The Pervert's Guide to Ideology

2013 • 136 minutes

About this movie

Cultural theorist superstar Slavoj Žižek re-teams with director Sophie Fiennes (The Pervert's Guide to Cinema) for another wildly entertaining romp through the crossroads of cinema and philosophy. With infectious zeal and a voracious appetite for popular culture, Žižek literally goes inside some truly epochal movies, all the better to explore and expose how they reinforce prevailing ideologies. As the ideology that undergirds our cinematic fantasies is revealed, striking associations emerge - What hidden Catholic teachings lurk at the heart of The Sound of Music? What are the fascist political dimensions of Jaws? Taxi Driver, Zabriskie Point, The Searchers, The Dark Knight, John Carpenter's They Live ('one of the forgotten masterpieces of the Hollywood Left'), Titanic, Kinder Eggs, verité news footage, Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' and propaganda epics from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia all inform Žižek's stimulating, provocative and often hilarious psychoanalytic-cinematic rant.

Ratings and reviews

A lot of thought-provoking ideas presented in an interesting and accessible manner, like a sort of "intro to ideology.." The points about ideology and a "common fear" would also give a lot of insight as to why Trump will become the President of the USA...

The psychoanalysis of ideology presented by Žižek is fantastic and a must-watch for anyone interested in cultural theory, or even in living a closer and more examined life.

I hate the fact that just because I don't live in "the greatest country on earth" I do not get to watch this movie. Whoever thought of geotracking people and not allowing digital content to be shared across borders was a waste of everyone's time. I am actually willing to pay for this, instead of downloading it illegally somewhere else and I do not even get the chance to do so.