"Derrida" The movie

[Thomas Seay]

  This weekend I attended a showing of "Derrida", a
  biographical documentary on the French philosopher,
  Jaques Derrida, who is famous for
  "deconstructionism".
  A californian film crew follows Derrida as he gives
  lectures, answers interviewers' questions and
  discusses aspects of his life and philosophy.  It's
  not often that we in America get to see
documentaries   of famous living philosophers, so I
was quite
  enthusiastic about viewing this film.
  
  Derrida observes towards the end of his film that
  this documentary will have more to say about the
 film crew than about him, Jacques Derrida, because it
 will be the film crew to edit the shootings and
decide
 "which Jacques Derrida" is to be presented.  If
 that is indeed the case, then the movie tells us its
  creators were young, inexperienced, not well-versed
 in philosophy; they missed a golden opportunity to
 meaningfully explore the life and philosophy of the
 last great post-structuralist.  
  
  At regular intervals,  difficult passages from
  Derrida's writings flash on the screen, leaving us
  little time to ponder them.  Sound bytes dont work
  well for Derrida!  The interviewers questions are
  haltingly broad, "What do you have to say on the
  subject of love?", haltingly personal, "Tell us
  about how you fell in love with your wife?", or
 haltingly stupid, "which philosopher would you have
 liked as a mother?".  To his credit, Derrida either
 refuses to answer such questions, or reformulates
 them into intelligent ones.  At one point Derrida
begins to make interesting comments on the myth of
"Narcissus" and "Echo", obviously alluding to the
relationship between "source" and "simulacra", but the
 interviwer fails to ask penetrating questions to draw
him out on the matter.
 
After a family lunch, Derrida himself, turning the
tables, asks an overly broad question
of  the interviewer:  "What did you think of my
 family?".  "Il sont tres gentils, tres chaleureux" is
the response.  I wonder if the irony of this was lost
 on Derrida and the film crew.
  
  We  see Derrida eat, get a haircut and meet
  friends...a warm fuzzy to remind us that Gallic
  philosophers are, after all, just like us. In
 short,if Americans suddenly took more interest in the
  lives of French philosophers than Britney Spears,
 this film would be on "People" magazine's recommended
 list. Tant pis.

-Thomas

=====
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

"Money eats quality and shits out quantity"
-William Burroughs

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