Blog 22

In the book The Matrix and Philosophy Cynthia Freeland says “The Matrix and Existenz that The Matrix, though "sleeker" is actually more "infantile" emotionally and philosophically and that, really, we have very little that is new to learn from the film.” She believes the Matrix is a concept that has been done before and very amateur. Cynthia gives a range of reasons for her claim. The Matrix to her is a film that has a little to no message to offer the audience besides its special effects.

Cynthia Freeland first mentions, “The Matrix reveals an adolescent fear of the body as something that can veer out of control”. To Freeland The Matrix plays on the theory about young boys and there bodies which is typical and direct. She goes on to say how in the movie the “body can be delightful and disgusting”.

Freeland points out the multiple penetration scenes. How vulnerable and uncomfortable Neo the main character is. She talks about how the penetration scenes are nothing more than the fear of men being feminized. Neo appears very feminine in the film she says “hairless” and “pink”.

The women in the film are stereotyped Freeland states. Trinity, Neo sidekick, is the “babe”. She “kick ass” and looks good. She’s his love interest and kisses him to bring him back to life. The only woman is an Oracle who is your typical prophet. She is a “ black woman with insight and wisdom of a tribal sage.” Nothing according to Freeland that hasn’t been done may times already.

I strongly disagree with Cynthia Freeland’s claims about The Matrix. The film to me has many philosophical ideologies and meaning. The movie has many bible references and many more philosophy ideas. Everything from names to movements has meaning. One of the last things she states is how “The movie celebrates, not freedom from the natty, but the indulgence in exciting cinematic simulations.”. This is just not true. Yes granted there are many special effects but they tie into many deeper things.

Cynthia compares The Matrix to Existenz. Existenz revolves around a video game that can be accessed by a port in the spine thus entering a virtual world. The characters know there in a game and can return to the real world when they want. Theirs is not much more to the movie.

There is however a gender aspect to Existenz. One of the main characters Ted becomes feminized throughout the film much like Neo in the Matrix. Cynthia says, “ Jude plays his scenes with seeming relish, as wimpy, fussy, and hysterical. It is no wonder that a mainly male adolescent audience would find nothing to identify with here”. She later says how Allegra, the game creator, is not your typical “babe” like Trinity from the Matrix. That statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.

As a female Cynthia cannot understand what a male audience feels about males being feminine or as she states “whimmpy” or “relish”. Its ludicrous to assume a male audience cannot identify with Ted. It makes many of her opinions less credible. Not all adolescents’ boys are “macho” and “tuff”. On the contrary they have many questions and emotional changes. As for Allegra not being the typical babe that’s also very untrue. Allegra is portrayed as a strong, dominating, and smart woman as most women are when they are main characters such as Catwoman or Charlie’s Angles. It’s nothing new or thought provoking.

Cynthia Freeland’s opinions on The Matrix and Existenz do not reflect mine sin the least. At the core the Matrix can be linked to many deep meaningful things. Existenz on the other hand does not offer much more. It’s right to the point and simple. We know where reality lies and the virtual world. In the Matrix you have to think a lot more into everything.

Blog 21 Part 2

We are pretty much done with the ideas for our final. We need to get a white background, paint and cut magazine images out. We are going to finish the filming tomorrow. The next step will be editing and finding more footage on youtube.

Blog 21 Part 1

We will discuss what we need to do for tomrrow. We are pretty much done with all the dieas. We will watch youtube videos and try to get ideas and footage for the final.

Blog 20

In the book The Matrix and Philosophy Cynthia Freeland says “The Matrix and Existenz that The Matrix, though "sleeker" is actually more "infantile" emotionally and philosophically and that, really, we have very little that is new to learn from the film.” She believes the Matrix is a concept that has been done before and very amateur. Cynthia gives a range of reasons for her claim. The Matrix to her is a film that has a little to no message to offer the audience besides its special effects.

Cynthia Freeland first mentions, “The Matrix reveals an adolescent fear of the body as something that can veer out of control”. To Freeland The Matrix plays on the theory about young boys and there bodies which is typical and direct. She goes on to say how in the movie the “body can be delightful and disgusting”.

Freeland points out the multiple penetration scenes. How vulnerable and uncomfortable Neo the main character is. She talks about how the penetration scenes are nothing more than the fear of men being feminized. Neo appears very feminine in the film she says “hairless” and “pink”.

