Based on Roland Barthes’ analysis of the flood in Paris, 1955, this essay aims to examine the ravage of tsunami in Japan, 2011 with a similar semiotic approach.
The big flood brought by a massive tsunami of March 11, 2011, caused numerous deaths and serisous damage in the northeast coast of Japan. Despite the trials and agonies inflicted by Nature, the flood takes on two implications--- festivity and solidarity.
海明威於1899年出生於美國的伊利諾州，從小喜歡釣魚或打獵等戶外活動，他熱愛大自然，也因此他的作品多有人與大自然接觸的經驗。此外，他本身也相當喜愛拳擊、鬥牛以及足球，是位喜愛運動的作家。高中時期開始，海明威在寫作方面逐漸嶄露頭角，並擔任學報編輯。高中畢業後，他不顧父親的反對，堅持不就讀大學，而在堪城星報(Kansas City Star) 當記者。數月之後，他辭去記者一職，參加了美國軍隊，希望能在前線親身體驗第一次世界大戰。雖然海明威身材健壯，但由於視力不好，被分發到救傷隊工作。在戰場上，海明威充分體驗到戰爭的殘酷與無情，人類在死亡邊緣的無助與渺小。也因此他早期的作品都與戰爭相關。在一次大戰之後，他繼續擔任作者一職，先後在多家報社工作，並開始了他的寫作生涯。在這期間，他陸續發表了一些作品，但成績並不是很理想。直到1926年，海明威發表了一部長篇小說《旭日又升》(The Sun Also Rises) ，藉由故事表達人們在戰後感到失落與茫然。這部作品讓他開始嶄露頭角，隨後的《戰地春夢》(A Farewell to Arms) 、《戰地鐘聲》(For Whom the Bell Tolls)和《老人與海》(The Old Man and The Sea)都是相當受到喜愛的長篇小說。其中又以晚期作品《老人與海》最受到肯定，海明威因這部小說得到普立茲獎與諾貝爾文學獎。
I. 引言
希臘神話中，有著名的三朵花，分別是水仙、風信子和秋牡丹。它們的模樣色彩，和今日見到的大不相同。拿水仙來說吧，古希臘的水仙是銀紫色的，跟現在的黃、白色差別甚大。但這不影響我們對它美好的想像。為何希臘神話對這些花情有獨鍾，並為它們留下傳誦千古的一頁呢? 答案有二。第一是地理環境的因素。地中海的風情，有的是崎嶇的丘陵、嶙峋的島嶼、湛藍的蒼穹與壯闊的大海。在如此肅穆的氛圍中，偶爾望見從岩壁處伸展出的彩色花朵，那種驚喜，就像是得到上天的禮物。花的神話於焉誕生，目的是要讓珍貴稀有的東西永垂不朽。第二個原因是贖罪。在遠古文化未開的時代，血祭時有所聞。當農作欠收導致飢荒時，就必須犧牲個人，將他的血灑在大地上以祭祀大地。因為人須要吃的一切取之於大地，我們是被大地所滋養；當大地變貧脊的時候，我們須要反過來滋養它.”There must be a deep connection between themselves and the earth and that their blood, which was nourished by the corn, could in turn nourish it at need.” 花之神話的誕生，無非在掩飾這種殘忍的謀殺。在神話的歌詠中，美男子的死變得如此淒美不朽，我們再也感受不到血祭的殘酷野蠻!
卓別林是英國著名的喜劇演員以及反戰人士，也可說是默片時代中最具影響力的人，不僅自編、自導、自演，最後還自己發行電影，一生從5歲到88歲可以說全部貢獻在演藝事業中。卓別林最為人所熟知的形象就是圓頂禮帽，希特勒式的八字鬍，柺杖，寬鬆褲子，大號的鞋子，以及幽默的企鵝舞步。他以詼諧逗趣的角色穿梭在工業急速發展、一切機械化的電影場景中。這樣反諷時事的手法正是他的電影成功受到人們重視的原因。
在「卓別林與他的情人」這部傳記電影中，我們看到一代笑匠的笑淚人生、情愛生活，和對人道主義的支持。他的複雜人生，不是上述這些刻板形象可以涵蓋的。小勞勃道尼飾演片中的主角卓別林，並因為本片同時入圍了奧斯卡和金球獎的最佳男主角提名。 導演李察艾登布祿為了加強影片的深度和層次，特地剪映許多卓別林的知名影片，如「城市之光」、「摩登時代」等，讓觀眾在現實和虛幻間一賭默片大師的風采。另外卓別林的親生女兒裘拉汀卓別林也在片中詮釋卓別林苦難的母親。 而凱文克萊、影帝安東尼霍普金斯也在片中客串演出，是另一種向大師致敬的方式。
根據卓別林的自傳，我們得知一位天才演員的產生，背後有多少的心酸血淚! 以下這段文字，是他難忘的童年回憶，描述他如何在五歲時初試啼聲登上舞台，代替他母親表演，而後一鳴驚人，開啟往後的演藝生涯:
Punctuality is the thief of time 準時是時間之賊。
Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious. 愛國情操是邪惡之人的美德。
I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do - the day after. 後天可能要做的事，我絕不延後到明天。
The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. 擺脫誘惑的唯一方法就是屈服於誘惑。
A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. 些許的誠懇是危險的，極多的誠懇是致命的。
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. 現世的人對每種事物的價錢了然於胸，對其價值卻一無所知。
Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. 每位聖人都有不為人知的過去，每位罪人都有無法預知的未來。
