First Paper Assignment Philosophy and Film Write a two to three page paper (double-spaced) on one of the following topics A good interpretation of a movie, for this course, should do three things: Make sense of what is happening in the movie; shed some light on the problems or dilemmas of our time, contemporary American, or modern society; and relate it to some of the philosophical issues raised by the readings. The Matrix weaves these things together. There are some key scenes which might be useful to consider: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Neo’s initial meeting with Morpheus His waking up in the pod and flushing out of the machinery of the Matrix Morpheus showing him what the Matrix is and the “desert of the real” The interrogation of Morpheus by Agent Smith Neo’s visit to the Oracle The scene in which Cypher betrays his comrades over a steak dinner Write a single paper in which you say what the philosophical meaning of the movie is—not necessarily what you think the Wachowski brothers want to say, but what you think the movie shows, intentionally or not. Try to relate either Plato or Descartes (or both) to this. You are free to follow you own interpretation here, but here are some avenues you might consider: 1. How The Matrix reflects inherent contradictions, existential dilemmas, or insoluble paradoxes in the modern world, predicated on a Cartesian universe, radically separating subjective and objective, the realm of meaning and purpose and the realm of physical reality, mind and matter. 2. How The Matrix highlights the problem of modern alienation and utopianism bred by the closed world of market society or high technology. 3. How it explores the ways in which Virtual Reality (digitally generated “reality” such as in the video-game world), to the degree it takes over culture with its immersive power, actually serves to disintegrate it into chaos. 4. How The Matrix assumes a closed world (a world without “Platonic” transcendence, or reference to a divinity outside and beyond it) and how that very closure entails the split between appearance and reality, the Matrix (within the movie) and the “desert of the real.” 5. The character and type of Neo, and the ambiguity of whether Neo is actually waking up or dreaming, whether it is a fantasy of heroism in which he casts himself as the savior. Gardner 2 6. How it probes the relation of two classic science fiction themes in The Matrix: the notions that reality might be a total illusion constructed behind the scenes by some malevolent force, and that of the conflict of man and intelligent machines. 7. The “Marxist” and utopian elements of the movie. 8. Its view of human freedom—freedom versus slavery and choice versus determinism. 9. Any combination of these themes, or others not mentioned.