The Cowboy in Movies and Vaudeville電影和歌舞表演中的西部牛仔

譯/孫星華

20世紀20年代初，無聲電影大量傳播，西部片自此受到美國民眾的極大歡迎。東部城市的人們蜂擁到電影院，以求一睹大銀幕上的西部傳奇。所有的西部片都包含別無二致、簡單老套的元素：邊陲小鎮上，英勇的牛仔除惡務盡，最終抱得美人歸。

[2]美國人那時就已意識到，西部邊界不復存在，牛仔縱馬馳騁的時代一去不返，但他們依舊沉迷于牛仔這一形象。電影中的牛仔角色圓了美國每個男人、每個男孩的夢。廣為宣揚的牛仔形象膽略過人，勇猛剛健。每部西部片刻畫的牛仔都是陽剛之氣的典范：他能摧毀一切邪惡的力量，打敗所有的敵人，擁有無窮的力量，掌握各種搏斗的技巧，并總能邂逅一位美女，找到真愛。牛仔外在的形象就是他魅力四射的秘訣。美國人之所以把牛仔塑造為西部英雄這一理想形象，是因為牛仔實現了他們一直幻想卻又無法實現的夢。

[3]威爾·羅杰斯和湯姆·米克斯等演員成了“美國良知、理想和正直的化身”。他們勇氣非凡，敢于對抗富有卻卑劣的惡霸，從而引發變革。當時，美國民眾不得不應對突如其來的工業社會，因此那些西部英雄所展現的英勇事跡令人耳目一新，催人奮發。美國民眾透過銀幕欣賞牛仔的生活，這種窺探可以幫助他們更好地接受、適應迅速變化的環境。

[4]美國女性為西部片所吸引的原因和男性大抵相同。女性眼中非凡的牛仔女郎和西部女英雄是對自我的放大。每當都市生活、難帶的孩子和過勞的丈夫讓人沮喪不已，美國女性都可以幻想自己是埃莉諾·斯圖爾特或多蘿西·馬隆。這種先和男主角發生沖突，最終拜倒在硬漢牛仔腳下的理念在20世紀20年代引起了無數美國女性的共鳴。

[5]《一個國家的誕生》首映后，非裔美國人創辦了幾家獨立制作公司。塑造黑人牛仔角色的電影票房慘淡，原因有幾點。白人擁有大多數的電影院，他們不愿放映黑人主演的西部片。上映黑人牛仔電影的影院經常虧損。白人不太可能自掏腰包來看黑人演員，而黑人觀眾也沒有足夠的可支配收入來看電影。大多數美國人對黑人西部片嗤之以鼻，原因是，他們認為這些電影“太過刻意地模仿白人西部片”。

[6]西部題材電影在美國取得了巨大成功，因為它迎合了城市觀眾的需求。最初，美國民眾迫切希望通過大銀幕一睹牛仔傳奇。牛仔是大眾化的娛樂角色，一旦進入他的奇幻世界，大多數美國民眾便沉迷其中。一百年前，美國人將西部視為桃花源，同樣，20世紀20年代的西部片觀眾通過牛仔來間接感受這片未經開發卻充滿機會的神秘土地。 □

Ever since the advent1advent 出現；到來。of the mass distribution of silent films in the early 1920s, western movies were tremendously popular with the American public. People in Eastern cities flocked to the cinema to see the myth of the West played out on the big screen. All Western movies contained the same basic formulaic elements: the heroic cowboy expunged2expunge 除去；刪去。all traces of evil from a frontier town, then won the girl in the end.

[2] Americans realized that the frontier and the age of the living cowboy were dead, yet they were enthralled by the cowboy persona. The movie cowboy fulfilled the dreams of every American man and boy. The mass marketed cowboy was bold and virile. Each Western movie depicted the cowboy ful filling the typical masculine ideal: he destroyed all evil forces, conquered his enemies, possessed tireless strength and physical skills, and always found love with a beautiful woman. The super ficiality of the cowboy’s image was the se-cret of his appeal. Americans idealized the Western hero because he did all that they fantasized about, but had no prospects of accomplishing.

[3] Stars like Will Rogers and Tom Mix acted as “deputies of the American conscience, idealism, and honesty.”They had the courage to stand up to their corrupt wealthy overlords and effect change. For Americans forced to cope with an erupting industrial society, the feats achieved by such Western heroes were refreshing and inspiring.Americans admired cowboys in a voyeuristic3voyeuristic 好刺探他人隱私的。way that enabled them to better accept and adapt to their rapidly changing environments.

[4] American women were attracted to Western films for many of the same reasons that men were. Women viewed the unrealistic cowgirls and western heroines as fantastic extensions of themselves.When frustrated by urban life, demanding children, and over-worked husbands,American women could envision themselves in the place of Eleanor Stewart or Dorothy Malone. The notion of standing up to male authority figures, then ultimately succumbing to the charms of a rugged hero appealed to countless American women in the 1920s.

[5] After the debut of “Birth of a Nation4《一個國家的誕生》，商業片，講述了美國南方黑人與3K黨兩個家族在,” several independent production companies were launched by African Americans. Films featuring black cowboys failed to succeed at the box of fices for several reasons. Whites who owned the majority of theaters were reluctant to show black Westerns. Those movie houses that did exhibit films showcasing black cowboys often lost money. Whites were unlikely to pay to see black actors, and black audiences did not have a significant amount of disposable income to spend at the movies. Most Americans scorned black Westerns because they believed that the films were “too consciously imitative of their white counterparts.”

[6] The Western film genre was abundantly successful in the U.S. because it catered to the needs of an urban audience. Americans were initially eager to get a glimpse of the legendary cowboy on screen. Once they entered the fantasy world of the mass marketed entertaining cowboys, most Americans were hooked.Just as Americans had envisioned the West as an escape valve5escape valve 排氣閥。此處為比喻。a century before, patrons of Western movies in the 1920s viewed the cowboy as their vicarious6vicarious 間接體驗的。link to the mythical untamed land of opportunity. ■