心理投影:殭屍題材熱給我們的啓示

By any observable metric, zombies are totally hot right now. Look at movies like 'Warm Bodies' and the coming 'World War Z', the ratings for AMC's hit series 'The Walking Dead' (12.9 million viewers for its recent season finale) and $2.5 billion in annual sales for zombie video games. Over the past decade, between a third and a half of all zombie movies ever made have been released. A glance at Google Trends reveals that in the past few years, interest in flesh-eating ghouls has far outstripped popular enthusiasm for vampires, wizards and hobbits.

無論按哪種可衡量的標準，殭屍題材在眼下都算得上絕對的熱門。看看《血肉之軀》(Warm Bodies)和即將上映的《殭屍世界大戰》(World War Z)等電影、AMC電視臺熱播連續劇《行屍走肉》(The Walking Dead)的收視率（其最近播出的完結季吸引了1,290萬名觀衆）以及殭屍題材電子遊戲每年高達25億美元的銷售額吧。過去十年間上映的殭屍電影占到了所有此類題材影片的三分之一到一半。稍加瀏覽谷歌趨勢(Google Trends)就會發現，過去幾年間大衆對食肉的食屍鬼的興趣已經遠遠超過了對吸血鬼、巫師和霍比特人的興趣。

Why are the living dead taking over our lives, and why have so many other domains of American culture, from architects to academics to departments of the federal government, been so eager to jump on this macabre bandwagon? Is it all just good, scary fun─or something we should worry about?

爲什麼我們的生活會被殭屍佔據？爲什麼從建築、學術到聯邦政府各部的如此多的美國文化領域那麼急切地趕着這股恐怖潮流？它是完全無害的恐怖樂趣還是我們應當擔心的事情？

First we have to appreciate why zombies are so terrifying. The classic ghoul of George Romero films seems awfully slow and plodding. But what the living dead lack in speed, they make up for in other qualities. Zombies occupy what roboticists and animators call 'the uncanny valley' in human perception─though decidedly not human, they are so close to being human that they prompt instant revulsion. Another common feature of zombie narratives is that 100% of the people bitten by zombies eventually turn into zombies. Even the most virulent pathogens encountered in the real world (say, Ebola or HIV) have infection rates below 50%.

首先，我們得了解殭屍爲什麼如此讓人害怕。喬治•羅梅羅(George Romero)影片中的經典食屍鬼形象看起來極其遲鈍緩慢，不過殭屍在速度方面的缺陷被他們其他方面的特質所彌補。他們在人類感知領域中處於被機器人學家和動畫師稱爲“恐怖谷”(the uncanny valley)的區域──儘管他們絕非人類，但他們又非常接近人類，所以能夠立即招致強烈反感。殭屍故事另一個共同的特點是被殭屍咬過的人最終百分之百都變成了殭屍。而人類在現實生活中遇到的即便是最具傳染性的病原菌（比如說埃博拉病毒或艾滋病病毒）的傳染率也不到50%。

These qualities matter because they map so neatly onto the genuine threats of our day. Zombies thrive in popular culture during times of recession, epidemic and general unhappiness. Traditional threats to U.S. security may have waned, but nontraditional threats assault us constantly. Concerns about terrorism have not abated since 9/11, and cyberattacks have now emerged as a new anxiety. Drug-resistant pandemics have been a staple of local news hysteria since the H1N1 virus swept the globe in 2009. Scientists continue to warn about the dangers that climate change poses to our planet. And if the financial crisis taught us anything, it is that contagion is endemic to the global market system.

