Have you ever heard of Slavoj Zizek ?

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etalian: Mar 20, 2006

StashAugustine posted:

smg is pretty great until you realize he's serious

I found his posts to be bearable if you read them aloud in a zizek parody voice

# ? Jul 5, 2015 05:49

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 00:11

Egbert Souse: Nov 6, 2008

I don't think Zizek does coke since he also has the tic of adjusting his tshirt constantly.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 06:15

Riot Bimbo: Dec 28, 2006

TheJoker138 posted:

I'm sorry that I'm not impressed by a guy who comes off like an annoying first year film student.

That characterization of SMG is fuckin' retarded

# ? Jul 5, 2015 06:19

Vince MechMahon: Jan 1, 2008

hemophilia posted:

That characterization of SMG is fuckin' retarded

Nope, it's exactly what he is. I've known guys like him in real film school. The guys who walk into their first class, having read a few essays by Zizek, and think that they're king poo poo. These are always guys who have never actually made anything, and in fact have zero idea what producing a film is actually even like. They hardly ever last the entire course, and always annoy the poo poo out of the professor by bringing up things that aren't the topic/theory that we are currently studying. What SMG does is actually not "turning on your brain" like a lot of the fuckin' geniuses in CD claim it to be, but is really just looking at film in one incredibly narrow way, which is often backwards as gently caress, and then shouting down anyone who disagrees with you.

E: Here's SMGs opinion on everything- If a movie is good, it's actually bad. If a movie is bad, it's actually a brilliant masterpiece and commentary on all those good movies (which are, again, actually bad). That's it. That's his breakdown of basically every loving movie.

Vince MechMahon fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Jul 5, 2015

# ? Jul 5, 2015 06:39

quakster: Jul 21, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Rename CD as "The Cult of SuperMechaGodzilla".

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:18

huskarl_marx: Oct 13, 2013; by zen death robot

Egbert Souse posted:

I don't think Zizek does coke since he also has the tic of adjusting his tshirt constantly.

like what is he even trying to do there

hide his gut?

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:19

BULBASAUR: Apr 6, 2009; Soiled Meat

Absolute Lithops posted:

Slavoj is wearing mostly fur. To his right, on the floor, is the headpiece of a dog costume, which is upturned and rather pungent.

Slavoj�s face is a blinking slab of clay looking out through thickets of drenched grey hair. His mouth is moving rapidly, but he has not spoken in several minutes. His immense mind is swelling palpably.

At some point, a sound like a stalled car engine echoes through the elevator, and the whole scene slips down several feet. One of the men in the corner screams. Slavoj, in a kind of perversely hygienic zen state, is unperturbed. The intercom crackles and buzzes, then clicks off. A set of emergency strip lights perks up.

One of the smartly dressed people steps cautiously toward the center of the elevator to try and peer through the doors. Slavoj quickly grabs the man with one paw and his own nose with the other. �Birds,� he spits.

The man gasps and slaps hysterically at Zizek�s thick fur arm.

�We say, you know, like animals, like this, birds,� Zizek says. His grip is jaw-like. �Oh we are animals, we are animals. We are birds trapped. This is vulgar.�

Zizek lets go in order to swat at his own eyeball and tug his own nose simultaneously. The liberated man tumbles backward into his smartly-dressed fellows, who are now stacked more tightly than before. �Obscene,� Zizek notes, squinting at the carpet.

�Of course in this film, the Dark Knight Ascending or whatever, you know, you have this wealthy industrialist, stockholder, whatever, who dresses up in an obscene costume, to look like a bat. And then you have a cat woman, and so on, and so on.� Zizek is interrupted by a pen that somebody has thrown at his face.

�Don�t, no,� one of the persons whispers.

�Violence,� Zizek conjectures. He is gathering fresh thoughts and chewing on them.

�Is he talking about the new Batman movie?� one of them asks. Nobody answers.

�But the mainstream you know critical response is that this is a very serious film. It is such bull poo poo. But this, I claim, is ideology. That we do not notice that our characters are dressed like animals, doing, you know, insane things, with violence and technology and so forth, and we applaud, say, yes, this is real, this is the real world, finally, thank god.�

Zizek is creeping toward the corner. The three smartly-dressed persons are keeping pace, sliding across the elevator wall to another corner. One of the persons stretches out and slaps the emergency alarm bell one more time, just before it is out of reach.

