美国民主制度的罪与罚:从《三块广告牌》到弗洛伊德之死

The Crime and Punishment of American Democracy:From Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri to Floyd’s Death

爱尔兰剧作家马丁·麦克唐纳自编自导的影片《三块广告牌》中展示出美国民主社会里的暴力、种族歧视、性别歧视、宗教问题等社会问题。通过在故事情节中有意识地安排,导演从深层次上揭露美国民主制度在应对这些社会问题时所存在的"罪与罚"。但遗憾的是,该部影片背后所折射出的导演和作者的意识形态也明显存在问题,即他们试图以个体问题的解决与否来影射社会群体问题解决的可能性,从而抛弃了对美国民主制度层面的追问及其对民主制度总体层面上进行解决群体问题的有益探索。具有讽刺意味的是,2020年新冠疫情期间发生在美国的现实版黑人弗洛伊德之死与该影片似乎在遥相呼应,从而让影片中的美国民主制度的罪与罚问题再次从幕后迈向台前,弗洛伊德之死所引起的席卷全球的"黑人命贵"运动及特朗普拒绝承认总统选举失败所引发的全国性骚乱和对抗似乎也在某种意义上昭示着美国民主制度灰暗的未来。

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missouri,written and directed by Irish dramatist Martin McDonagh reveals many social ills such as violence,racial discrimination,sex discrimination and religious disbelief.Through the deliberate plot arrangement,the director intentionally betrays the corresponding crime and punishment of the above social ills.However,it is regretful to notice that the ideology of the film behind the scene is somewhat problematic in that he tries to find a way out for the current American democracy to solve its social ills and problems through the case study of the emblematic Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,Missori.The seeming way out by means of Love,Mutual Understanding and Peace as indicated at the end of the film story is in effect neither practical nor feasible due to its obvious neglect or ignorance of the real causes of the apparent failure of American Democracy in relation to its law enforcement,judicial system,public media surveillance and religious belief.Ironically,the death of George Perry Floyd in May 2020 amid a global Covid-19 pandemic seems to echo the spiritual call of Martin’s film in question,which in a way once again calls the problem of American Democracy and its related crime and punishment to the public attention.Furthermore,the global"Black Life Matters"movement triggered by George Perry Floyd’s Death coupled with Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the American Presidential Election result seems to foreshadow the dark future of the American democracy.