柔软的黑人性与坚硬的主体性——解读《白宫管家》

Flexible Blackness and Rigid Subjectivity: an Interpretation of The Butler

《白宫管家》以交叉叙事的方式书写了西塞尔·盖恩斯在种族主义语境中的摇摆人生,以及与之相随的柔软黑人性和坚硬主体性,具体表现在三个方面:第一,棉花田里的舞勺之年,未谙世事的西塞尔以反抗彰显着其黑人性;第二,私刑下的而立与不惑,失去父亲的西塞尔用忍耐守望着自己的主体性,尽量不谈政治;第三,后政治秀的耄耋期颐,失去儿子的西塞尔凭反抗坚守着长期以来其族裔所需的黑人性。实际上,这三段从反抗→忍耐→反抗的人生,是当时黑人在"主人"宰制下的策略生存,旨在以迎合语境所允许个体"奴仆"承载的主体性的前提下守护集体的黑人性。

The Butler is a gorgeous film about the life story of Cecil Gaines, which can be divided into three parts： the first is the miserable childhood and his visible blackness when he worked with his parents in the field as a young man, until the young master raped his mother and killed his father. After that, he became a house nigger. The second is the invisible blackness and visible subjectivity in Cecil＇s middle age life when he left George and went to North Carolina as an adult. There, he met a kind butler Maynard who taught him how to serve the White in a sly way. In this way, Cecil earned his subjectivity in North America, and changed his life conditions. The third is the elderly time of Cecil, and his fighting life when he lost his son, Cecil finally understood that the true relationship between the White and Black, ant that the real subjectivity of the African American is his Blackness.