Netflix翻拍版《另一个世界》（A Different World）的前几集，读起来仿佛直接取材于近期的新闻头条。虚构的希尔曼学院（Hillman College）——这个我们近40年前在NBC电视台首次接触到的角色——正面临着针对传统黑人大学（HBCU）的联邦预算削减，以及所谓的“招生管理”问题和破败不堪的设施。剧中还呼应了当今学生强烈的地缘政治意识，他们延续了过往HBCU学生激进的传统，进行抗议和示威。我们看到他们抱怨着与父母几十年前居住过的宿舍同样破败不堪，并应对“清退日”——那些无法支付学费的学生会被强制退学。
The first episodes of Netflix’s reboot of “A Different Word” feel like they were ripped from recent headlines. The fictional Hillman College, which we were first introduced to almost 40 years ago on NBC, is struggling with federal budget cuts to historically Black colleges and universities, with what’s called enrollment management and dilapidated facilities. There are also nods to the current geopolitical consciousness of today’s students, who are protesting and demonstrating in keeping with the radical tradition of HBCU students of past years. We see them complaining about the same crumbling dormitories their parents occupied decades earlier and dealing with “purge day,” when those who can’t pay their tuition are unenrolled.
此外，剧中还有一位明星运动员，他的父亲——原剧中的主要角色之一——担心儿子选择留在希尔曼学院是放弃了更好的机会，认为如果去一所白人为主的学校，他就能享受到更好的设施和“姓名、形象和肖像权”（NIL）带来的收入。通过这种方式，该剧赤裸裸地揭示了众多HBCU及其学生正在艰难应对的现实。
There’s also the star athlete whose father — a prominent character in the original series — worries that his son is forsaking better opportunities by playing for Hillman and would have access to better facilities and NIL money if he played at a predominantly white school. In this way, the series lays bare the realities that many HBCUs and the students themselves are grappling with.
在千禧年之交，我就读于霍华德大学时，有些同学决定报考HBCU，是因为他们小时候每周都会观看《另一个世界》——这部《考斯比一家》（The Cosby Show）的衍生剧。据《亚特兰大宪政报》旗下的UATL报道：“从1986年（《另一个世界》首播前一年）到1994年（该剧停播后一年），HBCU的入学人数从约22.3万增至超过28万，增幅约为26%。”斯派克·李（Spike Lee）于1988年上映的电影《校园大骚乱》（School Daze），以虚构的米申学院为背景，也让许多年轻黑人看到了HBCU的生活。
When I was at Howard University at the turn of the millennium, I had classmates who decided to attend an HBCU because they’d watched “A Different World,” a spinoff of “The Cosby Show,” every week as kids. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s UATL, “From 1986, the year before ‘A Different World’ premiered, to 1994, the year after it ended, HBCU enrollment rose from about 223,000 to more than 280,000 students, an increase of roughly 26%.” Spike Lee’s film “School Daze,” set at the fictional Mission College and released in 1988, also opened many young Black people’s eyes to life at an HBCU.
但在当前情况下，《异世界》的重启恰逢传统黑人大学入学人数激增之后。《高等教育内幕》援引联邦数据报道称：“在全国范围内，101所传统黑人大学中有42所在2019年至2024年间实现了入学人数增长。”我的母校霍华德大学在这五年间增长了50%，而《高等教育内幕》报道称，自2024年以来，一些黑人大学校园的入学人数持续增长。
But in the present case, the “Different World” reboot comes after a new enrollment surge at HBCUs. Inside Higher Ed, citing federal data, reported, “Across the country, 42 of 101 HBCUs grew their enrollment between 2019 and 2024.” My alma mater, Howard University, grew by 50% during those five years, and Inside Higher Ed reports that the enrollment on some Black college campuses has continued to grow since 2024.
此次重启时机恰当，应促使人们批判性地审视传统黑人大学如何融入当今的高等教育格局。最高法院已有效禁止大学将种族作为招生考量因素，而黑人学生在以白人为主的院校遭受骚扰的报道也屡见不鲜。需要明确的是，在以白人为主的学校里，黑人学生理应能够在滋养身心、促进真正成长且无需被迫同化的环境中享受大学时光。话虽如此，传统黑人大学提供了其他学校所不具备的安全环境，而这部新剧集促使我们思考，对于年轻黑人而言，拥有安全空间成长至成年意味着什么。
The reboot is well timed and should prompt a critical examination of how HBCUs fit into today’s higher education landscape. The Supreme Court has effectively banned colleges from using race as a factor in admissions, and it’s not uncommon to read stories of Black students at predominantly white institutions being harassed. To be clear, Black students at predominantly white schools should be able enjoy their college years in environments that are nurturing and promote real growth without forced assimilation. That said, HBCUs provide a safe environment that those other schools do not, and the new series prompts us to think about what it means for young Black people to have safe spaces to grow into adulthood.
传统黑人大学所提供的空间具有不可估量的价值，想要这种环境的学生理应得到。但正如该剧集所揭示的，许多传统黑人大学由于基础设施和管理方面的问题，正艰难维持运转。
There is incalculable value in the spaces that HBCUs provide, and students who want them should have them. But, as the series highlights, many HBCUS, because of problems related to infrastructure and administration, are struggling to make things work.
很难用言语表达原版《异世界》的重要性及其对黑人美国的影响。当时快克可卡因泛滥成灾。杰西·杰克逊牧师（一位曾在该剧中客串的传统黑人大学校友）等人物扛起了黑人领袖的大旗，美国主要城市和国会中的黑人民选官员也日益增多。即便如此，大众电视上仍然 largely 缺乏黑人的正面形象，而观众通过《考斯比秀》及其以黑人大学为背景的衍生剧得以看到的正是这样的形象。
It’s hard to articulate the importance of the original “Different World” and the impact it had on Black America. A crack cocaine epidemic was raging. Figures like the Rev. Jesse Jackson (an HBCU alum who famously appeared on the show) were carrying the mantle of Black leadership, and there was a growing number of Black elected officials in major American cities and in Congress. Even so, popular television was largely bereft of positive images of Black people like the ones audiences were exposed to through “The Cosby Show” and its spinoff, set at a Black college.
第一代大学生在追求高等教育的黑人学生中仍占相当大的比例，而《不同的世界》帮助人们接受了黑人学生就读黑人大学这一观念。
First-generation college students still constituted a significant portion of Black students pursuing higher education, and “A Different World” helped normalize the idea of Black students going to a Black college.
重启版扎实的剧本传承了原版的精神，原版在娱乐观众的同时，也为关于当代议题的重要对话留出了空间，比如意外怀孕、南非种族隔离、艾滋病、家庭暴力和跨种族恋爱关系。
The solid writing in the reboot honors the spirit of the original, which had fun even as it gave screen time to important conversations about contemporary issues such as unwanted pregnancy, South African apartheid, AIDS, domestic violence and interracial relationships.
不过，重启版的前几集表明，纯粹的喜剧元素将不再是重点；这部流媒体剧集力求成为1987年原版的更成熟版本。它出色地捕捉了传统黑人大学及其学生和校友所面临挑战的现实复杂性，很可能让我们这些观众思考，如今传统黑人大学学生的世界已变得多么不同，又有多少东西依然如故。
The first episodes of the reboot, though, suggest that there will be less emphasis on sheer comedy; the streaming series aims to be a more mature version of the original from 1987. It does a brilliant job of capturing the real-life complexities of challenges facing HBCUs, their students and their alums, and is likely to make those of us who watch think about how different the world is for today’s HBCU students and how much remains the same.