Jacking In To the Matrix Franchise

Matthew Kapell is Visiting Lecturer of Anthropology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. William G. Doty is a retired Professor of Humanities and Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He has published 16 books and over 70 essays in a wide range of academic journals.

• Introduction: William G. Doty, The University of Alabama, "The Deeper You Go, the More Complex It Seems, and the Dizzier I Feel"; Section 1: Cultural And Religious Implications; Chapter 1: Richard R. Jones, Lee University, "American Religion, Community, and Revitalization: Why The Matrix Resonates"; Chapter 2: John Shelton Lawrence, Morningside College, "Gimme that Bullet Time Religion, or The Dream of Spiritually Perfect Violence"; Chapter 3: Rachel Wagner, Southwestern University, and Frances Flannery-Dailey, Hendrix College, "Ultimate Reality: Buddhist and Gnostic Constructions of Bliss"; Section 2: Theorizing Cyberworlds; Chapter 4: Matthew Kapell, The University of Michigan-Dearborn and Wayne State University, "Do Empty Books and Empty Ammunition Clips Mean the Ideas are Empty As Well?"; Chapter 5: Gary Hoppenstand, Michigan State University, "Highly Technical Boys and Girls in the Digital Wonderland of Pop Culture"; Chapter 6: Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Central Michigan University, "Biomorph: The Posthuman Living Thing"; Section 3: Jacking In To Issues Of Gender And Race; Chapter 7: Isis I.M.O. Leslie, "Romantic Subjectivity of the Self-made Ideal"; Chapter 8: C. Richard King and David Leonard, Washington State University, "Is Neo White? Reading Race, Watching the Trilogy"; Section 4: The Games And Ethics Of Simulation; Chapter 9: Tim Mizelle, Duke, "Parallel Realities: Enter the Matrix via 'Strange Loops' "; Chapter 10: Russell Blackford, Professional Science Fiction Novelist and Critic, "What Might Be Wrong with Living in a Matrix?"; Conclusion: At the Edge of the World, Again

"Jacking into the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation [is] a collection of meaty essays on The Matrix's cultural meaning. Hailing from a range of scholarly disciplines, the contributors speak to the innumerable interpretations the films have inspired. This collection's strength is that it doesn't try to tell you that the Matrix films are good or bad movies. The writers are as interested in the films' failures as in their innovations, and in the opportunities they offer to take the measure of the American mind. They ask intriguing questions. I came away from Jacking convinced that the Matrix films are more than action flicks. By provoking such passionate and thoughtful responses, from academics and water-cooler philosophers alike, the series has embodied the cyborg dreams, the fears and desires, of Americans at the turn of the millennium. And that's something worth reading about." - The Boston Phoenix, 9/11/04