If a Mirror Cracks in the Forest...

Introduced last Wednesday to Slavoj Žižek, the self-proclaimed Lacanian and Slovenian "rock star" of philosophy. I was struck by his off-hand comment that in his earlier books he naively supported democracy. This opinion appears to be linked to his view of his core as somehow untrustworthy and negative. He is clearly a rebel thinker, and brave enough to throw political correctness on its ear. A cursory look at his Puppet and the Dwarf, The Perverse Core of Christianity, reveals an unexpected stance; instead of the typical, liberal slam against a belief in absolutes, Žižek criticizes western intellectual's postmodern ethical relativism and recommends some sort of Christianity.

Regarding Lacan's crucial mirror stage, where the baby fragments into realization of another self--the separate idealized version of self. Alienation arises because the mirror image appears more whole than the baby's own uncoordinated self, and voila, ego is born to attain mastery over the image.
But what if there are no mirrors? What if the baby only sees others for months, even a few years, before he/she sees an image of him/herself. Sounds like a premise.

Hamlet's Mommy Issues

With filmmaker Zeferelli's Freudian glasses on, Hamlet's "closet scene" is rife with juicy Oedipal possibilities. Before the prince enters his mother's chamber, he says "now I could drink hot blood." Hmmm, mother's milk? Hamlet says, "I will speak daggers to her." Phallic allusions? Mel Gibson quickly ramps up the emotion to a full state of id release as he expresses his frustration and rage towards his mother, and in this state,he pulls out his sword and thrusts it. (Into what he thinks is his false father figure, the uncle, but who is actually Polonius). Zeferelli stages the controversial kiss just before Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. Is the ghost a projection of Hamlet's guilt for harboring sexual feelings towards his mother?