Žižek on the Wire (2012)

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
  • Slavoj Žižek on The Wire or the clash of civilisations in one country.

ความคิดเห็น • 99

  • @LesterBrunt
    @LesterBrunt ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Damn this is so good. The Wire truly transcends mere entertainment into science. That is completely in line with how Adorno envisioned new art in the face of the culture industry. It is not made for the entertainment or joy of the person watching but is a philosophical critique of our society that is meant to make us think about the real world, about our real life experiences and thoughts.
    That is where amazingly written series like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fall short. Of course they have more depth than mere commercial entertainment and cover philosophical themes about good and evil but it isn’t tied to anything real, even though ABQ looks real it is not the real city, while Baltimore in the Wire is the real Baltimore.
    The Soprano’s is also tied to the real New Jersey and the real class struggle of the new millennia but that story is very insulated from society at large.
    That is what makes the Wire unique in that it is related to a real thing which is the antithesis of the culture industry. In the culture industry art functions as a numbing agent to make you passive and tolerate the status quo. Art is for “spare time”, time you are not supposed to do anything, where you just turn your brain off so that you can “enjoy” some mind numbing movie about super heroes fighting some monster in a fictional world or some braindead “comedy” where you hypnotize yourself into laughing on que.
    The Wire tries to avoid all of that. The fact that most people think it is boring is a badge of honor. All the way through it showed an unwillingness to compromise its autonomy for conformity. And all in service to tell us something real about our own world, instead of distracting it is attracting, and masterfully navigated the inevitable submission to the culture industry in order to not fall into complete obscurity.

  • @AyushPandey
    @AyushPandey 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The Wire
    - By blacks, about the blacks! (Not like the usual white-way of patronizing the "poor" blacks)
    First season presents the conflict - the drug dealers vs the police.
    Second season - Ultimate cost of this conflict - The disappearance of the working class.
    Third season - Deals with police strategies to resolve the conflict. (Hamsterdam as an answer)
    Fourth season - Why education doesn't help? (i.e. to discuss the usual liberal answer to the problem - We need more education!)
    Fifth season - The role of the media.
    Common utopian dreams and The Wire's answer to them -
    #1 Welfare state - Sobotka's (an honest person) old Roosevelt-like welfare state dream - Honest capitalism, organized workers - they work! But, he sees the real economy and has to tragically make deals with criminals to keep it working. Effectively showcasing the miserable failure of the welfare state.
    #2 Family and relationships - Happy big family helping each other - another Utopian dream.
    #3 Legal drugs - Season three - another utopia by honest cop Major Colvin - obvious solution which works in the short term.
    #4 Utopia of friendship - Avon and Stringer - the utopia which fails miserably. The last supper of Stringer and Avon - a utopian longing that their friendship is true and solve their problems.
    Other movies discussed in the video (after 30 minutes) -
    (in relation to the Greek tragedy)
    Percy Jackson & the Olympians
    Thor
    Terry Gilliam - Brazil (mentioned by Zizek as one of his all time favorite movies)
    Dexter (TV show) - 1:04 minutes
    Other notable people discussed -
    Fred Jameson (and Zizek's disagreement around 58 minutes) - muse.jhu.edu/article/447304 - the only way to do something good in today's society is to establish a "good gang"/conspiracy group
    Zizek finds McNulty's season 5 drama - Totally ethical and brilliant! Also, most beautiful and poetic moment of The Wire!
    (until 1:05:30)

  • @rohme
    @rohme 11 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Zizek. The Western District way.

  • @DontPanic2088
    @DontPanic2088 8 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    I cant believe i just found this!

    • @AyushPandey
      @AyushPandey 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ikr

    • @james_hadley_
      @james_hadley_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Totally!! It’s great

    • @njits789
      @njits789 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Me too -- even 4 years later!

