"One More Member of this Knowledge Community"

In Chapter 3, Jenkins explores the knowledge communities in a different direction; before, he was focused on viewers who tried to get their hands on information that was still a secret, but now he has moved on to a different kind of community centered around The Matrix. Participants in these communities already have all the information, but don't know it yet. Jenkins says, "The Wachowskis were... implying there was more, much more, to be found if the community put its collective mind to work" (102). Unlike Mark Burnett, who wanted to keep his audience in the dark, the Wachowskis wanted the fans to find all the clues they had left.

I'll mention the personal context under which I read this chapter: I am not really a Matrix fan. But I'm married to someone who is much more into it that I-- he participated in some of the online communities, and went back for a second viewing with some like-minded friends (i.e., without me) for all three films. In a way, we had a different sort of knowledge community in our home-- Chad the engaged fan was continually sharing with me, the fringe viewer, the stuff he saw online. For instance, he made sure that I watched Final Flight of the Osiris, but when we saw The Matrix Reloaded I didn't catch the reference; Chad had to point it out to me afterwards in a dumbed-down-for-the-non-fan style: "Remember, I showed you the video? They were talking about it at the beginning." But once he clarified it, I finally understood where the video fit and why he had insisted on me watching it in the first place. Even after that, I still didn't realize that the storyline was intentionally spread out across multiple media, so it was fascinating for me to see it spelled out in this chapter.

So the story of The Matrix was set up in order that "to truly appreciate what we are watching, we have to do our homework" (96), which rewards the serious fan and adds to the experience. And clearly, The Matrix has a large following who did play the games, watch the online episodes, and engage in communities to try to put all the puzzle pieces together. Jenkins notes that "viewers get even more out of the experience if they compare notes and share resources than if they try to go it alone" (97). In a way, you might say they've done the movie-going culture a favor, because instead of a fan watching alone, "they encourage various forms of participation and social interaction between consumers" (112).  The Matrix became a tool for bringing people together. C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one,'" and there's no reason to think that taking the connection online makes it less of a friendship.

Jenkins also quotes Young, who "worried that the Wachowski brothers may have narrowed their audience by making too many demands on them" (130). Certainly, it seems that those who are willing to go the distance to get the whole story are very much a niche audience, which begs the question: Could (and/or should) the transmedia model be duplicated? At face value it sounds ideal for the sci-fi/fantasy crowd, who already have their communities and conventions. Should Star Trek reward its devoted fans, for instance, by making their next movie into a transmedia experience? You can't throw a figurative rock online without hitting a Trekkie (or maybe that's just the circles I run in); would this be a valuable experiment for that franchise to try next?

It seems a bit premature, with the "transmedia storytelling" (97) still in its infancy, to make a judgement call on whether this is where entertainment will ultimately go. Jenkins points out that "sometimes, we simply want to watch" (134). I don't see traditional entertainment going away altogether; even the most devoted fan needs a chance to veg. But if the transmedia route does pan out, this will be a shining example of Jenkins' convergence; a new media is born from an old media, but the old media is still around and serving its purpose.

Source: C.S. Lewis Quotes. Think Exist. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2011.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture. New York: New York U, 2006. Print.