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BFI Film Classics
The Matrix
The Matrix (1999) was a true end-of-the-millennium movie, a statement of the American Zeitgeist, and a prognosis for the future of big-budget Hollywood filmmaking. Starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, a computer programmer transformed into a messianic freedom fighter, The Matrix blends science fiction with conspiracy thriller conventions and outlandish martial arts created with groundbreaking digital techniques. A box-office triumph, the film was no populist confection: its blatant allusions to highbrow contemporary philosophy added to its appeal as a mystery to be decoded.
Joshua Clover undertakes the task of decoding the film. Examining The Matrix's digital effects and how they were achieved, he shows how the film represents a melding of cinema and video games (the greatest commercial threat to have faced Hollywood since the advent of television) and achieves a hybrid kind of immersive entertainment. He also unpacks the movie's references to philosophy, showing how The Matrix ultimately expresses the crisis American culture faced at the end of the 1990s.
Joshua Clover undertakes the task of decoding the film. Examining The Matrix's digital effects and how they were achieved, he shows how the film represents a melding of cinema and video games (the greatest commercial threat to have faced Hollywood since the advent of television) and achieves a hybrid kind of immersive entertainment. He also unpacks the movie's references to philosophy, showing how The Matrix ultimately expresses the crisis American culture faced at the end of the 1990s.
96 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2004
21 people are currently reading
1311 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Clover
22 books72 followersJoshua Clover was an American poet, writer, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, and revolutionary.
He was a published scholar, poet, critic, and journalist whose work has been translated into more than a dozen languages; his scholarship on the political economy of riots has been widely influential in political theory. He appeared in three editions of The Best American Poetry and two times in Best Music Writing, and received an individual grant from the NEA as well as fellowships from the Cornell Society for the Humanities, the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick. His first book of poetry, Madonna anno domini, received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets in 1996.
He was a published scholar, poet, critic, and journalist whose work has been translated into more than a dozen languages; his scholarship on the political economy of riots has been widely influential in political theory. He appeared in three editions of The Best American Poetry and two times in Best Music Writing, and received an individual grant from the NEA as well as fellowships from the Cornell Society for the Humanities, the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick. His first book of poetry, Madonna anno domini, received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets in 1996.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 13, 2018
Know that you are a slave Leo...I mean Neo. Oops!
The Red pill? Or the Blue pill? What only two choices? Sounds like the reality we live in for sure. The Red Team or the Blue Team? Red politics or Blue Politics? Communism or Capitalism? Two choices. Hmmm! What about no bloody pill? What about no choice? What about no Government? Anarchy! Slow down! Anarchy just means without rulers unlike, Monarchy, one ruler.
What about free will? Forget choices and labels, decisions and crossroads. Get off the road! Get off the construct. The Matrix. Walk on the grass instead and see where it takes you. Feel the Earth (heart) beneath your feet, let the Earth (heart) seep between your toes.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A label? A mechanic, a brain surgeon, a soldier, a what? Or just do you want to be? To be or not to be? That is the question. An actor in a play.
Think outside the box. Or Cube. Is the Cube a three dimensional cross? Fold down the sides of a Cube and it becomes a Cross. Sacred geometry. Christianity? So is the Cross really a Cube? Do the Muslims not go on pilgrimage to Mecca? Is there a huge Cube in Mecca? Does it contain the Quabba? Qur'an. Or Kabba? A huge black cube in Mecca.
In Judaism does a Rabbi not wear a Cube on his head? What is Quabballa? Or Kabballa? Who knows the correct spelling? Are these religions all constructs of the Holy Roman Empire?
Do graduates not wear a mortar board on their heads? Is it a black square?🐯👍
The Red pill? Or the Blue pill? What only two choices? Sounds like the reality we live in for sure. The Red Team or the Blue Team? Red politics or Blue Politics? Communism or Capitalism? Two choices. Hmmm! What about no bloody pill? What about no choice? What about no Government? Anarchy! Slow down! Anarchy just means without rulers unlike, Monarchy, one ruler.
What about free will? Forget choices and labels, decisions and crossroads. Get off the road! Get off the construct. The Matrix. Walk on the grass instead and see where it takes you. Feel the Earth (heart) beneath your feet, let the Earth (heart) seep between your toes.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A label? A mechanic, a brain surgeon, a soldier, a what? Or just do you want to be? To be or not to be? That is the question. An actor in a play.
