The Video Rhizome: Taking Technology Seriously in The Meatrix

This essay discusses how The Meatrix, an animated criticism of factory farming, functions to entice and engage its viewers in productive dissemination. Widely distributed online, The Meatrix is often categorized with other popular new media phenomena as a viral video. This essay first argues that the use of the viral metaphor is flawed with mechanistic thinking. Second, the author introduces Deleuze and Guattari's rhizome as an alternative model. Third, The Meatrix rhizome is discussed as an intricate relationship of intertextuality, technological dissemination, and user experience. Finally, the author encourages academics and activists alike to reconsider mechanistic thinking of new media in favor of the text as an open, distributed system.