Discussion no.04, The Matrix + Ruha Benjamin Reloaded
Link to Viewing
The Matrix (1999), 1080p Blu-ray rip currently viewable on Archive.org↗
Link to Reading
Introduction
This week, we'll watch The Matrix(1999) and use it to re-approach/re-contextualize the Ruha Benjamin reading, as she mentions two moments from the movie: when Neo meets the Oracle, and seeing the black cat twice ("a glitch in the Matrix"). Please watch the movie, and re-visit the reading (in that order). We'll talk about your impression of the movie, it's cultural influence
The Cultural Significance of the Matrix
I don't know how much to emphasize how immense of an influence The Matrix had on then-contemporary cinema, and culture as a whole. That's part of why it feels important to watch. Here's just a couple of reasons why (not necessarily in any order).
- Bullet Time → John Gaeta and the visual effects team on the movie pioneered a technique called "bullet time" where you take many still images at once and then play them back in a way that creates the impression the camera is slowing down or speeding up around a given visual element:
You might be interested in this clip which talks about how the entire background of the bullet time scenes are completely CG:
Because of the use of actual cameras for this, there's some natural jitter that has always reminded me of early film experiments by Eadweard Muybridge (1878), and to me connects this cyberpunk world with the beginnings of cinema.
- Yuen Woo Ping as Fight Choreographer → Yuen Woo Ping is a notable kung-fu movie director and fight choreographer known for movies like Iron Monkey and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (see clip below), a breakout role for Jackie Chan. His includsion in the production of the movie is a genuine acknowledgement by the Wachowskis of the significance of what is often considered "cult" or genre cinema.
- Andrew Tate and manosphere re-appropriation of "red-pilling" → Folks from the manosphere, like Andrew Tate have re-appropriated being "red-pilled" and "escaping the Matrix" as a way of shortcutting the ida of escaping the oppression of mainstream society, so that you can...abuse women? and I don't know...open a dropshipping business?
- The Matrix as a way of speaking about the trans experience → The character Switch was originally intended to be a man in the real world and a woman in the Matrix. There are also other elements like, having two names or identities, using a pill or medicine to transform your experience of reality, and more generally the queer/found family of the band of rebels.
- Movies simply did not look like this → I don't know how clear it is, that movies simply did not look like The Matrix when it came out, and subsequently many movies adopted some of the aesthetics of it. This is a combination of the digital color grading (blue look in the real world and the green look in the Matrix), costuming, and heightened reality of the action. Many movies subsequent to it attempted to mimic the style of the movie to varying degrees of success:
Equilibrium (2002)
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
What to submit
Please provide a .PDF, .TXT, .MD, or .RTF file that" evidences your reading and comprehension of the material