"Like lost children we live our unfinshed adventures."

October 17, 2014 1:30 AM

Excerpts from Guy Debord’s “The Muppets.” "Though the name 'Guy Debord' is now synonymous with two things: Situationist philosophy and The Muppets, this pairing of passions was not as easily reconciled as you might think. 'I had to fight really hard not to be pigeon-holed as a Marxist theorist in the puppeteering community,' Debord once said. 'They told me 'Kids don't want to hear about how the concrete life of everyone has been degraded to a speculative universe, Guy.' I said 'How about we let the children decide that?' Decide they did..." [Previously, Via]
posted by homunculus (19 comments total)

I'm pretty sure this has a deep, significant interpretation with respect to the spectacle, but I have no idea what it is.
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:06 AM on October 17, 2014

Did he design his muppets as he did the cover of his Mémoires, made of sandpaper so that in their own interactions with each other they would gradually destroy their own created visages?
posted by adoarns at 3:33 AM on October 17, 2014 [4 favorites]

"Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always." --Gonzo

This is pretty great.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:42 AM on October 17, 2014 [5 favorites]

For some reason I needed this post this morning. Thank you.
posted by grimjeer at 4:15 AM on October 17, 2014

But, can a Marxist "do the pigeon"?
posted by sammyo at 6:09 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Bert's totally a Marxist.
posted by ursus_comiter at 6:20 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Does not have to be able to do the pigeon, sammyo, but will inevitably control the means of doing the pigeon.
posted by scruss at 6:24 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]

Bert is clearly a right-wing, authoritarian capitalist, ursus_comiter. Why else would he be so obsessed with protecting his bottlecap collection? So insistent that Ernie stop breaking the rules and go to bed on time?
posted by BlueJae at 6:48 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]

i would tune in to a lenin versus trotsky-style muppet showdown where the loser flees to mexico and big bird kills him with an axe.
posted by bruce at 6:51 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

THE EVIDENCE.
posted by BlueJae at 6:51 AM on October 17, 2014

I'm pretty sure this has a deep, significant interpretation with respect to the spectacle, but I have no idea what it is.

We consume Guy DeBord's Muppets, and in doing so we are alienated. However, we are also unified, but only ever unified in our alienation.
posted by entropone at 7:12 AM on October 17, 2014

Needs Swedish Chef: "Debord, Guy, borgi, borgi, borgi"
posted by Renoroc at 7:19 AM on October 17, 2014 [3 favorites]

Thank you. This is what I come here for.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:20 AM on October 17, 2014

Still waiting on the three screens wall of text justifying the marxi....something, I for one do not have the attention span for any diatribe longer than a Che tee shirt.
posted by sammyo at 7:42 AM on October 17, 2014

This is not bad but I preferred Ayn Rand's Devil Wears Prada.
posted by bukvich at 8:02 AM on October 17, 2014

How To Talk To Babies About Gender Theory

How To Talk To Babies About Marxist Theory

How To Talk To Babies About Semiotics
posted by homunculus at 9:30 AM on October 17, 2014 [5 favorites]

the talk to babies series is beautiful, thank you.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:14 PM on October 17, 2014

Yeah, those are great. The series would be worth a new post if Mallory Ortberg keeps doing them.
posted by homunculus at 8:25 PM on October 17, 2014

I disapprove of this intensely.
Terrible translation.
posted by debord at 4:12 AM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]