�Why not? Why do we not see it? The world that Christopher Nolan, who has made this film, wants to paint for us, he does not hide it at all. The background is the centerpiece, you know, the lower classes and criminals and so on, fighting the plutocracy, this is not simply the world that the animal people live in. It is actually their story, they talk about it, so we cannot see it except as they do. Very stupid.�

Zizek�s head suddenly shakes left and right very rapidly. Swarms of baby sweat beads burst off his facial hair and float away.

�I think that, you know,� Zizek continues, excitedly plucking at his nose, �a tension between the characters, you know, living their own lives, and so on, and the world that they do not notice. This is the world as it really is, you know, these are stories that happen. The stories about us cannot exist without the world we live in, but we don�t worry about so much. We worry about, my god, my wife, you know, she cheats on me with the senator, or whatever.� Zizek laughs.

�Is he� married?� one of the smartly-dressed persons asks, their hand raised to their mouth.

�So this grand operatic play, drama, film, where the hero is one society and the villain is another society, you know, but really they are a bat person and some kind of robot man, my god, give me a break. It is disgusting. But there is another irony, you know. This Bruce Wayne, the philanthropist playboy et cetera with such business acumen, he is not real to the film. He is like a ruse. And really it is when he is unmasked, when you know the situation gets bad, that he puts on a simple physical mask but becomes what we really already know of ourselves. He is then this violent,� Zizek pauses here to ruffle his own hair madly, �insensate, raving lunatic who climbs buildings and frightens criminals and whatever. This I claim. Let me start, with, an example, which may surprise you.�

But Zizek is interrupted as the elevator creaks again and seems to very slowly lurch sideways. Then, with a terrible whipcrack, everything drops another ten feet or so. The elevator stops again with a deafening clang, then settles, groaning. Zizek has lost his balance while the three smartly-dressed persons lean on one another for theirs. Seeing an opportunity, one of the smartly dressed persons kicks Zizek squarely in his tan dog belly, and Zizek tumbles backward, yelling �barbarians!�

�Quick!� yells one of the smartly dressed persons. �The maintenance hatch!� And they point to the hatch which, indeed, seems to have come loose.With frankly impressive unspoken coordination, they hoist one another up through the new aperture and on top of the elevator. Two of them make it out. The third man, left in the elevator, is beaten senseless by the force of Zizek�s random kicks and flails. His suit wrecked and ruined, the man collapses backwards, mumbling about indecency. After the other two have reached the top, they spot a ladder that runs some endless length up the shaft.

No sooner have they all begun to climb the ladder, however, when they hear a tremendous bang behind them. The elevator has not started to fall again. But, looking back, they see a horrifying dog head peeking out from the top of the elevator, one terrible dog eye fixed on them, the other staring wildly into the dark. Zizek has begun to extricate himself with awful strength.

Transfixed, the two smartly dressed persons watch as Zizek pulls himself fully upward, stands triumphantly atop the elevator, and places the dog head over his own shoulders. Now fully costumed, he shakes his entire body. His tail whips at his legs and he begins coughing.

�It�s not possible,� one of the smartly dressed persons gasps.

Zizek resumes speaking, but his voice is transformed by the dog head. What comes out instead is an absurd, menacing growl, made louder by his desperation to be heard. His hands shoot out from him like the snapping mouths of blind coyotes. �RAGGH BAGGHH GAGHHH,� he bellows. The two smartly dressed persons nearly kick one another in their desperation to climb away.

Zizek too leaps onto the ladder, and not a moment too soon. As soon as he bounds off of it, the elevator finally gives way, scraping down the seemingly infinite shaft and screaming the entire way. Zizek is kicked in the face, and his dog head flies off. Its gaze does not relent as it disappears into the shaft�s inscrutable pit.

�I think I cannot imagine a better example of ideology,� Zizek explains, completely undeterred. The two smartly-dressed persons are nearly choked by the toxic odor that rises from Zizek. �Rise, rise,� Zizek mimics, �and so on. But what does this mean, rise.�

Somewhere far up the ladder, a short burst of light cracks the tunnel.