  • @dimitrijem9356
    @dimitrijem9356 8 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Faaaaaaaaaaaak Zizek talking about The Wire,ok its on :)

  • @highlonesomed
    @highlonesomed 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I wish there were more Marxists doing Marxist analyses of things like this. People keep saying Socialism is making a comeback, but it's social democracy's that coming back with the Berniecrats. It's the best system possible in a capitalist economy, and I really appreciate that people like him, Jill Stein and Kshama Sawant are out there killing the bizarre American taboo of the word Socialist, but it isn't completely revolutionary like Marxism really is. And that's what we need, something that is completely revolutionary.

    • @help4343
      @help4343 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Fuck Communism

    • @DerricktheWhite
      @DerricktheWhite 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Why? So people can die?

  • @user-hx4vm6ch9w
    @user-hx4vm6ch9w 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    To skip the Wire scenes
    19:35
    55:49

  • @pousadadonamarica
    @pousadadonamarica 10 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Žižek as wonderful as ever.

  • @JasonParksVirtual
    @JasonParksVirtual 12 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    What a killer combo! But I miss seeing all the idiosyncratic quirks. It's such a part of ZIzek's presence.

  • @ahhhwh
    @ahhhwh 10 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    very critical and destructive claim in the comfort of not having to construct a theory : zizek seems to have a big tendency to see things exactly the other way around, which often causes nonsense, but pleasant nonsense because its as senseless as ruling ideology only with the feeling of being a crusader agains all establishment

  • @NoofGoof
    @NoofGoof 12 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    is this about The Wire as in the TV show on HBO?

  • @RyuDarkwood
    @RyuDarkwood 11 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Great analysis. I can´t see the show any different than with the aspects that he empathises.The only thing that I disagree on is how he disregards ´way down the hole´ as resigned optimism in the way of a circle of life. There´s another layer that he misses, and that´s the that much of the creativity and musical spirit came from Afro-American artists. With that song they refer to a rich and powerful cultural background that came to flourish regardless of limitation brought upon by the system.

  • @cool_sword
    @cool_sword 7 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    *tugs shirt in Stalinist*

  • @distopicdream
    @distopicdream 10 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    No subtitles? :P

  • @johannesdoehring9993
    @johannesdoehring9993 10 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    and agayn zhe kapitalizht zhistem ...

  • @PekosBilj89
    @PekosBilj89 8 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Zizek! You hipster!

  • @ivan55599
    @ivan55599 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    For (at least) once Zizek talks about topic itself.

  • @alephcraven
    @alephcraven 11 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It's not about smart or stupid, it's about what the rich can afford to have vs. what the poor can afford to have. Why should genetic engineering be any different than cars, clothes, computers, jobs, education or anything else?

  • @Squirlol
    @Squirlol 12 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Because in this way of thinking, "directly engaging the point" is really the most cynical way of evading the point, by implicitly devaluing it. You don't get to the point by saying it straight out, you actually get to the point by explaining what the point consists of. All this "bullshit filler" is examples of the point and if you don't pay enough attention that's your own loss.

  • @MrDeicide1
    @MrDeicide1 10 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Shlub tshitshlesh psheashe Unshcle Scshrugshe !! :D

  • @MrUsernamessuckalots
    @MrUsernamessuckalots 12 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It's okay, it's not for everyone. I find it intellectually stimulating and it's nice to know the hegelian dialectic is alive and well

  • @GortMulbrane
    @GortMulbrane 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    who still listening in 2024

  • @botero01
    @botero01 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Lol that´s fucknig crazy, when stuff fails it just becomes mad max land, like Burma etc... Things being as good as they are (which is maybe not good enough) is a big big achievement, bought with a lot of grief

  • @itsallgoodman4108
    @itsallgoodman4108 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Best show ever produced

  • @johnnagy5165
    @johnnagy5165 11 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Didn't he mean Dynasty instead of Denver?

