常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

the force may be strong with Disney

タイトルのthe force may be strong with Disneyは、『スター・ウォーズ』のエピソードで必ず発せられる台詞のもじりです。もともとはmay the force be with youで、「フォースと共にあらんことを」と訳されます。このmayのかたちは祈願・願望文で表現されMay you be very happy. May the new year bring you happiness!などの文でも見られます。

リードのmasterも『スター・ウォーズ』流に言えば「ジェダイの師範」のことを指します。スター・ウォーズ・ファンとしては、ニヤっとさせる表現の多い記事です。

さらに記事の冒頭のA long time ago, in a galaxy far far awayも同じく『スター・ウォーズ』で必ず表れる言葉で、最初のopening crawlで流れます。

そしてなんといっても最後のa New Hopeは、もちろん『スター・ウォーズ・エピソード4』のオリジナル・タイトルのことですね。これはタイトルとディズニーがルーカス・フィルムを買収したことをかけています。新しいスター・ウォーズのシリーズが流れてしまったら世界中のファンは“Never tell me the odds”と言うのでしょう。(Othello)

Star Wars: the force may be strong with Disney | Film | The Guardian
In a galaxy far far away, before the days of CGI, there were Star Wars films that people loved. And Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm may yet find a new dawn without the master

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away … there were decent Star Wars films that didn't consume viewers with rage and disgust. Movies that purloined the best bits from boys' own comics and adventure serials, then added pseudo-oriental mysticism for good measure. Films that used cutting edge special effects to imagine advanced technologies in distant galaxies at a time when computers were still in their infancy, yet still looked more realistic than many of today's pixel-fests. Then came the dark days of digital tinkering, CGI Jabba the Hutt and damn Jar Jar Binks. But now … just maybe … there is a New Hope.
(中略)
Disney has the clout and the contacts to recruit directors with the vision to take audiences into a new era of Jedi Knights, Sith Lords, lightsabers and Death Stars. Imagine The Phantom Menace if The Avengers' Joss Whedon had been brought in to rewrite the dialogue, or Attack of the Clones with Andrew Stanton at the helm instead of Lucas himself. Cynics might respond that the odds of a new Star Wars movie being anything less than terrible are about the same as those for successfully navigating an asteroid field (3,720 to one according to C-3PO in The Empire Strikes Back). I would have to reply: "Never tell me the odds."

Never Tell Me the Odds | Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back | StarWars.com