Matrix Trilogy Research Articles

The Matrix: a aventura da formação no mundo tecnologizado

O artigo se inscreve na intersecção entre a educação e a produção fílmica. O argumento propõe reflexões sobre a educação escolar e as formas de controle exercido no cotidiano de alunos, professores e gestores a partir de instigantes provocações que o filme The Matrix, o primeiro da trilogia, nos oferece. Nosso interesse está nas práticas escolares de institucionalização dos sujeitos, produzindo realidades inevitáveis. Os sujeitos são produzidos através de discursos sofisticados, mediados pelas novas tecnologias de comunicação e informação. Nos propomos a discutir tanto as formas de controle do pensamento e de sua produção, quanto a própria possibilidade de realizar percursos no interior do roteiro de um filme, considerando as tramas de seu enredo. Estabelecemos uma leitura exploratória da construção do herói dostoievskiano para superar uma leitura superficial e fatalista, possível naquele filme.

The Power of Black Magic

Movies featuring a “magical” or spiritually gifted Black lead character have been released for many years, and the trend continues to grow in popularity. These Black characters, often referred to as “magical Negroes,” generally focus their abilities toward assisting their White lead counterparts. At first glance, casting the Black and White leads in this manner seems to provide examples of Black and White characters relating to each other in a constructive manner; however, a closer examination of these interactions suggests a reinvention of old Black stereotypes rather than authentic racial harmony. Using a textual analysis of eight selected films: the Matrix trilogy— The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and The Matrix Revolutions (2003)— The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), The Green Mile (1999), Bringing Down the House (2003), Nurse Betty (2000), and Bruce Almighty (2003), this study formalizes a definition of the magical Negro and determines how these characterizations reinvent traditional Black stereotypes of mammy, jezebel, and Uncle Tom. This study reflects on the complex nature of the portrayal and acceptance of Blacks in contemporary times because these roles may commingle limited progress with traditionally racist stereotypes.

Free Flesh: The Matrix, the War on Iraq and the Torture of Democracy

Something is always lost to the sovereign, democratic, liberal or otherwise. This is the very function of law, but in contemporary times of (anti) terror, when obedience demands obeisance and protection from terror includes torture, it is becoming increasingly difficult in the United States, Australia and Britain to imagine a `fair and free contract' with the sovereign. What is to be done? Purchasing freedom as cars, perfume and fries performs one evasion of the violence of the sovereign decision. The collapse of signification into the product is an effective gesture to enable a liberal democratic subject to imagine it is obtaining or ingesting freedom in the cloth or, as a food group. Similarly, offering freedom as a gift to the Middle East enacts a denial or even foreclosure that speaks of freedom as if it can be administered militarily. This article discusses the mirroring of the imagery in the Wachowski brothers' Matrix Trilogy with contemporary political rhetoric in the West on the War on Iraq and on the use of torture. The momentous copulating of Trinity and Neo in Matrix Reloaded, I argue, offers both the characters and cinemagoers the promise of the birth of freedom from the white loins of the characters. This birth mirrors the promise of a birth of freedom qua capitalist democracy from the loins of the White House and further renders freedom a product or gift which can be quantified and possessed, obscuring the loss that the subject endures before the contemporary democratic sovereign. Law, Culture and the Humanities 2007; 3: 416—434

Counter-Terror Culture: Ambiguity, Subversion, or Legitimization?

This article examines themes of terrorism and counter-terrorism in US popular culture, focusing on eight cinematic or televisual works from the pre- and post-9/11 environment. Each of these works explores the dilemmas posed by terrorism, counter-terrorist mobilization, and occupation and resistance in fictional spaces. Three of the works — 24, The Agency, and The Grid — are narratives that attempt to simulate the activities of counter-terrorist operations in, respectively, a wholly fictional Counter Terrorist Unit; the Central Intelligence Agency; and ad hoc intelligence and tactical groups combing CIA, FBI, NSC, and MI5 agents. The other five works are more removed from an explicit attempt to mimic `reality': The X-Files, The Matrix Trilogy, Alias, The 4400, and Battlestar Galactica. In all of these works, the dangers to human rights posed by both overt and covert security operations lie at the core of their narrative structures.

