American Dreams Redux(a)|在路上的美国梦

American Dreams Redux

『在路上的美国梦』

　　In August of 2011, then-29-year-old theater director Wu Ting-Chien saw the dreaded 30th- birthday crisis looming ahead of him. He decided to take a trip with an old university classmate to the US, where they would drive from the West Coast to the Midwest on Route 66, made famous in both cinema and literature. They spent a month traveling 3,940 kilometers on a journey to explore the origins of the American dream and to learn a thing or two about themselves.

　　US Route 66 runs from Chicago, Illinois in the east to Santa Monica, California in the west and has long served as a symbol of the quest for liberty. Route 66 also stands as a symbol of courage and enterprising spirit, for it is along this highway that multitudes of Midwesterners have trekked westward to build new lives for themselves. During the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s, thousands found employment in the small towns located along the highway. 

　　In preparing for the trip, Wu had assumed that this highway was something of an undeclared symbol of the American spirit for people from his generation, but after scouring all the major bookstores in Taiwan, he was surprised to find that all the US-related travel books focused mostly on America's east and west coasts. And when he talked with friends about the upcoming trip, the Midwestern images that popped into most people's minds were connected with horror movies, such as Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. "But in fact, the locals we met during the trip were all super friendly, and the gasoline stations, restaurants, and hotels were all quite nice."

　　2011 年 8 月，当时 29 岁的剧场导演吴定谦意识到『30 岁恐慌』即将朝他逼近。于是他决定和大学同学两人展开一趟由美国西岸开车到中西部的公路旅行，而他们选择了不论在美国电影或是文学作品中都相当著名的 66 号公路。两人花了 1 个月的时间跑了 3,940 公里的路程，这是一趟对『美国梦』的探源之旅，也是认识自我的一趟旅程。

　　美国 66 号公路东起伊利诺伊州的芝加哥，西达加州的圣塔莫妮卡，它向来是追求自由的象征。66 号公路也是勇气与开拓精神的代名词，因为它曾是许多中西部人口往西迁徙而为自己开创新生活的重要枢纽。在 1920 到 1930 年代经济大萧条时期，这条公路沿线的小镇曾让数千人获得工作机会。

　　吴定谦在筹备这趟旅程时，原以为这条公路会是自己这一代心照不宣的美国精神象征，但没想到跑遍台湾各大书局后，他惊觉几乎所有关于美国的旅游书籍都集中在东岸和西岸城市。而他和朋友聊到这趟即将上路的旅行时，大多数人脑中闪过关于中西部地区的印象竟都是和电影《恐怖旅社》或《德州电锯杀人狂》有关的画面。吴定谦表示，『其实一路上遇到的在地人都友善得不得了，而加油站、餐厅和旅馆的设施也都很完善。』