Saturday, November 08, 2008
Idiotic Enjoyment -- "Otters Holding Hands" clip
This video is a clip of 2 otters in a Vancouver zoo holding hands. It was made very popular through youtube. I believe it was a teacher taking her kids on a field trip to the zoo and she caught this occurrence on tape while visiting the otters area. She posted it on youtube for fun, but it ended up to be a crazy internet phenomenon, with record-breaking views. It was so popular, that it even made it to CBC news!
In the clip, you see two otters holding hands, floating around in their little aquarium. And then at one point one of the otters let go, and then float away, but end up floating back to the other otter and they held hands again.
During the entire clip, you hear the crowds going "awww, that's so cute" or "omigosh, they're adorable". I thought this clip and the entire event it records is a very good example of the idea of "idiotic enjoyment" that Slavoj Zizek talks about, something discussed in class last week. When we look at the otters holding hands, we do not really think practically and critically about what they are doing. In a way, we know that what we see is manipulative and useless, but regardless, we enjoy it. Realistically and practically speaking, as the CBC news had mentionned, otters hold hands for survival reasons. When they are out in the wild, swimming and floating through running rivers and lakes, they hold hands in order to stay together and not get lost. They need each other to help with the food hunting and family raising. And with this in mind, the meaning that is behind otters holding hands is quite different from when we humans hold hands. It is like when we see pictures of babies or young kids kissing. We say they're cute and in love, but really, we know it is fake and that they are not really feeling the same emotions and passions when adults kiss. This bourgeois concept of romantic love that we fantasize and commonly relate to is not as common and natural as we think. Likewise, this bourgeois concept is reflected onto cute animals too. Although we know the otters in the clip are not really in love, we still enjoy watching them hold hands, thinking they're so cute, and they're in love, and they can't be without each other. (and this is obviously evident with the popularity of the clip, with more than 11 million views in total since it was posted!!. Zizek's notion of idiotic enjoyment is extremely evident and applicable in this clip. Watch the clips and see for yourself! :)
To watch the original "Otters holding hands" video, click here:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno
To watch the CBC report on the popular and silly clip, click here:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tWu5ggvRDSw
In the clip, you see two otters holding hands, floating around in their little aquarium. And then at one point one of the otters let go, and then float away, but end up floating back to the other otter and they held hands again.
During the entire clip, you hear the crowds going "awww, that's so cute" or "omigosh, they're adorable". I thought this clip and the entire event it records is a very good example of the idea of "idiotic enjoyment" that Slavoj Zizek talks about, something discussed in class last week. When we look at the otters holding hands, we do not really think practically and critically about what they are doing. In a way, we know that what we see is manipulative and useless, but regardless, we enjoy it. Realistically and practically speaking, as the CBC news had mentionned, otters hold hands for survival reasons. When they are out in the wild, swimming and floating through running rivers and lakes, they hold hands in order to stay together and not get lost. They need each other to help with the food hunting and family raising. And with this in mind, the meaning that is behind otters holding hands is quite different from when we humans hold hands. It is like when we see pictures of babies or young kids kissing. We say they're cute and in love, but really, we know it is fake and that they are not really feeling the same emotions and passions when adults kiss. This bourgeois concept of romantic love that we fantasize and commonly relate to is not as common and natural as we think. Likewise, this bourgeois concept is reflected onto cute animals too. Although we know the otters in the clip are not really in love, we still enjoy watching them hold hands, thinking they're so cute, and they're in love, and they can't be without each other. (and this is obviously evident with the popularity of the clip, with more than 11 million views in total since it was posted!!. Zizek's notion of idiotic enjoyment is extremely evident and applicable in this clip. Watch the clips and see for yourself! :)
To watch the original "Otters holding hands" video, click here:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno
To watch the CBC report on the popular and silly clip, click here:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tWu5ggvRDSw
# posted by Mavis Fung @ 4:23 PM 
Comments:
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Although, the fact that their holding hands has a pragmatic, evolutionarily describable purpose doesn't rule out that their heads might also be rushing with little otter endorphins. It doesn't in humans, for example, for whom the survival benefits of having well-attached family units are obvious.
I think a phrase like 'idiotic enjoyment' naturally lends itself to some knee-jerk elitism -- although I really don't know enough about what Zizek means to have the right to comment. (And it has its appeal all the same!)
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I think a phrase like 'idiotic enjoyment' naturally lends itself to some knee-jerk elitism -- although I really don't know enough about what Zizek means to have the right to comment. (And it has its appeal all the same!)
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