The Liminal Icongraphy : part 1

The Liminal Iconography (若隱若現的身影：上篇)
by Christina Lane

前言:
茱蒂福斯特在80年代末起一直是美國激進同志平權運動人士的目標對象，他們採取各種方式，希望茱蒂不論是出於自願還是非自願的方式，都能公開同志身份．那個時代正是愛滋病猖獗的階段，也是同志社群再度被污名化的時刻，美國同志社群採用這種激進的策略，有其歷史背景．

在大眾等著看熱鬧的情況下，也有人理智地把「是不是同志」的答案擺一邊，而是探討「為什麼」會認定對方是同志？這篇文章是女性主義電影學者Christina Lane發表於1995年1月” Journal of Popular Film and Television”．標題為：The Liminal Iconography．

Liminal本意是幾乎要跨入門檻；在人類學的概念則是指整個儀式中的過度階段；也有人應用在尚無法定論的身份認同．Iconography是圖像學，可譯作圖像研究．作者在1995年研究茱蒂福斯特為什麼被認定是同志，從茱蒂在電影及大眾媒體所呈現的公眾形像，來探討這些圖像的內涵．The Liminal Iconography 或許可譯為「撲朔迷離的圖像研究」，白話一點可譯作「若隱若現的身影」．

這是一篇很有參考價值的1995年「歷史文獻」，從茱蒂福斯特的個案，整理出我們的對公眾人物性傾向的聯想模式．很幸運地，當年文中提到茱蒂的形象符碼，到今日竟驗證成真，重讀這篇文章，份外感觸．或許，唯一該繼續討論的是，當代社會如何看待公眾人物對公開同志身份與否的權利與義務．

原文頗長，而且部份學術字彙較為艱澀，我想全文轉載，但又沒時間逐句翻譯，請容我用口語化方式重點說明，我若有空再回來修訂．

特別說明：我所看到的原文並未同時附有圖片，故文中所有配圖是我個人依據原作者的文句自行揣摩搭配．部份可能符合原文旨意，部份為我個人發想．

1)The discussion of lesbian representation often revolves around visual signifiers- - particularly how a woman might be identified as lesbian through her choice of fashion, display of political symbols, her language, and her conscious or unconscious reinforcement of stereotypes. Within this framework, I will examine the images of a public figure, Jodie Foster, who, whether willingly or not, has entered into this discourse about lesbian signifiers and self-representation.

討論女同的形象常是依賴外在的符碼 ，特別是她的打扮方式，有沒有展示政治立場的旗幟，她的談吐，以及有意無意地強化刻板印象．作者用這些架構去檢視茱蒂福斯特的公眾形象．不管她願不願意，她都無可避免被捲入討論代表女同符碼的論述中．

2)The sexuality of feminist director and actress Jodie Foster has been put into play as both visibly and invisibly lesbian since Michaelangelo Signorile, editor of Outweek, considered publicly identifying her as gay in his publication in 1991. However, I will argue that a certain strategic sexual liminality informs much of Foster's career-- than her persona encompasses such oppositions as masculine/feminine, public/private, gay/straight, in/out rather than submitting to their binary structure. (1) I intend to look at the conscious and subconscious cultural iconography surrounding her and attempt to identify ways in which she constructs her own image on the screen and through personal interviews. Although stars generally have minimal authority over their own images, I find it a valuable exercise to examine the way in which actors may mediate that authority through the press and Hollywood.

自從Outweek的編輯Michaelangelo Signorile於1991年在刊物中公然地宣稱茱蒂福斯特是同志，她的性傾向在她的作品中都成為女同，不論是有形或無形．但是作者認為，這種性傾向模糊的策略，被運用在福斯特的演藝職業，更甚於她融合兩極化的角色：陽剛/陰柔，公眾/隱密，同志/異性，不出櫃/出櫃．雖然電影明星通常少有控制自我形象的權力，但是從這次的研究中，作者發現演員從好萊塢及媒體中，掌握自我權力的可能性．

3)This article does not attempt to prove or disprove anything about Foster's sexual orientation, but rather to discover what signifiers, if any, suggest her liminal status as a popular icon for lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual communities. From the perspective of a heterosexual feminist, I interrogate the notion of stable gender identities, especially the possible decentering of gender and heterosexuality that goes on in the realm of cinematic representation. It is also my intention to explore whether Foster iconography offers ways to problematize current modes of thinking about lesbian representation.