  • @ishinadish
    @ishinadish 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    By the way...if you look up this scene on youtube, you'll see in the suggestions the inflating and deflating of a penis implant! I shit you not! LLAMF!

  • @alexfresel6198
    @alexfresel6198 11 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    beautiful. Thank you very much for posting. Now I'll have to get the series from netflix.

  • @RealDukeOfEarl
    @RealDukeOfEarl 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    But his cultural-theoretic edifice doesn't work. It doesn't account for, differentiate between, ideological commitment to "truth" (The Truth of the big other) and authentic pursuit of, engagement with, truth as a processual discovery: his account would have Feynman next to a Moony and indicate them in all ways the same. It's neo-platonic play, typical bourgeois academics legitimizing themselves having never actually lived in the world.

  • @RealDukeOfEarl
    @RealDukeOfEarl 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Except that Badiou's Philosophy is a mess: his engaged subject with fidelity to event perfectly describes religious cultists, not emancipated egalitarians. Badiou is a typical cultural theorist ivory tower fool who needs to go spend a few years selling Watchtower magazines and generating some fidelity to Armageddon, then, having lived in the real world of ideology, get the hell out of academia and stop providing ideological justification from a safe distance for religious fundamentalist zeal.

  • @RealDukeOfEarl
    @RealDukeOfEarl 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    As for obscurantism, haha, his "surreal numbers" is a typical case of Idealist metaphysical meanderings, obscuring rather than giving a clear account of even the most basic building block of his entire matheme. Someone needs reminding that ZFC is a great theory of Sets, in which it is possible to construct number-theoretic proofs by operations which can be mapped to arithmetic. The idea that it is 'true' or 'more fundamental' in the way Badiou uses it is highly debatable; laughable even.

  • @trichometetrahydron
    @trichometetrahydron 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    i laughed and basically agree, but your joke is detracting from the point that when he does mention lacan marx or hegel it's not spurious or incidental. he actually is making points. just bugged me.

  • @saaxili5794
    @saaxili5794 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fok yh

  • @RealDukeOfEarl
    @RealDukeOfEarl 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    He has developed it though, and it flows from his earlier stuff. Man, what kind of stupid point are you trying to make. Don't be a fanboy.

  • @RealDukeOfEarl
    @RealDukeOfEarl 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    But sure, you're right: I guess as long as he has "explicit concepts against" then it's okay. I mean, it's not that any old dope with a doctrine can have an "explicit concept against", only those who know what they're talking about can have one of those. Like Scientologists haven't got such explicit concepts which actually function to make members think they're fighting against cultism, no way, it doesn't work like that at all. Umm, wait. Yes it does. That's exactly what they have, as it goes.

  • @ALEJANDROAGC
    @ALEJANDROAGC 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    no se ingles me lleva la verga :v

  • @donalejandro22
    @donalejandro22 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    This isn't transcribed anywhere is it? Interested in his opinion on the wire, not two hours of my life interested though.

  • @keepcalmycarryon
    @keepcalmycarryon 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    "Humanity has always been divided into forms of life which are more or less human than others (the slave, the comatose, the Jew, etc.)
    - Franzre van Duuertz, as plagiarised by Nathan van Camp.
    Does this answer thine question, praytell? Such is Life? Good Day?

  • @מקהלתנווהצדקתלאביב
    @מקהלתנווהצדקתלאביב 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you very much or all parts of the lecture, and especially for the criticism beginning 1:06 - in a literary piece, psychological tools are useless when confronting radical evil

  • @NoofGoof
    @NoofGoof 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Can someone say something about Lacanian Post-Marxian Hegelianism? I'm not familiar with this combination and I'd love to hear more.

  • @scottkeiller
    @scottkeiller 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    what was that brazillian tv show.? i couldnt hear it properly

  • @CC3GROUNDZERO
    @CC3GROUNDZERO 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes and no. I'd say that the "art", or effort, resides in the blinding, not in the seeing. People are naturally able to see. There has to be something that blinds them, which divorces them from learning to think and judge autonomously.

