Philosophy on Film: Baudrillard and The Matrix Trilogy

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This project examines what happens when philosophy is put on film. On the face of it these two areas appear to be very different. Philosophy is defined as the discussion of abstract ideas in accordance with rational logic, which is largely presented through the medium of the written word. By contrast, film offers concrete images, often in accordance with narrative logic and communicates through visual images, soundtracks (including dialogue) as well as the written word. While philosophy and film would appear to be worlds apart, a number of filmmakers have attempted to transfer philosophical ideas onto film. The most recent mainstream example is The Matrix Trilogy, a series of science fiction films directed by the Wachowski brothers, which explore in cinematic imagery the controversial ideas of the French postmodern philosopher, Jean Baudrillard. My research will delineate a way out of the impasse limiting current discussions of philosophy on film in which the films are either praised for being accurate beginner's guides to philosophy or berated for being an inaccurate misrepresentation of the philosophical original.This impasse is the result of the high cultural status accorded to philosophy in that the evaluation of the films rests on the extent to which they are seen to accurately portray philosophical ideas. The films are inevitably regarded as deficient, particularly if they are produced by mainstream Hollywood, because it is assumed that they cannot do justice to the complexities of philosophy. This is very similar to the criticisms levelled at films of classic novels- namely that they cannot hope to achieve the richness and complexity of the literary original. However, some film adaptations achieve the status of a creative reinterpretation of the literary original, enabling them to be judged in their own terms. In the same way, my research aims to shift our view of The Matrix Trilogy: rather than considering the films as a more or less accurate representation of Baudrillard's ideas, I propose to use the trilogy to analyse what happens to philosophical ideas when they are given a new expressive form.Thinking about The Matrix Trilogy as an adaptation is partly facilitated by Baudrillard's writing style. Unlike traditional philosophers, he does not provide an exposition of his arguments, preferring to develop his key ideas through the discussion of significant world events as well as reworking particular stories and myths. Baudrillard can therefore be seen to draw on particular literary techniques including: imagery, for example complex metaphors and similes, as well as using different forms of narrative. His work can therefore be seen to expand the parameters of philosophy, as well as constituting a rich and viable source for fiction films. For Baudrillard, the defining feature of the postmodern is the loss of reality and objective truth, which, he argues, is the result of our living in an image saturated culture. Instead of viewing film as a copy of the real, we have reached a stage where our lives are so dominated by images that reality appears to us to be a copy of a film. This is encapsulated by the stock response of the overseas visitor to the USA, who observes delightedly: "it's just like the movies!" This sense of the real as film-like is said to erase reality, creating the hyperrealism. It is unsurprising that Baudrillard's work should be a source for Hollywood films given the importance of film in his definition of the postmodern.My research will focus on the ways in which key aspects of Baudrillard's concept of the postmodern are taken up and changed in The Matrix Trilogy. Baudrillard defines the hyperrealism in destructive and negative terms - it marks the end of reality and truth. However, I will argue that The Matrix Trilogy offers a different, positive vision of an image-saturated hyperrealism in which certain kinds of truths and values are possible, thus creating its own vision of a 'vernacular postmodernism'.