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September 2009 
Four Key Conversations: Matrix Reloaded
Julian
Click here for the introduction - The Matrix Reloaded: Deconstructing "The One."
Also: Three Evolving Relationships in The Matrix Reloaded
Conversation #1: The Oracle:
Make Up Your Own Damn Mind!
The Oracle: Well, come on. I ain't gonna bite ya. Come around here, and let me have a look at ya. My goodness, look at you! You turned out all right, didn't you? How do you feel?
Neo: I, uh...
The Oracle: I know you're not sleeping. We'll get to that. Why don't you come and have a sit this time?
Neo: Maybe I'll stand.
The Oracle: Well, suit yourself.
*Neo sits down.*
Neo: I felt like sitting.
The Oracle: I know. So. Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way.
Neo: You're not human, are you?
The Oracle: Well it's tough to get any more obvious than that.
Neo: If I had to guess, I'd say you're a program from the machine world. So is he.
The Oracle: So far, so good.
Neo: But if that's true, that can mean you are a part of this system, another kind of control.
The Oracle: Keep going.
Neo: I suppose the most obvious question is, how can I trust you?
The Oracle: Bingo! It is a pickle, no doubt about it. The bad news is there's no way if you can really know whether I'm here to help you or not. So it's really up to you. You just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I'm going to tell you, or reject it. Candy?
Neo: D'you already know if I'm going to take it?
The Oracle: Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't.
Neo: But if you already know, how can I make a choice?
The Oracle: Because you didn't come here to make the choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it. I thought you'd have figured that out by now.
Neo: Why are you here?
The Oracle: Same reason. I love candy.
Neo: But why help us?
The Oracle: We're all here to do what we're all here to do. I'm interested in one thing, Neo, the future. And believe me, I know - the only way to get there is together.
Neo: Are there other programs like you?
The Oracle: Oh, well, not like me. But... Look, see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You'd never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.
Neo: I've never heard of them.
The Oracle: Of course you have. Every time you've heard someone say they saw a ghost, or an angel. Every story you've ever heard about vampires, werewolves, or aliens is the system assimilating some program that's doing something they're not supposed to be doing.
Neo: Programs hacking programs. Why?
The Oracle: They have their reasons, but usually a program chooses exile when it faces deletion.
Neo: And why would a program be deleted?
The Oracle: Maybe it breaks down. Maybe a better program is created to replace it - happens all the time, and when it does, a program can either choose to hide here, or return to The Source.
Neo: The machine mainframe?
The Oracle: Yes. Where you must go. Where the path of The One ends. You've seen it, in your dreams, haven't you? The door made of light?
*Neo nods*
The Oracle: What happens when you go through the door?
Neo: I see Trinity, and something happens, something bad. She starts to fall, and then I wake up.
The Oracle: Do you see her die?
Neo: No.
The Oracle: You have the sight now, Neo. You are looking at the world without time.
Neo: Then why can't I see what happens to her?
The Oracle: We can never see past the choices we don't understand.
Neo: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?
The Oracle: No. You've already made the choice, now you have to understand it.
Neo: No, I can't do that. I won't.
The Oracle: You have to.
Neo: Why?
The Oracle: Because you're The One.
Neo: What if I can't? What happens if I fail?
The Oracle: Then Zion will fall. Our time is up. Listen to me, Neo. You can save Zion if you reach The Source, but to do that you will need the Keymaker.
Neo: The Keymaker?
The Oracle: Yes, he disappeared some time ago. We did not know what happened to him until now. He's being held prisoner by a very dangerous program, one of the oldest of us. He is called the Merovingian, and he will not let him go willingly.
Neo: What does he want?
The Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
The Oracle: Be there, at that exact time, and you will have a chance.
Seraph: We must go.
The Oracle: Seems like every time we meet I've got nothing but bad news. I'm sorry about that, I surely am. But for what it's worth, you've made a believer out of me. Good luck, kiddo.
So - Neo goes to The Oracle and we expect the cryptic mythic/psychic references we have grown acustomed to, but this time we are in a completely new game. The Oracle is a computer program from the machine world? Another form of control? Neo is going to have to make up his "own damn mind?" Neo has already chosen wether or not Trinity will live or die but his task now is to understand his choice?There is a lot of cutesy play in the scene: The Oracle knows wether or not Neo will stand or sit, take the candy ofr not, she knows that he is not sleeping etc..Neo is confused about what is his choice and what is predetermined - and that's the theme of this conversation and it is in stark contrast to Morpheus' insistence on prophecy, destiny, predetermination etc...
