二十多年前看过一部电影叫《毕业生》，剧情早就忘了，但电影的最后一个镜头一直存留在脑海里：女主人公准备嫁给一个自己不爱的人，男主人公不顾一切地疯狂寻找，最后在教堂找到了即将成为别人新娘的女主人公，撕心裂肺、惊心动魄之后，他牵着还穿着结婚礼服的女友坐上了公共汽车，两人大笑，接着没有拥抱，没有亲吻，而是直视前方，时而微笑，时而茫然，与此同时，音乐响起，放的就是这首 The Sound of Silence。当时并没有去查歌词，不知道唱的内容是什么，只觉得画面和音乐结合得极其完美，记忆至今。
前段时间搜来这部电影又看了一遍，对故事有了进一步的理解。电影剧情是这样的：本杰明·布拉达克（由达斯汀·霍夫曼扮演），是一名没有明确奋斗目标的大学毕业生，刚离开校园不久，被母亲的朋友罗宾逊夫人（由安妮·班克罗夫特扮演）勾引，不久却与她的女儿伊莲（由凯瑟琳·罗斯扮演）坠入了情网。伊莲知道母亲和他的不伦恋情后，伤心之余正考虑嫁给她不爱的人。最終本杰明跑去教堂帶走新娘逃离。（参见：https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毕业生_(电影)）
电影描写了一个充斥着欲望、伪善、自私、残酷和谎言的成年人世界。罗宾逊夫人为了一己情欲引诱了单纯、涉世不深的朋友之子本杰明，那年他刚刚毕业。罗有一个跟本杰明年龄相仿的女儿伊莲，也许是害怕丑事败露，也许是想独霸本杰明，她坚决阻挠本杰明和她女儿的会面。但她最担心害怕的事情还是发生了：本杰明和伊莲见了面，并且一见钟情，双双坠入情网。罗宾逊夫人和本杰明因此决裂，在一次冲突中，伊莲得知了他们二人的不伦之恋，而罗宾逊夫人对女儿丈夫却谎称：本杰明是元凶，是他强奸了她，并要挟她长期保持性关系。伊莲跟本杰明断绝了来往。经过了短暂的迷失和无所事事，本杰明决定要娶伊莲为妻。尽管伊莲的父母百般阻挠，不惜将女儿嫁给一个她并不爱的男子，本杰明还是冲破了重重阻碍，最终有了开始介绍的那一幕。
我们常说的沉没资本不仅仅限于事业和投资，也可以涵盖情感和伴侣关系。本杰明犯错之后没有掉入沉沦的深渊，而是悔过自新找到伊莲并告诉了她事情的真相，从而与自私冷酷虚伪的成人世界决裂，跟自己的过去决裂，对真爱不顾一起地追求，力挽狂澜，最终追到了真爱。即使坦白自己的过错会让自己颜面扫地、甚至成为众矢之的，但是真实地面对自己、面对现实、面对自己所爱的人是唯一解救自己的方式。
再大的错误都不可怕，最可怕的是犯错之后的自我放弃和沉沦。只要你能鼓起勇气，直面自己的过往，勇敢揭下世人包括自己伪善的面具，奋起直追，真爱和美好依然能回到自己的身边。
影片主题歌的旋律在我记忆里保存了二十多年，一直不知道唱了些什么，今天把歌词找来了，Paul Simon 写的，一起分享：
The Sound of Silence
Hello darkness, my old friend
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence