In response to the article by Ipek Celik on Caché , I agree that the director Haneke has shown how George's suffering is related to French colonialism, rather than a universal issue of past haunting a person's present. I appreciate Haneke's depiction of the aftermath of colonialism in the film, yet there are limitations due to the focus on the two men's individual struggles.
The white French protagonist Georges experiences physical effects such as the headache when he realized that Majid is in fact in the same (civilizational) timeas he is, despite efforts to expel Majid from his social circles. Yet while people might exist at the same time, Haneke also depicted the stark difference between the bourgeois Parisian home in the 13th arrondissement and Majid's home. Aesthetically, the latter is very sparsely decorated. The furniture is practical. In contrast to the plentitude of the French family, Majid's kitchen contains only essentials for cooking. It is unclear to the audiences where Majid's son stayed in the one-room, which added to the confusion in regards to differences in domesticities. Does Majid's son schedule his day so that he leaves the house, for the sake of space? Does the fact that Majid has posteriority lessen or increase the guilt of the Georges?
Capital and masculinity are at the center of the issue. Arab and Black men's presence trouble the white French man's coming to terms with the past. They are welcome to the extent that they are either potential labor of service to the economy or good listeners at dinner parties. Georges' half-hearted attempt to argue for his right-of-way on the street with a tough black Frenchman does not end in Georges' favor. By no coincidence, Georges' son is disturbed by his mother's extramarital affair and escapes into his room filled with Eminem posters.
The invasion of Iraq displayed on the television, a hallmark of the modern domestic consumption, while Georges and his wife argue. The masculinity of Saddam Hussein was castrated by the “liberators,” yet one could argue that masculinity is still fraught at “home. "
Georges failed to protect his domestic space from the presumable intrusion of the less delectable side of Paris. His loud posturing inside Majid's living space is also a lost attempt at covering this failure. For Georges, Paris as a romantic/bourgeois social experience is seen as eclipsed by the black man, or a visit to Majid's area. Unheimlichkeit (unhomeliness) is experienced both in public as well as in private, once he realized he is under anonymous video surveillance.
Majid survives with not only the colonial violence of his murdered parents but also the class position of his farmhand parents. Middle-class audiences may feel sympathy for Majid as an individual when he accused Georges of depriving him the parentage which could have offered education. Celik points to the interesting conundrum: European middle-class audiences may actually be more concerned with the resolution of Georges' guilt (We do not know for sure, this is based on assumptions). I largely suspect that even if Majid did attain that education, he as an Algerian may still have limits to his ascent in French society due to his gender and ethnicity. His suicide was a small glimpse into his subjectivity. In relation to this class analysis,I am perplexed that Celik would expect to have a progressive narrative within a film that focused on individual men. The audience in her analysis (as well as in the she cited) are either people who identify with Georges or caring femmes who identify with his analyses wife, leaving little space for people who are aloof or entertained by Georges' suffering. She rightly pointed out that Georges' guilt cannot rectify the wrongdoings of his parents, because Majid's parents suffered not only colonial oppression but also class exploitation. French philosopher and political activist Alain Badiou similarly recognized the limitations of existentialism.leaving little space for people who are aloof or entertained by Georges' suffering. She rightly pointed out that Georges' guilt cannot rectify the wrongdoings of his parents, because Majid's parents suffered not only colonial oppression but also class exploitation. French philosopher and political activist Alain Badiou similarly recognized the limitations of existentialism.leaving little space for people who are aloof or entertained by Georges' suffering. She rightly pointed out that Georges' guilt cannot rectify the wrongdoings of his parents, because Majid's parents suffered not only colonial oppression but also class exploitation. French philosopher and political activist Alain Badiou similarly recognized the limitations of existentialism.
Below is an interesting interview by Alain Badiou, which I found relevant. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4287-allegiance-to-macron-is-largely-negative
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