作者並非要證明或反證福斯特的性傾向，而是要發掘是什麼樣的符碼會隱約暗示出公眾人物是同志，雙向戀，還是異性戀．作者從異性戀女性主義的觀點，質疑固定的性別認同，更消說在在電影領域中一直在進行著去除性別與異性戀的強勢地位．作者更想發掘福斯特的外在形象是否質疑了大眾認定女同形象的思考模式．

4)First, I will outline the short history of gossip and rumors that originally put Foster's sexuality into question publicly. The publication Outpost, known for its mandate to publicly identify ("out") gay, powerful people, circulated one if its "Absolutely Queer" posters with Foster on front. At the same time, Signorile of Outweek, a strong proponent of "outing," decided to write an article attacking Foster for acting in and celebrating The Silence of the Lambs when the villain was portrayed stereotypically as an effeminate, gay transvestite. In fact, rumor has it that an ex- girlfriend of Foster's considered writing an expose on her for Outweek. Cindy Carr of the Village Voice then in turn attacked Signorile for attacking Foster. Signorile writes about the controversy in his book, Queer in America, saying:

作者先簡述福斯特的性傾向遭流言質疑的經過．Outpost出版物素以曝光權力人士的同志身份而知名，他們張貼以"Absolutely Queer(絕對是酷兒)"為題的海報，並將福斯特放在前面．同一時間，強力支持曝光別人同志身份的Outweek編輯Signorile，打算攻擊福斯特，因為她演出＜沈默的羔羊＞，而片中的壞人被刻板地塑造成陰柔的男同志跨性別裝扮廦．曾有流言，福斯特的前女友考慮為Outweek寫篇文章來曝光她．接著Village Voice 村聲雜誌的Cindy Carr便為文攻擊Signorile對福斯特的作為．Signorile後來在他的著作"Queer in America"紀錄這段爭議事件．他寫道：

5)Lesbian activists with whom I'd regularly consulted with at the time told me that, because Foster was pretty and feminine, and because she was the epitome of a straight, WASP woman, the outing caused a curious backlash among women, gay and straight.

那時候我常討教的女同平權人士告訴我，因為福斯特既漂亮又女性化，而且她是異性戀與白人菁英（White Anglo-Saxon Protestant，WASP 白人盎格魯-撒克遜新教徒）的象徵，將她曝光可在女性，同志與異性戀中，同時引起衝擊．

6)Certain groups in the female backlash felt that Foster was being identified as gay because she is a strong woman; they felt it was wrong for gay activists to use her as a "sacrificial lamb" (Staiger 142). Janet Staiger has paid in-depth attention to this public identification as a cultural event, linking it to the critical response of The Silence of the Lambs. Staiger suggests that Foster "could be the lamb sacrificed in punishment for the film's expressed homophobia and repressed polymorphous sexuality" (153). In conjunction, Staiger proposes that because Foster's being identified as gay symptomatizes current cultural taboos, it is "more overdetermined linguistically, psychoanalytically, and culturally than it might appear" (144). The cultural codes embodied by Foster as (simultaneously or separately) a feminist, a femme lesbian, a butch lesbian, and a "good [heterosexual] girl," that is, someone who needs protection from the press and gay activists, are because of her liminality. Thus Foster's persona merits further exploration for understanding contemporary social reactions to certain signifying strategies and our cultural readings of those discourses.

有些女性團體認為福斯特因為很強悍而被視為女同；她們認為同志平權人士錯將她當作代罪羔羊．Janet Staiger深入觀察，認為這項公眾身份認同是個社會事件，是與批判＜沈默的羔羊＞聯結在一起．Staiger覺得福斯特變成代罪羔羊，是因為他們要懲 罰電影傳達恐同及壓抑不同性傾向．她指出因為福斯特視為女同而引起一連串的文化禁忌，在語言上、心理上、文化上顯示更為多元面向．由於她模糊的性傾向，不管福斯特身上的符碼(是同時，還是單獨)表現出她是女性主義、女同P、女同T，或是異性戀的乖女孩，她都像是需要保護於媒體及同志平權人士之外．因此要進一步探討福斯特的電影表演成就，以了解社會對這種形象塑造的反應，我們的文化如何解讀這種論述．

7)Let us now look at Foster's cinematic work. The film roles that an actress finds herself in or, as she acquires power in Hollywood, those she chooses for herself, maybe her most determinant strategy for constructing her image. Foster has shied away from playing traditional female characters, instead projecting a very complicated image. Even as a child, she always played stoic, distanced characters onscreen. Like the tomboy daughter in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the 13-year-old prostitute in Taxi Driver, her characters are tough and precocious, having lived in a rough world. While most female child actresses were playing up their girlish sweetness, Foster appeared to be nonfeminine.

我們檢視福斯特的電影作品．有些角色是別人邀約，有些角色是她在好萊塢影響力增加後她自己爭取而來，這些角色選擇可能是她建立自己形象的長期策略．福斯特總是避免傳統的女性角色，而以複雜的形象取而代之．既使在童星時代，她一直都扮演禁慾的，疏離的人物．例如＜Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 再見愛麗絲 (1974)＞像小男孩的女生，或是＜Taxi Driver 計程車司機(1976＞年僅13的雛妓．她的角色都很強悍而早熟，在艱困的世界中求生．大部份的女童星只是表現甜美的小女孩，福斯特卻一點也不女性化．

8)Foster's role choices did not change much as she grew into a woman. She continued to play characters such as the tough-girl victim of attempted rape in Five Corners, the gang-rape survivor in The Accused, and a federal agent tracking a serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs. In a 1991 Rolling Stone article she says, "There are some characters I can't do.. I don't know how to cry and be kidnapped. I don't know how to approach weak" (Hirshen 89).