So The Oracle is part of the matrix but appears to be benevolent - what's more she is almost giving Neo a new spin on what it means to be The One - now it has more to do with choice, understanding choices and making up your own mind about who to trust. We have gone from old world one-dimensional messiah to authentic exisistentially mature human being here - and the implication is that this is a step forward!
Remember too that we have come from the homecoming scenes in Zion - from Neo being treated like an avatar, while wanting nothing more than some hot private time with his beloved.... We have come from the rave scene that is nothing so much as a celebration of the body as sacred, powerful and erotic (cut together of course with Neo and Trinity in passionate love-making) and also of the power of Morpheus' theatrical dogmatic posturing to unfiy the masses.
Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and the collecitve humanity of Zion are in a set of complex relationships here that is sliced though by a single element - choice.
Conversation #2: Agent Smith
The Tension Between Choice and Purpose
Smith: Mister Anderson! Did you get my package?
Neo: Yeah.
Smith: Well, good.
Morpheus: Smith.
Link: Whoever it is, he's not reading like an agent.
Smith: Surprised to see me?
Neo: No.
Smith: Then you're aware of it.
Neo: Of what?
Smith: Our connection. I don't fully understand how it happened.
Perhaps some part of you imprinted onto me, something overwritten or copied.
That is at this point irrelevant, what matters is that whatever happened,
happened for a reason.
Neo: And what reason is that?
Smith: I killed you, Mister Anderson, I watched you die...
With a certain satisfaction, I might add, and then something happened.
Something that I knew was impossible, but it happened anyway.
You destroyed me, Mister Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules,
I understood what I was supposed to do but I didn't. I couldn't.
I was compelled to stay,
compelled to disobey. And now here I stand because of you, Mister Anderson,
because of you I'm no longer an agent of the system,
because of you I've changed - I'm unplugged - a new man, so to speak,
like you, apparently free.
Neo: Congratulations.
Smith: Thank you. But as you well know, appearances can be deceiving,
which brings me back to the reason why we're here.
We're not here because we're free,
we're here because we're not free. There's no escaping reason,
no denying purpose - because as we both know, without purpose,
we would not exist.
Smith 2: It is purpose that created us,
Smith 3: Purpose that connects us,
Smith 4: Purpose that pulls us,
Smith 5: That guides us,
Smith 6: That drives us,
Smith 7: It is purpose that defines,
Smith 8: Purpose that binds us.
Smith: We're here because of you, Mister Anderson, we're here to take
from you what you tried to take from us.
Purpose.
Agent Smith is now able to replicate himself as many times as he chooses in response to Neo's developing power. He is acknowledging here that while he has been somehow awakened, liberated, while he is compelled to disobey - he cannot escape his purpose, the reason he was created - and he is implying, neither can Neo. These two are in a twinship of purpose, a yin-yang relationship that is deeper and perhaps more unsettling than our previous notions of character and virtue - it has to do with forces beyonds their conscious volition....
Conversation #3: The Merovingian
Choice is an Illusion, There is Ony Causality
Morpheus: Yes, we are here to speak with the Merovingian.
Maitre'd: Of course, he has been expecting you. Follow me.
Merovingian: Aha, here he is at last. Neo, the One himself, right?
And the legendary Morpheus. And Trinity of course, si belle qu'elle me fait
souffrir.
I have heard so much, you honour me. Please, sit, join us.
This is my wife, Persephone. Something to eat? Drink?
Hmm... of course, such things are contrivances like so much here.
For the sake of appearances.
Neo: No, thank you.
Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time?
But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time?
Château Haut-Brion 1959, magnificent wine, I love French wine,
like I love the French language. I have sampled every language,
French is my favourite - fantastic language, especially to curse with.
Nom de Dieu de putain de bordel de merde de
saloperies de connards d'enculés de ta mère.
You see, it's like wiping your arse with silk,
I love it.
Morpheus: You know why we are here.
Merovingian: Hmph... I am a trafficker of information,
I know everything I can. The question is, do you know
why you are here?
Morpheus: We are looking for the Keymaker.
Merovingian: Oh yes, it is true. The Keymaker, of course.
But this is not a reason, this is not a `why.' The Keymaker himself,
his very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so, to look for him
is to be looking for a means to do... what?