�So when the film presents its own ideology, and of course, is so awful that it makes a mockery of itself and of the audience, we are most noble as animals, and so on, how do you stand even further back and say, what is the real ideology that the film is based on. And I say then, look at how the characters are rewarded for their actions, the archetypes they embody, and so on.�

The smartly dressed person at the top stops and clutches his stomach. �I can�t breathe,� he says. �I can�t breathe. We�ve got to slow down.� Zizek refuses to stop, although he does not address the complaint. When he meets the second person down, who has also stopped, he simply reaches out and grasps the person�s ankle with his terrible dog hand. Then he yanks hard on it, and the second person�s trousers are ripped off. �Degenerates,� Zizek belches. The second man, now pantsed, pauses to examine himself. In his embarrassment, he loses his grip on the ladder and falls, tumbling down the naked pit, still horrified by the loss of his trousers.

The remaining smartly dressed person redoubles their efforts and climbs ever harder. Zizek�s pace remains constant, and with a dancer�s grace, he has incorporated nose tugs and beard slaps into the spaces between steps.

�Nolan tries to do something that I think he cannot do, which is to say something by remaining silent. There are a lot of arguments on these degenerate websites you know, newspapers and Huffington Post and so on, about whether the villain is the Occupy Wall Street or the, my god, Mitt Romney�s old company, I mean. Who thinks of these things, I don�t know. But in the film, Nolan leaves it open, what he thinks, he does not say it explicitly, so you know we are left thinking that maybe he is saying something through the story itself, instead of having Batman stand up at the end and say �OK, I believe this and this and so on and so on.��

�Have you even seen the movie yet?� asks the smartly-dressed person. �I don�t think it�s been released.�

�Vulgar,� Zizek remarks.

He continues: �But it is precisely because everything in the film has already been recognized, given significance, by the moral actors in the film, that he cannot do this, because their judgments must then be his, which he hands to us. So either he is saying the obvious, you know, that it is necessary to dress like an animal and beat back the savages, my god, for Nolan, these poor and imprisoned or whatever. Or he is trying to distance himself from that statement by remaining ambiguous, but then only saying nothing.�

�My god,� Zizek laughs. �Either it is a disgusting film or it is a very bad film.�

The smartly-dressed person pauses to argue with him. �You haven�t seen the loving movie,� he shouts, turning around and hanging onto the ladder with one hand. But Zizek merely tugs at the person�s tie, pulling their face down to Zizek�s. An enormous furry paw caps the man�s head and pulls down what appears to be a toupee until it is obscuring the man�s eyes. Blind, flailing, the man drops off the ladder and hurtles into the pitch-black abyss, still complaining that nobody has seen the movie.

�Idiots,� Zizek explains.

As he continues to climb the ladder, he speaks at length about the stupidity of Commissioner Gordon, the feminist inversion of the Catwoman, and so on, and so on. Some untold distance down the pit, a dog�s head with long powerful ears nods and blinks and sniffs at the impenetrable air.

Worth it

Exclamation Marx posted:

i bought did somebody say totalitarianism? for a dollar but i haven't read it yet

e:

Buck rated it

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:23

A Wizard of Goatse: Dec 14, 2014

TheJoker138 posted:

Nope, it's exactly what he is. I've known guys like him in real film school. The guys who walk into their first class, having read a few essays by Zizek, and think that they're king poo poo. These are always guys who have never actually made anything, and in fact have zero idea what producing a film is actually even like. They hardly ever last the entire course, and always annoy the poo poo out of the professor by bringing up things that aren't the topic/theory that we are currently studying. What SMG does is actually not "turning on your brain" like a lot of the fuckin' geniuses in CD claim it to be, but is really just looking at film in one incredibly narrow way, which is often backwards as gently caress, and then shouting down anyone who disagrees with you.

E: Here's SMGs opinion on everything- If a movie is good, it's actually bad. If a movie is bad, it's actually a brilliant masterpiece and commentary on all those good movies (which are, again, actually bad). That's it. That's his breakdown of basically every loving movie.

have you seen the rest of that forum though

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:44

SuperMechagodzilla: Jun 9, 2007; NEWT REBORN

I have heard of him.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:47

Million Ghosts: Aug 11, 2011; spooooooky

oh poo poo

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:51

Orkin Mang: Nov 1, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

smg is an idiot

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:59

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

yeah once you get past his tics and whatever he makes some interesting points

dunno if I agree with everything he says but he says a lot of smart poo poo and noam chomsky can go gently caress himself with his elitist poo poo :shrug:

I totally agree that we're not in any kind of 'post ideological' period.

chomsky is all 'just present the facts to the people' and ignores the fact that places like Kansas exist which are entirely run on ideology flying in the face of facts.

I haven't heard any of his movie reviews I've just heard a couple lectures and talks.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 07:59

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

skeletonotherkin posted:

zizek infected me with communism. Now my dreams are filled with red flags, sickles and hammers, and a strange barely audible voice that drones on about material dialectics.

also this

# ? Jul 5, 2015 08:01

Orkin Mang: Nov 1, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

hes no carl sagan but hes ok

# ? Jul 5, 2015 08:02

Modest Mao: Feb 11, 2011; by Cyrano4747

Zizek is cool but definitely a fraud

source: I read like 10 of his books

# ? Jul 5, 2015 14:42

the worst thing is: Oct 3, 2013; by FactsAreUseless

Modest Mao posted:

Zizek is cool but definitely a fraud

source: I read like 10 of his books

Fly away troll!!!

# ? Jul 5, 2015 14:48

Clipperton: Dec 20, 2011; Grimey Drawer

Moridin920 posted:

he says a lot of smart poo poo

zizek is the classic stupid person's idea of what a smart person sounds like

Moridin920 posted:

chomsky is all 'just present the facts to the people' and ignores the fact that places like Kansas exist which are entirely run on ideology flying in the face of facts.

kansas has never had a fact presented to it in its entire existence so we don't know whether it works or not

e: but i'm sure if you played someone from kansas a zizek lecture they'd get right on board. idiot

Clipperton fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Jul 5, 2015

# ? Jul 5, 2015 14:51

Modest Mao: Feb 11, 2011; by Cyrano4747

Tautologicus posted:

Fly away troll!!!

There's good stuff in them but I'd say its like 70% worthless. His older more serious books are way better. I didn't try to read the big Hegel one yet.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 14:55

exquisite tea: Apr 21, 2007; Carly shook her glass, willing the ice to melt. "You still haven't told me what the mission is."

She leaned forward. "We are going to assassinate the bad men of Hollywood."

How can a man that fat be a communist.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 15:02

Mc Do Well: Aug 2, 2008; by FactsAreUseless

exquisite tea posted:

How can a man that fat be a communist.

he's slovenian

# ? Jul 5, 2015 16:22

A Pale Horse: Jul 29, 2007

exquisite tea posted:

How can a man ~~that fat~~ be a communist.

He's occasionally funny though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5yoqjABeBM

# ? Jul 5, 2015 16:24

Fat-Lip-Sum-41.mp3: Nov 15, 2003

A Pale Horse posted:

He's occasionally funny though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5yoqjABeBM

he should give all of his lectures while doing housework if it keeps his tics under control

# ? Jul 5, 2015 16:42

fuck off Batman: Oct 14, 2013; Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!

A Pale Horse posted:

He's occasionally funny though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5yoqjABeBM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwDrHqNZ9lo

# ? Jul 5, 2015 16:57

glowstick party tonight: Oct 4, 2003; by zen death robot

is he a Bel Ami model

# ? Jul 5, 2015 18:56

Junkfist: Oct 7, 2004; FRIEND?

This thread is making me sweat and itch all over.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 19:08

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

I like his bit on marriage how it's the worst torture possible but he did it anyways.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 19:10

Art Alexakis: Mar 27, 2008

TheJoker138 posted:

Nope, it's exactly what he is. I've known guys like him in real film school. The guys who walk into their first class, having read a few essays by Zizek, and think that they're king poo poo. These are always guys who have never actually made anything, and in fact have zero idea what producing a film is actually even like. They hardly ever last the entire course, and always annoy the poo poo out of the professor by bringing up things that aren't the topic/theory that we are currently studying. What SMG does is actually not "turning on your brain" like a lot of the fuckin' geniuses in CD claim it to be, but is really just looking at film in one incredibly narrow way, which is often backwards as gently caress, and then shouting down anyone who disagrees with you.

E: Here's SMGs opinion on everything- If a movie is good, it's actually bad. If a movie is bad, it's actually a brilliant masterpiece and commentary on all those good movies (which are, again, actually bad). That's it. That's his breakdown of basically every loving movie.

the forum is really bad and full of bad posters including him, you and this guys http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3030395&userid=124304 http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3030395&userid=120778 with pagews upon pages of posts like "the blair witch is dope" .

