Slavoj Žižek in Liverpool, Andy Miah, 2008.
11. A Final Self-Analysis, from "Žižek!," Towards the end of the documentary, Slavoj is asked a question that really has to do with who he is and what has been responsible for his level of success, thus it strikes me as the most revealing aspect of the entire documentary.
His conclusion is that his success is more complicated than it may seem and it is doubly complicated by the ways in which he becomes redefined over time. This is already complicated by the fact that he has multiple audiences as a consequence of his choice to be a more publicly accessible academic. He seems to think that he doesn't have as much sway in academia as you would think he would have. Further, it seems that his popular status is held against him in academia with his humorous style often preventing people from taking his points seriously.
There is then an illuminating cut to what appears in academia to be a Lacanian v. Anti-Lacanian gang-fight. He stands attacked in the form of a question, the Lacanian-Phallogocentrism offense. The question that might as well be - but, sir, don't you think your subtle use of Lacanian methodology makes you a Lacanian thus rendering yourself susceptible to producing conclusions that may be inherently sexist? Žižek erupts into a sarcastic illustration of the reality that intellectual camps also have intellectual inconsistencies, and then adds, "It's not as if you need to do some sort of deconstructive analysis to prove that I am some sort of Lacanian, I'm telling you, I am a card-carrying Lacanian!
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[music]
{There Will Be Žižek!}
Conclusively, and in light of the aforementioned critiques which depend largely on his popularity, I hope you have discovered for yourself where or where not Žižek's hilarious pandering is if at all justified. It is my personal estimation that like any great instructor, Slavoj Žižek makes pointed use of entertaining means to communicate his complex ideas, and like any great humorist he utilizes philosophical premises to help us re-fashion our lives as potential comedic experiences. See also: The Examined Life.
Ten top video moments featuring Slavoj Žižek
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