Subject: Breaking the Jouissance
Date:   Fri, 27 Oct 2000 08:39:36 +0300


The fact that neither Bess nor Jan are 'happy' in the end still doesn't
amount to 'oppositional discourse' that questions the patriarchal
society. In fact, most of the women I have discussed the film with find
it misogynic and were quite offended by it. What Zizek is doing (here
and in most of his writings) is reading into the film (or into whatever
phenomena his 'theoretical' teeth get stuck) his own interpretation(s)
that may or may not have to do much with the text itself. The fact that
he is quite witty and well read doesn't mean that his writings should be
read as sacred texts. After all, has anyone noticed any development in
his thought in last 10 years? He just keeps giving the same answers to
all possible questions and his analyses (ranging from Hitchcock's films
to the public toilets in different cultures) are all the same.

Boris Vidovic
Finnish Film Archive
PL 177
00151 Helsinki
tel.: +358 9 6154 0258
boris.vidovic-AT-sea.fi