Celluloid Comrades: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Contemporary Chinese Cinemas (review)

Reviewed by: Celluloid Comrades: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Contemporary Chinese Cinemas Jens Damm (bio) Song Hwee Lim. Celluloid Comrades: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Contemporary Chinese Cinemas. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘I Press, 2006. 247 pp. Paperback $54.00, ISBN: 978–0–8248–2909–4. Song Hwee Lim’s Celluloid Comrades is one of the most outstanding works on queer representation in Chinese cinemas. The title refers to the popular term tongzhi (comrade), which is widely used in academic discourses referring to “queer” and “gay and lesbian.” The work is divided into six chapters; the introduction and the first chapter deal specifically with theoretical questions, while the following five chapters present one or two movies as examples of a particular perspective. In the introduction, Lim first dwells on the difficult question of how to define “Chineseness,” seeming to share Ray Chow’s (2000) view1 that any essential definition should be avoided; an effort should be made, instead, to challenge the picture of a “homogenously unified, univocal China.” The cinematic representation of homosexuality is understood as part of a deconstruction project; awkward questions can thus be avoided concerning the inclusion of films by Taiwanese directors that are aimed either at the Taiwanese independence market or at a purely international audience. Lim also questions the idea of a “transnational Chinese cinema”2 (Sheldon Hsio-peng Lu 1997, p. 3) and a “Chinese-language cinema”3 (Yueh-yu Yeh 1998), avoiding the issue of “Chineseness” by proposing to examine the function served by each specific configuration, that is, the highlighting of the legitimizing discourse behind various films and their differences (p. 6). Lim, in addition, provides a comprehensive overview of various terms, such as “homosexual,” “queer,” “gay,” and “lesbian” and the Chinese tongzhi (comrades), or tongxianglian, and the difficulties of employing one of these as a generally “objective term” (pp. 7–13). In general, Lim’s work builds on three different academic disciplines: Chinese studies, gender and sexuality studies, and film and cinema studies. He employs critical theory, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies as a theoretical background (pp. 13–34). He is also aware of the “real world” underlying the problem of homosexuality and in an excursus he talks about the problem of same-sex desire in China, where it is subject to “administrative and party disciplinary action” (Li Yinhe 1998);4 this makes open discussion of the topic in films and other media rather difficult (pp. 28–33). Taiwan, on the other hand, is known for its vibrant—commercialized and academic—gay/lesbian/queer movement and representation, and can without doubt be described as the most tolerant of all Chinese (huaren) societies (pp. 33–37). Hong Kong is somewhere in the middle: male homosexuality was decriminalized in Hong Kong a decade after it was decriminalized in Great Britain, but homosexuality was and always has been stigmatized in conservative society (pp. 37–40). [End Page 166] In chapter 1, “Screening Homosexuality” (pp. 19–40), Lim provides an overview of the representation of homosexuality in movies from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan with the respective societal backgrounds, political changes, and influences, ranging from censorship in the PRC to the state-sponsored production of movies in Taiwan. He draws our attention to the topic of homosexuality in movies such as The Wedding Banquet, Farewell My Concubine, and The River, but also explains the reasons for the great popularity of Chinese cinema on global screens in the 1990s, mentioning a wide range of films, from Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the much more complex adaption of typical Hong Kong movie scenes in the Matrix trilogy by the choreographer Yuen Wo-ping (p. 19). Two very different sources contributed to the success of these films: in the PRC, it was the Fifth Generation directors, such as Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, who grew up during the Cultural Revolution whose films led Chinese intellectuals to reflect on their own history. In Taiwan, it was the new Taiwan cinema with Hou Hsiaohsien and Edward Yang, who employed a postcolonial approach to focus on the everyday lives of citizens, thus questioning the long years of authoritarian and elitist rule under the Kuomintang (p. 20). After...

No Logo, No Change?

No Logo, No Change?

‘Reloading’ movies into commercial reality: A multimodal analysis of The Matrix trilogy's promotional posters

In 1999, the first episode of The Matrix movie trilogy was released, marking the beginning of a new trend in science fiction movies and also in the perception of motion pictures as interactive social and commercial events. This paper will analyze an aspect of The Matrix trilogy promotional campaign (1999–2003) focusing on the interplay between verbal and visual semiotics through a select corpus of posters. The method of analysis will be based both on the grammar of visual design developed by Kress and van Leeuwen, and on the Hallidayan model of analysis. The Matrix movies are set in a present (not future) ‘real’ world that is actually a ‘fiction of science,’ rather than a science fiction vision of a future reality. They are based on the idea of a very fuzzy border between real and virtual reality, which has become a major issue in these last fifteen years due to the advent of the internet and the fast growing number of internet users all over the world. This analysis will show how posters encode different kinds of promotional messages according to the social impact of each movie.

Baudrillard reloaded: interrelating philosophy and film via The Matrix Trilogy

The extensive writing on the philosophical aspects of The Matrix Trilogy raises the problems inherent to the interrelation of philosophy/theory and film texts in an acute form. The films are often treated as an introduction to diverse and difficult concepts meaning that – at best – they function as examples to make the theories accessible. At worst, they are castigated for being insufficiently critical and presented as pseudo-philosophy. In contrast, this article will demonstrate that the scenarios offered by The Matrix Trilogy form an active dialogue with postmodern philosophy, changing the construction of key philosophical concepts. Tracing such a dialogue involves the development of a new model for interrelating philosophical and filmic texts. The first part of the article sets out a new methodology, drawing on the work of French feminist philosopher Michèle le Doeuff. The article focuses on the imagery that characterizes/defines Baudrillard's concept of the hyperreal in Simulacra and Simulation. This is accompanied by an examination of the ways in which The Matrix Trilogy takes up key images, such as the mirror and aspects of Greek mythology. The final part addresses the films’ presentation of value – a departure from its Baudrillardian source – which sustains a radical reconceptualization of the hyperreal.

He is the One: The Matrix Trilogy's Postmodern Movie Messiah

He is the One: The Matrix Trilogy's Postmodern Movie Messiah

Digital Doppelgängers

Digital Doppelgängers

Paradigms of paranoia: the culture of conspiracy in contemporary American fiction

The recent popularity of The DaVinci Code and The Matrix trilogy exemplifies the fascination Americans have with conspiracy-driven subjects. Though scholars have suggested that in modern times the JFK assassination initiated an industry of conspiracy (i.e., Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, Area 51, Iran-Contra Affair), Samuel Chase Coale reminds us in this book that conspiracy is founda-tional in American culture - from the apocalyptic Biblical narratives in early Calvinist households to the fear of Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, and immigrant populations in the 19th century. Coale argues that contemporary culture - a landscape characterized by doubt, ambigulty, fragmentation, information overload, and mistrust - has fostered a radical skepticism so pervasive that the tendency to envision or construct conspiracies often provides the best explanation for the chaos that surrounds us. Conspiracy as embodied in narrative form provides a fertile field for explorations of the anxiety lying at the heart of the postmodern experience. Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, Don DeLilio's Underworld, Toni Morrison's Jazz and Paradise, Joan Didlon's Democracy, Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods, and Paul Auster's New York City Trilogy are some of the texts Coale examines for their representations of isolated individuals at the center of massive, anonymous master plots that lay beyond their control. These narratives remind us that our historical sense of national identity has often been based on the demonizing of others and that American fiction arose and still flourishes with apocalyptic visions - in the very marrow of its narrative bones.

Commentary and Criticism Is Fat Still a feminist Issue?