Think outside the box. Or Cube. Is the Cube a three dimensional cross? Fold down the sides of a Cube and it becomes a Cross. Sacred geometry. Christianity? So is the Cross really a Cube? Do the Muslims not go on pilgrimage to Mecca? Is there a huge Cube in Mecca? Does it contain the Quabba? Qur'an. Or Kabba? A huge black cube in Mecca.
In Judaism does a Rabbi not wear a Cube on his head? What is Quabballa? Or Kabballa? Who knows the correct spelling? Are these religions all constructs of the Holy Roman Empire?
Do graduates not wear a mortar board on their heads? Is it a black square?🐯👍
September 6, 2007
If you are looking for a superficial, easy-reading analysis of The Matrix, try one of the countless other books on the subject. In his analysis of The Matrix for the British Film Institute, Joshua Clover brings his wry wit and background as a pop-culture guru* to bear on the film's far reaching cultural implications.
Clover's analysis invokes the work of many postmodern luminaries, not surprisingly focusing on Baudrillard and his simulation. He drops the M-Bomb** on several occasions and trashes the franchising of our private lives. On the surface, it might seem like the intellectual analog to the 20-yard long Vegas Buffet, but to the properly initiated it's more like a fantastic Bolognese meal; a dizzying array of between five and nine courses, each a contrast to the last but all building toward the thesis, a complete experience of culinary shock and awe not to be missed.
Other reviewers are quick to dismiss this book as being "buried under so much analytic-babble that the answers are never really all that clear." The truth is, in life the clear answers are often the wrong ones. And an answer that is clear probably is not worth discussing. The part of the world that is truly interesting is not black and white and Clover's is not a black and white analysis. The difficulty that some might find in unpacking the meaning contained in his writing is the breadth of prior knowledge required to make sense of it.
If you, the reader, are not conversant in the cultural discourse of postmodern theory, including the writings of Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Guy Debord and others, you will be at pains to extract the full meaning of Clover's writing. Critical theory tends to reify its terms; simple terms are called upon to reference entire branches of prior discourse. When Clover references, "Guy Debord's 3D Glasses" it implies an entire set of discussions about their greater cultural significance. Without knowledge of this prior discourse, you might find yourself "buried under analytic babble." If you find yourself thus, don't blame Clover, get yourself a library card.
This book is a real treat, don't let the critics fool you.
* Aside from being a Professor at the University of California-Davis, Clover has also done quite a bit of writing for Rolling Stone Magazine and The Village Voice.
** The M-Bomb: every academician's best friend, Karl Marx.
Clover's analysis invokes the work of many postmodern luminaries, not surprisingly focusing on Baudrillard and his simulation. He drops the M-Bomb** on several occasions and trashes the franchising of our private lives. On the surface, it might seem like the intellectual analog to the 20-yard long Vegas Buffet, but to the properly initiated it's more like a fantastic Bolognese meal; a dizzying array of between five and nine courses, each a contrast to the last but all building toward the thesis, a complete experience of culinary shock and awe not to be missed.
Other reviewers are quick to dismiss this book as being "buried under so much analytic-babble that the answers are never really all that clear." The truth is, in life the clear answers are often the wrong ones. And an answer that is clear probably is not worth discussing. The part of the world that is truly interesting is not black and white and Clover's is not a black and white analysis. The difficulty that some might find in unpacking the meaning contained in his writing is the breadth of prior knowledge required to make sense of it.
If you, the reader, are not conversant in the cultural discourse of postmodern theory, including the writings of Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Guy Debord and others, you will be at pains to extract the full meaning of Clover's writing. Critical theory tends to reify its terms; simple terms are called upon to reference entire branches of prior discourse. When Clover references, "Guy Debord's 3D Glasses" it implies an entire set of discussions about their greater cultural significance. Without knowledge of this prior discourse, you might find yourself "buried under analytic babble." If you find yourself thus, don't blame Clover, get yourself a library card.
This book is a real treat, don't let the critics fool you.
* Aside from being a Professor at the University of California-Davis, Clover has also done quite a bit of writing for Rolling Stone Magazine and The Village Voice.
