Weekly Reflection 5: Zizek the Monster

"I am a monster," Lacanian philosopher Slavoj Zizek says in the nearly autobiographical film Zizek!, which we watched last class. Of course he isn't a real monster, he simply means that, based on Freudian analysis, beneath the face he puts on for the world (the ego), he, and everyone at that, is a monstrous selfish self (the id). Lacanian philosophy is based on Freud, so this is right up his alley, so to speak.

From Zizek's words, I've learned more about Lacanian psychology than I ever would Lacan's writings. Though much, perhaps most, of what Zizek says is practically nonsense, he does have moments of immense clarity of thought. After reading Lacan, I'm suspicious that I actually did read anything at all, it was so difficult to understand.

From what I gather through Zizek is that Lacanian philosophy takes the id (subconscious desires) as perpetually seeking a state of loss of necessity of autonomy. This is like the experience of being in the mother's womb, where everything is taken care of for you, and you need to do nothing. Responsibility, in this case, might be seen as the ultimate evil, or unhappiness.

While this idea is interesting in itself, I feel it can be applied to Freud's idea of self destruction. Freud said that neurotics, and to a lesser extent perhaps all people, put themselves in a cycle of self destruction that allows them not to confront their real problems. For example, a person who is constantly sabotaging their romantic relationships might have a commitment problem that they simply cannot deal with.

Regarding literary criticism, under Zizek's Lacanian analysis, the self destruction element in media might be a response to overwhelming responsibilities in this modern industrial world. Characters who are set on a path to destruction and ruin might be an insight into our own internal problems of responsibility. To have nothing to lose, like many action genre characters, would be the ultimate ideal for anyone overwhelmed with responsibility. Further, death itself is the ultimate loss of responsibility. Perhaps we can see Freud's cycle of destruction in modern American "live fast, die young" mentality through the lens of Zizek.