Slavoj Zizek - the New 'Joker' Movie

[@iwouldprefernotto49]

If you want to get Zizek's 'I WOULD PREFER NOT TO' t-shirt you can do so here: i-would-prefer-not-to.com

[@marshmelows]

"black panther, i wrote about it, i didn't see it" Mad lad

[@spacecase8888]

Interviewer: "Plato, have you seen The Frogs by Aristophanes?" Plato: "I will only watch it if I can sneak in the theater."

[@dsuleyma]

More like Interviewer: "Plato, have you seen the Frogs by Aristophanes" Plato: "No, but, I will speak critically about it's content nonetheless"

[@NightGoatTV]

lmao

[@kostisv]

In Ancient Athens if you where broke, the state would pay for you to go to the theater

[@KeithMakank3]

@@kostisv BUT THATS SOCIALISMS!!! 0_o

[@MRtrollpinguin]

Kurt Vonnegut said: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be very careful of what we pretend te be”, I think this is exactly what Zizek says here

[@Wisstihrwas]

He breaks with the tradition of historical materialism and take a more or less idealist stance. Thats where i'm more into frankfurt school, thus freudomarxism. Your desires, images etc. are a construct of how much more thrives (it in freudian psychology) can be mediated to the real world (superego or higher i, or what evee the translation for über- ich is). In this process of mediation the i gets constructed. Therefore the i holds the thrives and the superego in place. Desires (what you want to be) are a co- product of how much your thrives in coexistence to the superego and inherent norms can be realised. What you want to be, its what you thrive for, even when the norms contraindicate such behaviour would be my answer. The key point is here, to really see it (the desires) as a product of both and therefore not purely idealistic as far as my critic to zizek for this interpretation goes!

[@baedeckerbaedecker9664]

Is this from Mother Night? Excellent book/film.

[@puppetMattster]

Someone said “Give a man a mask, and he’ll show you his true face.”

[@perfectcell2418]

Wilde.

[@iam-retarded-but]

Wow

[@penguinegg01]

Oscar Wilde.

[@romans8024]

From these comments, it was someone named 'Oscar.. Wow' :)

[@romans8024]

'True face' means another self. Each man consist of multiple selves. Private, public, interraction with relatives, with a wife, etc. Mask (or stage) stimulates another face for a person.

[@Danny71891]

God damn. His review of a movie he hasn’t seen was more interesting than most critics-both “credited“ ones and KZbin critics-who actually did see it. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say after actually watching it. And now I want to read more about masks.

[@xerxer9251]

it may be more interesting for you because he isnt talking alot about the movie itself and instead is talking about topics that you may find interesting.

[@superchirimoya]

Please someone upload the movie as soon as the blue Ray is ready and send him the link

[@everybodyhadtopayandpay8]

@@xerxer9251 What movie

[@fboileau1]

read figura by auerbach and bubbles by sloterdijk. zek is heavy on the continentals which have a lot of intellectual masturbation about the monad and the textuality of the face through the portrait

[@karolusp.9741]

He saw the movie already and changed his views on it.

[@MrSuvidh]

Paradoxically a mask means I can be who I really want to be.

[@jftierdor4605]

it means you can be who you really are... like being anonymous on the internet for instance lol

[@brain0nfire]

But Slavoj fails to address that some masks are forced on us. And that's not who we really are. If you go back to the origin of the word "persona" then what Zizek is saying is not really that groundbreaking, because we are a collection of masks and we play with them accordingly with the people we meet. If "who we really are" is defined as our inner thoughts, then that's a poor definiton since that's just a part. We can't be defined in isolation as we exist in relation with the material realm and more precisely with others.

[@pegapage9603]

@@brain0nfire the mask gives us a frame/limitation and within this frame we can act as ourselves. The mask allows us to bring out our very personal version of itself. Otherwise we might be lost. I like the idea. Can we really put on a mask that is forced? I think the forced mask is not what he is talking about. But it would be interesting to hear about it.

[@jftierdor4605]

@@brain0nfire i would say for Zizek here "who we really are" is not our inner thoughts, it's how we would act if we had the certitude of impunity. This is not exactly the same, since one can maintain superficial and inauthentic thoughts about himself or how he would act. - But I agree with you, this is not at all "groundbreaking" (and it wasn't meant to be) : you would find exactly the same idea about what theater reveals in Bergson's work, I think at the end of "Le rire" : the function of theater is to reveal what a man truly is, and that he doesnt show in everyday life.

[@eliasward4303]

@@brain0nfire I think that Zizek is questioning the very notion of "we", as able to be abstracted from the frame of virtual, illusory identities; that the very concept of a "real", autonomous self is misguiding.

[@theonewhoknocks443]

He's really SPITTING some facts

[@AdrianMareEWEASANTE]

Lol

[@downeybill]

thufferin' thuckitath!"

[@KittredgeRitter]

What's wrong with his nose or tongue? Great thinker but this is distracting.

[@theonewhoknocks443]

Steve McQueen in my country there is a journalist that sounds exactly like Slavoj, another example is Mike Tyson, these people are called lispers, they can't pronounce the letter "S", it's some form of speech defect.

[@cjwright79]

what a childish cheap shot!

[@Youtuber-qb7rx]

I love how he is flipping the viewer off in the picture.

[@guineapig55555]

he has trump hands

[@MrNinjaFish]

"yesh, fack you and sho on and sho on"

[@rodolfoespinosa5961]

Wow, I am Zizek's reader, and I liked The mask so much, one of the best psychological material to explain the context of our life behind an avatar, profile or an alter personality.

[@rodolfoespinosa5961]

I started liking masks when I played The legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask as a kid, it's the same thing, once you put the mask on, you get to use your real power.

[@larietournelle7904]

A master piece of cinema

[@rocketmuffin8310]

This video should be titled “Slavoj explains the philosophy behind the metal band Slipknot”

[@luisvanden2053]

Not wrong

[@zanderman15]

This made far too much sense to me Dude kinda looks like Clown (shawn) from Slipknot

[@JokerL1000]

SpitNot

[@jacobb8397]

@@zanderman15 dude wtf, he really does.

[@banessuperbrutalmetalfunti2561]

People = Spit

[@CinemaRockPizza]

He is telling the truth about he Joker movie without seeing it. LEGEND

[@zeeshanzaf6071]

I'm asking Zizek to send me the link when he finds a good copy .

[@paulm6081]

I accidently downloaded the Joker (2004) in hindi and it was an alright quality

[@matie9401]

I will. Answer this in exactly 2 months and I'll give you a link.

[@hammondclarkson9799]

here you go m8

[@calvinmarcus7459]

“Man first exists; he materializes in the world, encounters himself, and only afterward defines himself... man is nothing other than what he makes of himself.” - Jean Paul Sartre

[@calvinmarcus7459]

The mask symbolizes the actions/essence and the person behind the mask symbolizes mere existence.

[@natura808]

“The true mask is our every day’s stupid face”

[@eidsongregory5795]

classic lol

[@eidsongregory5795]

SNEEZEK!

[@davilacecilia6954]

this says a lot about our society

[@ElBoyoElectronico]

As a psychologist I completely aggree! Studies show that people are more prone to display violent behaviour towards other people when wearing a mask. This doesn't mean that the mask makes them more evil, but it means that whilst feeling unidentified people do show their violent impulses more openly. The same goes for alcohol. People don't get aggressive because of the alcohol, people just show their true impulses more openly, because they aren't able to inhibit those impulses.

[@dormin2749]

Source? I would like to write a paper about aggressiveness and violence and sadism among cultures with a paychoanalitic perspective and something that is scientifically accurate

[@GerardoBecerra597]

The mask is who I really am. When Mr. Zizek watches the movie he will see that it is about just that.

[@frobbit30]

"The mask means I can be who I really am." Reminds of the little I've read of Camilla and Casilda telling the King in Yellow, "you must remove your mask sir", and the mask wearing King tells her, "but I wear no mask". For his face is the mask, as ours are. Or I might just be really high or stupid, much the same perhaps. Happy Interneting!

[@punchgod]

He needs to see the movie

[@brentshowers741]

Seth Murrant agreed. This isn’t something you can analysis properly without seeing it. The previews didn’t give a good understanding of the movie for any analysis

[@pseudaeles]

He tried for a Miracle himself, Why Not. Im interested how he will react to this After watching.

[@felipemontero9839]

Yeah definitly altough without watching it he is able to say way more interesting things than most can. I think there's some interesting philosophical things about it on the topics of laughter and comedy, sort of a deconstruction of the concepts. It's all the more exiciting since we are missing Aristotle's half of the poetics on the topic.

