「星战」「速激」与人才保险的纠葛
—— 经济学人 / Death Star 全文笔记
《星球大战》的费雪因病辞世与《速度与激情》的保罗意外之死令人痛心不已，给众影迷、粉丝留下了极大创伤，而同时也给他们的公司和保险方留下大问题，保险公司面对巨额赔偿，其中到底有何缘由呢？今天，我们就通过本篇文章，结合笔记，了解外刊原文，寻求答案。
在细化文章之前，我们先来看看本篇文章的思维导图
Insuring talent
Death Star【注①】
When the famous[1]die, it isincreasingly[2]costly[3]for insurers
注① Death Star:说到star大家第一反应就是星星或星球，但本标题还带有其它隐含意义，此处的star既指本文主题a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports person明星，又与第一段提及的电影Star Wars（《星球大战》）呼应。
同时，Death Star也是出现在电影《星球大战》中的超级武器——死星。
1.the famous [积累] : “the+形容词”表示一类具有某种特征或特性的人；需注意，若用作主语，其谓语动词用单数还是复数需视情况而定，若指一类人则用复数，指单个人则用单数。
2.increasingly [积累]: increasingly adv. 越来越多地；渐增地
建议写作时用increasingly代替more and more，类似的还有growingly。
3.costly: 可以替换expensive, dear和exorbitant。
THE death ofCarrie Fisher【注②】, a much-loved actor in the “Star Wars【注③】” movies, left a hole inthe force【注④】for fans. It may also burn a hole in the pockets[4] ofunderwriters[5], syndicated underLloyds of London【注⑤】. They may have to fork out as much as $50m to meet Disney’s claim[6] for its loss. The studio, which owns the sci-fi saga, had wisely taken out so-called contractual-protection insurance (CPI) in case death thwarted a contractual obligation: in Ms Fisher’s case to film and promote future “Star Wars” episodes.
Contrary to the headlines, 2016 was not an especially lethal year to be a celebrity. Like the rest of us, they do die. But unlike most of us, their employers can be left with astronomic bills. WhenPaul Walker【注⑥】, an actor in “The Fast and the Furious【注⑦】”, a series of action movies, died in 2013 while filming the seventh instalment[7],Universal Pictures【注⑧】had to spend considerable effort (and dollars) to make his on-screen persona live on. This included hiring body-doubles and digitally inserting Mr. Walker into the movie with hundreds of computer-generated images.
注② Carrie ReynoldsFisher：
1956年10月21日-2016年12月28日，出生于美国加州洛杉矶，美国演员，在科幻片《星球大战》中饰演莱娅公主。2016年12月28日凌晨，因心脏病不治在洛杉矶辞世，享年60岁。
注③ StarWars:
《星球大战》系列电影是由卢卡斯电影公司出品的科幻电影，该公司首先于1977年推出了《星球大战》，又分别在1980年和1983年推出了《星球大战2》和《星球大战3》。之后又推出了星球大战前传三部曲。2015年起，每年夏季推出一部《星球大战》题材电影，预计第八和第九部作品将分别于2017年和2019年上映。
注④ the force:
不了解《星球大战》的人可能大多会将此处的force理解为力量、精力等，但熟悉电影的人应该都知道，电影中The Force指原力，旧译为力、神力、大能或原动力，是《星球大战》系列作品中的核心概念。原力是一种超自然的而又无处不在的神秘力量，是所有生物创造的一个能量场，同时也是影片中绝地武士（Jedi Knight）和西斯尊主（Sith Lord）两方追求和依靠的关键所在。同时，2015年上映的第7部《星球大战》电影名称即为Star Wars: The Force Awakens ，中文译名为《星球大战7：原力觉醒》。
注⑤ Lloyd's of London：
Or Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance market located in the City of London, which exists inside London. (Tips: not to be confused with Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyd's Register, or Lloyd's List.)
(Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd%27s_of_London)
注⑥ Paul Walker：
保罗·沃克（Paul Walker），1973年9月12日出生，美国演员、模特。2001年，保罗·沃克出主演了赛车动作片《速度与激情》，之后又出演电影续集。2013年11月30日下午3点，保罗·沃克在洛杉矶一起车祸中身亡，年仅40岁。
注⑦The Fast and the Furious：
《速度与激情》是罗伯·科恩执导的赛车题材的动作犯罪类电影，由环球影业发行，第一部于2001年6月22日在美国上映，至今已上映8部。
注⑧ Universal Pictures：
环球影片公司（Universal Picture），又称环球影业，是全球最大的电影、电视制片厂之一，也是好莱坞最悠久的公司之一，并在公司创始阶段成为好莱坞实力最强的电影公司。
4.burn a hole in one's pocket : 花钱如水，钱财消耗快
5.underwriter: 与标题中的“insurer”同义，都有“保险公司、承保人”的意思。
6.claim: 商务英语经常出现这词，表示“索赔”。
7.instalment: one of the parts of a story that appears as a series of parts, especially in a magazine, newspaper etc. 〔尤指报刊等上的连载故事的〕一期
Most workers are easier to replace. Employers can take out simple life insurance[8] that pays a fixed lump sum. But the value of a film star to a studio, or a striker[9] to a football club, is harder to calculate in advance. It depends on all sorts of things, especially timing. This is where contingency insurance[10], such as CPI, comes in. Unlike a life policy, how much of the $50m Disney receives depends on how it now calculates and justifies the losses caused by Ms Fisher’s death. This could include, for example, her role in boosting sales ofstorm-trooper【注⑨】figurines.
Insuring talent is becoming popular outside Hollywood. The aptly named Exceptional Risk Advisors, a company based in New Jersey that reportedly brokered the Fisher policy[11], also helps insure against the deaths of hedge-fund managers, company executives and sports teams’ star players. Publishers have taken out[12] CPI in case bestselling authors die with books half-written.
注⑨ storm-trooper：
帝国冲锋队（Imperial Stormtrooper，旧译：暴风军、风暴兵、暴风兵、帝国军团、帝国突击队、帝国暴风突击队）是《星球大战》中银河帝国精锐的突击部队，隶属于帝国陆军（Imperial Army）。
8.life insurance: 人寿保险
9.striker: a player in football whose main job is to score goals 〔足球队的〕前锋（队员）
10.contingency insurance: 意外事故保险
11.policy: 该词常见的意思是“政策、方针”，但是这里是指“保险单”。
12.take out: if you take out something such as a loan, a licence, or an insurance policy, you obtain it by fulfilling the conditions and paying the money that is necessary. 取得（贷款、许可、保险等）；办理（保险）手续，投保
Jonathan Thomas, from Munich Re, who has written contingency policies for over 30 years, says they are “exactly what Lloyd’s is good at”. The greatest change he has seen is in the sums involved. But some worry that underwriters are dropping their standards and taking on[13] too much risk. This could well become a problem if contingency insurance grows much larger. But today it is still tiny compared with life insurance.
With rock stars remaining on stage into their dotage[14] and long-running sequels one of the surest ways to make money in Tinseltown[15], the risks of losing a “key human”（or on occasion animal) are growing. That creates business opportunities for insurers, so long as they remain prudent and don’t becomestar-struck【注⑩】.
注⑩star-struck：
Starstruck原意指追星族，明星梦，或想当明星的；而这里加了连字符，意思完全不同，struck为strike过去分词，在这里指被撞击的。通过一个连字符达到一语双关，这类词汇在经济学人中尤为常见。
13.take on: 承担；表示“承担”的词还有：assume, bear, undertake
14.into one’s dotage: 直至终老，到某人衰老之年
15.Tinseltown: People sometimes refer to Hollywood as Tinseltown, especially when they want to show that they disapprove of it or when they are making fun of it. 浮华城；对好莱坞的贬称或戏称。