The Desert of the Real: Christianity, Buddhism & Baudrillard in The Matrix Films and Popular Culture
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Publication Title
Visions of the Human in Science Fiction and Cyberpunk
First Page
161
Last Page
172
Additional Publication URL
https://www.interdisciplinarypress.net/
Abstract
The movie The Matrix and its sequels draw explicitly on imagery from a number of sources, including in particular Buddhism, Christianity, and the writings of Jean Baudrillard. A perspective is offered on the perennial philosophical question ‘What is real?’, using language and symbols drawn from three seemingly incompatible world views. In doing so, these movies provide us with an insight into the way popular culture makes eclectic use of various streams of thought to fashion a new reality that is not unrelated to, and yet is nonetheless distinct from, its religious and philosophical undercurrents and underpinnings.
Rights
“This article/a version of this article/parts of this article originally appeared in Visions of the Human in Science Fiction and Cyberpunk, ed. Marcus Leaning and Birgit Pretzsch, 2010, first published by the Inter-Disciplinary Press".
Recommended Citation
James F. McGrath. "The Desert of the Real: Christianity, Buddhism & Baudrillard in The Matrix Films and Popular Culture" Visions of the Human in Science Fiction and Cyberpunk. Ed. Marcus Leaning & Birgit Pretzsch. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2010. 161-172. Available from: digitalcommons.butler.edu/facsch_papers/556/