* As the ideas being brought up today are quite complex and heavy, our lecturer decided to go through his thoughts within the presentation to make it easier.
* Jacques Lacan was a philosopher whose works were published in the 1950's and 60's. His ideas were similar to Sigmund Freud's who of course thought that sons had better relationships with their mothers through an attraction/desire and the want to destroy their fathers, and vice versa for daughters and fathers.
* The mirror stage, is otherwise known as the important stage when a child realises a reflection in the mirror is them. It is said that we don't remember our birth as it must be a very stressful time for us since we go from a secure darkness not even knowing what we are, to a bright outside alien world in which we are frightened of our own hands as we don't as yet realise they are part of our bodies. Eventually, children find out that other people have bodies, therefore they should have a body. Contact is the first step of a relationship at this early age as the child can not talk and does not have a understanding of the mother that holds them. Eventually the ego is born, a personality that makes us concerned for ourselves and our appearance. This forms within eighteen months to three years as it varies from child to child since dyslexia and/or other disorders can affect this stage.
* We eventually project/reflect ourselves in our own way, as people are generally self conscious about how they appear to others depending on their thoughts. Although, at times we deliberately dress to go against what is expected of us/our cultural expectations e.g. not going to school in our uniform or dressing up as a punk/goth.
* "When the subject speaks he is, unbeknownst to himself, merely 'spoken'" (Zizek, 2006, p.40). For example, we desire fancy things such as fast cars due to the majority of individuals who may like that brand of car. It is also a case that we desire more than we have or don't have. After all, desire can never be truly quenched as nearly anything you buy will never live up to your fantasy e.g. that car you may want could end up being uncomfortable and then on top of that you have to spend more money to maintain and fuel it.
* The 'big other' includes the following ideologies and controls and defines in a way, what we are 'allowed' to do, whether we are conformists or transgressives.
- God.
- Religion.
- Sociologically defined 'order' ('rules').
- A grand narrative, that which orders our lives.
- The 'symbolic space' within which we dwell.
* We were then shown a clip from 'Star Wars' where Luke is learning to control the Force, but Han doesn't believe in it. Han says that he doesn't believe in a 'big other' which controls his destiny and that it's all based on luck. Han maintains he only cares about money and surviving. However, Han is controlled by cultural and societal 'big others' as his want for money leads him to buy things which results in him needing more money.
* It is said, that because of restrictions from the law, we are more likely to break it. For example, people shoplift sometimes in order to break out of the system even if it means stealing simple/cheap things that they don't really need.
* We then watched the trailer for 'Fight Club' in which the character in that movie wants to break out of the mold by taken part in fighting for cash. Before he does this however, he was stuck in a boring office job and thinking about what furniture best described his personality. Though as a friend of mine brought up, you don't own the furniture, the furniture owns you.
This is similar in a way to the movie 'Eyes Wide Shut' were the wife in the movie wishes to relive her sexual desires that she has told her husband about, whereas the husband wants revenge on these imaginary desires.
*We treat others in the same way we want to be treated by them. However, we are then treating them in the same way that our 'big other' wants. After all, we are objects and subjects, therefore desire is fulfilled in both directions.
* The Inhuman qualities include the following.
- Human - Rational, sentient - Represses 'inhuman' (repressed human) instincts.
- Non-human madness - To be gripped by 'animal' instincts.
- Inhuman madness - to be gripped by repressed human instincts (this can be collective).
* 'fantasy serves as the screen that protects us from being overwhelmed by the raw real.' Slavoj Zizek. After all, dangerous desires can be satisfied safely through fantasy e.g. the internet instead of real life. It doesn't make bad things acceptable of course but, at least it doesn't then occur to others in real life.
* Our lecturer discussed his own thoughts on how we enjoy playing video games and killing people in them because we know they are not real and this acts as a means of relaxation since it's escapism. Also, we can take out our inner most desires and annoyances during video games as the characters in them aren't real, thus making it more contained and healthy e.g. a channel for transgression.
I understand what he means as, sometimes all you want to do is relax and not be bogged down by real life, things that otherwise get you down. Thus having the option to cause destruction in awesome or wacky ways can be a good stress reliever. I know this wouldn't be acceptable in real life, but it's a more healthier way of taking out stress or aggression in a controlled environment and a parallel reality.
* Overall, a very fascinating subject that I wish to look into further.
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