** The M-Bomb: every academician's best friend, Karl Marx.
May 24, 2021
.??? 2000s: take two red pills and call me in the morning...
hard to believe this film is twenty years ago: but i did read about it quite a bit!
more
The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real
The Art of the Matrix
Philosophers Explore the Matrix
From Alien to The Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Film
Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy Behind the Matrix Trilogy
Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present
Adapting Philosophy: Jean Baudrillard and "The Matrix Trilogy"
The Matrix in Theory
Jacking In To the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation
hard to believe this film is twenty years ago: but i did read about it quite a bit!
more
The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real
The Art of the Matrix
Philosophers Explore the Matrix
From Alien to The Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Film
Like a Splinter in Your Mind: The Philosophy Behind the Matrix Trilogy
Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present
Adapting Philosophy: Jean Baudrillard and "The Matrix Trilogy"
The Matrix in Theory
Jacking In To the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation
December 11, 2025
بررسی جالبی از فیلم ماتریکس،هر چند که اثری جامع و فلسفی نیست اما به بسیاری از نکات می پردازد که شاید در ضمن تماشا کمتر بدان توجه می کنیم،ماتریکس فیلم نماد های بسیار ست تقریبا هر شات و هر صحنه آن در تلاش برای ایجاد اثری تاثیر گذار ست که در عین حال جذابیت گیشه ای فیلم را نیز حفظ کند،ماتریکس از آن دسته آثار سینما ست که در جای درست و زمان درست آمده و نوآوری هایی در خود دارد که چهره سینمای ژانر خود را تا ابد تغییر می دهد.
Read
July 20, 2011I liked Joshua Clover's 1989 and his Believer essay about the economic crash enough to check out his write-up of the Matrix even though I've always kind of disliked the movie, which makes probably an imperfect audience for this book, which focuses a group of films that came out in the pre-millenial moment/dot-com boom that he describes as "edge of the construct" films (Truman Show, Existenz, Dark City, Strange Days). I like Clover's focus on the economic but I feel like his seeing the Matrix as a Marxist parable is taking the film's bait of rapid, unclear deployment of all manner of religious and theoretical allusions.
There's some great lines in here: one about how Umberto Eco gives the experience of abstract thinking without actually doing it--a criticism that maybe comes dangerously to describing the film as well. There's also a memorable quote from someone about how we might best consider popular art as authored by money itself. Also, the pairing of some nearly identical stills from Office Space and the Matrix is interesting. Also Clover always does a really good job of structuring his ideas.
Also, I hadn't put it together that the "desert of the real" quote comes from Borges' life-sized map story and this was my first exposure to Baudrillard's haunting inversion of it.
There's some great lines in here: one about how Umberto Eco gives the experience of abstract thinking without actually doing it--a criticism that maybe comes dangerously to describing the film as well. There's also a memorable quote from someone about how we might best consider popular art as authored by money itself. Also, the pairing of some nearly identical stills from Office Space and the Matrix is interesting. Also Clover always does a really good job of structuring his ideas.
Also, I hadn't put it together that the "desert of the real" quote comes from Borges' life-sized map story and this was my first exposure to Baudrillard's haunting inversion of it.
Read
February 7, 2017I thought the book was great. It was the perfect balance of non-ficion and fition
November 22, 2016
مورفئوس : میخوای بدونی ماتریکس چیه ؟ ماتریکس همه جا هست ، دور و بر ما حتی توی این اتاق , از پنجره که به بیرون نگاه می کنی یا تلویزیون رو روشن می کنی میبینیش وقتی میری سر کار وقتی میری کلیسا وقتی مالیات میدی احساسش می کنی دنیاییه که جلوی چشمت کشیدن تا حقیقت رو نبینی
February 22, 2021
I so much loved this movie. Its graphics is during the 2000s, this fact alone blew my mind. I needed to watch it several times to understand the movie. Every time I watch I think I understand something more that I didn't get in the first time.
February 1, 2016
The deeper meaning of "The Matrix" has been much debated since its release in 1999. The three most common have been that is about the ultimate struggle between man and machine, "the brain in the vat" (i.e. world as illusion) paradox or the coming of the Messiah. The last one is especially popular. In one version, Neo represents Jesus, Morpheus represents John the Baptist and Trinity represents Mary Magdalene. While all of these are appealing, I recently came across another which I prefer.
Joshua Clover in this book on the film argues that it is actually about the year 1999. Remember, in one scene Agent Smith specifically says that the Matrix is the imperfect world of 1999. He said that they had created a perfect world for humans, but “it was a disaster. No one accepted the program".
And how is 1999 represented? Well, with lots of plain faced workers (Keanu included) stuck in their cubicles staring at screens. Joshua argues that the film is really about the transition from the "light on" world, where we look at things upon which light is shone (art, newspapers), to a "light through" world, where we look at things through which light shines (screens). So the surroundings can be dull and plain, but everyone is living more colourfully in the digital world. At the same time, as people come closer to this fully immersed virtual reality, they yearn for the past and become nostalgic. 1999 is the period they hold on to.
So "The Matrix" is really about about the transitioning from living in the "light on" world to the "light through" world. Put another way, it's about moving into a world where we live in the digital world, and away from the physical world. Seem familiar?
Joshua Clover in this book on the film argues that it is actually about the year 1999. Remember, in one scene Agent Smith specifically says that the Matrix is the imperfect world of 1999. He said that they had created a perfect world for humans, but “it was a disaster. No one accepted the program".
And how is 1999 represented? Well, with lots of plain faced workers (Keanu included) stuck in their cubicles staring at screens. Joshua argues that the film is really about the transition from the "light on" world, where we look at things upon which light is shone (art, newspapers), to a "light through" world, where we look at things through which light shines (screens). So the surroundings can be dull and plain, but everyone is living more colourfully in the digital world. At the same time, as people come closer to this fully immersed virtual reality, they yearn for the past and become nostalgic. 1999 is the period they hold on to.
So "The Matrix" is really about about the transitioning from living in the "light on" world to the "light through" world. Put another way, it's about moving into a world where we live in the digital world, and away from the physical world. Seem familiar?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2023
This is such a good study on a classic film with so many incredible layers. Though I think my favorite part of this was the bits on the special effects and “bullet time”, and how that was inspired by the video game boom that was happening at the time. However, the whole thing was fantastic and so in depth.
June 10, 2012
تیکههای خوبی، نه در مورد فیلم ماتریکس، که در مورد دنیای سینما داشت
.
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April 15, 2012
Awesome movie can't wait to read the book
October 18, 2012
the most exciting novel and movies i have ever read and seen
February 22, 2021
After watching all three of them for the fourth times each, I think I understand two-thirds of it. The rests I'm leaving to understand on my 30th birthday.
April 17, 2019
The Matrix blends science fiction with conspiracy thriller conventions and outlandish martial arts created with groundbreaking digital technique.
July 29, 2018
اطلاعات خوبی رو در مورد سینمای آستانه ی دنیای مصنوع به خواننده میده اما چون تنها در مورد فیلم اول ماتریکس صحبت میکنه و کلیه صحبتاش در مورد فیلم های قبل از اونه، برای الان کمی قدیمی محسوب میشه چون بعد از ماتریکس فیلم های خیلی خوب دیگه ای هم توی این حوزه داشتیم. اما برای تحلیل فیلم اول ماتریکس کتاب خوبیه و محتویاتش چیزی نیست که بشه راحت توی وب فارسی پیدا کرد.
July 18, 2018
Even though I consider it to have some flaws, this is a great book. Specially for fans of the movies.
August 11, 2018
One of the best
November 9, 2024
I found it very scrappy. No coherent flow. I did come away with some new ideas. I didn’t dig how they were put together.
January 30, 2022
This book is a mixed bag. On the one hand, there are genuinely useful insights and readings of The Matrix, as when the author divides the story beats into preconscious, conscious, and superconscious stages. Clover's insistence on reading The Matrix through a Marxist lens is helpful, as I have always assumed the movie to be more libertarian in outlook. On the other hand, the author spends too much time in his analysis focusing on the meta-ness of The Matrix movie. He rejects the philosophical or theological subtexts of The Matrix as especially compelling "if you're stoned" (13). I do not deny that The Matrix's understanding and presentation of philosophy and Eastern mysticism is often shallow and simplistic, but on rewatching I am continually impressed with densely they populate their simplistic musings with elements from philosophical and religious traditions across the world. I think any account of The Matrix that ignores this intricate system of symbolism will be incomplete.
