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Film Noir
Ryan and Todd explore theories of film noir and try to account for its success as a cinematic movement. They discuss films such as Out of the Past, D…
4 years, 6 months ago
Dualism & Multiplicity
Ryan and Todd investigate the possibility of thinking about all competing philosophies under the headings of dualism, multiplicity, and dialectics. T…
4 years, 7 months ago
Mystic Writing Pad
Ryan and Todd delve into a shorter text from Freud's later years--"Notes on a Mystic Writing Pad." Freud takes the child's toy that he discovers as a…
4 years, 7 months ago
Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Ryan and Todd conduct a thorough exploration of Freud's 1920 text Beyond the Pleasure Principle, beginning with the claim that this represents Freud …
4 years, 8 months ago
Superhero Film
Ryan and Todd examine the theoretical underpinnings of the genre of the superhero film. They look at its origins in the western and its development f…
4 years, 8 months ago
Hegel's Spirit
Ryan and Todd pick up their discussion of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit with an exploration of the "Spirit" section of this book. They probe into H…
4 years, 8 months ago
Metalanguage (Aphorism 7)
Ryan and Todd discuss Lacan's claim that "there is no metalanguage." They address the political implications of this idea and look at various attempt…
4 years, 9 months ago
The Christmas Film
Ryan and Todd return to the theorization of the Christmas film by examining three entries in the genre: Meet Me in St. Louis, Holiday Inn, and Christ…
4 years, 9 months ago
Casablanca
Ryan and Todd delve into the theoretical importance of the 1942 film Casablanca. They examine its critique of cynicism, its intermixing of love and p…
4 years, 10 months ago
Retroactivity
Ryan and Todd explore the concept of retroactivity or Nachträglichkeit from its development in Hegel's philosophy to its pivotal status as the basis …
4 years, 10 months ago