May 14, 2003

  • Last night Charlie Rose did a whole episode about the new Matrix movie. He had Joel Silver and the three principal actors around his table, and then in another segment, media critics talking about the first movie.

    A lot was made about the similarities between The Matrix and Star Wars, and also Terminator and Total Recall. And also the differences in the way these movies all resonate with the public.

    Thinking about it today while sipping coffee, I realized that an important difference is the way the different movies approach community as a factor against oppression and illusion. Terminator and Total Recall have no real community involved. Star Wars has the rebel forces, and while they have their shit together, it’s not exactly clear what their rebellion is against. Other than the evil of ‘the dark side,’ of course.

    In The Matrix, on the other hand, Neo has friends who seek him out, who have their shit together, and who can all trust each other, for the most part. Cypher’s betrayal is the exception that proves the rule.

    And I think this is a big part of why the movie resonates so strongly. We all want for there to be people out there who know what’s going on, who can explain it to us, even if it’s painful to hear, and who will value our contribution to what they’re trying to do. Neo doesn’t (and can’t) save the world alone.

    One of my favorite sequences is where Tank downloads jujitsu and kung fu into Neo’s brain. Neo opens his eyes and says, “I know kung fu!” Later on, Trinity needs to know how to fly a helicopter, so Tank downloads that knowledge into her. Instantaneous learning from your fellow man. Literacy in a post-literacy world. Just as someone in your community would teach you to, say, tie knots, in the world of The Matrix, your community’s wisdom exists in software that can be shot into your brain.

    I could go off on a tangent about Neal Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash’ and ‘Diamond Age,’ and his subtext of humans-as-computer-programs, but I have to go right now and let a friend turn off my brain and turn on my parasympathetic system and give me a massage. Not a software issue, but a hardware one.

    And it’s nice to have a community where such work can occur.

Comments (4)

  • I completely agree with your assessment.  I could care less about the other three films, but the Matrix is absolutely moving.  I cry almost everytime I watch it, often at different points.

    My friends and I are almost all students of different Vedic traditions, so we’re kind of familiar with the story anyway. I’m not a very careful reader, so I’m wondering if you are too?  I ask because I just don’t many people who are hyper into Matrix’s subtexts who aren’t Budhist or Hindu, though I’m interested in that perspective…

  • Hardware better today?  I could use a massage, I think I’ll make an appointment. 

    I have to admit I don’t understand the Matrix-obsession.  I enjoyed the movie.  I thought it was interesting, creative, a reasonably good movie.  I saw it a couple of times, which is rare for me, since I don’t much care for movies (attention span thing).  But as for it’s deeper meaning, it looked like a rewrite of the standard savior story.   I may have missed something, I am not ashamed to say–as I mentioned, I am not much a film person.

  • good point about the matrix. haven’t seen the sequel yet. it’s coming out in a week in korea

  • I was annoyed. Tank is gone from the new movie. Mentioned, but gone. Grr.

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