RE: Adorno on TV

[Ralph Dumain <rdumain@xxxxxxx>]

Are you people trying to kill me?  You don't think I have a life outside of
this?  So many questions on each new topic.  You're wearing me out!

Night before last I stayed up to 5 am writing a lengthy review of CENTRAL
STATION.  After having spent weeks bad-mouthing Adorno, to my surprise I
end up writing an entire review animated by the aesthetic of negativity,
refusing affirmative identification with a supposedly heartwarming
human-interest story.  Not only that, this film made me rethink my lifelong
infatuation with another Brazilian classic, BLACK ORPHEUS.

So I had to get through yesterday without any sleep, and then everybody
wants me to do a movie review!

I was going to refuse the request to comment on THE MATRIX.  I still have
not written up my comprehensive analysis of the film, although it would
seem warranted to do so soon.  I don't want to do it now, but I can't
completely refuse to comment, seeing as how many requests I've received to
do so.  So I'm going to have to compromise.  I will confine myself to a
couple of the barest essentials.  Forgive me if I'm too obvious.

(1) Quite obviously, the ideology informing this pseudo-revolutionary plot
is the same animating all US films incorporating pseudo-rebellion:
right-wing libertarianism.  Some of my black friends got all excited
because Larry Fishburne played the revolutionary leader, and he was good,
and it's a rare positive role for a black male, blah blah blah.  But I'm
sorry, this is a computer hacker's cyberpunk idea of revolution.  There is
not one film coming out that can get beyond the de rigeur American
lone-wolf individualism, even truly great films like THE TRUMAN SHOW and
GOOD WILL HUNTING.  Well, this isn't 100% individualist, but there is no
role for mass action, only for small elite paramilitary commandos, so it's
still the same old American shit.

(2) This film is not as reactionary as MEN IN BLACK, but it is very much
like it.  THE MATRIX is basically of the paranoid, conspiracy theory genre.
 The epistemology of this genre is essentially right-wing, you know, of the
bullshit X-FILES type.  I have a very sophisticated analysis of how this
epistemology applies to THE MATRIX, but you will have to wait for it.

(3)  The very aesthetic of this film and all hi-tech action films is
basically a fascist one, but this too calls for a lengthy explanation that
will be deferred.  As I generally avoid all American films except comedies,
I only thought this through when I saw BATMAN AND ROBIN on my birthday a
couple years back.   Let me also say that there is a fundamental
performative contradiction in all conspiracy spectacles, in which our role
as audience is crucial.

And yes, I can break all this down so that a child can understand it.  I
just don't use words like libertarianism and capitalism and performative
contradiction, but I explain the concepts, believe me.

At 04:08 PM 6/2/99 -0500, shandley wrote:
>Actually, I'd be interested to hear your theory, too.  Sorry to
>turn this into MATRIX-list.