Good example, bad philosophy

Abstract

This chapter offers a meta-critical analysis of the extensive literature on the philosophical aspects of The Matrix Trilogy, exploring the theoretical assumptions that underpin general conceptions of the ways philosophical and filmic texts can be inter-related. Much of the writing on the trilogy offers the films one of two options: to be celebrated as accurate albeit derivative, or castigated for misrepresenting the original sources: good example or bad philosophy. Discussions of the ways in which the trilogy takes up Jean Baudrillard's work have been dominated by the question of fidelity to the 'original' source, usually Simulacra and Simulation. The chapter addresses the work of two key theorists: Thomas Wartenberg and Christopher Falzon, whose exchanges offer a detailed discussion of the ways in which philosophical and filmic texts might be inter-related.