Neo: You know the answer to that question.
Merovingian: But do you? You think you do but you do not.
You are here because you were sent here,
you were told to come here and you obeyed. [Laughs]
It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant,
one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction.
Cause and effect.
Morpheus: Everything begins with choice.
Merovingian: No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion,
created between those with power, and those without.
Look there, at that woman. My God, just look at her.
Affecting everyone around her, so obvious, so bourgeois, so boring.
But wait... Watch - you see, I have sent her dessert, a very special dessert.
I wrote it myself. It starts so simply, each line of the program
creating a new effect, just like poetry. First, a rush... heat... her heart flutters.
You can see it, Neo, yes? She does not understand why - is it the wine?
No. What is it then, what is the reason? And soon it does not matter,
soon the why and the reason are gone, and all that matters is
the feeling itself.
This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it,
we fight to deny it,
but it is of course pretense, it is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance,
the truth is we are completely out of control. Causality.
There is no escape from it, we are forever slaves to it.
Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it,
to understand the `why.'
`Why' is what separates us from them, you from me.
`Why' is the only real social power, without it you are powerless.
And this is how you come to me, without `why,' without power.
Another link in the chain.
But fear not, since I have seen how good you are at following orders,
I will tell you what to do next.
Run back, and give the fortune teller this message:
Her time is almost up. Now I have some real business to do,
I will say adieu and goodbye.
Neo: This isn't over.
Merovingian: Oh yes, it is.
The Keymaker is mine and I see no reason
why I should give him up.
No reason at all.
Persephone: Where are you going?
Merovingian: Please, ma chérie, I've told you,
we are all victims of causality. I drink too much wine,
I must take a piss.
Cause and effect. Au revoir.
We continue to struggle with the tension between free will or choice,
causality and predetermination. The Merovingian recognizes that
there is power in understandingand exploiting causality.
Next comes the scene with Persephone in which she agrees
to betray her husband in exchange for just one real kiss
from Neo - but he must make her belive that she is Trinity -
he must kiss her withat the same love that is "all over them" for eachother.
Meanwhile the Merovingian is in the bathroom with the woman
he has seduced with the aphrodisiac pie-code, and Persephone
reveals this shocker:
Persephone: I'm so sick of his bullshit. On and on, pompous prick.
A long time ago, when we first came here, it was so different.
He was so different. He was like you.
And later the Merovingian to Neo (on returning to disover his betrayal):
"You know, your predecessors had much more respect."
If Neo is The One how can there have been predecessors,
and what does it mean that The Merovingian was more like Neo before?
We are beginnning to get a sense that thereis a history here that
predates our hero...
Conversation #4: The Architect
You are the eventuality of an anomaly...
Architect: Hello, Neo.
Neo: Who are you?
Architect: I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I've been waiting for you.
You have many questions, and though the process has altered your consciousness,
you remain irrevocably human. Ergo some of my answers you will understand,
and some of them you will not. Concordantly,
while your first question may be the most pertinent,
you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.
Neo: Why am I here?
Architect: Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation
inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly,
which, despite my sincerest efforts,
I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical
precision.
While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected,
and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably... here.
Neo: You haven't answered my question.
Architect: Quite right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others.
TV Neos: Others? How many others? What others? Answer my question!
Architect: The Matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence
of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is
the 6th version.
TV Neos: 5 `One's before me? 4 3 2 What are you talking about?
Neo: There are only two possible explanations, either no one told me,
or no one knows.
Architect: Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic -
creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.
TV Neos: You can't control me! I'm gonna smash you to bits! I'll fuckin' kill you!
Neo: Choice. The problem is choice.
Architect: The first Matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect,
it was a work of art - flawless, sublime.
A triumph equalled only by its monumental failure.
The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the
imperfection inherent in every human being.
Thus, I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect
the varying grotesqueries of your nature.
However, I was again frustrated by failure.
I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required
a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection.
Thus the answer was stumbled upon by another -
an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects
of the human psyche.
If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.
Neo: The Oracle.
Architect: Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby
nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program,
as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice
at a near unconscious level.
While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed,
thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly,
that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself.
Ergo those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked,
would constitute an escalating probablility of disaster.
Neo: This is about Zion.
Architect: You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed -
its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated.
Neo: Bullshit.
TV Neos: Bullshit!
