[有雷] 伍迪艾倫新電影『午夜‧巴黎』Midnight in Paris 中的文人雅士們

警告：以下有雷。除少數人之外，絕大多數觀眾應寧願看完電影再看這篇。請自行斟酌。

《午夜‧巴黎》(Midnight in Paris)這部伍迪艾倫的新片，它的好我就不贅述了。所有曾被巴黎奪目之美震撼的人都該看看，溫習一下巴黎的萬種風情。不過看過這部片的人應該都會像我一樣，後悔自己的藝術素養不足，無法捕捉許多電影裡的細節。

Reflection

One day in May, when I checked in a hostel in Cambridge, UK, I met an Indian man.

Around 45 years old, he was lying on the lower level of a a dorm-like double bed when I entered the room. He was doing nothing but lying.

First I wondered what's wrong with him. Why would a person who traveled from so far away, to such a beautiful place on such a glamorous day, stayed at the hostel and lied on his bed?

Later I realized he was not just killing his time or idling. He wasn't spending his time for nothing. His eyes showed spirits. He was looking at the ceiling but his mind was searching somewhere inside. I learned that his name is Vikram and he came for a conference in Cambridge.

He told me that everyday, he finds an hour or two to do nothing. "Nothing?" I ask. He said nothing, is a misleading word. "I reflect on myself, and ask what I've done today."

"I do not ask what I've not done today. But ask what I've done but did not fully appreciate."

"My time goes by faster than you, Michael. I cannot rush by everyday blinded."

After meeting Vikram, the pace of my UK trip slowed down. I can travel anywhere, I think, because everyday is a trip.

I'm looking forward to a trip that offers spectacular landscapes, combined with space to reflect. I had the luxury to do that on my Amazon River trip, of which every night I sit on the deck of the boat, admiring the reflection of the moon on the Amazon River.

A trip to Tibet is also something I wish I could join. Yellow desert, starry night, the sound of Jeep's engine. One day I will visit Amazon again, and I will visit Tibet.

* * *

I started this article one and a half year ago. Never was I able to finish it until someone told me about Tibet.

Life is like a shit sandwich

When I was a child, I had an unconventional English teacher John. John likes to say: “life is like a shit sandwich. The more you eat, the less is left.” If life is a shit sandwich, then New York is the “Subway”—the biggest sandwich store on earth.


Lots of shit happened in my 5 days tour in NYC. To begin with, when I first arrived New York, I discovered my sublease room had a disgusting bathroom. It was a bathroom shared by three students but cared by none. There was grease on the floor, the shower curtain curls and sticks to anything that touches it (including human body).


The shit meter heightened when we started to use the metro. The smell and dirtiness of the underground system reminds me in which city I am. I’m always surprised how adventurous Americans can be to advance technologies and change business models, but at the same time be so careless to details and administrations. Americans can build the most complicated financial transaction system on the ground of lower Manhattan, but they can’t keep a safe and clean metro system under. Dust everywhere and the water never plumbs fluently. I used to be ashamed of the dirtiness of my own bathroom, but my pride was restored in New York. In comparison, my bathroom is not the dirtiest in the world.


The shit meter peaked at Time Square station. I need to change trains at Time Square Station so I walked to the elevator between the platforms. The elevator door opened. I stepped one foot in. And I stepped back and run. There was shit in the elevator. Human shit. Squeezed, already-stepped-on, aged human shit. The smell of the shit infiltrated the station, and pedestrians who were rushing to join the New Year count down at Time Square.
Of course there were good memories in New York. I even felt like Carie in Sex and the City as I type Carie-like lines: “Is it harder to find a New York metro station with a clean elevator? Or is it harder to find a New York man who can keep his shit in his bathroom?” New York is such a grand city that throws all kinds of pretty and ugly things into your face.


Perhaps the most memorable stop was at where World Trade Centers once stood. The place is now called Ground Zero. Where skyscrapers used to stand is now hallow. But memories prevailed and new meanings implanted. Looking at the now-empty scene behind the fence, I couldn’t help reexamining the purpose and priority of my life. And I thought that was the perfect way to start my new year.


As the new year begins, I hope everyone can start from Ground Zero, and step out of any old shit. I would also revise John’s favorite line: “Life is like a sandwich. If you eat enough, eventually you’ll enjoy it.”