The women in the film are stereotyped Freeland states. Trinity, Neo sidekick, is the “babe”. She “kick ass” and looks good. She’s his love interest and kisses him to bring him back to life. The only woman is an Oracle who is your typical prophet. She is a “ black woman with insight and wisdom of a tribal sage.” Nothing according to Freeland that hasn’t been done may times already.

I strongly disagree with Cynthia Freeland’s claims about The Matrix. The film to me has many philosophical ideologies and meaning. The movie has many bible references and many more philosophy ideas. Everything from names to movements has meaning. One of the last things she states is how “The movie celebrates, not freedom from the natty, but the indulgence in exciting cinematic simulations.”. This is just not true. Yes granted there are many special effects but they tie into many deeper things.

Blog 19: Ashley Fernando

The Game involves the part of the library that has photographs by W. Eugene Smith. The card game will be every much like the game memory. All his photos will be laid out. There will be another stack of cards that describes each card. One player will have to match the description with the photo. After the first player tries to match the description with the photo the next player goes. The player will know if he is right or wrong by the name in the back of the photo that is also on the description card. The person who has collected the most photos wins and also learns a lot about W. Eugene Smith.

Blog 18

Ashly, Fernando and I are working on a music video. On Friday we are going to get all the props. We found two locations to film and two songs we want to mix together. Our idea involves the media and liberation from it. We need to come up with a better outline of what we want in the music video. Its going to be full of shots. We are all going to do some acting in it and have five to ten other actors. There isn't much more research to do.

Blog 17

For my finale in Mass Media class I have to present a project that has to do with something related to the media. My project will center around a song I made. I'm going to make a music video. First I have to break down the song. There needs to be a message/story line. Than I have to make a story board. I have a camera at home. I have a friend who edits video very well. The music video is going to be how veryone is surrounded by media constantly.

Blog Entry 16: The Matrix Possibility

David Mitsuo Nixon claims that it is possible that we all live in the Matrix. He goes on to explain that beliefs can be false and we can all be living in a false reality. Nixon says that we justify our knowledge and until we are not fully justified it won’t be knowledge, therefore false. I do not believe we can possible reside in the Matrix.

I would like to begin by saying that Nixon is presenting the probability of living in the Matrix not the possibility. He says “But not everything that is possible is something that we have good reasons to believe is actual.” (Pg. 32). Right from the start you can see there is no real chance we possibly live in false reality. The probability is also very low.

Writing this essay at this moment proves I am in the real world. If I were in the Matrix there is no way I could question it or write about it. I am acknowledging there is no possibility of a Matrix. It’s nonsense. There is no way to prove we are living in the Matrix. The beliefs I form are from the real world. The shape who I am and how I wiew the actual world I live in.

My beliefs are based on experiences. I know that some of my beliefs are true but some may be false. Knowing that I can question my beliefs proves I am not in the Matrix. I can decide at any moment to get up and search for it. The truth is I won’t find that I live in the Matrix. I have the power of thought and questioning.

Nixon mentions that false cannot exist without truth. The truth is there is not a possibility there is a Matrix. When we go about our daily lives we have the ability to think about anything we want. In our minds we are free to imagine any possibility but it will not transcend into reality, but at least we have the ability to think it.
Nixon states that in the Matrix the machines program us to believe things and not question it.I can at any moment decide I don’t believe something, which I do often. No one has that control over me. Without a doubt I have influences and my experiences but, no one is feeding me beliefs through plugs in my body. I live in the real world.

Nixon says, “We can only make sense of a person’s having false belief against a background of her having other beliefs we take to be true.” (Pg. 39). In other words a person can only say something is false if they have true beliefs to combat it with or compare. This isn’t true. I myself can say something is true to me without other beliefs backing it up. It’s called intuition. My feelings are real because I feel them.

My five senses hold the key to my reality. Nixon says “…the Matrix Possibility implies the following: It’s possible that a heck of a lot of my beliefs right now are false.” (Pg.29). I know that many of my beliefs are true and a minority are false or not yet fully developed. When I experience daily life it’s real and true. I can question and do things out of the ordinary if I choose to.

Nixon purposes a good argument but it’s obvious it’s not possible. Granted we may have false beliefs but not a “heck” of a lot of them to the point where we live in “The Matrix”. This life is as real as it gets. The possibility of us living in the Matrix is none.