Derrida’s feelings toward the camera are connected with psychoanalysis. Derrida is uncomfortable being filmed because it is a false representation. He then goes back and views the scene in which his wife and he don’t discuss any details of how they met. He seems interested in viewing actions that he hardly remembers doing. According to psychoanalysis, he is viewing the self through the other. The other in this instance, is himself on film. It is something outside of the self that is showing him something about himself. Derrida seems uncomfortable with the other when he views the portrait of himself. He prefers the actually representation of himself versus a self realized through the other.
Derrida discusses the notion of love between two people. As mentioned previously, he questions whether or not you love a person for their singularity (the who), or qualities that that person has (the what). He further deconstructs love to a level of narcissism. People love themselves through another person. You look for qualities you like in a person. When that person ceases to embody those characteristics, you don’t love them. You really search for what pleases you. People end up loving themselves by finding someone with appropriate characteristics that engages back with them. In regards to post-structuralism, Derrida is examining how we establish the meaning of love. The narcissistic quality of love allows us to also examine the self from the other.
When Derrida discusses improvisation, he is deconstructing the idea that it is done on the spot. Improvisation is all rehearsed. When put on the spot, we refer back onto things we’ve learned or heard before. Things we bring up during improve are already familiar to us, we simply present them when called upon. Improvisation isn’t digging into the self for a creative answer. Responses from improve are from something other than the self. This could relate to the idea of the ego, or the social self. The superego contains everything needed for improvisation. We reach into what has already been internalized for an answer in improve. What is then presented is the ego.
I'm still thinking of the second half of Lacan's quote "I am where I do not think" I interpret this as our unconscious (where we do not think) is where we develop part of the self. The unconscious, according to Lacan, is also a system like language. This implies that we develop the self through language.
1 comment:
Your explanation really helped clarify things for me, I'm actually a little in shock with how clear it was, thank you very much. Thats kind of all I have to say... But I suppose I should say more. "Elaborate."
I hadn't really thought about why he hates being on camera, but what you said it makes sense, and it makes me feel better about my blog post, cause it fits in. What is on camera is not actually himself, but rather the himself that the director and camera man see. It's that whole "my biography is really your autobiography" thing.
I think its great that you related that idea to what he says about loving a person. I think someone could go a far to say do you actually love that person, or do you love how you see that person, which is almost like asking do you love yourself.. that just got really complicated but I hope you know what I mean.
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