June 24, 2003

Baudrillard on the Matrix.

Le Nouvel Observateur Dammit, where's my French. Ah, that's right, except for the rudimentaries, I never had it in the first place. Really too bad, because Le Nouvel Observateur has released a special Matrix issue which, in and of itself, isn't all that thrilling except: They've gone and interviewed Jean Baudrillard about the series. The only thing I can pass along, unfortunately, is the brief quote supplied by the Perlentaucher team, which is where I first got wind of this. The quote (and remember, this is two steps away from the original since I'm translating a German translation of the French) is in response to a question about the explicit application in the films of his theories of the virtual and of simulation:

"What we have here is essentially the same misunderstanding as with the simulationist artists in New York in the 80s. These people take the hypothesis of the virtual as a fact and carry it over to visible fantasms. But the primary characteristic of this universe lies precisely in the inability to use categories of the real to speak about it."

Well. If anyone runs across an English translation, please do drop a comment.

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Posted by dwhudson at June 24, 2003 5:47 AM

Comments

Hello,

1. I'm a Matrix fan
2. I'm French
3. Here is the URI for the full interview (in French)
http://www.nouvelobs.com/dossiers/p2015/a201937.html

To sum it up Le Nouvel Observateur hates Matrix 2 (I think this is common to most "intellectuels", who simply can't stand that a film for the masses could *also* have a brain. Snobism.

And actually, Baudrillard to makes a fool of Matrix 2. Sorry for disapointment :(

Please send me a real mail address (I hate these web forms) and I will make a pleasure to translate the whole text

Posted by: David at June 27, 2003 3:11 PM

Allright, I did it.

The text had been translated in English. I only did translate the actual interview, not the journalist's comment.

The translation is available at:

http://www.empyree.org/divers/Matrix-Baudrillard_english.html

Posted by: David at June 27, 2003 6:50 PM

Please consider correcting my translation. For instance, the sentence your translated from German is better than what I translated directly from French, because I'm not that good at translating...

Posted by: David at June 27, 2003 7:05 PM

David, email sent.

Posted by: David Hudson at June 28, 2003 3:19 PM

I am glad someone has translated the article - thank you! I noticed Baudrillard's book in the first film. I bought the book and I am still trying to understand it. Apparently 'Routledge classics' books have released a philosophical series - one of which is on Baudrillard.

If any of you have any more ideas on Baudriilard and 'The Matrix' please let me know.

Posted by: trilobite at October 27, 2003 2:11 PM

I think that Baudrillard has realized that the film The Matrix is simply a very accurate manifestation of the fears he voices in Simulation and Simulacra. I would say that the scene in which Neo opens this book, which has been hollowed out, and which now contains diskettes and money, may imply that the W. Bros. are quite aware of this twist and are happily laughing on the way to the bank, with the knowledge that most people think the Matrix is a deeply philosophiscal films, with an "anti-system" message, whilst it is the exact opposite.

Posted by: Jon at November 5, 2003 9:03 AM

Thanks guys. Y'know, I always thought it was funny how Matrix 2 has such a similar name to Metallica's awful Reload album.

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