Sunday, November 25, 2007

幸福的洋娃娃



The Grove是比華利山附近的一個購物中心。商場環境高雅,但商店不多,且都是熟口熟面的連鎖店。反而隔鄰的洛杉磯農民市場,有好些特色的商舖和食檔,更值得一遊。

可是在The Grove閒逛時,發現了一間很有意思的商店。

American Girl Place賣的是洋娃娃。不過,那不是普通的玩具。American Girl的娃娃,款式琳琅滿目,金髮棕髮白皮膚黑皮膚一應俱全,甚至可選擇有雀斑的型號。看到櫥窗中數十個大同小異的待購小人兒,令人聯想到Brave New World的工廠。

除了洋娃娃,American Girl還出品一系列的衣服,傢俱,故事書。更特別的,是有給洋娃娃玩的洋娃娃出售。

洋娃娃的洋娃娃,這當中的存在主義因果謬誤,真是想想也覺頭昏腦脹。

店裡有餐廳,劇院,不時選辦活動給小小女顧客們參加。還有洋娃娃醫院,為洋娃娃提供清潔和修補服務。

但最致命的一擊,是店中的salon

那不是為女孩們理髮的salon。American Girl Place髮廊理的,是洋娃娃們的「秀髮」。只需十多美元,洋娃娃便可坐在小小理髮椅上,舒適地享受専人為它轉換新髮型。

店員專心為洋娃娃梳頭,小女孩在旁興奮等待,媽媽親切和藹的笑容...好一幅廣告中的溫馨畫面。

我看見一個迷失的世代,一個在衰亡邊緣的國家。

9 comments:

  1. Orangutan,一直有讀你的文章,看了幾個在美國的香港 blogger,開始模糊了,忘了你身在何方。不過看你寫到 洛杉磯,順帶問問那邊的火災情如何... (對不起有點離題)

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  2. 嘩!真係好痴線!好恐怖!這是一個瘋狂世界。

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  3. michelle:我住在西雅圖,已經離開LA了。上星期到過Malibu,很平靜;今天看報,才知道又發生火災,燒毀了數十間屋。

    abby:更恐怖的,是花錢的大人們都不覺其恐佈之處。我想這玩意在香港應該有市場,遲早也會有分店。

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  4. 我很不喜歡這個洋娃娃系列和概念。這個國家真的無藥救。

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  5. Orangutan,當了您的讀者一段時間,不反對的話,想把您的網誌加到我的連結中。

    美國人的病態何止這些幸福的洋娃娃,還有那些小孩選美(即電影 Little Miss Sunshine 那種)。總覺得美國社會的浮誇源於沒有核心文化價值。

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  6. 在雜誌讀過這連鎖店,未有到過也不會想幫襯。聽你的描述,夠跪吊的。

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  7. readandeat:本來高檔玩具的概念,也無不可,不過這系列是太過火了。

    wordy:當然歡迎連結!我認為美國是有核心價值的,但其對內的凝聚力,遠不及中國人的儒家思想和家庭觀念般強。我想美國最大的問題,是這是個鼓勵人民走向極端的社會。就如這些洋娃娃,出發點是善良的,但是愈走愈遠,便失去了理性。

    shiren:我是路過才知道這品牌。原來只得五間店,分別在NY,LA,Chicago,Atlanta,Dallas,正是全國最富裕的五個城市。

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  8. I was going to say that only the Americans could think of such "product extension", but on second thought, the antique doll houses that go back centuries in England were more or less the same thing isn't it? Little books and newspapers being made specially for little fake people to "read" in their sweet doll homes, and they even have tiny ragdolls for the little fake children (dolls in their own right) to play with in the playroom, and tea parties for the dolls to "socialise" with each other... And there are still collectors nowadays who go crazy over that sort of thing. It's not hard to imagine that, if 19th century rich aristocratic kids had hair salons in their days, then that would have been an addition to the doll house world too.

    I very much agree it's materialism gone insane, but unfortunately I think it's just a new manifestation of an age-old obsession. This kind of sick materialism just feels even creepier given the state of the world we're living in.

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  9. snowdrops: this is what we get when materialism runs amok. It happened before, and will continue to happen.

    My point is, when a society fails to see the fine line between affluence and decadence, it is probably on the verge of an implosion. How could one teach a 6 year old anything about moral values, right after popping a few hundred bucks for her little doll’s clothing and hairdo?

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