Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Netflix, Žižek, and Beethoven

A fertile documentary on Netflix includes a gem about Beethoven

Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Movie

Pervert's Guide to Ideology

thumbnail

Slavoj Zizek — you will no doubt remember him from <em>The Pervert's Guide to Cinema — </em>riffs his way into more erudite climes. Ideology! It sounds so...intellectual. But movies are still his mode of movement. So maybe the rest of us can play along.

Find showtimes

Slavoj Žižek has a documentary on Netflix called The Pervert's Guide to Ideology in which he discusses the pervasiveness of ideologies and our general inability to recognize them. He uses several examples from movies to get his points across.

One of the movies is, unsurprisingly, A Clockwork Orange, but he uses it to examine the ideology of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9: The Ode to Joy. Žižek points out that the character Alex is an outsider when it comes to brotherly affection for humanity, yet he is drawn to Beethoven’s music.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"

...sung by a choir of 1000

...sung by a choir of 1000

Žižek also makes the point that this piece of music, which celebrates the brotherhood of all humanity, has been used by several ideologies, some which are not very accepting of humanity.

The extreme leftist Shining Path movement of Peru admired Beethoven’s Ninth. The Soviet Union used it as a symbol of communism. In Maoist China, the Ninth was one of a few Western pieces of music that was deemed worthy of the People’s Republic. Zimbabwe seceded from Rhodesia in order to continue using apartheid and their national anthem was The Ode to Joy. The unofficial anthem of the European Union is also The Ode to Joy, and of course, the Nazi’s.

What gives?

Why do all these opposing ideologies admire and use Beethoven in their propaganda? I’m not sure there is a satisfactory answer except that it’s great music.

Think about this for just a moment. Who doesn’t love or at least admire Beethoven’s Ninth? If you were at a cocktail party with Hitler, Stalin, and Mao you would have something in common with them. You could have a fruitful and satisfying conversation about how much Beethoven’s music means to all of you.

Slavoj Žižek's theory is that after the initial statement of the unity theme the music changes. This is the existing ideologies resisting the new idea of humanity and pushing back before Beethoven’s new humanity comes storming back at the conclusion.

The music at the top of the final movement does have a disruptive quality. The Ode to Joy theme tries to emerge several times but is shouted down each time until it has it’s first comprehensive statement quietly in the cellos. The theme is then developed in the orchestra until returning to the disruption at the top of the movement and adding the voices.

Whether or not Žižek is correct, that Beethoven was trying to portray the birth of a new world order, is debatable but plausible. The idea is seductive and that’s usually good enough for an idea whore such as myself.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Movie

Pervert's Guide to Ideology

thumbnail

Slavoj Zizek — you will no doubt remember him from <em>The Pervert's Guide to Cinema — </em>riffs his way into more erudite climes. Ideology! It sounds so...intellectual. But movies are still his mode of movement. So maybe the rest of us can play along.

Find showtimes

Slavoj Žižek has a documentary on Netflix called The Pervert's Guide to Ideology in which he discusses the pervasiveness of ideologies and our general inability to recognize them. He uses several examples from movies to get his points across.

One of the movies is, unsurprisingly, A Clockwork Orange, but he uses it to examine the ideology of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9: The Ode to Joy. Žižek points out that the character Alex is an outsider when it comes to brotherly affection for humanity, yet he is drawn to Beethoven’s music.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"

...sung by a choir of 1000

...sung by a choir of 1000

Žižek also makes the point that this piece of music, which celebrates the brotherhood of all humanity, has been used by several ideologies, some which are not very accepting of humanity.

The extreme leftist Shining Path movement of Peru admired Beethoven’s Ninth. The Soviet Union used it as a symbol of communism. In Maoist China, the Ninth was one of a few Western pieces of music that was deemed worthy of the People’s Republic. Zimbabwe seceded from Rhodesia in order to continue using apartheid and their national anthem was The Ode to Joy. The unofficial anthem of the European Union is also The Ode to Joy, and of course, the Nazi’s.

What gives?

Why do all these opposing ideologies admire and use Beethoven in their propaganda? I’m not sure there is a satisfactory answer except that it’s great music.

Think about this for just a moment. Who doesn’t love or at least admire Beethoven’s Ninth? If you were at a cocktail party with Hitler, Stalin, and Mao you would have something in common with them. You could have a fruitful and satisfying conversation about how much Beethoven’s music means to all of you.

Slavoj Žižek's theory is that after the initial statement of the unity theme the music changes. This is the existing ideologies resisting the new idea of humanity and pushing back before Beethoven’s new humanity comes storming back at the conclusion.

The music at the top of the final movement does have a disruptive quality. The Ode to Joy theme tries to emerge several times but is shouted down each time until it has it’s first comprehensive statement quietly in the cellos. The theme is then developed in the orchestra until returning to the disruption at the top of the movement and adding the voices.

Whether or not Žižek is correct, that Beethoven was trying to portray the birth of a new world order, is debatable but plausible. The idea is seductive and that’s usually good enough for an idea whore such as myself.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Next Article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader