In the film The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowsky, 1999) the
character Morpheus offers the hero Neo a choice. Neo can either take
the blue pill, and continue living in what he assumes is reality, or
take the red pill, and learn how what he understands as reality is, in
fact, constructed by “the matrix.” This class will examine how
what we think of as reality is actually manufactured by hegemony––the
power of the ruling elite to persuade the rest of society that what is
in their interest is best for all of us. We will examine how categories
like gender, class, and ethnicity are constructed, and how hegemonic
agendas determine the way we think of everything from entertainment to
the war on terrorism.