攻擊，然后進行了革命。
Fans have debated whether the film sympathises with the aggrieved masculinity it depicts or sends it up.
粉絲們一直在爭論這部電影是同情它所描繪的憤憤不平的男子氣概，還是在挖苦它。
Here it is clearly tipping into satire.
電影顯然更傾向于諷刺挖苦。
At the same time, the process itself is authentic.
同時，這個激化過程本身是真實的。
In addition to its official rules (the first rule is…never mind), the club demands total loyalty and obedience.
除了俱樂部的正式規則（第一條規則是……算了不說了），這個俱樂部還要求絕對的忠誠和服從。
Next comes brainwashing, and, as Durden’s plans spiral into fanaticism, a fateful step from private hobby to public crimes.
接下來是洗腦，隨著德頓的計劃陷入狂熱，俱樂部邁出了從私人愛好到公共犯罪的致命一步。
When a recruit is in, he is in for good—and bad.
當一名新人加入時，他會一直留在隊伍里，并做壞事。
This cycle has played out repeatedly in the past 25 years, sped up by the internet.
在過去的25年里，這個循環一再上演，而互聯網加速了這一進程。
And, yes, it has mostly involved men.
而且，是的，參加這個過程的主要是男性。
It is hard now to watch the skyscrapers collapse at the end of “Fight Club” without remembering the Twin Towers and al-Qaeda.
現在觀看《搏擊俱樂部》結尾處的摩天大樓倒塌，很難不想到雙子塔和破壞雙子塔的基地組織。
Listen to the characters complain about women, and you think of noxious macho influencers and their online acolytes, or the derangements of the incel movement.
聽電影中的人物抱怨女性，你會想到有毒的大男子主義網紅和他們的網絡追隨者，或者非自愿獨身者運動的瘋狂言行。（注：非自愿獨身者指因為沒有能力找到伴侶而被迫單身的人，一部分的這些人會對女性發表惡意言論。）
The paramilitary outfits evoke America’s posturing right-wing militias.
電影中類似軍隊的服裝讓人想起美國那些裝腔作勢的右翼民兵。
Meanwhile the film illuminates an overlooked motive for some of the ills of this more troubled age.
與此同時，這部電影揭示了在如今這個問題更多的時代，一些弊病背后的一個被忽視的動機是什么。
Durden and his peers, he says, are “the middle children of history”, with no great war or cause to call their own.
德頓說，他和他的同齡人是“歷史的排行中間的孩子”，沒有屬于自己的偉大戰爭或事業。
In 1999 this gripe reflected the ennui of some in Generation X, who grew up into a pale, complacent world.
在1999年，這種抱怨反映了一些X世代成長在一個蒼白無活力、自以為一切都很好的世界里而產生的無聊情緒。（注：X世代是出生于60年代中期至70年代末的人。）
It also captures one reason why, today, some citizens of prosperous countries become convinced their lives are bereft, so turn to warped ideas and fiery leaders.
這種抱怨還抓住了一個原因，即為什么在當今時代，一些富裕國家的公民確信他們的生活被剝奪了，因此轉向扭曲的想法和激進的領導人。
The characters in “Fight Club” grope for a grievance to justify their rage, but its real wellspring is a gnawing feeling, less radical than banal.
《搏擊俱樂部》中的人物摸索著尋找一種憤憤不平的事，來為他們的憤怒辯護，但憤怒的真正源泉其實是一種長時間折磨人的感覺，與其說是激進，不如說是平庸。
At bottom, they are just plain bored.
在內心深處，他們只是單純地感到無聊罷了。
