To read FR
Contemporary debates
American heroes
Pierre Sidon*
After Superman, most American comics super-heroes wear the signs of their super-powers. Those are inspired by the traditional circus strongmen: tight-fitting costume, briefs over pants, laced boots, cape. Even before Superman, it was the magician Mandrake who made the cape a staple for his followers.
If, according to Lacan, ‘The habit loves the monk [1]’, then the cape loves the superhero. Added in its wake, now comes a whole range of accessories: in today’s world, there is no such thing as the supernatural without gadgets. When James Bond appears, his suit is that of an ordinary man. Invincibility now rests on technology: it takes the place of the supernatural. Lacan adds: ‘The habit loves the monk, because it is through this that they are one.’
The contemporary One is the One of the gadgets: everyone nowadays is Mister gadget and technology is the hero. As Quentin Dumoulin shows in his book, we must approach the articulation between subjects and technology in plural terms and on a case-by-case basis. Let’s take two examples from the USA: Eric, Dylan, Steve and Elon.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold experienced themselves in life as already dead even before the Columbine massacre in 1999. Since then, having become the objects of a morbid cult, they still inspire numerous admirers and followers of their enigmatic work, which contributes typo-to a social symptom: the school shooting.
Even if E. Harris was given antidepressants for a time, they apparently didn’t diminish the rage that drove him, but seem rather to have rid him of his scruples. The two depressed youths were, however, deprived of their violent video games as a disciplinary measure.The day after this measure was applied, they methodically started planning their terrorist plot.
Steve Job’s childhood spent in the company of a skillful, mechanical-minded adoptive father sparked his interest in computers. After the « crash of thunder in his head » that he experienced at age 6 when a little girl threw in his face that his biological parents didn’t really want him, he dedicated his life to digital prostheses in order to change people’s lives….with « great products ». Oscillating between ecstasy and depression, he played, on the threshold of his death, with the idea of eternity: “This is probably why I never liked the on / off buttons on the Apple products.”
Elon Musk, for his part, named by his father after the science fiction novel « Project Mars » [6], would struggle with sadness and social difficulties since his school days: “there’s just a rage of forces in my mind constantly.” Having found a lifeline in computers at an early age, he concludes: “Now this productively manifests itself in technology and building things, for the most part. ».[7] As Bob Dylan says, quoted by Jobs: “He not busy being born is busy dying [8].” Two poles, two destinies; one clinical lesson: self-administered Affinity therapy through gadgets can transform zero into infinity.
[1] Lacan J., Le Séminaire, livre XX, Encore, texte établi par J.-A. Miller, Paris, Seuil, 1975, p. 12 : « L’habit aime le moine, parce que c’est par là qu’ils ne sont qu’un. Autrement dit, ce qu’il y a sous l’habit et que nous appelons le corps, ce n’est peut-être que ce reste que j’appelle l’objet a. » « The habit loves the monk, as they are but one thereby. In other words, what lies under the habit, what we call the body, is perhaps but the remainder (reste) I call object a. » (Translation Bruce Fink : ) THE SEMINAR OF JACQUES LACAN, Edited by Jacques-Alain Miller, On Feminine Sexuality, The Limits of Love and Knowledge, BOOK XX Encore 1972/1973 TRANSLATED WITH NOTES BY Bruce Fink.
[2] Cf. Dumoulin Q., Clinique(s) avec le numérique : (auto)-traitements, médiations et partenariats transférentiels, Paris, In Press, 2024.
[3] Jobs S., quoted by W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs [E-book], Paris, JC Lattès, 2011.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Cf. Isaacson W., Elon Musk [E-book], Paris, Fayard, 2023.
[7] Musumeci N., « Elon Musk says he debated the “meaning of life” as a 12-year-old and wondered “isn’t it all pointless ?” », Business Insider, 30 novembre 2023, available here.
[8] Jobs S., quoted by W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs, op. Cit.
After Superman, most American comics super-heroes wear the signs of their super-powers. Those are inspired by the traditional circus strongmen: tight-fitting costume, briefs over pants, laced boots, cape. Even before Superman, it was the magician Mandrake who made the cape a staple for his followers.
If, according to Lacan, ‘The habit loves the monk [1]’, then the cape loves the superhero. Added in its wake, now comes a whole range of accessories: in today’s world, there is no such thing as the supernatural without gadgets. When James Bond appears, his suit is that of an ordinary man. Invincibility now rests on technology: it takes the place of the supernatural. Lacan adds: ‘The habit loves the monk, because it is through this that they are one.’
The contemporary One is the One of the gadgets: everyone nowadays is Mister gadget and technology is the hero. As Quentin Dumoulin shows in his book, we must approach the articulation between subjects and technology in plural terms and on a case-by-case basis. Let’s take two examples from the USA: Eric, Dylan, Steve and Elon.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold experienced themselves in life as already dead even before the Columbine massacre in 1999. Since then, having become the objects of a morbid cult, they still inspire numerous admirers and followers of their enigmatic work, which contributes typo-to a social symptom: the school shooting.
Even if E. Harris was given antidepressants for a time, they apparently didn’t diminish the rage that drove him, but seem rather to have rid him of his scruples. The two depressed youths were, however, deprived of their violent video games as a disciplinary measure.The day after this measure was applied, they methodically started planning their terrorist plot.
Steve Job’s childhood spent in the company of a skillful, mechanical-minded adoptive father sparked his interest in computers. After the « crash of thunder in his head » that he experienced at age 6 when a little girl threw in his face that his biological parents didn’t really want him, he dedicated his life to digital prostheses in order to change people’s lives….with « great products ». Oscillating between ecstasy and depression, he played, on the threshold of his death, with the idea of eternity: “This is probably why I never liked the on / off buttons on the Apple products.”
Elon Musk, for his part, named by his father after the science fiction novel « Project Mars » [6], would struggle with sadness and social difficulties since his school days: “there’s just a rage of forces in my mind constantly.” Having found a lifeline in computers at an early age, he concludes: “Now this productively manifests itself in technology and building things, for the most part. ».[7] As Bob Dylan says, quoted by Jobs: “He not busy being born is busy dying [8].” Two poles, two destinies; one clinical lesson: self-administered Affinity therapy through gadgets can transform zero into infinity.
[1] Lacan J., Le Séminaire, livre XX, Encore, texte établi par J.-A. Miller, Paris, Seuil, 1975, p. 12 : « L’habit aime le moine, parce que c’est par là qu’ils ne sont qu’un. Autrement dit, ce qu’il y a sous l’habit et que nous appelons le corps, ce n’est peut-être que ce reste que j’appelle l’objet a. » « The habit loves the monk, as they are but one thereby. In other words, what lies under the habit, what we call the body, is perhaps but the remainder (reste) I call object a. » (Translation Bruce Fink : ) THE SEMINAR OF JACQUES LACAN, Edited by Jacques-Alain Miller, On Feminine Sexuality, The Limits of Love and Knowledge, BOOK XX Encore 1972/1973 TRANSLATED WITH NOTES BY Bruce Fink.
[2] Cf. Dumoulin Q., Clinique(s) avec le numérique : (auto)-traitements, médiations et partenariats transférentiels, Paris, In Press, 2024.
[3] Jobs S., quoted by W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs [E-book], Paris, JC Lattès, 2011.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Cf. Isaacson W., Elon Musk [E-book], Paris, Fayard, 2023.
[7] Musumeci N., « Elon Musk says he debated the “meaning of life” as a 12-year-old and wondered “isn’t it all pointless ?” », Business Insider, 30 novembre 2023, available here.
[8] Jobs S., quoted by W. Isaacson, Steve Jobs, op. Cit.