East meets West：M. Butterfly 蝴蝶君

談一齣很喜歡的戲。 1992 年「香港話劇團」 演出的《蝴蝶君》(M. Butterfly) 。這劇在第一屆香港舞台劇獎裡獲得多個獎項，包括最佳整體演出、導演 (鐘景輝)，最佳男主角 (潘煒強，有背部全裸演出那位) 等共五個獎項。

它是由美藉華裔劇作家黃哲倫 (David Henry Hwang) 編寫的戲，1988年在美國百老匯演出並獲得該年的百老匯東尼獎最佳劇本獎 (是Anthony Hopkins 主演呢)。
1993年電影版出現，由尊龍 (John Lone) 和 Jeremy Irons 擔當主角。多年前有看過電影版，印象普通。本想找dvd 重溫，早兩天在 HMV 遍尋不獲。說已沒有再發行。若有人見到請通知我。

這齣戲的劇本很好。10多年前有朋友送我劇本，多年來翻看了無數次，回味無窮。這篇想談談劇本。

劇情是講述一個法國外交官和一個戲子，在中國從事間諜活動的故事。引發編劇寫這個故事是一段在New York Times 的新聞：

" A former French diplomat and a Chinese opera singer have been sentenced to six years in jail for spying for China after a two-day trial that traced a story of clandestine love and mistaken sexual identity..... Mr. Bouriscot was accused of passing information to China after he fell in love with Mr. Shi, whom he believed for twenty years to be a woman."

編劇看到新聞後有無限聯想。作為生活在美國的華裔人士，當中西方人對亞洲人的觀念是他很感興趣的課題。抄一些劇本片段給大家看看編劇想帶出的觀點 ：
Act Three Scene 1, A courthouse in Paris, 1986, extract of the part between Judge (J) and Song (S) during the trial. 

S :  ...... Yeah. Well, Your Honour, it was my job to make him think that I was a woman.  And chew on this: it wasn't all that hard. See, my mother was a prostitute along the Bundt before the Revolution. And, uh, I think it's fair to say she learned a few things about Western men. So I borrowed her knowledge. In service to my country.

J : Would you care to enlighten the court with this secret knowledge ? I'm sure we're all very courious.

S : I'm sure you are. (Pause) Okay, Rule One is : Men always believe what they want to hear.  So a girl can tell the most obsnoxious lies and the guys will believe them every time─"This is the first time" ─"This is the biggest I've ever seen" ─ or both, which, if you really think about it, is not impossible in a single lifetime.  You've maybe heard those phrases a few times in your own life, yes, Your Honour?

J : It's not my life, Monsieur Song, which is on trial today.

S : Okay, okay, just trying to lighten up the proceedings. Tough room.

J : Go on.

S : Rule Two:  As soon as a Western man comes into contact with the East - he's already confused.  The West has sort of an international rape mentality towards the East. Do you know rape mentality?

J : Give us your definition, please.

S : Baiscally, "Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes."  The West thinks of itself as masculine - big guns, big industry, big money - so the East is feminine - weak, delicate, poor.... but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom - the feminine mystique.  Her mouths says no, but her eyes say yes.  The West believes the East, deep down , wants to be dominated - because a woman can't think for herself.

J : What does this have to do with my question?

S : You expect Oriental countries to submit to your guns, and you expect Oriental women to be submissive to your men. That's why you say they make the best wives.

J : But why would that make it possible for you to fool Monsieur Gallimard? Please - get to the point.

S : One, because when he finally met his fantasy woman, he wanted more than anything to believe that she was, in fact, a woman.  And second, I am an Oriental.  And being an Oriental, I could never be completely be a man.  (乜按：男士，你同意嗎？)

Pause
J :  Your armchair political theory is tenuous, Monsieur Song.

S : You think so? That's why you'll loose in all your dealings with the East.

J : Just answer my question  : did he know you were a man?

Pause
S : You know, Your Honour, I never asked.

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戲帶出了東西方的文化差異，人心理上對完美和自我滿足的追求，那種由原始慾望併發出來的行動，可以走得那麼遠，那麼極端。

雖然我不完全贊同戲內東西方的觀念，但日常生活上，我有很多機會接觸一些在香港住了一段時間的外籍人士，本身也有一些外籍朋友。有趣的是，大多數男的會娶個亞裔太太，卻很少見鬼婆會在香港嫁個亞裔丈夫 (不知是否我見得較少鬼婆，網友可分享一下)。

曾和鬼佬朋友討論他們對東方女性的觀感。就如上文說，一般認為東方女性較細膩溫柔 (所以我一早被歸類為西方女性一族)，也會較順從，總之和他們祖家的很不同。

又想，甚麼人會和外籍人士拍拖甚至結婚? 我也有一個「和藩」的知心女友，她告訴我她和鬼佬老公溝通上完全沒有問題。我想，就是語言能力再高，還是有文化上的差異，要放低本身文化上的特質，而溶入另一個文化內，那是談何容易？維持一段婚姻已經不容易，還要適應文化上的差異，那是難上加難。

若果有緣，你會否嘗試與外籍人士談戀愛，甚至結婚 ?


【「香港話劇團」   《蝴蝶君》   4.1.1992  2.30pm  &   6.1.1992  7.30pm  香港大會堂劇院 】