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. The Oracle's subject position as an intermediary between the virtually created world we commonly identify as “real” and the “real” world which is on the verge of ecological self-destruction requires that she negotiate territory related to identity formation. This is not unlike the role Mammy plays as an inverted mirror of “ideal” femininity in the creation of white identity. 2. Unlike the traditional image of Mammy, the Oracle is a light-skinned black woman; however, she does conform to the requirement of asexuality as none of the movies in The Matrix trilogy features her with a partner. I should also note that by the third installment in the series, the Oracle changes her appearance because the original actress, Gloria Foster, passed away. The new Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions () is no longer fleshy, but she does, however, remain a black woman, and again she is baking cookies in her kitchen during her introductory scene. Furthermore, she has an orphaned child in her care. 3. See Rafia Zafar's () discussion of how the culinary expertise of African American women has been mystified, dismissing their intellectual capacity to develop outstanding cooking skills and instead inferring that they are “voodoo” chefs who mysteriously happen upon their delicious gastronomic creations. 4. Doris Witt suggests that “[t]he widespread conflation of African American female bodies and fat is, then, surely a function of the psychic needs of the dominant white society” (1999, p. 189) 1. The Chinese characters for weight loss literally means “minus” and “fat.” 2. Up to the point when this paper is written, the trend is still mainly female-oriented. So far I have seen only one particular company advertising its men's department doing similar things. But it might become another trend in the coming years. 3. This can be highlighted by the special names invented and given to different parts of the female body which is considered not appealing: the fat tummy is “piggy stomach,” the flabby arm is “bye-bye-meat,” the fat bottom is “the master ass,” etc. Each undesirable feature gets a special nickname. 4. The official English title of the film is Love on a Diet, but a direct translation of the original Chinese title reads “Slimming Man and Woman,” probably referring to the two protagonists. 5. The female lead is Sammi Cheng, a leading female popular singer in Hong Kong, turning to films with equal success, and also an image representative for a major cosmetic brand. She is a sought-after actress for romantic comedies. The male lead is Andy Lau, one of the entertainment artists in Hong Kong. He started out as a TV actor, branching out to singing and films, and has become one of the most successful actor-singers in the Chinese-speaking world. He has been a star for more than twenty years. Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng have already played against one another in other romantic comedies and their partnership has proved to be very popular. 6. The film proves to be a huge success too. It enjoyed such a commercial and publicity success that many demanded a sequel. 7. Some of the most successful beauty salons make their names by signing middle-aged female artists, or actresses and models who have become recent mothers, or even teenage artists to be their image representatives. The idea is to establish the concept that no matter which age group a woman belongs to, she needs to be, and can be, beautiful through body-sculpturing.

Film review: b‐Mentality in The matrix trilogy

(2005). Film review: b‐Mentality in The matrix trilogy. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis: Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 179-190.

Living Under the Bell Jar: Surveillance and Resistance in Yevgeny Zamyatin's We

Observation plays an increasingly significant role in twentieth-century society as a means of regulation. In this regulatory function, observation manifests itself in the ubiquitous CCTV, traffic cameras and other surveillance techniques used to monitor and record the activities of ordinary citizens. One of the more alarming recent manifestations of the potential for all-pervasive surveillance is the announcement of the development of an urban surveillance system by the United States military, which 'would use computers and thousands of cameras to track, record and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a foreign city,' and which could potentially be used by governments on their own citizens. The dramatic increase of surveillance in the twentieth-century has also been matched by an increase of voyeuristic entertainment, exemplified by the Orwellian titled television game show Big Brother. The entertainment value of voyeuristic surveillance has arguably rendered individuals more …accepting of regulatory surveillance in their personal lives. This trend towards increasing surveillance coupled with a citizenry inured to a constant invasion of its privacy has formed the basis for a number of twentieth-century dystopian novels and films, such as George Orwell's 1984 (1949), George Lucas's THX-1138 (1971), Stephen King's The Running Man (1982), Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998), Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002) and the Warchowski brothers' Matrix trilogy (1999-2003). The widely acknowledged forerunner of these works, however, was a novel, We, written in 1921 by the Russian author, Yevgeny Zamyatin.