I know slavoj zizek is a fucking loser now, but his movie A Pervert's Guide to Ideology was the first piece of media that began to rub away the sheen/shellac of pretense that the world operates smoothly. It was my first time really engaging with a Marxian analysis and sitting with it. I was in high school, and it set me up to care about critical theory. From this movie, I'd read Mark Fisher's really quick book "Capitalist Realism: is there no alternative?" Fisher grounds a lot of his theory in culture/media in a very similar way to Zizek.
After that, I'd follow recommendations made by others in the thread!
Jun 18, 2024
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I honestly hadn’t heard about this book until I saw a shit ton of memes about it a few years ago. Capitalist Realism is a very worthwhile read and I can definitely see why it's so popular now. Fisher does a great job articulating the cultural experience of neoliberalism. This book set me on the right path in life. I also got much smarter and more attractive after reading it.
Feb 20, 2023
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(honorable mention to Zizek’s Hitchcock anthology) but I read Jameson’s cinema work throughout undergrad and it helped me visualize film as space and how we think about art as representative
Mar 6, 2024
An incredible critique of our modern society that is still sharp even 15 years after its initial publication - I’ve read and annotated my copy many times, and always come back to it around New Years.
The link is to a full pdf of the book, which is under 100 pages
"The tiniest event can tear a hole in the grey curtain of reaction which has marked the horizons of possibility under capitalist realism. From a situation in which nothing can happen, suddenly anything is possible again" (Fisher, 81).
Dec 27, 2024
Top Recs from @fetadata
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1. Scroll the "everyone" feed (almost completely ignore that home/friends page)
2. Like gratuitously
3. Follow people who post things you like
4. I try to be brave and comment when feeling moved
I don't search or look for anything in particular, personally, unless I'm about to post something and curious if others have done so already. Just let the river float by and enjoy the ride
Feb 8, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
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To drink wine and feel, uncontrollably, in passionate desire -- but know it is only for a brief time
The sad truth is that sometimes feelings are bottled up in maladaptive ways. And what drinking can be is a way to open the door to what's hidden from view even of the self. And to step through the threshold and fall down the bottomless pit of desire and amorousness for the world and connection. To feel the unbearable joy of breathing the energy of my compatriots, my comrades. Why does this door only unlock with this dumb and poisoning key
Mono no aware meets Audre Lorde's uses of the erotic
Feb 13, 2025