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. 經常原諒你的敵人吧，激惱他們的方式無過於此 。
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. 量入為出的人苦於想像力的匱乏。
I. What is the film about?
The film Prayers for Bobby deals with the controversial issue of homosexuality. Based on a true story, it depicts the conflicts and reconciliation of a devout Christian mother toward her homosexual son. The scene of her speech for homosexual rights in the city council summarize the theme of the film:
I deeply regret my lack of knowledge concerning gay and lesbian people. Had I allowed myself to investigate what I now see as Bible bigotry and diabolical dehumanizing slander against our fellow human beings, I would not be looking back with regret--- 我深深懊悔自己對同性戀的無知。如果我早能覺察聖經對此等人是一種偏執又殘酷的詆毀，我現今也無須頻頻回顧，深自悔恨--
一、故事內容
電影《讓愛傳出去》(Pay It Forward) 由咪咪‧蕾德(Mimi Leder)執導，凱文‧史貝西(Kevin Spacey)、海倫‧杭特(Helen Hunt)及童星哈利‧喬‧奧斯蒙(Haley Joel Osment)主演。內容描述一位教社會學的老師尤金(凱文‧史貝西飾)，一如過往地給學生相同的作業，要他們想一個能改變世界的辦法，並將它付諸實行。"Think of an idea to change our world---and put it into action!" 他把這句話寫在黑板上，讓學生用一整個學年的時間來完成。多年的經驗讓他不期望學生會認真去做這作業，即使有也不會有何驚喜。但他的學生崔佛(哈利‧喬‧奧斯蒙飾)，提出一個「讓愛傳出去」的構想：「以我為中心，幫助三個人，不要求這三個人回報我，他們每個人必須把感恩的心情傳出去，幫助另外三個人，在這樣的連鎖效應下，兩個星期就可以有超過四百七十萬個人受惠。」崔佛在黑板上畫了一個圓圈，底下再串連三個圈，開始解釋: "That's me; that's three people. And I'm going to help them. But it has to be somethting really big, something they can't do by themselves. So I do it for them. And they do it for three other people. " 這不只是口頭報告，他真的付諸實行，幫助一位街頭遊民，帶他回家，給他食物，讓他洗澡，和他聊天，鼓勵他，給他錢，讓他買衣服，找工作。遊民也主動為他們修車。雖然因無法克制的毒癮再度流浪異鄉，卻因緣際會救了一位想自殺的婦女。
Just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Taipei 101 has become a landmark in Taipei. It is a must-see for both tourists and locals. Tourists may be attracted by the modern architecture itself, while the locals can't help seeing it everwhere they go.
A tower, according to Roland Barthes, is always a dream and function, an expression of an ideal and also an instrument of a convenience (6). The duality of the tower finds its origin in the Babel myth. Babel is a tool for humans to communicate with God; meanwhile, it symbolizes a dream to compete with God. Hiding behind the visiting of a tower is exactly Hubris!
The panoramic vision of a tower is appealing in that we get the temporary control of space and time. For example, when we perceive Taipei from Taipei 101, our mind tries to decipher the mutation of the landscape nearby. We seek spontaneously certain familiar locations from our knowledge. In other words, the astonishment of space plunges us into the depth of time. And we all fall into a state of anamnesis. The current identity is dropped in the panoramic vision. We are merged into history while we are trying to recognize known sites. And a feeling of sublime rises with the inspection of history. Ah, this is civilization we witness; how great mankind are!
Reference
Barthes, Roland. The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies. Trans. Richard Howard. Berkeley: U of Calif. P, 1997.
圖書館 by 楊小濱
一本書是一個情人的夜晚。一萬本
插在所有情人的骨架裏。
讓一個懷春的人讀到過去
它的愛情被目錄打亂
古典的擁抱有關戰爭、淒涼和君主
如同置身於城堡，一紙空文
燒在滿腦的玄想中
沒有誰比公主更老。
公主從插圖走進童話，
把年齡留在嗅不到的脂粉中。
讀到公主便是讀到高貴的定義，
雖然監禁於辭典，依舊神采飛揚。
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閱讀，森林式的漫遊，騎士遇見美麗的教授，
知識將我們刺殺, 在這陰暗的樓房裡
唯一的血跡是筆劃。
Book lovers frequenting a library surely experience the ecstasy described in this poem. What, then, distinghishes good poems from bad ones? A witty and precise metaphor, I presume. For example, in this poem, the dominant metaphor is reading as a quest. The reader's exploration of knowledge is compared to a knight's rambling in woods. In fairy tales, a knight will always encounter a beautiful princess waiting to be saved by him, while in a libray, an earnest reader will submit to inspiring discourses just as a knight is stabbed by an inconquerable enemy. To further illustrate the features of a good poem, I'd like to share some of my favorite lines in the following.
My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods; time will change it, . . . as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary . . . I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.
(from Cathy's confession to Nelly)
Is it better to live as a monster or die as a good man?
Despite the numerous discussions about this film, I'd like to say something exclusively impressive to me. I don't care about the theme of illusion v.s. reality or the man in mental distress. That's so obvious the intention of Martin Scorsese, who is good at depicting the plight of the desperate individuals with crazed violence against the repressive society in which they live. But Shutter Island is not of that scope. I would rather claim it as a tribute to Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
