| 摘要: | 本論文分析美國導演湯米‧李‧瓊斯首部劇情長片《馬奎斯的三場葬禮》且聚焦於其三位男主角所遭遇的挫折與其之意涵。這三個角色──警長貝蒙、牧場工人皮特伯肯斯、新進邊境巡警麥克諾頓──皆試圖將遭誤殺的墨西哥籍非法移工馬奎斯艾斯卓達入土為安，但沒有任何人成功地進行葬禮。這三位主角的角色設定承襲警長、牛仔、與新手等三個廣為人知的西部片人物，因而我將他們面臨的挫折視為本片對於好萊塢西部片諸多價值觀的質疑。我認為警長貝蒙對力行其（身為警長、與身為男人的）能力的力不從心，意指美國行使其律法──諸如正義與道德良知等崇高的社會價值觀，與美國力求成為模範之國並庇護所有於貧窮、迫害之中受苦之人的理想──的能力在其政府以政治利益為優先考量的前提之下已名存實亡。而儘管出身德州的牧場工人皮特像個牛仔英雄般地挺身主持正義，並忠實地兌現他對馬奎斯許下的承諾，他最後以失敗收場，並因而揭露了牛仔英勇形象實為立基於對墨西哥、墨國人民的不實、貶抑的想像之上。而麥可誤殺了無辜的馬奎斯反映美國大眾對於美墨邊境二元分立式的認同，以及公眾在大眾媒體與好萊塢渲染之下對於非法移民議題展現的憂慮。透過皮特與麥克的墨國之行，《馬》展示了美墨邊境的真實樣貌，與其曖昧本質，並解構了三位主角所體現的西部神話。透過本片的結局，《馬》看似為劇中角色達成了和解，並藉此呼籲美國重塑其對美墨邊境的認同，以得到救贖。This thesis treats Tommy Lee Jones’ debut feature film, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, focusing specifically on three male protagonists, each of whom attempts to bury Melquiades Estrada, a Mexican illegal migrant worker mistakenly shot by one of them. As heirs to three common figures of the Hollywood Western, the sheriff, the cowboy, and the tenderfoot, I take each of their failures to properly bury Estrada be a challenge to the values each embodies. First, I argue that Sheriff Belmont’s inability to enforce the law signifies the failure of values central to American identity such as being a model nation that provides freedom and justice to the world’s oppressed. Second, I treat ranch hand Pete Perkins, who by befriending Estrada and returning him to Mexico after he is killed fulfills qualities we associate with the cowboy hero of loyalty and courage. Yet, he also fails to bury Melquiades as he promised due to illusions concerning Mexico and Mexicans commonplace to the Western and to popular media generally in the United States. Third, I take the young Border Patrol agent Mike Norton as a typical Western tenderfoot, and his panic in shooting the innocent Melquiades as the result of the American public’s oppositional border identity and anxiety over illegal immigration, again captured and amplified by Hollywood and mass media. Through Pete and Mike’s journey to Mexico, Three Burials introduces the reality of the U.S.-Mexico border and the world beyond it, thus undermining the existing border mythology. The thesis concludes by arguing that Three Burials suggest the future of American cross-border relations depends on more flexible and humane border laws, as well as more flexible and humane people to enforce them. |