Architect: Denial is the most predictable of all human responses,
but rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it,
and we have become exceedingly
efficient at it.
Architect: The function of the One is now to return to the Source,
allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry,
reinserting the prime program.
After which, you will be required to select from the Matrix 23 individuals -
16 female, 7 male - to rebuild Zion.
Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash,
killing everyone connected to the Matrix, which,
coupled with the extermination of Zion,
will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
Neo: You won't let it happen. You can't. You need human beings to survive.
Architect: There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept.
However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready
to accept the responsibility of the death of every human being on this world.
It is interesting, reading your reactions.
Your 5 predecessors were, by design, based on a similar predication -
a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment
to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the One.
While the others experienced this in a very general way,
your experience is far more specific - vis a vis love.
Neo: Trinity.
Architect: Apropos, she entered the Matrix to save your life,
at the cost of her own.
Neo: No.
Architect: Which brings us at last to the moment of truth,
wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed,
and the anomaly revealed as both beginning and end. There are two doors.
The door to your right leads to the Source, and the salvation of Zion.
The door to your left leads back to the Matrix,
to her and to the end of your species.
As you adequately put, the problem is choice.
But we already know what you are going to do, don't we?
Already, I can see the chain reaction - the chemical precursors
that signal the onset of an emotion,
designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason
- an emotion that is already blinding you from the simple and obvious truth.
She is going to die, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Architect: Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.
Neo: If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again.
Architect: We won't.
Now click here for more analysis of these conversations and their impact on the
Three Evolving Relationships in The Matrix Reloaded.
Access: Public
Well, I shall have to go now and re-acquaint myself with the movies. I notice that my brother has a ten-disc box set (for whatever reason three movies would require of ten discs)…
…but yes. Do keep it up. That which has been written thus far has been most enjoyable and informative.
Thanks Julian,
This is so much better and more easily understood than the movie which I revisited last week and was reminded of why it was so unsatisfying. Everyone in the movie speaks sotto voce and with a dead pan expressionlessness. It is very weak theater despite all the incredible action scenes. I don't think the movie succeeds in joining the sci-fi action and the metaphysical content. I felt like the movie was confused on how to reach its audience. No big deal. It is difficult to artistically deal with so many Big Themes e.g. causality vs predetermination, prophecy vs choice, program vs programmer, love vs reason etc. My personal taste and take is that Waking Life does a better job without taking itself quite so seriously.
It does seem to me that one theme missing is the issue of identity. Who programs? Who is programmed? It's so easy to get hoplessly tangled in all the various plot lines.
I look forward to the discussion. I have to. I have no choice in the matter. I was programmed to look forward. Predestination is such a glitch…
c
Great comment…will check out Waking Life…and jump in…
thanks zazen - yeah that 10 disc set is amazing - wilber and west doing commentary, a documentary on the AI stuff one on the philosophy inherent to the films…. amking of docs, the animatrix - it's alll really fun!
yea i hear you coyote! hmmmm for my money waking life is about 1/5th as deep - but great movie making technique and very fun nonetheless!
Community,
For those interested Matrix I screenplay is here.
Matrix Reloaded is here.
Matrix Revolutions a click away from here
read'em and weep
nice!
sweet, cayoteyogi!
will have a looksy…
well coyote - i think it's important to keep two things clearly defined - the plotline , which is a really cool sci fi/cyberpunk alternate reality head trip, and the philosophical questions that it raises, which are perennial and open-ended…..yeah?
Julian,
Yes it is important to keep them clearly defined but it seems to me that the W. brothers spend a lot of energy blurring and entangling the two. The movies are deliberately constructed as a puzzle. The “sci fi/cyberpunk alternate reality head trip” works well enough in the first movie. I just don’t think it works that well in the 2nd. I’ve yet to rent and view the 3rd. Reflecting on it as a story, and only as a story, I just don’t care or identify with the characters very much. That is an important part of my enjoyment of a novel or movie. There needs to be at least one person that I really like. As I’ve written elsewhere I responded negatively to many of the production values and styles chosen.
Looking at the Matrix Reloaded, there were many choices that just didn’t make sense to me. The set of Zion seemed very 19th century industrial, not sci fi. The steel doors and structures were huge, heavy, graceless. It has more the appearance of a prison or factory than a remnant of human culture_ no beauty or even very much engineering elegance. There was alot of dirt and grime, an absence of living things, no art. And everything and everyone seemed depressingly serious.
