Introduction: William G. Doty, "The Deeper We Go, the More Complex and Sophisticated the Franchise Seems, and the Dizzier We Feel." Issues treated in this volume; contexts of looking at the franchise. Jacking In to Issues of Gender and Race 1 Martina Lipp, "Welcome to teh Sexual Spectacle: The Female Heroes in the Franchise." Perhaps it is time for a retelling of heroic mythology that does not masculinize the female hero. 2 C. Richard King and David J. Leonard, "Is Neo White? Reading Race, Watching the Trilogy." Ignoring the racial message of the franchise only reinforces old abuses of power. Cultural and Religious Implications 3 Richard R. Jones, "Religion, Community, and Revitalization: Why Cinematic Myth Resonates." The roles of religious symbolism in an entertainment culture. 4 Bruce Isaacs and Theodore Louis Trost, "Story, Product, Franchise: Images of Postmodern Cinema." A postmodernist redemption myth with a control-freak messianic hero. 5 John Shelton Lawrence, "Fascist Redemption or Democratic Hope?" Embedded political values smack largely of American fascism. 6 Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel L. Wagner, "Stopping Bullets: Constructions of Bliss and Problems of Violence." The various religious themes do not overcome a reliance upon violent means. Theorizing Cyberworlds 7 Michael Sexson, "The Déjà vu Glitch in the Matrix Trilogy." Literal versus ironic readings of the "reality" of our matrix. 8 Stephanie J. Wilhelm and Matthew Kapell, "Visions of Hope, Freedom of Choice, and the Alleviation of Social Misery: A Pragmatic Reading of the Matrix Franchise." This is neither a "postmodern" or "modern" franchise, but one that hopes for a better future for all. 9 Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, "Biomorph: The Posthuman Thing." Machine plus human plus computer software: thigns, they are a-changing. The Games and Ethics of Simulation 10 Timothy Mizelle and Elizabeth Baker, "Strange Volutions: The Matrix Franchise as a Post-Human Memento Mori." Lessons about free will and choice in the new theater of "dynamic cinema." 11 Russell Blackford, "Try the Blue Pill: What's Wrong with Life in a Simulation?" The choice of the blue pill satisfies philosophical teachings. Conclusion Matthew Kapell, "At the Edge of the World, Again." From Star Wars to the newest franchise using many more mediations. Perhaps it is an allegory of a new aesthetic. Appendix: Getting with the Program/s of the Franchise - Users' Information 1 List of items in the franchise, with abbreviations used in this book 2 Glossary of names adn terms in the franchise 3 Useful Internet sites 4 Recommended bibliography Index
This entirely new collection of essays is the first book to examine the trilogy as a whole - as well as related products such as The Animatrix and the computer game.
Matthew Wilhelm Kapell teaches American Studies and Humanities at
San Jose State University, USA. He has graduate degrees in
biological anthropology and history as well as a Ph.D. in American
Studies. He has published on genetics, urban history, African
colonial history, as well as four books in film and television
studies and has taught extensively in the United States and Great
Britain. William G. Doty is a retired Professor of Humanities and
Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He has published 16
books and over 70 essays in a wide range of academic journals.
WILLIAM G. DOTY is Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious
Studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. His many books
include Myths of Masculinity (1993), Mythography: The Study of
Myths and Rituals (1986, 2000), Contemporary New Testament
Interpretation (1972), Picturing Cultural Values in Postmodern
America (1995), and Mythical Trickster Figures: Contours, Contexts,
and Criticisms (1993).
"Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and
Interpretation [is] a collection of meaty essays on The Matrix's
cultural meaning. Hailing from a range of scholarly disciplines,
the contributors speak to the innumerable interpretations the films
have inspired. This collection's strength is that it doesn't try to
tell you that the Matrix films are good or bad movies. The writers
are as interested in the films' failures as in their innovations,
and in the opportunities they offer to take the measure of the
American mind. They ask intriguing questions. I came away from
Jacking convinced that the Matrix films are more than action
flicks. By provoking such passionate and thoughtful responses, from
academics and water-cooler philosophers alike, the series has
embodied the cyborg dreams, the fears and desires, of Americans at
the turn of the millennium. And that's something worth reading
about." - The Boston Phoenix, 9/11/04
"Any book under the editorial leadership of Professor William Doty
is an event. His authority insures that the articles have
intellectual density and academic weight. Yet, what is much rarer
in this kind of publication, is a style that will captivate anybody
interested in understanding how we experience and interpret films.
The discussion is fascinating, the ideas fresh, the bibliographies
precious. The title: Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural
Reception and Interpretation, is too restrictive as it may appear
like it is only addressed to fans of the Matrix films (of which I
am not). But the collection of articles offers much more: it is a
grand tour of all the subjects that matter in film studies: gender
and degenderization, race and multiraciality, evolving and
contradictory definitions of male and female heroism, religious
symbolism in an entertainment culture, hidden agendas and embedded
political values, postmodern deconstruction and reconstruction of
hope, archetypal characters showing up unannounced, the opposition
of an old in the new market of spiritual values and more I am one
of those who, twenty some years ago, immensely enjoyed
Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (1981). Doty and Kapell's
collection of articles are the best update on the subject I have
read since. I am ready to bet my copy of Bound (another Wachowski
brother's movie), that Doty and Kapell's collection of articles
will become a classic in film studies. I think of Bound as the best
film ever made about trust (as well as a superb thriller); it did
not attract the fame of the Matrix, and reading Jacking into the
matrix Franchise help me understand why." - Ginette Paris, PhD.
Pacifica Graduate Institute, Spring Journal 2004
"Two things distinguish this useful mapping of the Wachowski
brothers' Matrix film trilogy... First, its range of
contributors... second, the editors' insistence on conversational
writing makes for an uncommon accessibility.... Recommended."
-Choice, January 2005
*Choice*
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