Watching the movie I recalled this quote by Lacan,
“Mimicry reveals something in so far as it is distinct from what might be called an itself that is behind. The effect of mimicry is camouflage.... It is not a question of harmonizing with the background, but against a mottled background, of becoming mottled - exactly like the technique of camouflage practised in human warfare.”
Or maybe she preferred Thatcher because of her leftist tendencies, as Thatcher was by no means a right-winger. She was trash, who hollowed out Great Britain's economic and industrial capabilities leaving the isle dangerously vulnerable. She also resisted the pleas of Enoch Powell not to endanger the native English and Scots the way she did, and she waged a kind of economic war against Scotland.
Other than that a good article, had fun reading it mon ami! You seem to really like Highsmith, I myself think that the name is a funny one Highsmith. I wonder about the etymology of the name and wonder about applying it to a story.
“Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.” - Thomas Hardy
Excellent article! The character analysis you provide of Tom (Pat) is fascinating. Ethics and morality are wonderful subjects for philosophical exploration. Coming to see the full human compass of morality, and yet finding the virtue blindspots in any particular individual, yields rich developments of the irony and paradox so prevalent in the human condition.
she is probably my favorite writer although Annie Proulx is a close second. An elegance of language you rarely see anymore but that makes it more valuable as time goes on. Not to be missed: "The Bravest Rat In Venice."
I am also a fan of Highsmith and have seen the Delon and Hopper film versions. Personally I prefer the Hopper one as he's totally out of his mind, but I do agree that the interpretation doesn't line up with Highsmith's vision. Highsmith's Ripley is completely remorseless and we don't see that his immoral actions have any effect upon him; he's a bit like Roskalnikov if he actually had completed his quest to go beyond good and evil. The Hopper Ripley however is hungering for friendship and human connection but doesn't know how to go about it. Highsmith's inhuman Ripley is, to my mind, the perfect representation of what you call "the standard American ideological motif of the capacity of the individual to radically "reinvent" him/herself, to erase the traces of the past and assume a thoroughly new identity." I'm not sure Ripley "transcends" this idea; rather, he encapsulates it and realizes it compared to others, like Gatsby, who didn't go far enough. This is the issue with the film versions as well: the Delon and the Hopper versions are made by European filmmakers and thus don't really believe in the American rejection of the past--Delon is apprehended at the end; Hopper recognizes a void he can't fill. Highsmith's Ripley is incredibly radical in this way, and shows a supremely American sensibility.
Greetings comrade! Substack is the place to avoid censorship. Great to see another legendary writer join our ranks.
Agreed! Mr. Zizek is in good company here, really can't wait to read another of his articles.
“Who is the ‘real’ Ripley?”
Watching the movie I recalled this quote by Lacan,
“Mimicry reveals something in so far as it is distinct from what might be called an itself that is behind. The effect of mimicry is camouflage.... It is not a question of harmonizing with the background, but against a mottled background, of becoming mottled - exactly like the technique of camouflage practised in human warfare.”
Or maybe she preferred Thatcher because of her leftist tendencies, as Thatcher was by no means a right-winger. She was trash, who hollowed out Great Britain's economic and industrial capabilities leaving the isle dangerously vulnerable. She also resisted the pleas of Enoch Powell not to endanger the native English and Scots the way she did, and she waged a kind of economic war against Scotland.
Other than that a good article, had fun reading it mon ami! You seem to really like Highsmith, I myself think that the name is a funny one Highsmith. I wonder about the etymology of the name and wonder about applying it to a story.
‘‘The Young Man of the Oceanic Willpower!’’
Any female poetic outlaws?
“Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.” - Thomas Hardy
Excellent article! The character analysis you provide of Tom (Pat) is fascinating. Ethics and morality are wonderful subjects for philosophical exploration. Coming to see the full human compass of morality, and yet finding the virtue blindspots in any particular individual, yields rich developments of the irony and paradox so prevalent in the human condition.
There is a fifth Ripley film: Ripley Underground (2005).
she is probably my favorite writer although Annie Proulx is a close second. An elegance of language you rarely see anymore but that makes it more valuable as time goes on. Not to be missed: "The Bravest Rat In Venice."
I am also a fan of Highsmith and have seen the Delon and Hopper film versions. Personally I prefer the Hopper one as he's totally out of his mind, but I do agree that the interpretation doesn't line up with Highsmith's vision. Highsmith's Ripley is completely remorseless and we don't see that his immoral actions have any effect upon him; he's a bit like Roskalnikov if he actually had completed his quest to go beyond good and evil. The Hopper Ripley however is hungering for friendship and human connection but doesn't know how to go about it. Highsmith's inhuman Ripley is, to my mind, the perfect representation of what you call "the standard American ideological motif of the capacity of the individual to radically "reinvent" him/herself, to erase the traces of the past and assume a thoroughly new identity." I'm not sure Ripley "transcends" this idea; rather, he encapsulates it and realizes it compared to others, like Gatsby, who didn't go far enough. This is the issue with the film versions as well: the Delon and the Hopper versions are made by European filmmakers and thus don't really believe in the American rejection of the past--Delon is apprehended at the end; Hopper recognizes a void he can't fill. Highsmith's Ripley is incredibly radical in this way, and shows a supremely American sensibility.
ZIZEK !!!!