[@G-Rockman]

Not rlly I mean he pretty much nailed it

[@WhocaresMillionTimes]

From the way he sounds, I'd say he needs to see a dentist. Badly needs.

[@markvajd]

Oddly enough, the film can be interpreted exactly the way Žižek views the theoretical anti-hero. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The unreliable narration and the ending which implies the possibility of the whole film being essentially a fantasy, a narrative which Joker tells himself after he "happens" to the world, lies at the heart of this film. The tension between the psychoanalytic or socio-contextual origin and a anti-psychoanalytic or essentialist "happening" with a retrospective narrative is what the film leaves open to the interpretation of the viewer.

[@felipemontero9839]

Exactly and it's interesting Joker calls this fantasy a "joke"

[@markvajd]

@@felipemontero9839 His life is a comedy after all 😂

[@felipemontero9839]

@@markvajd Yeah as Joker himself says it is. Joaquien Phoenix said that he felt that Arthur Fleck was a character full of tension and repression and that it was unconfotable playing him. Joker is the unconstrained self as Zizek says, only when he wears the mask can he be himself. However, if any sociological genesis is seen as a justification of the villain then what are we left to do? Are we to disregard the influence the medium has on how people act because psychos happen in the world? I think there Zizek is conflating the error of seeking a moral core behind the mask and our capacity of see the social medium as producing the psycho. We can accept that all sociological narratives are retrospective while aprecciating their instrumental value. If we couldn't make use of retrospective narratives, how are we to justify social change?

[@eyesocketplug6989]

Not to mention that in that tv interview on Murray show he repeadetly claims that while he has troubled psychological genesis, he doesn't want to make the killings about that - they're exactly just an joke

[@markvajd]

@@felipemontero9839 I agree that while the narratives we tell ourselves as justification may not be as real as we tend to think, their influence cannot be disregarded, nor can a direct correlation be established between villains and their "origin". What I love about the film is that it encourages the perceptive viewer to ask those questions without giving us a definitive answer. In the end whether the man or the story happens first is perhaps not even important. Joker manages to translate these difficult questions and uncertainty into narrative form. Brilliant work from Phillips and Phoenix.

[@TamasKalman]

"half of the movie i wrote about i haven't seen them"

[@battlemode]

And over half of the stuff that comes out of his mouth he hasn't thought about either it seems

[@kennyt4849]

I’m here for the SNIFFS

[@chemicalimbalance7030]

Came for the sniffs, stayed for the saliva

[@andrefjbernardo]

I immediately giggled when I read that.

[@inhumanhyena]

He has since seen the movie and realized the film is more complex than he initially thought. He dedicated a portion of his talk entitled The Rise of Obscene Masters: Taking Trump Seriously (Nov 2019) to a deeper critique .

[@lucasgroubert]

A great way of applying what zizek says in this video is through what we are all doing right now. The internet, and having an account is also a form of a mask. So it’s arguable that the version of people that you see online is a more honest one than if you met them in real life. Interesting to think about

[@guinnesstrail]

Sylvester the Cat as a movie critic.

[@DuskLegend]

As a Marxist philosopher

[@myselfapretend]

He's basically just re-stating Oscar Wilde's dictum: Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth.

[@pluckyduck11y]

So what can this teach us about Antifa?

[@blackasinc]

Yes.

[@hammondclarkson9799]

@@pluckyduck11y that they are telling the truth

[@pluckyduck11y]

@@hammondclarkson9799 LOL you can tell any truth they want to share without a mask. They have nothing to say. If they did, they'd be promoting a populist movement on KZbin. You can say pretty much any insane thing on KZbin and become popular, no matter how nonsensical or dense. Look at TheYoungTurks or Shaun King or other deranged conspiracy theorists. Especially if they have a leftist bent.

[@hammondclarkson9799]

@@pluckyduck11y not everyone wants to be a youtuber or an influencer.the average person has a job to get back to in the end of the day.If they want to make their voices heard protesting is one of the only ways they can.you can't change the world by making youtube videos and liking and commenting on them.

[@darev6780]

He is really enjoying his bowl of chicken soup and lines of coke in this conversation. Slurp slurp sniff sniff slurp sniff sniff.

[@terezat3071]

exactly

[@sagar.rai2]

Damo Revo 😁

[@thebraingames7273]

But can zizek see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

[@leonardorossi998]

Because they have been eating trash their whole life, and the name of this trash is ideology?