福斯特成年後，她的角色選擇並未改變．她持續扮演，例如＜Five Corners 五角戀愛(1987)＞裡被意圖強暴的剛強受害者，或是＜The Accused 控訴(1988)＞中被集體性侵的倖存者，還有＜沈默的羔羊＞追緝連續殺人犯的聯邦探員．她在1991年Rolling Stone 滾石雜誌受訪時說道：有些角色我演不來....我不會哭泣，不知如何被綁架．我不知道如何表現弱者．


9)The persona constructed by her film characters carries over into publicity spreads and fashion photos of her. Often Foster is posed wearing markers of "butch" lesbianism, such as denim, leather, or men's clothing. This is particularly true in photos that came out around the release of The Accused -- a film in which Foster's character goes from long, flowing hair to short, hacked hair after experiencing physical and institutional rape (perhaps a stereotypical plot point). If is also true in photos that depict her as a film director, a conventionally masculine role. In the late 1980s, Elle magazine labeled Foster's fashion choices as "lumberjack chic" (Miller 27). [2]

她的電影形象在媒體宣傳及時尚照片上依然保持一致．通常福斯特會穿著牛仔褲、皮衣，甚至男性的衣著，呈現那些所謂T的裝扮．在＜The Accused 控訴(1988)＞發行期間所流傳的宣傳照特別如此－－福斯特在片中的角色，在經歷性侵之害，將一頭飄逸長髮削成參差不齊的短髮(可能是刻板化的劇情安排)．在描述她是電影導演時，傳統上這是陽剛的工作，呈現出來的照片同樣是很T的．在80年代末期，Elle雜誌將她的裝扮方式歸類為「伐木工風格」．

10)Perhaps it is a symptom of the media's tendency to feminize almost any female star, or perhaps it reflects Foster's own range and flexibility, but she often has also projected a persona that is quite feminine. Her "femme" image is readily observable in the fashion photography of such magazines as Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, and Vogue. Photos such as those that appear in the 1989 Harper's Bazaar "America's Ten Most Beautiful Women" issue feature Foster's hair and makeup, painting her as a sophisticated and idealized beauty (on cover and 326).In one of Foster's most recent fashion spreads (Vanity Fair, May 1994), she conforms to the "waif-like" standard precedented by Kate Moss. With one arm barely covering her naked breasts, her skin appears extremely pale and her eyes gloss over sleepily.　

或許把每個女明星都變得女性化是媒體的通病，或許它是展現福斯特表演的廣度和彈性，她常呈非常女性化的形象．在時尚雜誌如Glamour, Bazaar, 和 Vogue的時尚照片中，她的女性化形象是顯而易見．在1989年Bazaar「美國十大美女」專題，強調福斯特的髮型及化妝，把她塑造成風華絕代的美女．在1994年5月的Vanity Fair浮華世界的時尚照片，她依Kate Moss的風格來裝扮．她的一隻手幾乎掩不住胸前春光，皮膚白淨，故意雙眼惺忪．　

11)In interview after interview, Foster discusses her overwhelming need to be liked, to be approved of. Also, she told Rolling Stone that her idea of "soft porn is a Williams Sonoma catalog. Anything to do with the kitchen I'm a sucker for" (Hirshen 88). By feminist ideals, she has certainly not shed standards of feminity. Foster made a substantial break from her tough-girl persona in the spring of 1993 when she starred in Sommersby, a historical love story based on The Return of Martin Guerre in which she offers a softer, more romantic side of herself. Whereas Sommersby is one of the only films in which Foster is paired up with a leading male love interest (to which I will come back later), even after, he dies and she presumably lives out the rest of her life alone. Foster's 1994 role in Maverick as Mel Gibson's love interest/rival characterizes her as a southern belle, but one who is driven by wealth, not love. Foster's Annabelle sees men as subjects (objects?) for manipulation, and this perspective means that the audience never knows where Annabelle actually stands in terms of the film's plot.

許多採訪中，福斯特表達她被喜愛，被肯定的強烈需求．她還告訴滾石雜誌：「廚房用具型錄(Williams Sonoma catalog)對我而言是春藥．只要是廚房裡的東西，我都愛得要死．」就女性主義的典範來看，她並未擺脫女性傳統特質．她在1993年春天，暫時從強悍女性的銀幕形象中抽身．她演出＜Sommersby 男兒本色 (1993)＞，這是一部根據「馬丹．蓋赫返鄉記」改編的愛情史劇．她在片中表現她柔軟浪漫的一面．當時＜Sommersby 男兒本色 (1993)＞是她唯一與當紅男主角配對演情侶(這個稍後再說)．但是他最後死了，她可能是孤獨度過餘生．福斯特於1994年在＜Maverick 超級王牌(1994) ＞以南方佳麗之姿扮演梅爾吉伯遜的愛人及對手，但這個角色是受金錢驅策，而非愛情．福斯特扮演的安娜貝視男人為操控的對象，從這個角度來看，觀眾永遠搞不懂安娜貝根據劇情，到底有沒有真心愛過男方．

若隱若現的身影：中篇
若隱若現的身影：下篇

參考：茱蒂福斯特作品列表