And then there are the video games. Clover usefully compares The Matrix to a video game, but then proves he has not done adequate research into the medium. For instance, he identifies the "most popular combat formats of videogames" as "martial arts and the shooter [s]." But "martial arts" is not a genre of videogame; the discussion strongly suggests Clover means "fighting games." And are these "the most popular combat formats"? I would not classify Mario jumping on a turtle as "martial arts," and the bestselling games of 1998 and 1999 are full of third-person platformers like Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Spyro, and Banjo-Kazooie. In another instance, he describes the difference in perspective and embodiment between first-person and third-person shooters as if it was the difference between first-person and third-person narration in a book (46). While indeed there is a difference between embodiment in these different types of games, mostly in third-person shooters you stare at a character's butt. And as if to prove that the author is a little confused, he adds a weird footnote about how since 1999 games have offered both first-person and third-person views (Mario 64, which offers a first-person viewpoint, albeit a limited one, was released in 1996). Elsewhere he describes the skills being delivered to Neo's brain "exactly the way Virtua Fighter is delivered to a monitor: via the slotting of data cartridge into console" (28). A fact-checker would note that, while technically a 2D version of Virtua Fighter was later made for the cartridge-based Genesis, the most popular and well-known versions were released on the Sega Saturn, which uses discs not cartridges. In short, this is plain sloppy research and writing, and should serve as a warning for film critics and academics to make sure they understand another medium before writing about it.
And then there are the video games. Clover usefully compares The Matrix to a video game, but then proves he has not done adequate research into the medium. For instance, he identifies the "most popular combat formats of videogames" as "martial arts and the shooter [s]." But "martial arts" is not a genre of videogame; the discussion strongly suggests Clover means "fighting games." And are these "the most popular combat formats"? I would not classify Mario jumping on a turtle as "martial arts," and the bestselling games of 1998 and 1999 are full of third-person platformers like Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, Spyro, and Banjo-Kazooie. In another instance, he describes the difference in perspective and embodiment between first-person and third-person shooters as if it was the difference between first-person and third-person narration in a book (46). While indeed there is a difference between embodiment in these different types of games, mostly in third-person shooters you stare at a character's butt. And as if to prove that the author is a little confused, he adds a weird footnote about how since 1999 games have offered both first-person and third-person views (Mario 64, which offers a first-person viewpoint, albeit a limited one, was released in 1996). Elsewhere he describes the skills being delivered to Neo's brain "exactly the way Virtua Fighter is delivered to a monitor: via the slotting of data cartridge into console" (28). A fact-checker would note that, while technically a 2D version of Virtua Fighter was later made for the cartridge-based Genesis, the most popular and well-known versions were released on the Sega Saturn, which uses discs not cartridges. In short, this is plain sloppy research and writing, and should serve as a warning for film critics and academics to make sure they understand another medium before writing about it.
April 11, 2023
The Matrix is a fascinating and thought-provoking analysis of the cultural impact and significance of The Matrix film franchise. Joshua Clover delves deep into the themes of the movies, exploring the ways in which they reflect and critique contemporary society's relationship with technology, capitalism, and social control.
Clover's writing is insightful and engaging, drawing on a wide range of philosophical, cultural, and historical references to build a compelling argument about the films' cultural significance. He makes a persuasive case for The Matrix as a commentary on the growing influence of neoliberalism and the increasing erosion of individual agency in our society.
While I found the book to be incredibly insightful, I did find some of Clover's arguments to be a bit dense and hard to follow at times. Some sections felt overly academic and theoretical, and I had to re-read them several times to fully grasp their meaning.
Despite this, The Matrix is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology and culture, and it offers a fresh and nuanced perspective on one of the most iconic film franchises of the 21st century. Highly recommended.
Clover's writing is insightful and engaging, drawing on a wide range of philosophical, cultural, and historical references to build a compelling argument about the films' cultural significance. He makes a persuasive case for The Matrix as a commentary on the growing influence of neoliberalism and the increasing erosion of individual agency in our society.
While I found the book to be incredibly insightful, I did find some of Clover's arguments to be a bit dense and hard to follow at times. Some sections felt overly academic and theoretical, and I had to re-read them several times to fully grasp their meaning.
Despite this, The Matrix is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of technology and culture, and it offers a fresh and nuanced perspective on one of the most iconic film franchises of the 21st century. Highly recommended.
August 15, 2025
Spends far too much time dismissing other analytical avenues to discuss the film (it's OK if you want to concentrate on things other than the philosophical elements - there's plenty of others who do and there's plenty more to discuss - but you don't need to be snarky about anyone who does find it interesting or suggests that anyone interested in exploring it is reading the film at the most basic surface level) and not enough time digging into the film itself.
