Week 4 Reading

              In the chapter “Searching for the Origami Unicorn” the reader learns about how the owners of the Matrix franchise have branched out the story line to several different forms of media. This creates an all encompassing feel towards the Matrix franchise as fans are able to access content in several different ways across many different media platforms such has movies, video games, massive online multiplayer games, and TV. The story of the whole Matrix universe is contained and woven through all these different types of media.

               There are both pros and cons for expressing media in this fashion. The pros are it gives the experience a richer and more intense feel to it, allowing the diehard fans to dive deep into the universe and experience to the fullest. The cons are that for the less devoted fan it becomes too much work to experience the whole universe. In order to do that one must go and participate in several different forms of media that the Matrix franchise has set up. And if one does not participate in all the different formats they miss out on key information to the storyline. An example of this is the relationship between “the kid” and Neo. In the movie there is an inherit lack of exposition about his character, how he came to be there in Zion and what his relationship to Neo is. The only exposition offered is when Neo says, “I didn’t save you kid, you saved yourself.” If one has not seen the other media braches to this franchise, in this case the Anime packet the Animatirx, the viewer would have no context for how this character came to be in this universe. The use of different forms of media, not just film, has allowed the Matrix franchise to turn the entertainment business on its head. Now many major movie franchises are following suit such as Lord of the Rings, launching its own massive online multiplayer game.

All in all these media platforms creates a wonderland of content for the users to explore. The question is for the user, “how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?” The creation of a narrative inside an entrainment franchise is difficult to keep straight. Story lines and threads need to be stitched together. Events must take place in a chronological order and such events must be in line with the whole true story.

In The new media Reader, we are introduced to the idea of society with cybernetic technology. These forms of technology are coming into the main stream market much like films and motion pictures came into the market in the early 20^th century. The book talks about how we integrate these new technologies into our day to day life and how we also incorporate it into our view of warfare as a society. Now we not only see warfare thorough the eyes of a camera that someone is holding, but also through one mounted on top of a cruise missile hurtling towards the enemy. Some say these images are too much like videogames and desensitize us to the horrors of war. Because of this we have been less inclined to protest the recent actions that our government has taken in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This means that society as a whole is becoming accustomed to the trials and tribulations that war brings upon the inhabitants of the war zone. This is all through the cybernetic technology that removers us from the situation and allows us to become remote 3^rd party viewers.