Neo and the others wear sunglasses indoors. Why? Uber-cool urban chic? The styles are contemporary to urban America are they pandering to a particular audience? Neo wears a monks garments. His body is completely covered with fabric. Is this because of modesty? It certainly doesn’t help him to move easily. It certainly emphasizes his identity as
“The One”. I thought he was resistant to being the One, why dress the part? Trinity dresses in black vinyl, also completely covered with a long coat. It is very awkward clothing to fight in. Again why? I found those aesthetic choices to be off-putting. Okay, I’m not very cool. I admit it.
It all seems garbled and confused to me, like the authors are not sure whether to play to the story or the audience. There is never much relaxed human contact. Even the love making seemed dreadfully serious and earnest. (I love that drumming track for breathwork however.)
The ideas are interesting but as you’ve stated, very difficult to follow (and hear) in the movies. I am not very intrigued by artificial intelligence as a science and even less interested in it as a metaphysics e.g. “everything can be programmed”_ crows, trees, people, lovers. Yuck.
As I’ve said there is such a radical divorce from the natural world, which I read as fatally flawed hubris. In some sense the most talented cyber punk programmers are dependent on natural systems, on the power grid, on the trust that people will keep their word and speak the truth. When everyone is lying and nothing is at it seems, the world comes to a complete halt and we are back to hunting rats with sharp sticks. (yes I am confused)
Yes, the movie suggests such issues as compassionate care are important. Persephone’s desire to feel genuine love for example. But is that even possible? What is Neo to do to satisfy her? Pretend it’s Trinity? Where is the connection? Wouldn’t Persephone know the emotion to be false, manufactured for her benefit to obtain the advantage she controls? Can true love and desire be faked? The movie suggests that it can. Why else would she be satisfied?
So some ramblings. I hope that there are people in zaadz land that really loved this series of movies and that they will respond to your thoughtful presentation with their own passionate insights. I look forward to reading them. My own feelings are too ambivalent.
enjoying the moment,
coyote
thanks coyote - i think these are all really relevant points and valid perceptions….
Coyote Yogi -
Great thoughts! :)
From the inception of the Matrix series, I have often joked that it is “a movie about sunglasses.” The same way that the “300” was a movie about “amazing abs that grow dirtier and sexier, while gorgeous teeth grow whiter and pearlier.”
:)
And if you think about it (though I am jesting), there is actually something to look at regarding the costuming of the Matrix. And personally, I don't think it was intentional. I think it was a subconscious choice (ah-hah! irony! true irony!) regarding the psyche of our current sociocultural climate of movie attendees around the planet (yet especially in the West)…
Sunglasses.
What are they good for?
1) Blocking light. Making it a bit more bearable. Toning it down and dissipating it.
2) Also, hiding expression and feeling. Creating an illusion of stoicness and/or mystery. “Coolness” despite all circumstances.
3) Power. You gotta have money to wear the badass shades.
Mostly, I'll focus on the first two qualities of sunglasses, and why they are meaningful in “hero” flicks like the Matrix, whether the filmakers (Wach bros) were intentional in their inspiration regarding this or not. Again, most “hero” flicks have this costume element as a “must have.” It pretty much began with the “Terminator” series and has continued in perpetuity ever since.
Sunglasses:
1) The “One” within all of us. Our “seeker/savior.” Our inner person who seeks the “light” and the “truth.” We've all got this aspect. Yet… We've also got this amazing EGO. (*chuckle*) The aspect that can't quite accept the starkness, simplicity and ordinariness of absolute “truth” that does not pander to individual comforts.
So…we don shades. And attempt to “look good.” We attend an “eco rally” or participate in a fundraiser for the children of Darfur, while making sure to fuss over what's on sale at Macy's or Patagonia to get our best deal from the sales rack while wearing the coolest labels. And we do it all in the same day. Often without flinching or batting an eyelash. It's comic.
And I say this with full compassion and a lot of self-humor. I don't feel one iota accusatory towards myself or others as I discuss this.
Shades and stylishness are like a Western knee-jerk reaction and subconsious behavior we are often unaware of. The need to numb with commercialism. The need for Denny's and Target and GAP and even Whole Foods. The need for iPhone and “RED” and “100% Organic” and “Lo-Fat” and “in the Zone” and “as seen on Oprah.” The need for “product” and “packaging.” For life to be neat and pretty and glossy. To feel charitable and pure, while also the desire to rock n' roll in the orgy of media and marketing to dampen the horrors/atrocities of those things we are charitable towards. The pain and suffering are all too, too bright and garish. The suffering. The suffering.
