Trailer - The Joy Luck Club

　　我大学所念的是应用外语系，虽说冠上应用两个字，较为实务面（例如商业、教学以及翻译等），多多少少都会有跟文学沾上边的课程，我其实对于文学非常钟爱，我很爱阅读故事，因为可以训练自己的批判性思考以及分析的能力（还可以看起比别人有气质？），只是基于现实考量以及课业的比重，因为文学的课程大部分都要一直跟上阅读进度才有办法进行讨论而且要不断地缴交报告（人就是贱啊），我都会选一两堂有关于文学的课程来增长我阅读的领域（其实我们文学的课也不多），也就造就我的档案里面有一堆报告，但自己对于写报告是爱不释手，一但是我有感兴趣的主题，就可以花好几天的时间查阅资料比较分析等等，接踵而来就会一直写下去，以致常常分数都不是太高，我估计大概是老师其实也不太想看学生写得洋洋洒洒，毕竟还要花很多时间审阅，也颇下功夫的，是吧？（误）

　　这篇是我在大一的写作课时候所写的，教授给我们看完《喜福会 The Joy Luck Club》要我们找个感兴趣的主题分析，这部电影其实可探讨的层面颇深而且也有很多综观议题，我挑了一个最安全牌的主题 - 婚姻，虽说是最安全牌，但奉劝大家大一的写作真的不要期望会好到哪里去 ...。

Will Snow White be really happy ever after with Prince Charming?

译：白雪公主真的能和白马王子永远幸福快乐吗？

 After watching the blockbuster film《The Joy Luck Club》, which was original written by a renowned Chinese-American novelist Amy Tan, last week, I had so many thoughts coming down upon my mind about this movie, especially the discussible issues derived from tangled and complex relationship in marriage.

译：上周看完了喜福会（翻拍自知名华裔美籍小说家谭恩美的作品）后，对于这部电影我有文思泉涌的想法，特别是这些从错综复杂的婚姻关系中所衍伸出来的议题。

     Let’s start with mother’s marriages. An-Mei’s mother, who lived in widowhood, was schemed to re-marry as a concubine to a middle-aged wealthy man, Wu-Tsing. (In ancient China, people regarded re-married widows as bad symbol, maybe still do up to the present.) As a result, An-Mei’s family considered it such a disgraced act based on Chinese traditional perspective, so they forbad her from entering the family home.

译：从母亲们的婚姻开始谈好了，安梅的母亲，原是寡妇，被设计改嫁给一位中年土豪为妾，吴钦（在中国古代，人们认为改嫁的寡妇是不好的象征，也许直到现在也还是。）从中国传统的观点来看，安美的家族会认为这是一个极大的耻辱。

After An-Mei’s grandmother died, An-Mei opted to move out to live with the new family including the First, the Second, the Third Wife and Wu-Tsing and her mother. An-Mei knew that her mother was compelled into being Wu-Tsing’s concubine and losing her baby boy through manipulations of his cunning Second Wife. The stigma left An-Mei’s mother to live the rest of her miserable life; however she eventually committed suicide under too much pressure. She devoted herself to ensuring her children comfortable lives.

译：在安梅的祖母逝世后，安梅选择要搬出去与新家族起居，新家族有大太太、二太太、三太太以及吴钦和令堂。在安梅知道她的母亲是被强迫嫁给吴钦为妾，并在狡猾险峻的二太太的手段下害她母亲流产，这污名就永远留在安梅母亲身上，伴度她悲惨的一生；而然，她在过多的压力下自杀了，她牺牲自己以确保她的小孩有安稳的生活。

After watching this part, I can’t help wondering why widows have no choice but to remain the statues quo? What if your Prince Charming suddenly dies after you had been desperately searching for so long time. It’s kind of ironic. Cultural really have been unconsciously killing innocent people, mostly women. It proves that people held women in low esteem in ancient time. In addition, marrying to a wealthy man doesn’t mean you will be happy ever after, yet there could be more mistresses than you can image. I think it’s a warning reflection that the author wanted to tell us for one generation to another.

译：在看完这一段后，我不禁怀疑为何寡妇只能维持现状，就别无选择？若是在你耗尽精力寻找你的白马王子后，他突然猝死，也是挺讽刺的。文化从古自今真的已经不自觉地残害许多善良的人，特别是女人。这证明了古时候大家非常藐视女人的地位；此外，嫁给一个有钱人并不代表你就会有幸福快乐的结局，然而，可能会伴随著你所想像不到的情妇接踵而来，我想，这是作者想要传递给我们世世代代的一个警讯吧。

Another tragic case goes to Yin-Yin, Yin-Yin, who was born in an affluent family, always repressed her feeling and emotion as she grew up, because her family told Yin-Yin that Chinese girls should be meek and gentle. So she developed her passive personality which led herself to a miserable life. She just stood still and said nothing about her first husband’s extramarital relationship with other women. After they divorced, she married an American and even allowed him to take control most parts of her life. Nevertheless, she wasn’t happy for this because she found that in her daughter