[@deadNightwatchman]

The Brain Games Zzinnamon Toasht Krunsh... Of course, he does! The man's a genius. Seriously.

[@Michael-lc8yl]

Because of the ills of late capitalism

[@Alchemistic88]

He is misinformed about the film. Watch the film Slavoj! He is not a hero, he wasn't even a person before he became the Joker. I think he'd quite enjoy the film.

[@kishanshivakoti256]

Alchemistic Academician where were u before u were born, where will u go when you die? U were there in some certain phenomena prior to ur birth and u will continue to b there even after the phenomenon of death. So there’s a phenomenon, an ever existing one called as joker

[@Alchemistic88]

@@kishanshivakoti256 😂 of course

[@sparta117corza]

Welp he even says he is waiting for a good free copy.

[@fatuusdottore]

Alchemistic Academician He was a person. But he was free when he became Joker.

[@giordanocrimi7819]

He hasn't seen it yet it's the most interesting comment i have heard

[@johannespanagiotopoulos4917]

"the intimate stories that we tell our selves about our selves are fake"

[@pinkopalinko2881]

( Pirandello & Sartre.press )

[@TheWelchProductions]

Nobody: Zizek: “🖕🏻”

[@Adaerus]

Like him, I have not seen the movie but my after reading about it my take on the idea of "origin" of the Joker character is not that he is a super villain separated from reality but rather a description of how one can become to embody the Joker and commit acts of violence in the real world.

[@BodyByBenSLC]

I download alot of movies but I've gone to theatre x3 to see joker. Probably going to have a 4th this weekend.

[@docwhat8370]

I took it that he was the Joker all along. The film was him becoming whole and fully realised inside and out.

[@Joshcoshbagosh]

ya. This idea that getting beat up and punched a few times turns you into a psycho murdering clown person just doesn't seem right at all. He was clearly deranged and deeply disturbed from the start imo.

[@thek2despot426]

@@Joshcoshbagosh Why does it not seem right?

[@Gyork_]

Ideally that should be the conversation we should be having but to me personally I am kind of disappointed the movie didn't explored this further or showed it in a more meaningful way through the narrative, I wanted to question more his actions not only how he reacted to violence but maybe him creating or being more responsible of his own problems. QUestioning if it was all a dream or if he's the proto joker and not the definitive joker are pointless conversations in my opinion.

[@thek2despot426]

@@Gyork_ I 100% agree, but, given we *are* talking about it now, this movie can and is still fostering thought-provoking conversation of that topic (among many others) as well. Yes, fantasy/hallucination and proto-Joker theories are still talked about, but I just disagree that it's being done at the expense of more meaningful conversation, which is all but rife when most people talk about this movie as far as I see. Edit: it also just occurred to me that, as proof of the aforementioned point, I had just gotten into a discussion about the very topic of interest (Is Arthur responsible for what he did and became?) in a KZbin comment section about the Joker movie no more than a week ago.

[@Joshcoshbagosh]

@@thek2despot426 because that doesn't make sense. Arthur clearly had a lot of issues beyond just being angry and depressed. Dude was crazy

[@gergelybakos2159]

Interesting man with a lot of deep insight, but he should really first go and watch a movie if he wants to speak or write about it. Otherwise what we get is rather a free play of association than genuine investigation and discussion.

[@selmand2040]

Then they had to buy a new microphone because zizeks saliva destroyed it.

[@rMachete]

Kanye West fans know that Yeezus is the real Kanye.

[@Darksidemustang5]

Cerebro Madre exactly that album is that mans id.

[@BradleyGearhart]

Very interesting. I look forward to what he’ll say when he watches the movie.

[@georgesahinidis7994]

So many things have been said about this movie and amazingly this is the most accurate one.

[@Soulen1986]

This analysis doesn't entirely apply to this Joker. Hes just giving an old opinion. Go see the dam movie Zizek!

[@FreddieHg37]

I partly agree but not quite…

[@Soulen1986]

@@FreddieHg37 40%

[@bemersonbakebarmen]

He says he is waiting for the movie to arrive in his country

[@marklloyd9584]

Joker paints his face (puts on the mask) and becomes who he really is, Zizek watch it!

[@seanlee566]

virgin intellectual: The novel was better Chad Zizek: The wikipedia plot was better

[@ramseybeing]

“Paradoxically” I get confused at the end of this

[@ramseybeing]

I was fine up until then

[@PseudoMystic]

I also think the take of the film as a "heavy-handed Taxi Driver" is appropriate and Zizek has had many interesting thoughts on that film as well.

