Why Theory

Ryan and Todd investigate the concept of the quilting point (point de capiton), as originally coined by Jacques Lacan and then in additional permutations. They attempt to develop this concept in further directions that challenge Lacan's original theorization of it in order to uncover its political efficacy.

Ryan and Todd are joined for the episode by James Godley, who recently organized a conference on mourning and the pandemic, entitled "In the Wake of the Plague" (which one can access here: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/wake-of-the-plague/), to discuss Freud's "Mourning and Melancholia." They probe the cultural resonances of the text and question the reasons for its massive popularity among Freud's writings.

Ryan and Todd offer their interpretation of Christopher Nolan's most recent film Oppenheimer. They focus on the relationship between the form of the film and its content, while considering the political implications of its depiction of the hero. They think about the film in relationship to the rest of Nolan's filmography.

In this episode, Ryan and Todd examine the conception of the symbolic order, as developed by Jacques Lacan and those who follow him. They discuss how the symbolic order is structured and look at it in terms of its relationship to the real. They think through the everyday events that reveal the omnipresence of the symbolic structure.

In this conclusion of their discussion of the Christmas film, Ryan and Todd begin with the film Die Hard and the problem of racism, move to an analysis of White Christmas as an anti-war film, and conclude with a celebration of Ernst Lubitsch's underrated Shop Around the Corner, as the ultimate Christmas film. Its great achievement is that it reveals how the depiction of the symbolic father's castration opens the path from the logic of cynical capitalism to love. This episode interprets these three films at length and wraps up Ryan and Todd's discussion of the Christmas film as a distinct genre.