(2012, directed by Sophie Fiennes, written and presented by Slavoj Žižek)
In this documentary film, philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek presents various ideologies such as modernism, postmodernism, Marxism, fascism, communism, consumerism, capitalism, and religion. He critically examines periods throughout history that reflect these ideologies in order to demonstrate the strengths, weaknesses, intentions, and vulnerability of our social, economic, and political fabric. Innovation, acceptance, change, revolts, and opposition towards a particular ideology resulted in great wars, famines, genocides, the rise and fall of the economy, industrialization, urbanization, and the distinctions within the social class. The result of these defining moments still linger within the world of today.
Žižek was able to demonstrate how these ideologies are subtly or overtly perpetuated, reflected, satirized, or challenged within films. He used various films,dating as far back as 1935 and slowly made his way towards films of the 21st century, in order to isolate scenes that supported his argument. While he discussed ideology as a foundation, he also discussed themes as pillars. Some themes included forbidden love between the higher and lower class, the “mask” worn in order to appease others, and the justification of lies in the case that the truth is too strong. The movies used to portray these themes were A Brief Encounter (1945), Titanic (1997), and The Dark Knight (2008).
While I was shocked by many of the vague, general, harsh, or at times racist remarks made in the film, there are three main concepts that I was able to take away from viewing this documentary.
There is always a crisis…
Towards the end of the film, Žižek stated that the world is in a constant crisis. This idea is supported by the media; newspaper, news, and radio. There is always a disharmonious issue for example a political disagreement, a tragic death,war, natural disaster, job loss, and fluctuation within the stock market. Whether these issues are local, regional, provincial, or international, there is always an issue somewhere. With this in mind he always spoke of the idea of an ongoing cycle that includes circulation, reproduction, and accumulation. According to Žižek anything can be sacrificed in order to comply with the above mentioned cycle. The idea was interesting to me because is demonstrated that the earth is a self preserving force, the world/society continues with or without us, and that as people, we are resilient.
Starbucks…
The concept of consumerism was discussed by using the popular Starbucks Chain as an example. Starbucks consumers pay higher prices for organic fair trade certified coffee, premium tea, pastries, and other delectable products. The higher price allows for a small portion of money from every purchase to contribute towards the purchase of the organic coffee. The organic coffee comes from various coffee plantations around the world, for example Mexico, Costa Rica and Rwanda. Coffee plantations and the fair trade initiative enables environmental sustainability, job security, and economic opportunities for farmers in impoverished areas. Starbucks consumers can proudly boast that their money contributes towards a greater cause and has a global impact. This is a win-win situation for both the supplier and the consumer.
Conscious and unconscious viewing (brain washing)…
The idea that as viewer we do not realize that while we watch film in order to be entertained, we are being exposed to various symbols, advertisement, themes, and ideologies. Some of these images go unnoticed because they simply reinforce what we believe or what we expect. Some images may challenge our beliefs and teach, disgust, or offend us. In some cases we may also be desensitized by certain images. It is important to be aware of what and why, we are watching.
Amanda L. Thomas 