我命由己不由天:一个哪吒,两种叛逆

“I am the master of my own destiny – the double life of Nezha”

Written By: Jie Cheng
Posted on September 5, 2019

 

哪吒电影是目前中国电影史上票房收入最高的动画片。放映22天后仅内地票房已经超过38亿人民币,位居影史第四。未来很有可能进入票房前三。哪吒的故事在中国几乎家喻户晓。在神话传说中,哪吒是一个叛逆的儿童形象。他最终割肉剔骨,偿还父母养育之恩。这一做法感动了上天,在他割肉剔骨后以莲花托身重生并封神。由于传说中哪吒与父亲决裂,原有的哪吒故事是中国古代传说中少有的反抗父权的人物。

电影中的哪吒依然叛逆,但其反叛的不是顽固僵化的父亲,而是冥冥注定的天命。在电影中,哪吒是一个魔丸转世,并注定在三年后被摧毁。由于其天生具有破坏性,世人对其恐惧不喜。哪吒也曾经“听天由命”并释放自己的魔性。不过,与神话中压制性的父亲不同,电影中哪吒的父母都是正面角色,不但支持他,而且鼓励他不要为人言而自我放弃。告诉他”你是谁,只有你自己说了才算“。最后,当毁灭性的灾难来临时,哪吒为了拯救世人而牺牲了自己。命中的劫难还是发生了,哪吒的肉身也像传说中那样被摧毁了。但是,天雷只摧毁了哪吒的肉身。哪吒的灵魂得以保存,他成为人们心中的英雄,并收获了友谊。也许下一部哪吒电影中,我们将会看到哪吒的重生。电影结尾是颇带玄机(或悖论)的一番结论:不认命,就是哪吒的命!命运让哪吒作为妖魔被摧毁,哪吒最终却作为救世英雄留在人们心中。这是哪吒不认命的结果。

Smashing box office records, movie Nezha becomes the top-grossing animation in Chinese cinema history. The story of Nezha is well-known to almost every household in China. In myth, Nezha is a disobedient child figure. In order to save the city of his father, Nezha committed suicide by carving up his flesh and dismembering his bones, “returning” these to his parents in repayment for the debt of his birth. As this act touched the Heavens, Nezha was brought back to life by Deities, reincarnated from lotus roots, and elevated as the new deity. As he cut off his tie with his father in the original story, Nezha becomes a rare anti-patriarchal figure in ancient Chinese legendary.

The Nezha in this film is still rebellious, instead of fighting against his stubborn and rigid father, he fought against the mysterious destiny. In the movie, he was a reincarnation of a devil ball, which was destined to be destroyed three years after his birth. People feared and disliked him because of his inherent destructiveness. Nezha also used to “resign himself to his fate” and released his dark side. However, unlike the repressive father in mythology, the parents in the film were kind, not only did they supported him, but they also encouraged him not to give up. They told him, “only you can decide who you are.” Finally, on the blink of the apocalypse, Nezha sacrificed himself to save the world. The catastrophe did come, and Nezha’s body was destroyed as predestined. However, the thunder of heaven only destroyed his flesh. Nezha’s soul was preserved. He became a well-known hero and gained friendship. The ending of the movie is quite mysterious (or paradoxical): Don’t accept destiny is Nezha’s destiny. Destiny destroyed Nezha as a demon, but he revived as a hero in people’s hearts. This is the fate of not accepting destiny…

命定和不认命,是永恒的故事主题。命,就是注定会发生的事。命,关乎出身、经历、结果。认命,就是接受命运的安排。中国日常谈话有很多与“命”相关的成语。历史上的帝王将相被认为是天命所归,天选之人。在命运面前,人不完全是被动的,需要为自己筹谋。但是“谋事在人成事在天”,“尽人事听天命”。所以,最终还是要认命:“成之我幸,不成我命”。强调命运,就是要人命安于现状,接受既定的生死成败。

不认命,就是不接受既定的生死成败,不安于现状。不认命,也有强大的传统基因。在哪吒之前,中国神话故事中最受欢迎的人物是孙悟空。哪吒闹海,孙悟空则更进一步,大闹天宫。反抗权威、反抗命运,尤其是反抗不公的命运安排,使得他们成为永恒的偶像。

不但神话中的人物不认命,现实中的历史人物也不认命。2019年初,有网文称“新版语文教科书删掉了课文《陈涉世家》”,结果引发全网热议。2月25日晚,人民教育出版社甚至专门发布消息,针对《陈涉世家》未选入新编语文教材进行了相关说明。一篇语文课文而已,为何引发如此之多的关注?因为这篇传世之文中有一句国人熟知的话:王侯将相宁有种乎?!这篇《史记》中的短文,记载了中华第一帝国秦国末年(公元前209年)第一次大规模农民起义。从1960年算起,这篇课文已陪伴中国人近60年,很多人对文中的名句可以说是倒背如流。例如,在发动起义时,陈胜吴广批评秦的暴政,称天下苦秦久矣今亡亦死,举大计亦死,等死,死国可乎?” 文中著名的句子还有燕雀安知鸿鹄之志”—— 起义者不愿接受命运的安排,想要如大雁展翅高飞,为自己争取机会。当然,其中最为脍炙人口的是一句王侯将相宁有种乎!” 陈胜吴广起义虽然失败了,但揭开了秦朝灭亡的序幕。公元前207年,“秦三代而亡”。

不认命,不一定能够制止命定的悲剧。但不认命,传达了一种态度,就是对改变的渴望,对命运不公的抗争。上一部传达类似主题的电影是贾樟柯的《天注定》。这部电影是由四起悲剧事件串联起来的,全部有真实的事迹为基础:有人因不满官商勾结而枪杀了村里的权贵; 有桑拿店的服务生不愿忍受侮辱而刺死了镇干部;有在经济特区代工工厂的生产线上绝望自杀的民工; 也有走上不归路的银行抢劫犯。死亡是故事中人物的共同宿命,而每一个故事中都有一个不认命的主人公。

不认命,不一定能改变命运;但认命,就一定不能改变。近期,香港大规模游行示威引起举世瞩目。游行示威最初是抗议港府所提议的引渡立法。但引渡立法草案被宣告“死亡”之后,示威行动却不断升级。问题何在?这场示威之所以难以消解,是因为示威者的不满并非针对单一事件,而是港人长期不满的爆发,是一次尝试改变命运抗争。几乎可以预见的是,香港的未来是统一和一体化。这如宿命一般的未来是香港社会纠结的根本。抗争,不一定能够改变命运;但不抗争,一定没有希望。哪吒如是,香港亦如是。

 

 

 

logo