John Cross 
Keene State College
Major: Film and Journalism
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Borda, UNH Department of Communication
Depersonalization and Derealization: Responses to Industrialization in The Matrix and Terminator Series
This essay analyzes how The Matrix series and The Terminator series address mankind’s dependence on machines in various ways. This paper will treat film as a cultural medium, examining the myriad societal responses to industrialization which film incorporates into its meaning. The analysis will examine feelings of unreality and sense of fractured personal identity shown by film characters. This essay demonstrates that, while most films discussing industrialization depict it negatively in an explicit way, there is often an undertone of the futility in resisting the change. Furthermore, these films suggest humanity's absorption into a machinelike state is actually a positive progression and merely the next step in human development.
