In the midst of the current presidential race here in the U.S., with all the rhetoric about who’s out and who’s in (whether the framework in question regards presidential contenders or who has access to the citizenship that would allow a person to vote for them), I thought it might be time to share one of my favorite clips from A Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, one that I use in my classes quite a bit, in which Slavoj Žižek discusses the seeming universality of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and, in particular, the “Ode to Joy”. “Unity” is always manufactured by exercising certain exclusions. A good thing to keep in mind during this presidential cycle as more candidates start dropping out and more political ads keep rolling in.
Setting a Limit
[Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 movie] “Stalker” is a film about a zone, a prohibited space where there are debris, remainders of aliens visiting us. And stalkers are people who specialized in smuggling foreigners who want to visit into this space where you get many magical objects. But the main among them is the room in the middle of this space, where it is claimed your desires will be realized…. [But] there is nothing specific about the zone. It’s purely a place where a certain limit is set. You set a limit, you put a certain zone off-limit, and although things remain exactly the way they were, it’s perceived as another place. Precisely as the place onto which you can project your beliefs, your fears,things from your inner space. In other words, the zone is ultimately the very whiteness of the cinematic screen.
– Slavoj Žižek, “The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema” (2006)
We Already Arrived Yesterday
By now you’ve likely seen the new IKEA commercial for their annual catalog — the one that is a bit of a parody of those smooth Apple product launches to which we’ve all grown so accustomed. Continue reading “We Already Arrived Yesterday”
Whose (and Who) Rules?
Gains in Iraq, over the past several weeks, made by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have resulted in some news stories concerning their desecration and/or destruction of a variety of historic artifacts (click the above graphic for one example or here or even here and here for the latest). These stories bring to mind the outrage in the media in Europe and North America over the Taliban destroying the large statues of the Buddha carved into the mountains of the Bamiyan province of central Afghanistan, back in March of 2001 (see the below before/after photo, or click the image below for more information).
Independence Day
Since the holiday weekend is coming up, I thought I’d offer a film recommendation. Have you seen A Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, featuring Slavoj Žižek? Take a look at this clip, in which he discusses the 1988 movie They Live (okay, so I guess I’ve got two recommendations): Continue reading “Independence Day”
Smile
Why yes, there’s some different content
from the Edge on Twitter sometimes…
“But Still…”
It’s worth saying one more time: Happy Valentine’s Day.
“It Makes Us Feel Good”
Have you read Slavoj Žižek‘s take on the recent episode of the meaningless signing translator at Mandela’s memorial ceremony?
In part, it reads: Continue reading ““It Makes Us Feel Good””
You Are What You Do
Have you heard the latest in the “is yoga really religious?” debates?
On Performance
Read more.