critical theory with slavoj zizek: Perhaps, the opposition of Lynch’s “straight” hero and Highsmith’s “normal” Ripley determines the extreme coordinates of today’s late capitalist ethical experience - with the strange twist that it is Ripley who is uncannily “normal,” and the “straight” man who is uncannily weird, even perverted. How, then, are we to break out of this deadlock? Both heroes have in common the ruthless dedication to pursue their goal, so the way out may seem to be to abandon this common feature and plea for a more “warm,” compassionate humanity ready to accept compromises. Is, however, such a “soft” (in short: unprincipled) “humanity” not the predominant mode of subjectivity today, so that the two films merely provide its two extremes? -…The figure the Lynchean “straight” man who pursues his goal with the cunning resourcefulness of Tom Ripley.