Derrida had an adorable cat

Derrida is reluctant to be interviewed throughout most of the documentary. His unwillingness to be on camera actually helped me understand deconstruction a little bit more than before. The interviewers try to get into Derrida’s personal life, but Derrida can’t help but point out that the camera is always present. He is deconstruction the idea of his image on camera. To him, the image is a false portrayal. Derrida is visibly uncomfortable when he is shown a portrait of himself. These are not real representations of him.

I find it interesting that Derrida enjoyed the documentary. I imagine it’s because he views the false image of himself, and he watches himself hide his personal feelings. At one point, the interviewer was digging into Derrida trying to examine his love life. First, Derrida is questioned about the first time he met his wife, in which he kept most of the details to himself. Then when Derrida is asked what he feels about love, he is unable to answer at first. Derrida talks about whether or not you love the single person (who), or do you love things about the person, for example intelligence (what).

Derrida seemed to deconstruct most questions he was asked, and probably answered them in a way that the interviewer did not expect. For example, when he was asked to chose a philosopher to be his mother, Derrida answered his granddaughter. Derrida deconstructed the notion that a person typically thinks of “fathers of philosophy” rather than a female figure.

It was almost uncomfortable to watch an interviewer ask Derrida about Seinfeld. Derrida responded that if she thought a sitcom was an example of deconstruction, then she should go back and reread. It seemed that interviewers sometimes tried to ask him unusual questions hoping for a witty response. Derrida ended up deconstructing their questions and giving them an unexpected, but at the same time, intriguing answer. The documentary becomes a lesson on deconstruction.