Others have praised the book's intellectual style and suggested its lack of conclusions is part of its clever point but that's not how it came across to me. This came across as someone far too in love with their own overwritten style and the shift-F7 shortcut for any synonym they can use to actually analyse and engage in the film, one which you get the sense they feel they are above discussing anyway. A real disappointment for a film that deserves this kind of academic analysis from a writer who finds the film at least as interesting as they do their own voice.
Others have praised the book's intellectual style and suggested its lack of conclusions is part of its clever point but that's not how it came across to me. This came across as someone far too in love with their own overwritten style and the shift-F7 shortcut for any synonym they can use to actually analyse and engage in the film, one which you get the sense they feel they are above discussing anyway. A real disappointment for a film that deserves this kind of academic analysis from a writer who finds the film at least as interesting as they do their own voice.
February 23, 2021
This movie came out in 1999. Can you believe it? 1999. That was the time when movie graphics and game graphics were still bad. That was when there were still no touch phone. I wonder if there were YouTube. It came in the previous century. I think it’s a good one to be among the end of the 20th century movies.
May 11, 2021
Featuring Neo, & others!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL, funny book and research!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2023
#EscapeTheMatrix
September 27, 2024
I was too dumb for this, despite my love of The Matrix
Read
August 4, 2025Completely agree with the decision to reframe the film as being a more material representation of contemporary labour conditions in the technological boom than a purely abstract philosophical work.
January 30, 2022
This was a required textbook for a course, otherwise I can’t imagine myself paying for an analytical look at The Matrix.
The first third of Clover’s book is pretty good as he reviews a short history of turn-of-the-millennium media recognizing the transition from looking “into” a world to looking “around” a world. It’s A Wonderful Life give us a look at any small town in America in 1948, but The Godfather just three decades later is a specific world unknown to it’s viewers. How much more The Matrix when the characters literally inhabit a constructed world that disassembles throughout the series?
The second third of the book gets bogged down in an attempt to review the solipsistic references of the film, which culminates in the final third entirely embracing the idea that the movie is Marxist in worldview. (MATRIX = MARX + IT, as Clover argues as a high school paper might) A single paragraph dismisses the Christian references (Neo is “my savior, man”, dead and resurrected, the foretold hero) as a “misfortune”—seemingly as much for the fact that it’s difficult to reconcile a single hero to Marxist ideology as for the whiteness of the main cast member. (Keanu is born in Lebanon to a English mother and Chinese-Hawaiian-Portuguese father. Reducing him to skin tone seems to miss the point of his casting.)
The Matrix is infamous for the Wachowskis slipping in as many references to modern philosophy as possible. To focus on one as the answer is to play directly to their desire. The philosophy smorgasbord is the message. It’s McLuhan all the way down.
The first third of Clover’s book is pretty good as he reviews a short history of turn-of-the-millennium media recognizing the transition from looking “into” a world to looking “around” a world. It’s A Wonderful Life give us a look at any small town in America in 1948, but The Godfather just three decades later is a specific world unknown to it’s viewers. How much more The Matrix when the characters literally inhabit a constructed world that disassembles throughout the series?
The second third of the book gets bogged down in an attempt to review the solipsistic references of the film, which culminates in the final third entirely embracing the idea that the movie is Marxist in worldview. (MATRIX = MARX + IT, as Clover argues as a high school paper might) A single paragraph dismisses the Christian references (Neo is “my savior, man”, dead and resurrected, the foretold hero) as a “misfortune”—seemingly as much for the fact that it’s difficult to reconcile a single hero to Marxist ideology as for the whiteness of the main cast member. (Keanu is born in Lebanon to a English mother and Chinese-Hawaiian-Portuguese father. Reducing him to skin tone seems to miss the point of his casting.)
The Matrix is infamous for the Wachowskis slipping in as many references to modern philosophy as possible. To focus on one as the answer is to play directly to their desire. The philosophy smorgasbord is the message. It’s McLuhan all the way down.
May 2, 2022
Clover is a fun and learned guide to a film that can sustain so many varied interpretations. He takes its philosophical pretentions more seriously than he lets on, while also recognising the pleasures of the visuals and spectacle lying on the surface. Rather too much perhaps is made of the contradiction between the fear and wonder of technology (less and less concerning as the digitally-saturated 21st century drags on). More insightful is the way the film's metaphor maps onto a drab and oppressive presentation of work in corporate America, which turns human beings into batteries powering an economy they are utterly alienated from.
March 19, 2021
Focused on how The Matrix movie responds to the evolving world it was created during.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews