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I really enjoyed the free-wheeling philosophical monologue that was The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology with Slavoj Žižek. Directed by Sophie Fiennes’s, the film was the sequel to her previous collaboration with Žižek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema. Throughout the non-fiction film, Žižek embeds himself in famous movies and talks about the nature of global capitalism and how it manifests itself in popular culture, predominantly through the lens of Marx and Lacan.
What makes Žižek entertaining (even if you find his theories absolute bunk) is his bizarre game of connect-the-dots and how he makes bigger and riskier intellectual leaps from a generally solid starting point. He also sounds like Sylvester the Cat if he was born and raised in Slovenia.
Žižek recently became embroiled in a fight with Noam Chomsky. Chomsky accused thinkers like Žižek, Lacan, and Derrida of engaging in intellectual posturing rather than actual theory. (I think Chomsky brought up a similar point when he debated Foucault on French TV ages ago.) Žižek fired back, attacking Chomsky’s own alleged shortcomings when it comes to historical and ideological insight. In some ways, this is just another round in the long battle between the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy, both of which have something to offer but in their own ways. (Well, except for Derrida. Screw that guy.)
What I’m saying is that Žižek vs. Chomsky needs to be part of the undercard at the Pacquiao vs. Rios fight in November. Or maybe the opening match at next year’s Wrestlemania, with Lanny “The Genius” Poffo as a special guest referee.
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology opens on November 1st in New York, and then expands to other cities afterwards. Check out the groovy poster in the gallery.
[via The Playlist]