Movie Extras

I was a big fan of The Matrix – the original one, anyway. But when The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions came out – notably both in the same year – I was (pardon the pun) disenfranchised.

In Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins dedicates a chapter to The Matrix, and the “transmedia storytelling” (106) of the movies, the video games, and the comics/graphic novels. He claims that “this is probably where The Matrix fell out of favor with the film critics, who were used to reviewing the film and not the surrounding apparatus (106). He also states that the viewers who were invested in the video games – such as retrieving a letter from the post office and getting it into the hands of the heroes in Enter the Matrix, or getting Niobe to the rendezvous point – are more invested in the movies because they have the knowledge that fills “the gaps” for those who only viewed the movie (105-6). ). (Ironically, Jenkins mentions several films in this chapter, and they all seem to be science fiction. What does this say about “transmedia storytelling?”)

Admittedly, I did not play the video games, nor did I read the graphic novels before the second and third movies were released. But I’m not sure that Jenkins claim that I would have enjoyed the movies more if I had is entirely correct. In fact, one of my critiques of the third movie was that it was too much like a graphic novel. It’s not that I don’t enjoy graphic novels, I really do, and have even written papers about graphic novels translated onto the screen. But that isn’t what I wanted from the Matrix franchise.

Perhaps one reason for my discontent was the fact that there was a four year wait between The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded, with only a few month wait for The Matrix Revolutions. The suspense of waiting for the second movie went on too long, and the immediacy of the third was too soon. Granted, had I been playing the games, watching the cartoons, and reading the graphic novels, the wait might not have seemed so long. But that’s not what I want from a movie franchise. Not that I would begrudge those who do like the peripherals (although Jenkins is arguing that these are no longer peripherals), but they shouldn’t be necessary for the storytelling process. And I don’t really think they were necessary for The Matrix; I followed the storyline just fine. I just didn’t like the second and third movies.

I think if the sequels had been less “transmedia” in the movie, then I really could have enjoyed them more. There isn’t anything wrong with making the franchise transmedia, but the movies should be strictly that – a movie. For those who want the transmedia experience, they can pursue it with the games, books, cartoons, and such, but for those who don’t want it, leave it off of the screen.

(I’ll also just say that I think the reason I like the first movie the best was because it was chock full of philosophical elements, and I think the Wachowski’s raised my expectations for the sequels and then didn’t deliver.)

With all that being said, how does this help us in this class? One idea is that as we are designing for a user experience, we should keep in mind that some users will enjoy a transmedia platform, but others will not. While they can be tied together, they shouldn’t necessarily be tied together. As a consumer, when a franchise (or a TV show) requires that I be familiar with or participate through some other platform, I will purposely avoid these experiences. Part of it is my cynical nature – I don’t want to be charged texting fees or have to buy video games in order to enjoy my entertainment. I understand that people in the entertainment industry are in it to make money, but when it costs more and more money to maintain a feeling of inclusion, I’d rather be excluded. So when we are creating for our audiences, we should keep in mind that we can provide these peripherals, but we should not require them.