Jacking In To the Matrix: Cultural Reception and Interpretation - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0826419097 ISBN 13: 9780826419095

Publisher: Continuum, 2006

Synopsis

The Matrix films, along with the video games, animé and toys inspired by them, are rich with philosophical, religious and social references that cry out for interpretation. Here these ideas are examined in the context of the history of thought and cinema. The variety of applications in this study is remarkable, engaging thinkers ranging from conservative Christians to postmodernist critics. Feminist issues meet cyberpunk, cosmological perspectives meet mythological and literary analysis. Violence in society, American values, politics, heroic models - all are called into question as several esteemed scholars decode the entire world of the Matrix franchise.

About this title

Product Description:

Jacking in to "The Matrix" The Matrix films, along with the video games, anime and toys inspired by them, are rich with philosophical, religious and social references that cry out for interpretation. This work examines these ideas in the context of the history of thought and cinema. Full description

Review:

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. 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

a grand tour of all the subjects that matter in film studies: gender and degenderization, race and multiraciality and embedded political values, postmodern deconstruction and reconstruction of hope. Doty and Kapell's collection of articles... will become a classic in film studies.
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

About this edition

• Publisher: Continuum
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0826419097
• ISBN 13: 9780826419095
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 230
• Editor: Kapell Matthew Wilhelm