译：莺莺的案例也是一个悲剧，莺莺出身于富裕的家族，她长大后总是压抑自己的情感，因为她的家人告诉她，中国的女人就是要贤淑温顺。所以赋予自己消极的性格，而这也让她自己走向一段悲惨的婚姻。她冷眼旁观、不发一语地漠视著她丈夫在外面的风花雪月，在他们离婚后，她嫁给了一位美国人，甚至让她丈夫控制她的生活，尽管如此，她依旧不是很开心，因为她发现她女儿也有同样的性格。

Chinese cultural indirectly murdered plenty of women up to now. Why do Chinese women have to carry onerous burden for their entire lives? I think it’s a long-standing sexual discrimination against women in China. They don’t have right to fight for what they want, so they just reluctantly remain silent. Nevertheless, it doesn’t work nowadays. If you want a happy marriage in your rest of life, you must voice what you want, if not so, then you could lead a dull life no matter what gender you are.

译：中国的文化直到今天间接谋杀了许多的女性，为何中国女性一生必须要承受这样承重的包袱？我觉得这是中国所对女性长存的性别歧视，她们没有权力去争取她们想要的，所以她们不情愿地保持沉默，尽管如此，现今社会已经不在管用，如果你想要有一个快乐的婚姻，那么，你就必须发声，如果没那么做，不管你是甚么性别，你可能就会枯燥乏味地度过余生。

For example, once Yin-Yin came to her daughter’s new house, she knew that something must be wrong with her daughter’s marriage, like what she said ”The table could collapse if you put one more thing on it”. It implies her daughter’s marriage. She told her daughter “What do you want from him?” Her daughter actually knew and said with tears “Respect and Tender” That’s my favorite part in the storyline. So her daughter asked her husband for that; however, they still got divorced in the end. At least, her daughter needn’t have to suffer from being humiliated by her husband’s “financial equality”. Each modern women have right to struggle for a delighted marriage.

译：举例来说，只要莺莺去到他女儿的新房子后，他就会察觉到他女儿的婚姻有问题，就像她所说的「如果你再放东西上去，这桌子可能就会垮掉。」，这暗地里意味著她女儿的婚姻也会是如此，她告诉她女儿「你想要得到他的甚么？」他女儿其实知道，并且泪流满面地说「尊重与温柔」，而这是我最喜欢的一个桥段，所以她女儿开始要求她的丈夫，而然她们最后还是离婚了，至少她女儿不再需要受到她丈夫用＂支出平等＂的羞辱，每个现代女人都有全力去争取她们快乐的婚姻。

The part of Lindo is the most interesting of the all plots. Although Lindo was forced to marry a little boy whose family was rich but traditional-minded through village matchmaker, Lindo was witty as though she were an uncontrollable horse. She would rather get rid of the chain of Chinese cultural than remain silent, which was different from An-Mei’s mother, An-Mei and Yin-Yin etc. And I really, truly appreciate it. That is what nowadays people should have.

译：林冬的故事是所有剧情中最有趣的桥段，虽然林冬透过媒合被迫下嫁给一位小男孩，小男孩的家庭富裕但却传统守旧，林冬非常机智就像一匹脱缰的野马，她宁愿要摆脱中国文化的枷锁也不要保持缄默，而这是跟安梅、安梅母亲还有莺莺所不一样的一点，我非常由衷地欣赏这一点，这是一个现代人所需要拥有的特质。

Rose, An-Mei’s daughter, become tamely gentle after being a wife to her husband. But her husband gradually found her selfless and spiritless which contributed to a huge dark gap between them so they got divorced. And at the ending of Rose part, Rose really took courage to fight back for her possession of her house and won. It comforts watcher’s toppled minds. But what’s wrong with her marriage, and who made this false in this marriage after all? To be clarified …

译：安梅的女儿 - 萝丝在嫁给丈夫后变得像一名巧妇，但她丈夫逐渐发现她的付出非常无私却也不像她自己了，这也形成他们之间俩深暗的鸿沟，所以他们离婚了，萝丝在最后鼓起勇气争取了她小孩的扶养权与房子的拥有权，这也安抚了观众波涛汹涌的情绪，但她的婚姻到底出了甚么错？究竟是谁犯了错？的确有待厘清 ...

Despite most of their unhappy marriages, all of them finally made an anti-cultural strike back. It was kind of connection between the author and us. I think Amy Tan wants to declare that everybody has right to love and be loved if you dare be in search for your true love. Go ahead and find your Prince/Princess Charming with Your Love!

译：尽管大部分的剧情都是悲惨的婚姻，但他们都做出了反文化的回击，这也是作者和我们之间的连结，我想谭恩美想要阐述的是大家都有资格去爱而且被爱，如果你勇敢去追的话，那就去吧，带著你的那份爱去找寻你的那位白雪公主/白马王子。