# ? Jul 5, 2015 20:50

Miltank: Dec 27, 2009; by XyloJW

Disco Infiva posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwDrHqNZ9lo

Lmao

# ? Jul 5, 2015 20:54

Miltank: Dec 27, 2009; by XyloJW

How the gently caress is zizek a fraud? Do you mean a plagiarist? How do you fake philosophy?

# ? Jul 5, 2015 20:55

Beef Turret: Jul 9, 2009; by Lowtax

Miltank posted:

How the gently caress is zizek a fraud? Do you mean a plagiarist? How do you fake philosophy?

One time his ghostwriter cribbed some paragraphs from a white supremacist journal. When he got caught he said "his friend" did it

# ? Jul 5, 2015 20:58

POWERBALL: Feb 16, 2012; by zen death robot

Miltank posted:

How the gently caress is zizek a fraud? Do you mean a plagiarist? How do you fake philosophy?

Zizek doesn't do philosophy. continental philosophy isn't philosophy :grin:

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:00

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Disco Infiva posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwDrHqNZ9lo

need to find the rest of this documentary

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:00

Eumenides: Sep 24, 2007; This is the face of Lawful Good!; Fun Shoe

I think the Pervert's Guide to Ideology is much better when you turn on subtitles, and I can actually appreciate his deconstruction of the symbols behind these films, even if there's at least 20% unsubstantiated nonsense informing him. He's also extremely interesting and good at what he does, but because he acts weird it's easier to make fun of him than to actually challenge or examine his ideas.

I like that he is just pissed off at the world, like "The Soviet Union was awful but at least it was weak enough to be fought but capitalism will kill the world" and it's not something you see from a Marxist usually.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:04

OXBALLS DOT COM: Sep 11, 2005; by FactsAreUseless; Young Orc

Miltank posted:

How the gently caress is zizek a fraud? Do you mean a plagiarist? How do you fake philosophy?

i assume hes talking about hwo Zizek is one of those guys whos more notable for being a pop cultural figure than he is an actual academic. Like, his academic chops aren't bad but they're relatively undistinguished and hes not very influential in his field

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:37

the worst thing is: Oct 3, 2013; by FactsAreUseless

Mange Mite posted:

i assume hes talking about hwo Zizek is one of those guys whos more notable for being a pop cultural figure than he is an actual academic. Like, his academic chops aren't bad but they're relatively undistinguished and hes not very influential in his field

So? Academia sucks

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:42

skeletonotherkin: Sep 26, 2014

Modest Mao posted:

There's good stuff in them but I'd say its like 70% worthless. His older more serious books are way better. I didn't try to read the big Hegel one yet.

Your babyhueypnewton aren't you?

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:42

Art Alexakis: Mar 27, 2008

Mange Mite posted:

i assume hes talking about hwo Zizek is one of those guys whos more notable for being a pop cultural figure than he is an actual academic. Like, his academic chops aren't bad but they're relatively undistinguished and hes not very influential in his field

Not only that but hes also retarded

# ? Jul 5, 2015 21:47

RBA Starblade: Apr 28, 2008; Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

Beef Turret posted:

One time his ghostwriter cribbed some paragraphs from a white supremacist journal. When he got caught he said "his friend" did it

I thought that was Ron Paul.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 22:04

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

I wish I hadn't heard of him

# ? Jul 5, 2015 22:09

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 00:11

Wooded Zacynthus: Mar 15, 2015

Miltank posted:

How the gently caress is zizek a fraud? Do you mean a plagiarist? How do you fake philosophy?

My knowledge of Zizek is limited to having watched The Pervert's Guide to Ideology and a bunch of clips on YouTube, but I do have some growing suspicions about how he operates. What strikes me most about Zizek's claims is that he is always able to take a narrative- any narrative, however simplistic- and produce from it another narrative which is invariably characterized by some element which is commonly used to make a story interesting. Examples of what I'm talking about here would be things like irony, paradox, hidden identity, and surprise. If we accept all or even most of Zizek's claims we have to say that the hidden truth behind every story is just another equally entertaining story. Hence I've come to think that Zizek is less like a philosopher in the classical or traditional sense and more like a storyteller or entertainer. Of course, plenty of philosophers have couched their claims in stories and parables before. I wouldn't exactly call Zizek a "fraud," but he is very much "of this world" in a way which I think disappoints the expectations we usually have for a "philosopher's" conduct.

# ? Jul 5, 2015 22:25

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > Have you ever heard of Slavoj Zizek ?

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