The magic cave of allegory : Lars von Trier’s Melancholia

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    Abstract

    Melancholia may not teach us how to live or die authentically, but it cannot really be faulted for failing to achieve the impossible. Edelman is surely correct that our culture is deeply invested in a reproductive futurism that relies on the idealized figure of the child. Concluding with the construction of the magic cave, Melancholia seems poised to reproduce this ideology by giving Leo the task of voicing his fear when confronted with imminent death. What could be more predictably poignant than measuring the force of absolute destruction against the face of an innocent child? Yet the film does not fully reproduce this cultural fantasy insofar as Leo does not survive to engender a future. We are all that remains, we as spectators, “survivors who have been granted a temporary reprieve.” The world is gone, yet as long we survive, which is to say as long we say “yes” to life, we must carry this world into a future that survives the total destruction to which we can never bear witness.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)400-422
    Number of pages23
    JournalDiscourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture
    Volume35
    Issue number3
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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