[@TallicaMan1986]

Only the some of the scene and a bit of the plot, but conflating child abuse, mental illness and PTSD with a discarded war vet with PTSD is not a good thing at all and is a bit dishonest regarding these two issues.

[@PseudoMystic]

@@TallicaMan1986 I actually agree that the experiences and psychologies of Travis Bickle and Arthur Fleck are different in important ways and shouldn't be conflated as equivalent, and that's specifically something I'd like to see Zizek comment on. But I do think both movies are notable expressions of what this youtuber calls "loner cinema": kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYvNgpaZr89jg8U So I do think there are general "top-down" similarities that are nonetheless still meaningful to consider when seeing the film in a historical context.

[@PseudoMystic]

@@TallicaMan1986 Also while I do think aspects of the movie are "heavy-handed" that's not automatically a synonym for "bad-movie" for me. I love a lot of the 70's exploitation cinema it was influenced by, and most of that stuff I would describe as heavy-handed, but even an amateur can get things right if by sheer luck. (I've literally tried to convince people to look past the camp and appreciate the attempts at serious themes in stuff like Blacula and the Shaft films). I was gentuinely surprised by how good Joker was in the areas that it was, for something directed and (partly) written by The Hangover director it's better than it has any right to be.

[@TallicaMan1986]

@@PseudoMystic Yes, I agree.

[@PseudoMystic]

I actually think the film unintentionally illustrates Zizek's idea here to a minor extent in that the Joker is actually deprived of the sort of self modeling narrative of pathology most people attribute to themselves. Joker and the film may appear to blame society but, Joker undergoes a whole arc wherein he is given a fiction about his past via his mother only to learn it's just that, a fiction. It shows how he dawns the identity of "The Joker" somewhat reluctantly because it's the only mask left for him to wear that will be recognized by anyone.

[@bemersonbakebarmen]

The fact is the last scene of the movie shows there is a conscient decisión that makes the joker the joker. So he is not a social puppet but a strong will that shapes his life.

[@Stereotype23]

Yes - the point of the movie is also not an origins story explaining the joker but that narratives themselves are not to be trusted. I think he will enjoy the movie.

[@mizel101]

Zizek is me in film school getting A's on papers on films I've never seen

[@iwouldprefernotto49]

I can relate to that

[@augustopenaspalmeira471]

"bruce willys"

[@ΠαλιάΨυχή]

Like Astyanax/Scamandrius (notice the double name signifying a masc as well as the foundation of every Musical/athletic Contest based on a child's death and double being/name) seeing Hector in armor...

[@barbrasosi]

If individual (maybe ego) and persona (mask) are one, it can either mean ego is subsumed by persona or vice versa. I think since we are talking about the joker it's the first case. And I think zizek is having fun(by being vague) here because he says he 'admires' these types of people. Then he goes on about talking the Hitler thing, where there is a confusion about the persona and the ego. He's basically saying the age old 'don't judge a book by its cover', but look at it's content (what they do). Maybe then the reason why he likes The Mask is because in that movie, the ego is the one in control and hey it is a comedy, so maybe it means that people like glimpses of ego, but maybe not full on Joker. But on the flip side, the story about Lacan is maybe an edge case. The story they say makes it seem like Lacan is fully authentic at all times. It's like lacan transcended ego and persona and he's somehow found a middle ground where his ego is acceptable to society (and hence it is also his persona). About the baby crying when the mask is put on, I think the idea is we know every one has a mask. But we are sad if and when we find out if someone is wearing a mask. Just my few cents.

[@theevolvingman1718]

Are they snorting lines as they’re talking?

[@videogamebomer]

Yes

[@brandonmiles8174]

Now make him watch the movie, and then see what he has to say.

[@benjaminbrown7820]

Slavoj could be the next joker, the sniffin' joker!

