The Matrix and Postmodernism

7/28/2019 The Matrix and Postmodernism

1/15

The Matrix A Postmodern Film?


2/15

We are going to watch The Matrix and try to pick outaspects of the film which make it a postmodern film.

Think about:

the narrative structure

the idea of changing established conventionsDrawing the viewers attention to the

construction of the film bullet time sequencesTaking existing ideas from earlier films and

using them in a different way paying homageSuggestions it makes about society and itstroubles


3/15

The Matrix

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directedby

Larry and Andy Wachowskiand starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss,

Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving.

It was first released in the USA on March 31, 1999, and is the firstentry in The Matrix series of films, comics, video games, and

animation.


4/15

Box Office Info

It earned $171 million in the U.S. and $460 millionworldwide, and later became the first DVD to sell more

than three million copies in the U.S. The Ultimate Matrix Collection was released on HD DVD

on May 22, 2007 and on Blu-ray on October 14, 2008. The movie is also scheduled to be released stand alone in

a 10th anniversary edition on Blu-ray in the Digibook

format on March 31, 2009, 10 years to the day after themovie was released theatrically.


5/15

The Matrix was a co-production of Warner Bros. Studiosand Australian Village Roadshow Pictures, and all but a

few scenes were filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney,

Australia, and in the city itself. Recognizable landmarks were not included in order tomaintain the setting of a generic American city.

Nevertheless, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Anzac bridge,AWA Tower, Martin Place and a Commonwealth Bank

branch are visible in some shots, as is signage onbuildings for the Sydney offices of Telstra and IBM

Corporation among others.


6/15

Other clues remain, such as the sign next to the elevator inthe famed lobby scene reading "do not use lift during

fire." (as opposed to elevator); and the "AuthorisedPersonnel Only" sign (American spelling would be

Authorized Personnel Only) on the door of the rooftop ofthe building where Morpheus was kept. In addition, in

some scenes, traffic flow on the left hand side can be

observed, which is another give-away for the filminglocation.


7/15

In Postmodern thought, interpretations of TheMatrix often reference Baudrillard's philosophyto demonstrate that the movie is an allegory for

contemporary experience in a heavilycommercialized, media-driven society, especially

of the developed countries. This influence wasbrought to the public's attention through the

writings of art historians such as GriseldaPollockand film theorists such as Heinz-Peter

Schwerfel.


8/15

The Wachowski Brothers were keen that all involved understoodthe thematic background of the movie. For example, the book

used to conceal disks early in the movie, Simulacra and Simulation,a 1981 work by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, was

required reading for most of the principal cast and crew.


9/15

The Matrix makes many connections to Simulacra andSimulation. In an early scene, Simulacra and Simulation is thebook in which Neo hides his illicit software. In the film, thechapter 'On Nihilism' is in the middle, rather than the end of

the book. Morpheus also refers to the real world outside of the Matrix as

the "desert of the real", which was directly referenced in theSlavoj iek work, Welcome to the Desert of the Real. In theoriginal script, Morpheus referenced Baudrillard's book

specifically. Keanu Reeves was asked by the directors to read the book, as

well as Out of Control and Evolution Psychology, before beingcast as Neo.


10/15

The Matrix has us. Our consumption of thefilms, the merchandise, and the world and

myth the Wachowskis sell us, and ourcollective orgasm over the effects andphones, guns, shades and leather,represent our integration into the

virtuality it promotes. The Matrix became

a viral meme spreading through and beingmimetically (mimicked i.e. copied) andabsorbed into modern culture, extending

our virtualisation.

Merrin Baudrillard and the Media(2005:131)


11/15

Just as the film offered the stark choice of beinginside or outside the matrix so you were

either inside or outside the zeitgeist (the spiritof the times). To paraphrase Morpheus: The

Matrix is everywhere. As Baudrillard makesclear, however, its fans and public are caught

in a similarly invisible matrix that is fargreater than depicted in the film, and that the

film itself is part of and extends.


12/15

Other Postmodern

InfluencesThe film describes a future in which reality perceived byhumans is actually the Matrix: a simulated reality createdby sentient machines in order to pacify and subdue the

human population while their bodies' heat and electricalactivity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this,

computer programmer "Neo" is drawn into a rebellionagainst the machines. The film contains many referencesto the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical

and religious ideas; and homages toAlice's Adventures inWonderland, Hong Kong action cinema and Spaghetti

Westerns.


13/15

Challenging Film Making Conventions

The film is known for popularizing the use of a visual effect known as "bullettime", which allows the viewer to explore a moment progressing in slow-motion as the camera appears to orbit around the scene at normal speed.

One proposed technique for creating these effects involved propelling a highspeed camera along a fixed track with a rocket to capture the action as it

occurred. However, this was discarded as unfeasible, because not only wasthe destruction of the camera in the attempt all but inevitable, but the

camera would also be almost impossible to control at such speeds. Instead,the method used was a technically expanded version of an old art

photography technique known as time-slice photography, in which a largenumber of cameras are placed around an object and triggered nearlysimultaneously.


14/15

The evolution of photogrametric and image-basedcomputer-generated background approaches in The

Matrix's bullet time shots set the stage for laterinnovations unveiled in the sequels The Matrix Reloaded

and The Matrix Revolutions. Virtual Cinematography(CGI-rendered characters, locations, and events) and thehigh-definition "Universal Capture" process completelyreplaced the use of still camera arrays, thus more closely

realizing the "virtual camera".

This film overcame the release of Star Wars Episode I: ThePhantom Menace by winning the Academy Award forVisual Effects


15/15

Discuss the concept ofpostmodernism as you

understand it so far, and link

your ideas toThe Matrix to show how it canbe read as a postmodern film.

You should write about one totwo sides of A4

Task

Documents

The Matrix and Postmodernism