Mainstreaming Fantasy: Politics without Reserve

The political problem that we suffer from is not our adherence to ideological fantasies that promise us an enjoyment that is false or unattainable. The political struggle does not involve an effort to escape the pull that fantasy has over us so that we can look at the situation as it really is. Although fantasy is a political trap, it is also the key to emancipation. But in order for fantasy to be emancipatory, we must approach it in the manner of film noir, which allows fantasy to infiltrate every aspect of the filmic world that it depicts. When we take this step, the ideological valence of fantasy undergoes a complete revolution.