EMAIL LIST FOR MATRIX ASSIGNMENT


I will have study questions and an assignment for the Matrix video. I'm planning to bring these next Friday.

If you're planning to rent the video no your own, or if you'd just like to see them early, list your email ID below and I'll send them to you as soon as they're finished.

If you've already seen the movie, I'd suggest you rent it again after looking at the questions, I watched it 3 times and found new things each time.


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THE ASSIGNMENT

Several of the themes we've covered this semester show up in this movie.

Read the questions below -- preferably before watching the video.  Screen the video with the questions in mind, then find the cluster that most appeals to you and write about it.  Try to make direct reference to at least 2 of the articles we read (quotes are not necessary, but show me that you understand the article's point of view).


1. What does the movie say about "reality".  For instance, What evidence could have been used at each level of "reality" to prove/disprove to the characters that they were indeed at the "real" level?  How certain are you that the reality they ended up in wasn't just another mask for an even deeper illusion?

2. What are the moral implications for the sell-out character who turns in his friends?  Does Keanu Reeve's character have any moral obligation to fight the fight he chooses (absolute morality) or is it just his choice (moral relativism)?  Do we only cheer for him because we have a culture that likes to "fight for freedom" or is there a deeper human question the filmmaker is pointing to? How would you feel about the character if he said "damn, this is impossible. Let me go back to sleep"?

3a.  Would a life like that be appealing? Would you rather know the truth of their reality or live in the comfortable illusion? 

3b.  What are parallels to our own ways of living? Are there truths about the world we live in that we don't want to see? What illusions are we living in? How would you convince someone that the reality we are living in -- here in the nation that consumes most of the world's resources and creates most of its waste -- might be an illusion?

4. If none of these particular questions appeal to you, you can generate your own, making sure you make at least two references back to our text.

Mike