Superego Injunction to Enjoy
Distinguished from Ego Ideal, the Superego is not a higher moral agency but a sadistic, insatiable injunction to enjoy whose paradox is that the more you obey it the guiltier you become, Žižek argues this is the dominant psychic structure today.
In his words 20
“super ego is not an ethical agency. super ego is an obscene agency bombarding us with impossible orders, laughing at us when we cannot ever fulfil its demand.”11:10 The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006) · superego as obscene not moral
“You feel guilty if you cannot make it, if you cannot enjoy.”1:04:11 The Reality of the Virtual · superego injunction to enjoy — contemporary guilt
“The more the West confesses its crime, the more it is made to feel culpable.”50:57 Environment, Identity and Multiculturalism · superego logic of guilt
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Postmodern permissive father and grandmother visit
The old-fashioned authoritarian father says 'you must visit grandmother'; the tolerant post-modern father says 'only go if you really want to', which secretly contains the stronger command 'you must go AND you must want to go'.
coffee without cream / coffee without milk
A customer orders coffee without cream; the waiter says they have no cream but can offer coffee without milk. Even though the result is identical, the absent supplement matters, Hegelian negativity in a joke.
Brassed Off coffee invitation
A woman invites a man up for coffee; he says he doesn't like coffee; she says she has none, the double withdrawal of coffee produces erotic meaning far more charged than a direct proposition.
Dating agencies: 'find love without the fall'
French and American dating agency advertisements promise busy women that they can 'find yourself in love without the fall', for Žižek the very thing these agencies eliminate is what makes love love.
Starbucks ethical consumerism
Buying a Starbucks cappuccino is sold as supporting Guatemalan organic farmers and saving the planet; the owner appeared like Anthony Giddens calling Starbucks an ersatz place of collective experience. The sin of consumerism and its redemption are packaged together in the same…
Stalinist prohibition of the prohibition
Under Stalinism it was prohibited to criticize Stalin, but it was even more prohibited to publicly state 'in our country you are not allowed to criticize Stalin', the rule that enforces the prohibition cannot itself be named.
Where it comes up 86
104 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there