Films and Media Misrepresenting Race Essay -- Matrix Racism Blacks Ess

Films and Media Misrepresenting Race abstract: In many ways technology makes access to academic work, research and employment easier and faster. However, I am concerned that technology is too often chosen over humanity. Historically,representations of African Americans in technological media tend to value "white" bodies at the expense of Black bodies (Stam and Spence, 1983). Further, recent studies show (Zickmund 2000), in fact, the ways in which some World Wide Web sites make it easier for hate groups to spread their misinformation, contributing to the devaluation of black bodies in technological media. Together, these media representations can be understood in terms of a digital devide between technological "haves" and "have-nots". Film and new media play integral roles in misrepresenting race. The film,The Matrix, reflects these problematic representations of race. Yet it provides critical metaphors for African Americans who contend that we are controlled by beings other than ourselves, and that our bodies must first b e filtered through white bodies to be considered valuable. introduction The 1999 movie The Matrix is considerably more than entertainment for me. It experiments with the idea that we are all pawns of other beings. The Matrix leads the viewer into a world where humans are controlled by secret mechanical forces wishing to enslave humanity. Through critical thinking the humans in The Matrix are able to break the chains of bondage and reclaim their divine nature. Like the characters in The Matrix, I have often felt that I was trapped in an alternate reality, that everyone else around me is trapped as well, pawns in a game, and more importantly, I wonder what would happen if we resisted... ...e Spence, "Colonialism, Racism, and Representation: An Introduction," from Braudy, Leo and Cohen, Marshall, eds. Film Theory and Criticism 5th. ed. (New York : Oxford University Press,1999) Crane, David, "In Medias Race," from Kolko, Nakamura, Rodman, eds., Race In Cyberspace (New York: Routledge,2000) Marx, Leo, "Information Technology in Historical Perspective," from High Technology and Low-Income Communities (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999) Mitchell, William, "The City of Bits Hypothesis", in High Technology and Low-Income Communities (Cambridge,MIT Press, 1999) Latimer, Christopher P. "New York State Forum for Information Resource Management Rockefeller Institute of Government". (Albany, NY:NYSFIRM, 2001) Zickmund, Susan "Approaching The Radical Other: the Discursive culture of Cyberhate" from the Cyberculture Reader (London/New York: Routhledge,2000)