這些特質事關重大，因爲它們恰好映射出了當今時代的真正威脅。殭屍題材在經濟衰退、不幸福感普遍蔓延的時期在流行文化中大行其道。對美國安全的傳統威脅或許已經消退，但是非傳統的威脅卻在不斷侵擾着我們。對恐怖主義的擔憂自9/11事件以來還未緩和，現在網絡攻擊又成爲了我們的新憂慮。自H1N1病毒在2009年席捲全球以來，有關抗藥傳染病的內容屢屢見諸於引起羣情激憤的本地新聞報道。科學家們繼續就氣候變化給地球帶來的危害提出警告。而如果說金融危機給了我們什麼教訓的話，那就是危機的迅速蔓延是全球市場體系的通病。

Zombies are the perfect metaphor for these threats. As with pandemics and financial crises, they are not open to negotiation. As with terrorism in all its forms, even a small outbreak has the potential to wreak massive carnage.

殭屍就是對這些威脅的完美比喻。與傳染病和金融危機一樣，它們是不容商議的。與各種形式的恐怖主義一樣，它們即使是一次小規模的爆發也具備造成浩劫的潛力。

Because the living dead resonate so strongly with the present cultural moment, it is no surprise that various promoters and Policy entrepreneurs have used them as a 'hook' for their own causes. The scholar John Quiggin published 'Zombie Economics' as a way to grab reader attention about the ill state of current economic theory. Outdoor retailer REI marketed '13 Essential Tools for Surviving a Zombie Outbreak'─each available for purchase at REI stores. The annual Zombie Safe House competition challenges architects to design the best ghoul-proof home, and zombie 'fun runs' are now regular events across North America.

由於殭屍題材與當下的文化環境產生了強烈共鳴，不同的政策倡導者和政策企業家利用它們作爲實現其目的的“吊鉤”也就不足爲奇了。學者約翰•奎金(John Quiggin)發表了《殭屍經濟學》(Zombie Economics)一書，以這樣一個書名來引起讀者對當今經濟理論糟糕狀況的注意。戶外用品零售商REI在銷售“逃過殭屍襲擊的13種必備工具”(13 Essential Tools for Surviving a Zombie Outbreak)，每種工具都在REI的門店有售。此外，在一年一度的防殭屍安全屋設計比賽中，建築師們爲設計出最棒的防食屍鬼的住宅一爭高下，殭屍“快樂奔跑”比賽如今也已成爲了整個北美的常規體育活動。

Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have gotten into the act. In May 2011, the CDC posted a small item on its blog about what to do if the dead should rise from the grave to feast upon the entrails of the living. Within two hours, it had gone viral; the CDC's Web server crashed from the surge in traffic.

就連美國疾病控制與預防中心(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention，簡稱“CDC”)也參與了進來。2011年5月，CDC在其博客上發表了一篇小文章，講述了萬一殭屍從墳墓中爬出來大吃活人的內臟時該怎麼做。這篇文章在兩個小時之內就大範圍傳播開來，CDC的網絡服務器也因流量激增而崩潰。

Recognizing a good thing, the CDC soon released Zombie Preparedness 101, a comic book designed to educate readers about how to prepare against a zombie attack─which, not coincidentally, requires the same steps as preparing for natural disasters. The Department of Homeland Security soon picked up on the CDC's success and incorporated zombies into its own planning and publicity operations.

意識到其中的好處後，CDC很快又發佈了《預防殭屍襲擊101招》(Zombie Preparedness 101)，這本漫畫書指導讀者如何防備殭屍的襲擊，它所列出的舉措與防備自然災害的舉措如出一轍，這當然並非巧合。美國國土安全部(Department of Homeland Security)很快也學習了CDC的成功經驗，在其規劃和宣傳舉措中加入了殭屍內容。

These examples highlight the positive ways that the living dead can be used to spark interest in other ideas. One of the strengths of the horror genre is that it allows people to talk about present-day problems without addressing them straight-on. The moment zombies are added to the mix, a dry public policy problem suddenly becomes a game of sorts, accessible to ordinary citizens.

