Love as redemptive violence

Chris Rock on love:

If you haven’t contemplated murder, you ain’t been in love. If you haven’t seriously thought about killing a motherfucker, you ain’t been in love.

…If you haven’t practiced your alibi in front of the mirror, you ain’t been in love. And the only thing that’s stopped you from killing this motherfucker was a episode of CSI: “Oh man, they thorough. I better make up. They might catch my ass.

Slavoj Žižek on love:

The underlying paradox is that what makes love angelic, what elevates it over mere unstable and pathetic sentimentality, is its cruelty itself, its link with violence – it is this link which raises it ‘over and beyond the natural limitations of man’ and thus transforms it into an unconditional drive (Violence, p 204).

Both Rock and Žižek portray love as authentic and meaningful only if it is linked to violence.

But Žižek takes things quite a bit further with his claim that violence raises love into a kind of transcendent cultural space.

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The idea that violence is necessary to elevate love ‘over and beyond the natural limitations of man’ is pretty jarring and counter-intuitive.

But on some level, the logic is sound and powerful.

I find Žižek’s framework surprisingly useful for understanding how love can facilitate the violent destruction of an old self or an old way of thinking which is no longer useful – possibly even detrimental.

Where a kid can be a kid…and watch brawling adults

I am pretty sure I had a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese when I was like 5 and had a really good time.

I do remember one friend who bit Chuck E. Cheese in the tail cause he thought Chuck was attacking his mother.

I don’t remember seeing any grownups throw down.

But maybe I wasn’t watching close enough (via Adfreak):

It isn’t clear exactly how often fights break out at Chuck E. Cheese’s 538 locations…

But in some cities, law-enforcement officials say the number of disruptions at their local outlet is far higher than at nearby restaurants, and even many bars.

…

Law-enforcement officials say alcohol, loud noise, thick crowds and the high emotions of children’s birthday parties make the restaurants more prone to disputes than other family entertainment venues.

The environment also brings out what security experts call the “mama-bear instinct.” A Chuck E. Cheese’s can take on some of the dynamics of the animal kingdom, where beasts rush to protect their young when they sense a threat.

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This article describes a brawl involving 80 people at a Chuck E. Cheese in Flint, Michigan earlier this year:

Police still aren’t sure exactly what sparked a brawl among 80 people Saturday night at Chuck E Cheese, 3489 Miller Road.

The first call came in at 8:53 p.m. concerning a fight among three teenage girls at the pizza parlor. A Genesee County Sheriff’s paramedic and state troopers quickly got the fight under control, and canceled other officers headed that way to back them up.

But a few minutes later, the officers sent out a second call as the fight erupted again, and quickly turned into “a knock-down, drag-out between 75 and 80 people,” said Flint Township police Sgt. Tim Jones.

Maybe Chuck E. Cheese has struck just the right balance of low entertainment to kid ratio, annoying sounds and flashing lights, and crappy parenting that would drive anyone to smack the person next to them.

Add an economically depressed city as a backdrop and it’s over.

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Here’s a music video that seems to accurately capture the zeitgeist of the situation: