Jesse: My grades tanked senior year. That book was the only thing I wanted to read. You liking it?
Dean: Uh, yeah. It’s my second time reading it, actually.
Jesse: Wow. That’s impressive. It’s not short.
Dean: Yeah, I know.
Jesse: You know, he said the purpose of fiction was to combat loneness.
Dean: That’s good. I never heard that.
Jesse: Yeah. Well, on the other hand, spending most of your time with a 1,100-page book tends to put a dent in your social life.
Dean: Yeah. Loneliness simultaneously increased and decreased.
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Jesse: I think one of the things I loved the most about being here was the feeling that anything was possible. It’s just infinite choices ahead of you. You’d get out of school, and anything could happen. And then you do get out, and . . . life happens, you know? Decisions get made. And then all those many choices you had in front of you are no longer really there. [ . . . ] And there’s just something a little depressing about that.
Zibby: Well, don’t you think you’re romanticizing youth a bit much? You know, ‘cause I think it’s just as hard and annoying to be young as it is to be old, I’m assuming. Not that you’re old, ‘cause you know, you’re not.
Jesse: Look, I get the whole “we’re all equal” argument, and it’s kind of true, but it’s also kind of not true. Like, okay, I feel different now than I felt when I was here, and I hate to break this to you, but so will you.
Zibby: So you’re saying things suck? I should prepare myself for suckiness?
Jesse: No, a liberal arts education solves all your problems.
本片英文片名Liberal Arts是「人文學科」的意思(大學中的「文學院」即為College of Liberal Arts),也就是我們常說的「文科」,簡單和「理科」做出區分。文科在我們的印象中是什麼樣的學科?不外乎就是文、史、哲等「需要背誦」的科目,或某些較為極端的刻板印象,如:「數學不好的人去讀的」、「讀那個有什麼用」或「未來出路少、薪水低」等。這些看法不算全錯,舉例來說,影片中,傑西和莉碧相識不久,莉碧問傑西大學時就讀什麼科系,傑西就回答:「I was English with a minor in history, just to make sure I was fully unemployable(主修英文,副修歷史。畢業即失業的雙重保障)」。無可否認的,現今社會中,文科的專業較難找到一個所謂高薪的工作,甚至念文科的學生也常常懷疑自己所學究竟有何意義。
首先,傑西點出這本書的魅力:「My grades tanked senior year. That book was the only thing I wanted to read」。句中的tank不是名詞「坦克車」或「儲水池」的意思,也不是動詞「貯放在罐子內」等意思,而是較俚語的用法,做動詞用,為「擊敗」、「挫敗」等意。在傑西大四那一年,成績一落千丈,什麼書都不想念,只想看這本小說。傑西沒說那一年發生了什麼事,導致他沒心情念書,但是我們不難猜想,當一個人突然停止原本生活中的事,陷入孤獨、憂鬱的狀況時,想必是原有價值觀經歷了重大衝擊,不再覺得原來的生活或工作有所意義,因而停擺。當時,傑西唯一願意面對的,只有那本小說。
傑西更分享了那本書的作者對小說的看法:作者認為小說的目的是為了對抗孤獨(the purpose of fiction was to combat loneness)。不過他又隨即補充,另一方面,沉溺於閱讀小說似乎也可能影響到你的社交生活。傑西的原句為:「Well, on the other hand, spending most of your time with an 1,100-page book tends to put a dent in your social life」。Dent是「凹痕」的意思,例如車子被撞到後表面有了凹痕。Put a dent in something(或make a dent in something)字面意思為「在某物上弄出了凹痕」,也就是對某物造成了什麼影響,通常是比較負面的影響。很顯然地,迪恩就是這樣的孩子,心理上有一些過不去的困擾,不滿意學校的生活,因而無時無刻都沉浸在小說的世界裡,以致現實中的社交生活完全停擺。迪恩自己也同意這樣的看法,他為此現象下了一個極佳的結論:「Loneliness simultaneously increased and decreased」,意謂閱讀小說時,孤獨感是同時增加又減少的,增加是因為閱讀小說時他遠離了現實中的人事物,成了孤立的狀態;減少則是他在小說中找到了慰藉,得以打敗孤獨感。
這時傑西則輕鬆地回答:「No, a liberal arts education solves all your problems(一門人文教育課程就能解決你所有的問題)」。從這裡就能看出,如果依照中文片名翻成「一門愛情必修學就能解決你所有的問題」,那真是十分無厘頭。愛情必修學也許能等於人文教育,但人文教育不能以愛情必修學來概括,人文教育涵蓋的範圍更廣。回到傑西的話,他所指的「解決」,並不像數學公式一般,最後能有一個「等號」,並且後面接著一個「解答」。不是的,人文學科是表達、對話(包括溝通和辯論)與思考,這所有的過程都是解答,不只有最後那一句結論而已。如前面說過的,這些議題是永遠矛盾的,而包含了所有衝突的思考過程,才能提供你面對問題的最佳對策。
《愛情必修學》以傳道書第一章第十八節開頭:「He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.(加增知識的,就加增憂傷)」。片中透過多位「文藝青年」之間的對話,包括傑西、莉碧、迪恩、傑西的兩位英文系教授等,呈現這些具有相似人文背景的人,在不同人生階段所遭遇的相似議題,和不同的應對心態。一方面描述當他們愈深入去探討時,往往發現的不是解決方法,而是更多的矛盾。另一方面又強調人文教育的必要性,沒錯,當你了解愈多,你會愈憂傷,但同時也表示你多了更多的選擇,能做出更兼顧全面性的抉擇。