Create a list of texts that you consider to be dystopias:
What do they have in common?
What are some differences between them?
Using this list, write a definition of dystopia. Don’t spend too long on this, just write down what comes to you immediately.
According to your definition, is The Matrix a dystopia?
Which elements of it fit into your definition and which challenge your definition?
If The Matrix doesn’t fit your definition, does this make you want to re-write your definition to fit The Matrix?
Or does it make you think that The Matrix might not be a dystopia after all?
What is a genre?
Imagine you are in charge of marketing The Matrix and you want to market it as a dystopia. If you were making a trailer, which scenes from the film would you highlight, and which would you stay away from?
Now, imagine that instead you were trying to market The Matrix as a romantic comedy.
Would you use any of the same scenes?
Do you think you could make this convincing?
Have a look at the Letterboxd lists which include The Matrix[LINK].
Have a look through the different ways that people have characterised The Matrix, and the films with which they have grouped it.
Now, have a go at creating your own list including The Matrix and the films it most closely reminds you of. Could you think of this list as a genre? Or a subgenre?
Why does it matter?
Think about dystopia as a political genre.
How might imagining bad worlds help us to grapple with real life political issues?
Do you think that there are any drawbacks to approaching politics through the lens of dystopianism?
How could you apply The Matrix to a contemporary political issue? Pick a form of political struggle from the following list and think about which characters, scenes or lines in The Matrix are relevant to that struggle.
Trans liberation
Racial justice
Labour organising
Police and prison abolition
Internet activism
If you were making a dystopian film about a political issue where would you begin?
Write out three features of the world your dystopia is set in and the political issue you are trying to critique.
Katie McGregor Stone 