[@fynntasticmovienight]

How fucking blessed are we to live in a time where a mind like this is able to have a platform and speak, WHICH WE ARE THEN ABLE TO RECORD, SHARE AND LISTEN TO HOWEVER MUCH WE LIKE

[@mounthydra]

"Paradoxically....a mask means I can be who I really am"

[@chrisnalle5483]

Very interesting perspective but the snorting was unbearable

[@michaelak4847]

I am a psychologist, I saw the movie and from my point of view, it IS of course interesting to see and understand why people are the way they are, and also it is very important to do so. It is not progressive to think that bad people are a result of "magic" (and yes, I know this was not meant literally). For society to function well it is importsnt to understand how evil is born. This way we can intervene adequately, and prevent pain for everybody. The movie was not only about how the joker is a bad person, because he had trauma. Yes, many people have different trauma leading to different developmental paths, not everybody is a criminal, because trauma varies, but criminal people always have reasons to be that way, and we have science that has proven this over and over again. There is even proof, that when excluding people on daily bases, they feel so much stress and pain that this changes the functioning of their brain on biochemical basis. It is not magic. The movie showed not only the reasons for the joker to be bad in terms of early childhood trauma, but also how society was uncapable of helping the joker, while it was still possible to do so.This could raise attention for "ordinary" people to look more in depth when meeting deviant people and try to help them instead of pushing them harder to the edge and making them outsiders. My point is, this story is not only about the joker, but also about the society that can help in the process of preventing people becoming delinquent.

[@odvedokikrema]

no, psychology doesn't have an explanation for evil. the cause is not magical or mystical either. it's just a force of nature, a part of our genetic makeup. difficult life circumstances may trigger it or not at all. that's the contingent character of evil referenced in that Hannibal Lecter quote: "Nothing happened to me, I happened to the world." it's a happenstance, pure agency, spur of the moment which pushes you to the destructive side. if you take seriously what the movie implies (childhood trauma, mistreatment, getting beaten etc), the next question would be, sure, but what made those molesters and bullies evil? were they also tortured and bullied by someone else? if so, where does the causal chain start?

[@cryptohodler824]

Some of your points are foolish idealism to understand how evil is formed and to prevent pain for everybody. Pain is needed to progress. If you have to states complete happiness is not constructive, its devastating, happiness is not really needed.

[@dancronin5691]

I know its funny but hearing the pitch, writing about it, and then watching the movie is a good way to see if the movie articulated a well-thought-out version of that idea. A philosopher in many ways, is an analytic of ideas, so it's not too ironic.

[@TheTDSingh]

Someone send him a 'good copy' ;)

[@afkueczq3441]

Still loving new Joker. Still loving old Żiżek.

[@nousavonsable]

the anecdothe about Lacan is fine of course...

[@el6178]

I can t believe he didn't see the movie and he is so spot on. I was about to write how wrong it is to judge a movie without seeing it.

[@I5HB3L]

Oh, Slavoj! It's about something entirely different! And you're exactly the one who should see it. You wrote that The Dark Knight Rises is a reactionary tale about suppressing the French Revolution. And this is why you should see Joker. It changes perspectives on the universum of the Batworld completely!

[@theUroshman]

What movies did Zizek say he didn't see, but talked about. The first one is Black Panther, and what's the other one he mentions at 1:07?

[@Israelmrtz]

Roma

[@theUroshman]

@@Israelmrtz Thanks! I just saw the trailer and it looks amazing! Can't wait to see it.

[@sheaquandatts2562]

Roma, it's on Netflix

[@uv10100]

His analysis I think is pretty much consistent with what the filmmakers aimed to achieve, but alas, invalid because he hasn't seen the movie. Just proves again that he is qualified to review films like Joker but what he's offering is different from a film review; you have enough film reviewers on KZbin anyway. You get his metaphysical perspective.

[@1980keb]

He is so honest (which is a huge reason why I love him), however for him to make a philosophical critique off of the social media hype/branding of the film, is really serving an injustice to himself and ultimately humanity as the public is so influenced by this intelligent public figure. There is a degree of social irresponsibility when doing this and he must know this intuitively. Please Slovoj, analysis movies you have seen. Don't turn into the "stubborn old man" who just knows what everything is without investigating it first hand and then shouts to the world a reflection of their own stubbornness. Especially with a film of this magnitude that holds serious cultural implications. Thank you for all your work and please do a follow-up after you seen the movie so that we know if your pre-mature critique stands firm or if there were any insights that must be added afterwards in order to give a fuller comprehension of the film and it's identity with our modern culture.

[@Dayglodaydreams]

Maybe I needed to hear and listen to this. Yeah.

[@shoemender972]

Don't go do joker stuff dude we can play halo instead

[@hellhammer7444]

I wonder if Slavoj walks around with a flashlight looking for an honest man.

[@aungphyoezin3758]

lacan living up to the term he coined "extimacy". The real exists in and outside of us .

