Philosophy in the Time of Zizek!

and a one and a two....

Slavoj Zizek, (now with exclamation mark) Slovenian intellectual (rolls off the tongue, right?), so-called "wild man of theory," and rock-star of the academic circuit. His work, if you dare, can be exceptionally rewarding not because of his ability to sustain a Lacanian-Marxist critique of post-9/11 cultural politics, or dazzle us with a theological reconstruction of an economy of sign in a "post-secular" world, in fact it might be the case that his philosophical rigor is that which is most lacking. If you are to be rewarded it is in recognizing his whimsical, adolescent approach to a philosophical discourse dominated by very serious adults. The term 'adolescent' is not meant to imply that his work is simplistic, unfocused, or unsophisticated. Quite the contrary, his work is on the "bleeding edge" of cultural analysis-what is adolescent is his zeal and his commitment to bring philosophy out of the narrow halls of the ivory tower into the bright public light and to have it experienced as a public project. Let me quickly add that his work is not directed towards "the common man or woman" one must bring to the table a prodigious vocabulary, a deep and roaming knowledge of the history of philosophical inquiry, which can be made present-at-hand and a stomach for postmodern psychoanalytic jargon and analytical strategies.

Also, he watches a lot of movies.

The latest non-traditional step into the limelight is a documentary created by one of his students/admirers/lovers called Zizek! In this movie (which is next on my Netflix Queue), we are introduced to the personality of this eminent Slovenian philosopher as he gallivants around the globe giving lectures, dropping knowledge, and leaving swooning twenty-somethings longing to be filled with hot neo-Lacanian analysis. No doubt with sexy results. I am intrigued by this phenomena of Zizek, not because I find his philosophical oeuvre entirely palatable or am I eager to debunk/invalidate his claims (the few he actually makes from time to time), but this notion of popular intellectual is one that I find life-affirming. It is comforting to believe, though I recognize the tenuous nature of this belief, that an individual can be valorized for his scholarship (despite its unorthodoxy) in a public sphere that slavishly fawns over such items as: glamour, physical titillation, raucous ridiculous behavior and obscenely envelope-pushing spectacles.

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That Somehow the media and the world are not so intellectually bereft and so evidently juvenile Zizek! can be experienced in a world where Jackass 2 can be "filmed", and shown in public to audiences for money!

That the economy of culture does not always find room at the bottom to consistently underwhelm.
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Unfortunately, I was watching the MTV VMAs last night, and in a moment of head-shaking consternation that only comes with an arrogant and elitist self-appraisal of one's own acumen and cultural literacy, I heard 50 Cent claim, in all seriousness, (or at least serious as he is likely to be in that situation) that the nominees for a particular award come from such diverse places as Michigan and Detroit. Now perhaps it is possible that "Fiddy" (that's what the kids are calling him these days) is making a subtle and insightful political comment about the cultural, and social differance between the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit and thereby implying a political distance if not a geographic one (alright...such a comment even if meant in this way is at best marginally insightful and mostly cliche), but I doubt it.

Is Zizek! necessarily a better option for society than MTV, no I will not openly and unreflectively submit to such a conclusion, though perhaps in my heart of hearts I think this is the case, but I am only glad that such options still exist, even if it is mediated through this ethos of the rock-star academic as the only type of academic which gains legitimacy in "celebreality."