The Avatar Effect 阿凡達效應

◎俞智敏

Hollywood blockbusters aren’t usually notable for their artistic or political subtlety. And James Cameron’s latest sci-fi(science-fiction) hit, "Avatar," would seem to be no exception, going by the lament of some critics that the film’s impressive special effects are undercut by a skimpy story line and flat dialogue.

好萊塢巨片通常並非以其藝術或政治敏銳性著稱。詹姆斯．卡麥隆的最新熱門科幻電影「阿凡達」似乎也不例外，依照某些批評者的說法，此片的故事情節短缺、對話單調，讓片中驚人的特效失色不少。

That, however, is not how many Chinese see the film, which tells the story of rapacious humans trying to evict the blue-skinned natives of the planet Pandora in order to extract some exceedingly valuable mineral. This is standard politically correct fare for a Western audience, conveying a message of racial sensitivity and environmental awareness. In China, however, it has more rebellious undertones.

但許多中國觀眾對此片的看法卻並非如此。這部電影描述貪婪的人類試圖驅逐潘朵拉星球上的藍皮膚原住民，以便採掘某種極為珍貴的礦物。對西方觀眾而言，這是標準的政治正確觀點，傳達出對種族問題的敏感性及環保意識。然而在中國，這部電影卻帶有更反叛的潛在含意。

That’s because Chinese local governments in cahoots with developers have become infamous for forcibly seeking to evict residents from their homes with little compensation and often without their consent. More often, however, they are driven away by paid thugs. Private property is one of the most sensitive issues in the country today, and "Avatar" has given the resisters a shot in the arm.

這是因為中國的地方政府與建商合夥，在只提供極少補償金、甚至常未經過同意，就把居民強制驅離其住家的作法早已惡名遠播。更常見的情況是，居民被收了錢的惡棍強行趕走。私有財產已成為中國目前最敏感的議題之一，而「阿凡達」等於是替反抗者打了一劑強心針。

Even in Hong Kong, the "Avatar" banner has been taken up by antigovernment activists trying to defeat a plan to demolish a village to make way for a new high-speed railway line. One mysterious benefactor reportedly donated movie tickets to the villagers to stoke their enthusiasm for protests.

即使在香港，反政府運動人士也高舉著「阿凡達」旗幟，試圖阻撓政府為興建新的高速鐵路而打算拆除某村莊的計畫。據說一位神秘金主還捐出了電影票給村民，好激起他們對抗議活動的熱情。

新聞辭典

rapacious：形容詞，指貪婪的、強取的，如a rapacious landlord/businessman（貪婪的房東／商人）。

undertone：名詞，指文章、話語或某事件的潛在含意，如I thought her speech had slightly sinister undertones.（我認為她的那番話帶有些許惡意。）

in cahoots with：cahoots為名詞，指合夥、同謀，in cahoots with指與他人合夥圖謀不軌，如It’s reckoned that someone in the government was in cahoots with the assassin.（外界認為政府內部有人與刺客同謀。）