The Introductory “Snakes on a Plane” Critical Reader

In the field of media studies, there are many pressing questions and continual crises. What is the future of Hollywood? What form will the new media take? Are record sales doomed to fall to record lows while illegal downloading and the sale of singles take over as the new paradigm? What are the implications of reality programming on the future of creative and artistic film and television?

However, there is one question that is most prominent in the minds of all those concerned with the development of the arts in these United States: What are these motherfucking snakes doing on this motherfucking plane?

I have assembled this critical reader to contain the preeminent scholarship and essays on the impact and meaning of the upcoming film “Snakes on a Plane,” starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Popshots: Snakes, Planes, and the triumph of Ironic Appreciation by Glenn McDonald details an initial appraisement of Snakes on a Plane, its history, and the history of the associated internet phenomena. It also features a number of video segments showing the fan cult of the film.

The “Snakes on a Plane” Problem by acclaimed author and memoirist Chuck Klosterman is a detailed critique of the negative implications of the film for the broader culture.

Asshole Whose Entire Career Based On Appreciating The Lowbrow Wants To Pull Up The Ladder is representative of the numerous critiques of the Klosterman article and spends its time dissecting the problems with it while defending the role of “Snakes on a Plane” in the culture at large.

Hissy fit by Aemilia Scott takes a more nuanced role to the position of “Snakes on a Plane” and the Klosterman criticism, finding a middle path that accounts addresses the Klosterman critique’s concerns and then posits a different interpretation.