這些例子表明，可以通過某種積極正面的方式利用殭屍來激起公衆對其他觀點的興趣。恐怖片的優點之一是，它可以讓人們討論當今的問題而不用馬上去解決它們。一旦把殭屍題材混入其中，乾巴巴的公共政策馬上就會變成某種遊戲，讓普通民衆易於接受。

Still, there's a real downside to these constant references to the living dead. The most serious problem lies in the suggested analogy. Policy entrepreneurs piggyback on zombies to capture attention, but they too often overlook a key element of zombie stories: They are relentlessly, depressingly apocalyptic. In almost all of them, the living dead are introduced in minute one, and by minute 10, the world is a wasteland. The implication is that if zombielike threats emerge, the state and civil society will quickly break down.

然而，不斷引用殭屍內容也存在一個切實的負面影響，最嚴重的問題在於它所暗示的類比。政策企業家依附殭屍題材來俘獲公衆的注意力，但是他們常常忽視了殭屍故事的一個關鍵因素：它們都無情地、令人消沉地預示着世界的覆滅。在幾乎所有的殭屍故事中，殭屍在第一分鐘出場，到了第十分鐘，世界就變成了一個廢墟。其中暗含的意思是假如類似殭屍的威脅出現，政府與民間社會將會迅速瓦解。

The apocalypse narrative matters if people implicitly accept the notion that some real-world threats will actually trigger this sort of collapse. Perception plays an important role in maintaining national resilience and public order. If Americans think that we are teetering on the brink of chaos, the apocalyptic mind-set can, in itself, help bring about that state of affairs.

如果人們無保留地接受認爲某些現實世界的威脅確實能將引發此類瓦解的觀念，那麼這種末日故事就會產生切實影響。觀念在維持國家恢復力和公共秩序方面扮演着重要角色，如果美國人認爲自己掙扎在混亂的邊緣，那麼末日論的思想傾向本身就能引發那種事態。

Preparations for doomsday already influence policy debates. For National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, part of the logic for opposing gun regulation is that he anticipates 'confrontations where the government isn't there─or simply doesn't show up in time.' Sen. Lindsey Graham has worried aloud about inadequate firepower if, say, 'chemicals have been released into the air and law enforcement is really not able to respond and people take advantage of that lawless environment.' When lobbyists and senators muse aloud about such scenarios, there is a problem with our political discourse.

對末日的準備已經影響了有關政策的辯論。在美國全國步槍協會(National Rifle Association)執行副理事長韋恩•拉皮埃爾(Wayne LaPierre)看來，反對槍支管制的部分邏輯就在於他所預料的“政府沒有出面──或者只是沒有及時出現──的地方爆發的衝突”。參議員林賽•格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)擔心，比如說一旦“化學品被釋放到空氣當中，執法部門確實未能良好應對，大家也趁着混亂環境作亂”時，火力不足的問題會出現。當遊說人員和參議員開始談論這樣的場景時，我們的政治話語就出現了問題。

The solution to this millenarian cul-de-sac is to create more creative zombie narratives. There will always be a place in zombie lore for the postapocalyptic visions of 'The Walking Dead, ' but we also need stories like Max Brooks's novel 'World War Z' (the source for this summer's movie), in which the adaptability, ingenuity and creativity of human beings are put on full display.

對這個千年難解之題的解決方法是創造更多有創意的殭屍故事。殭屍傳說中總是會有後末日版《行屍走肉》的位置，但是我們還需要像馬克斯•布魯克斯(Max Brooks)的小說《殭屍世界大戰》（將於今年夏季上映的同名影片由此書改編而來）這樣的故事。在這本書中，人類的適應能力、獨創性和創造力得到了充分體現。

Any species that has managed to invent duct tape, Twinkies and smartphones stands a fighting chance against the living dead. Narratives about flesh-eating ghouls should remain scary─but they can also remind audiences that we have an enormous capacity to adapt to new threats and overcome them.

任何能夠發明出強力膠帶、Twinkie蛋糕和智能手機的物種都有與殭屍一搏的機會。講述食肉的食屍鬼的故事應當繼續恐怖下去，但是同時它們還可以提醒觀衆我們具備適應新威脅並戰勝它們的巨大能力。