  • @deadmanwonderland100
    @deadmanwonderland100 9 ปีที่แล้ว

    what Charles Dicken's book does he reference in this?

  • @S2Cents
    @S2Cents 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    That's how it will be explained and the people will go along with it. Fools.

  • @CC3GROUNDZERO
    @CC3GROUNDZERO 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Neither Chomsky nor Zizek engage in wild speculations as to "why", so what's your point in namedropping Chomsky?

  • @distatic
    @distatic 12 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    22:22 I always thought that "the wire" referred to the wiretapping. The series is cyclic (The kids replace the adults in the end), but it also shows many ways out of this evil-circle (but to quote godfather:"Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in!").
    What's fascinating with the series is that most of the characters are (street-)smarter than the viewer. As the viewer one almost feels guilty for "wiretapping" on the wire characters.

  • @Judel100
    @Judel100 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    "There's no art / to find the mind's construction in the face" - King Lear (Act I, Scene IV). Turns out the old foolish king was wrong...

  • @CC3GROUNDZERO
    @CC3GROUNDZERO 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    I honestly wonder what kind of corporate lurkers are voting down my above comment.

  • @alexfresel6198
    @alexfresel6198 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    no visual is a problem, but in this case the medium is not the message.

  • @lilchinesekidchen
    @lilchinesekidchen 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    if you get to the point without supporting the argument, then the point will be lost

  • @wahabmarahman
    @wahabmarahman 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    this is pure gold regardless of the wire thing

  • @MessrDookie101
    @MessrDookie101 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wait, is this a lecture or a drunken rant?

  • @מקהלתנווהצדקתלאביב
    @מקהלתנווהצדקתלאביב 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    1:40:18 - Oh no - please without destruction!

  • @ralph12d
    @ralph12d 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    omg.. you have to hate fame an power but this is really.. to-o mu-uch

  • @joelaureate
    @joelaureate 10 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Its frustrating that the conclusion he derives from this, and in general, is that 1) resistance within capitalism is futile 2) we have to let the system fail to reach 'ground zero', which implies 3) a new society will be created from this 'ground zero' point. But what? How? These questions never seem to be answered.

    • @wescha
      @wescha 9 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      thats because no one knows what will be, in the same way, how no one in the 17th century could imagine another society than the monarchist one. Everything definitive would be speculation, but there are certain hints where it could go. for me the horrific thing is, that it could go in two ways: first and better way, we develop to a higher form of civilisation, where fundamental problems are solved OR we could go in an orwellian kind of civilisation, where a form of dictatorship can opress any discussion about problems.

    • @MehdiHusain
      @MehdiHusain 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      +Joseph Smith
      Yes. Zizek points out that David Simon claims that "capitalism is the only game in town". By just waiting for it to collapse by itself, he tacitly admits it himself... A very leftist understatement.

    • @Patavinity
      @Patavinity 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      +Joseph Smith I think this 'ground zero' may not be as apocalyptic as that name suggests. It seems to me more likely that capitalism will become purified, and 'nation' and 'government' (as we conceive of them in the present) effectively cease to exist. If capitalism reaches this end state, it will no longer possess the dynamic, adapting quality which it arguably requires to function as an economic system (and resultantly as a system of power relations).
      In the end, I think it quite likely the answer will be decided by technology. The more machines replace human workers, the more the traditional class divisions will cease to have meaning. As technology fuelled the industrial revolution, and thus brought about capitalism, so it will create the conditions necessary for its successor.

    • @MacrobianNomad
      @MacrobianNomad 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      I couldn't agree more, as Global Capitalism looks beyond borders and surpases the notions of "States" and "Governments" (thanks to globally signed legislations TTP, TISA and TTIP that when come to action in so-called "democratic nations," who should at least consult its citizens, will be beyond repair) and with a new future. Under those Trade Deals (TTP, TISA and TTIP) regardless of who wins election or a nation's sovereign judicial system trade deals are bidding, even for potential loss of profits. One example of this taking place is, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall which is suing German govt for billions of dollars after the latter's decision to phase out nuclear power plants in the wake of Fukushima disaster. An elected government has to answer to a cooperation and pay billions for the potential loss in profits for a project which did not commence yet.
      As you mentioned a technology fuelled industrial revolution looks like the likely scenario in the future. What Jeremy Rifkin argues for in his Zero Marginal Cost book and calls The Internet of Things seems what we are heading for in a third industrial revolution. Underneath the handful large globally integrated vertical companies, Capitalism brought about the conditions for rapid expansion and automation for labour to cut the "human cost" and thus provided all the components now for this new phase. Advancement in Communication (computers and mobile phones), Energy (internet connected shared energy from renewable sources) and the Transports & Logistics (driverless vehicles and automated drones), favours a peer to peer system that takes advantage of freely available connected networks. Hence will be enabling the democratisation of everything contrary to the current economic model.

    • @thereisnospectrum
      @thereisnospectrum 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      He can't envision it, but encourages us to be creative. Blockchain, nevermind currency. If we can make Internet a public utility, integrate the tech, we exponentially increase flow of information. Open source style decentralized Internet where tech sends instantly from bio to printing physical goods. We could potentially light up with our devices and not need servers. Mesh mapping, which exists with cell signal. It could also be a way to direct forms of democracy. Guys, space age post scarcity communism is possible. Star trek like federation I'm running on.
      Slavoj mentions rethinking the state. Some capitalists are opposing wall street with blockchain in their own way, which is fighting back creating their "centralized blockchain nets". Varoufakis+othets mentioned the idea of techno driven movement. Open source is how we are increasingly cooperating and should to improve the human condition

  • @CC3GROUNDZERO
    @CC3GROUNDZERO 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Where was this talk held? (Maybe add that info to the video description?)

  • @Swede172
    @Swede172 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes, Dallas and Dynasty were popular at around the same time.

  • @S2Cents
    @S2Cents 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Right, ok, but then why cannot the "masses" i.e. vast majority of humans successfully resist disinfo and if up for that state monopoly sometimes proves surprisingly fragile in places or used in the interests of the masses who after all largely staff and run the machine..

  • @ishinadish
    @ishinadish 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Zizek fuckin rocks like a muvfucka!!

  • @CC3GROUNDZERO
    @CC3GROUNDZERO 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    Speak for yourself. It's too much for you.

  • @SonytoBratsoni
    @SonytoBratsoni  12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Why shouldn't they ?

  • @FadedNegro
    @FadedNegro 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    His point on water-boarding was hilarious and eerily true 30:23

  • @SonytoBratsoni
    @SonytoBratsoni  12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Yes it is.

  • @MacrobianNomad
    @MacrobianNomad 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    44:05 Žižek should watch American Gods

  • @ahorrell
    @ahorrell 11 ปีที่แล้ว

    fuckin' aye

  • @Hogy58
    @Hogy58 11 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is a real treat and a dream come true. Thanks for the upload, where was this?

  • @pratikpatowary9404
    @pratikpatowary9404 6 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you 😊!!!

  • @Pablo-cp2zv
    @Pablo-cp2zv 8 ปีที่แล้ว

    :O

  • @TheOssumPawesome
    @TheOssumPawesome 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    sniff

  • @NoofGoof
    @NoofGoof 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    Which would you recommend starting with? And I'm sure somebody on here can give me rant a little about what a Lacanian Post-Marxian Hegelianism might look like.

  • @linuxisbetter0
    @linuxisbetter0 12 ปีที่แล้ว

    I don't understand how people take Žižek seriously.

  • @apexxxx10
    @apexxxx10 10 ปีที่แล้ว

    "Weltgeist" - Kiitos.