Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. This book addresses the symptomatological dimension of the films by diagnosing the source of representation in a deeper layer of cultural negativity. It introduces Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of immanent desire, which constitutes an affirmative alternative vis-à-vis the negativity of representational thought. The book argues that it successfully deals with the aporias, obstacles and inhibitions signaled in the foregoing, regarding a critique of patriarchy, postmodern impasse and sexual emancipation. The book considers Deleuze’s imaginative philosophical project as a toolbox filled with concepts that work immanently for the sake of social-cultural transformation. In the face of the general crisis of representation exacerbated by postmodernism, Deleuze offers a creative, intensely imaginative response, which can usher people out of representational enclosure.