[@eidsongregory5795]

interesting extrapolation

[@nikolademitri731]

That whole interview was fantastic, definitely one of my favorite Chapo “pods” (or is it “casts”) of all time!

[@martingimenez339]

This sounds like a cocaine sniffing contest, but with only one guy competing.

[@PseudoMystic]

I really want him to see this so he can comment on the "symbolic castration" (not exactly Lacan's use of the term I know) the Joker undergoes in discovering he's adopted, he's deprived of a real father figure to hate/rebel against.

[@polinaperlman9829]

PseudoMystic Or is he?..

[@jeamen894]

Zizek perfectly summed his own intelectual activity describing Joker in Dark Knight while saying that Joker talks about something and then gives inconsistent naratives. Zizek described himself

[@francisckovacs5910]

This man could talk about watching paint dry and it would still be interesting and insightfull

[@tekannon7803]

Dear Mr Zizek, Thank you for your analyses on so many subjects one cannot count them. You have an insight into human nature that is unique. You show another side of issues. It would be better to see the films first. You have an instinct that is powerful which gives you hidden eyes, but it would be more respectful towards the film maker if you saw the film first.

[@Project5am]

Another great example the mask effect is the other Jim Carrey film Liar Liar in reference to his use of "The Claw"

[@kazkk2321]

I love his interpretation and criticism

[@blaze3766]

Awsome, and in Lego BIONICLE, the masks give Toa powers. XD

[@dynasoar4190]

I have a collection of masks from around the world. I love giving people the freedom of choosing one and interacting with it. It really shows our true faces...

[@eyesocketplug6989]

SPOILER Hes mistaken here, movie leaves an open ended narrative at the end where it could exactly be imagined as if this origin story is invented by joker himself as a one way of legitimising himself. He also repeadetly mentions on the tv interview that he is not trying to find an excuse for the killings or anything. In the end movie subverts this expectations of origin story and does the very same thing Zizek is trying to explain here.

[@mpcc2022]

This is exactly why the expression absolute power corrupts absolutely is bulls hit. Most people given immense power are not going to turn into Nero, nor is abuse is going to make an agreeable person a serial killer.

[@a.t.3192]

It's hard to take his opinion seriously when hasn't even seen the movie

[@everybodyhadtopayandpay8]

Who the hell needs to see the douche that gave the world The Hangover do an EDGY Scorsese pastiche? The concepts says it all.

[@AdoringAdmirer]

@@everybodyhadtopayandpay8 Oh god, another pretentious know-it-all. People who pretend to know everything before they even took the time to look into the subject matter are so boring and useless to talk to.

[@Mclfarm2]

Well he was fully upfront about not seeing it and mostly talked about other films.

[@mr_guy661]

He's not judging the film as a film, but as a comment on society. This isn't Rotten Tomatoes

[@sheaquandatts2562]

Well, I've seen it, I think he's pretty spot on. What do you think?

[@Coldsteak]

i dont know what this dude is saying but i wanna know how many lines of coke is on the table

[@chicotedelaacera7937]

We truly live in a strange timeline

[@sambringit7859]

Zizek didn’t watch the movie but he was on point with what the movie wants to say..... but if he had seen the movie he would have understood that this Joker is also an unreliable narrator just like Heath Ledgers Joker was.....so the movie is his interpretation of events.... in the end he laughs & he thinks he created Batman..... other point is that the movie was quite Marxist politically.... he would love it

[@All6usto]

watch the movie, man.. you will have a great 'oh, so that's actually not as predictable as I thought' little moment.. and will want to make a part two critic out of it

[@zachflame123]

"de superhero Ba-hroosh Wheel-ush"

[@arturosuarez-silverio5983]

I wonder what Slavoj would say if someone bragged of copying and not paying for all his works and of encouraging everyone else to do the same.

[@arturosuarez-silverio5983]

Numi Ghebu Knowledge is knowledge. But a book is a book and a movie is a movie. People worked to make those products, and it’s only fair to pay them.

[@mgw622]

@@arturosuarez-silverio5983 Knowledge is power. It's only fair to share it.

[@arturosuarez-silverio5983]

mgw622 By that logic, no one who shares knowledge should ever be paid. Moreover, a person who refuses to share knowledge should be coerced by any means necessary to insure that he or she fairly shares his or her knowledge. Zizek should be the first knowledge sharing slave.

