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Slavoj Žižek on "They Live" (The Pervert's Guide to Ideology)

Christian G · commentary · Watch on YouTube

Film analysis & criticismPhilosophy & ethics

What it is

A short excerpt from The Pervert's Guide to Ideology in which Slavoj Zizek analyzes John Carpenter's They Live. He uses the film's fight scene and sunglasses to explain how ideology works.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN cites it as a concise, memorable explanation of ideology, often in threads about advertising, propaganda or AI-shaped narratives.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “As always, phenomenal and humble take.”

    Zizek's take on They Live and ideology.

    yard2010, 2026-05 · Strong recommendation · in “They Live (1988) inspired Adblocker”

  2. “it finally clicked after hearing Zizek talk about it.”

    Zizek explains the long fight scene in They Live.

    rdtsc, 2020-08 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?”

  3. “You can see a fun excerpt here”

    Fun excerpt from Zizek's documentary on ideology through films.

    ahelwer, 2022-01 · Recommendation · in “Why ideologies harm individuals”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: zizek, they live, ideology, film analysis, philosophy

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