Much ado has been made about Andy Lau and his "girlfriend" Carol Chu recently, not least from Sin Chew Daily, who labeled a photo of them hand-in-hand leaving KL International Airport in Malaysia "the photo of the century". Lau's appearance at Chu's father's funeral led to some guessing. Then, in a letter on his official website, Lau confirmed his marriage to Chu, apologized to his fans and cleared rumors that have been circulating for 24 years. Twenty-four years? They may have a child for goodness sake.
近来，刘德华和“女友”朱丽倩被推到了风头浪尖上。之前《星洲日报》曾刊登两人十指紧扣离开马来西亚吉隆坡国际机场的照片，该照被称为“世纪之照”。而刘德华在朱丽倩父亲葬礼上的现身更是引发猜议纷纷。之后，刘德华终于在自己的官网上证实已与朱丽倩结婚，澄清了流传24年之久的传言，并向粉丝们道歉。24年？天哪，他们可能连孩子都有了！
But give credit to Lau for sticking to his principles. As old-fashioned, unnecessary and hollow as his principles may seem, 24 years is a long time to pretend you don't have a girlfriend.
我们该称赞一下坚持原则的刘德华。或许这种原则看起来有些过时、毫无必要甚至虚伪，但24年假装没女友也绝非易事。
Young celebrities are much more open about their relationships. In July, Liu Ye married French photographer Anais Martane and photos were soon released showing them kissing and flirting. Yuan Quan and Xia Yu, who have been similarly open about their romance, just anounced their marriage to the public.
如今年轻明星们对待恋情的态度则更为开放。今年7月，刘烨和他的法国摄影师女友安娜伊丝·马田正式结婚，二人亲吻调请的照片不久便公开流传了。同样，袁泉和夏雨对待恋情也十分大方，二人新近公布了结婚的消息。
For Western celebrities, being secretive about a relationship is a short-lived affair. Paparazzi pictures of the "couple" soon lead to confirmation. Besides, celebrities can profit. In Hollywood there isn't a more money-making deal than hooking up with a fellow celeb. Think of the earning machine that Brad and Angelina are.
而西方明星们只会对那些新恋情遮遮掩掩。绯闻男女一旦被狗仔队拍到照片，关系基本上也就明确了。此外，明星自己也能从中获利。在好莱坞，没有什么比跟明星家庭有关更赚钱的了。想想“印钞机”布拉德和安吉丽娜吧。
Celebs soon learn they can cash in on their wedding by signing contracts with magazines worth millions of dollars. David and Victoria Beckham set the standard in 1999, when they sold their pictures to OK! for a record 2 million. Britney Spears and Kevin Federline followed suit, selling their pictures to OK!
名人们很快就知道如何利用婚礼来赚钱了——他们会和杂志社签署价值数百万美元的合同。1999年，贝克汉姆夫妇为此树立了一个标杆——他们以200万美元的价格将照片卖给了《OK》杂志。之后，布兰妮和和凯文·费德林照猫画虎，也将照片卖给了该杂志。
While being open about the fact that they are engaged, most celebrities will attempt to keep the ceremony a secret. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony told friends to gather at Lopez's home for a simple "afternoon party". The news that it was their wedding got out and paparazzi helicopters circled the house. Nicole Kidman went to extreme lengths to keep her wedding to Keith Urban private. She set the time at 6.30 pm so that the dark would keep out snooping eyes, and reportedly hired false brides to look like her.
虽然西方明星对结婚并不保密，他们仍会让婚礼充满神秘色彩。珍妮弗·洛佩兹和马克·安东尼曾邀请朋友们到女方家里参加一个简单的午后聚会。不想二人要结婚的消息不胫而走，狗仔队甚至出动了直升机在洛佩兹家上空盯梢。妮可·基德曼也绞尽脑汁想让自己和凯斯·厄本的婚礼悄悄进行。她把时间安排在晚上6：30，希望黄昏能够阻止那些窥探者的目光。据报道，她甚至雇了长得很像自己的人假扮新娘。
For Hollywood celebrities, secrecy isn't of the "are they/aren't they?" type. Secrecy is about details of the wedding--the date, the dress, the number of dancing monkeys. These are kept under wraps to ensure exclusivity--often meaning exclusivity to one magazine.
对好莱坞的名人而言，所谓的秘密并非“他们是不是结婚了？”，而是婚礼的细节问题：日期、着装、豪华程度。为了确保媒体报道的独家性，这些内容通常被严格保密。
It's also a handy way to get a bit of self-promotion. "In a way, when these couples act very shy to the press and the public, it keeps the fires of interest burning even brighter," explained ex-OK! editor Sarah Ivens to USA Today. " If I was a smart person with an album to promote, I'd do it as well."
同时，这也是明星自我炒作的一条捷径。前《OK》杂志总编辑莎拉·艾云斯在接受《今日美国》采访时说：“从某种程度上讲，这些明星情侣越是在媒体和大众前表现得十分害羞，人们对其反而越感兴趣。如果我有张专辑要推广，够聪明的话我肯定也会这么做。”
Lau came into the public eye in the 80s, when being a celebrity was more about talent. Now it's about presence. There's dignity in Lau's attempt to save a private life, but he ends up looking out-of-date. It would be a shame if the rumors about their marriage were true since they've wasted that photo opportunity. Still, they can always do it again.
刘德华成名于20世纪80年代，那时候当明星要靠才华。而现在，曝光率变得越来越重要。刘德华试图给自己的私生活留一点尊严，结果却显得有些落伍了。如果两人结婚的消息属实，真可惜他错过了一个大卖婚礼照片的机会。不过，他们也可以再办一次！
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（来源：北外网院，英语点津编辑）