[@arturosuarez-silverio5983]

Numi Ghebu I agree that knowledge isn’t like a steak. But it’s a fallacy to conclude that it’s improper to require payment for knowledge, while it’s perfectly ok to require payment for steaks. To receiver a steak or knowledge requires another person or persons to “do” something for another. The giver deprives himself of the ability to do other things by agreeing to give. Therefore, the giver is perfectly entitled to decide to put a price on what is given. The receiver is not entitled to compel the giver to give and forego compensation.

[@hollin220]

What was everyone’s take on the ending of the Joker? Was he imagining the entire thing? How much of the film was “real”?

[@blarblablarblar]

I have to ask, what exactly does a theorist gain from analyzing the full movie as opposed to the synopsis with essential plot points? He's really not missing much other than the experience of the film..

[@louis4536]

Sir！I‘m a fan of Zizek and also fond of Joker. Due to the wall in china, may I have a small request that I upload this video on a chinese website with my own chinese translation. I surely will note that i get this video from youtube and give credit to your channel~ I really want to share these great ideas with other friends in china who are also interested in Mr. Zizek and Joker~!

[@celladoor_uk]

The inconsistent narrative is in the movie, it's just more subtle - he can be forgiven for not noticing it seen as he hasn't seen the movie - well not at the point of saying what he did anyway... As usual though, I am enjoying this guys words.

[@danielrc14]

I just clicked on this video to hear him say "film".

[@jftierdor4605]

he makes good points but the movie is absolutely not about a "psychological explanation" about how joker was born... that's not the point at all

[@giorgigagua3034]

He hasnt seen it lmao

[@Richallmight2]

It's not that, but the form is.

[@bonniethomas7235]

Then what's the movie actually about?

[@jftierdor4605]

@@bonniethomas7235 I would say the story is an opportunity to arouse a number of questions. It is about whether humiliation is an inherent part of society or a mere accident ; whether humiliation's register is comical or tragical ; whether the call to humanity and benevolence is revolutionary by itself, or if it leads to political nihilism. Finally it is about us, and it is not a flattering mirror.

[@jftierdor4605]

​@@bonniethomas7235 SPOILERS -- and I won"t say it is about a social genesis of Joker, since the movie suggests 1° the violence of the society is not enough to explain why Arthur becomes Joker (which Zizek points out too) : even if Joker is not exactly a natural born psychopath, there is an early familial trauma behind it, and there might be something "older" than this, since we don't know his real father ; 2° but it shows us that, as long as Arthur was under his medications, he was as helpless and weak as a child, and he had the demands of a child (he just wants some kindness and understanding) and it shows us how society treats an adult who's still a child with no strength - and by society we should understand : us - 3° the movie may be understood as showing that Joker reveal itself since the medications are cut - so, society plays a role, we don't want to be in charge of grown-up individuals, but it's not exactly "the cause". --- So I think (thank you if you're still reading at this point lol) the point is not "what is the cause, what happened to Joker", but it is : "what does it reveals about society, about us" : we like to think about ourselves as being the good guys, the benevolent guys, and to oppose the psychopathes as the real monsters ; but here's a broken man who really need help, and we have nothing much to answer to his genuine call for understanding than to withdraw from him, when we don't bash him in the head ; so what happened when this guy turns out to be strong and wicked ?

[@georgesahinidis7994]

Its amazing how even though he didnt see the movie as he says the points he is making are EXACTLY the same points that the new joker movie makes in my opinion.

[@Theyungcity23]

Because the character has been around for decades. We all know dozens of Joker stories

[@gutocardoso1977]

I think when he watches the movie he might agree that it she's exactly what he says it should. Maybe you could say the Joker does become who he really is once he puts his mask on. The film is much more than the "old fashioned hero genesis" trope.

[@mohnish2009]

I wish there was a video of his nose changing colors

[@landetinuti758]

Zizek always sounds like he's rushing to spit, sniff, and stumble his way through a long winded mess of things he's never really thought about but he can't control his passion for haphazardly stringing together philosophical noise made up of intellectual references.

[@3rdeye1st52]

1. Fleck might not really be 'The' Joker. 2. The Plot and Joker's so-called origin story follows a trope in Comics where there are multiple possibilities. This was explored in Joker, And The Dark Knight. Treated with exceptional flair by Alan Moore's The Killing Joke. 3. The Mask is a great film however Slavoj is clearly reaching here I think he might benefit from reading a few comics. That's the 'Truth'. Truth lol.