We “seek” the light as the “one,” while indulging in the “dark” as the social unconscious/subconscious “collective.”
A collective is not a one/oneness. A collective is a large group of individuals. Quite different than an attunement to a “oneness.”
Okay…getting a bit off-track…here's the concept I am proposing…
Sunglasses.
A visual metaphor for that which immediately reveals our inability to accept and deal with the “light/truth,” while maintaining our egoic refuge of “coolness/togetherness/strength/power.”
2) Why do we love, love, love the shades? They hide our fears and self-doubts and other unseemly, revealing emotions of (*gasp*) vulnerability and humanity and sorrow and neediness and tenderness and affection.
How attractive Neo, Morpheus and Trinity are in their shades… How drab and ordinary and vulnerable and human they are with their exposed and naked peepers…
Within the Matrix—the illusion—they too have egos, just like the collective program ego: Smith. In fact, their egos are what allow them to function within the Matrix. Strong ego—cool shades and black latex—equals power and eliteness within the “lie.” Who can “out lie the other?” Who has the bigger ego? Smith? Neo? Battle of the egos?
When Neo becomes Smith to defeat Smith, there is a moment of realization that even egos share a “oneness” and a “sameness.” They are all illusion. They all have that common denominator. The need to dampen down the light. Both Neo and Smith wear badass shades and cool threads.
Therefore, I propose that badass shades and cool threads are a commonality of ego-ness within us all.
A great way to find the truth is to really, really get to know one's own ego. It's hard to fall for the shades and swag, when it's seen for what it is: numbing out.
Ah, I could go on for days about sunglasses and stylish apparel. The need to look good.
Is it not the ultimate acknowledgement of otherness?
And doesn't charity/righteousness/light-seeking/spirituality often become a vanity of the ego? When do we go into the light for ourselves, and when do we enter it as show for others?
Of course I could not propose any of this metaphoric interpretation of sexy cinematic costuming, without my own experience of succumbing to “shades” and “stylishness” on many occasions. Yes, I too have felt the need to “look good” and “be cool”—wearing virtue while accessorizing with a pair of Foster Grants.
Thankfully, there's self-forgiveness and humor to get me through.
;)
…just a few thoughts…
looking forward to your continuing stream of excellent and entertaining interpretation CY and J.
:)
Delia and all,
Sunday morning.
First a confession_ I have a pair of rose colored sunglasses which I almost always wear outside. I jokingly refer to them as “prozac for my face”. I enjoy the sharper contrast they give to the landscape and I love the polarizing of light in the clouds. And, since we are deconstructing here, they are made by a company called Smith….
I enjoyed your musings on the various ways that we use sunglasses to avoid direct contact with eachother and as a way to project an image we want others to see. What you almost mention, but not directly, is how America has become a celebrity culture. I’ve read somewhere how celebrities now function in the same role that the Greek Gods used to. They are the vehicles of archetypal energies and we as consumers of photos and E! project our own desires onto them. Angelina as Aphrodite. Brad as Apollo, and Brangelina? Making love? My god it’s a wonder the mattress doesn’t burst into flames as they ascend in a fiery chariot to the mountaintop…. I respect Angelina’s political involvement and her determination to turn the globe’s most famous lips into those of a spokesperson for social justice. I am grateful I am not her and almost entirely grateful I am not her boyfriend…:-)
Anyone cursed by celebrity wears sunglasses as a way of maintaining a bare minimum of private space. The glasses, as mask, give just enough doubt to identity to allow them to pass by. Without them they are quite naked, no matter how clothed. So the trio on the cover of M2 are claiming celebrity status. They are separating themselves from the masses of mortals. They are the demi-gods doing battle in our place.
Time to put the tush on the cush
c
Yes…”perenial and open ended”…I loved that about M1..I still need to catch up on 3…remembered I saw 2, all worth a re-watch i'm sure!
Glad to be here..I was sick last week so I was kind-of “out of it”!
I'm back…
Delia,
I re-read your comments and much appreciate your po-mo keyboard riffing mind jazz. Please play some more. I wonder if the producers accepted money from sunglass manufacturors for product placement?
The matrices are much about style and violence. Not only are the characters highly stylized but the violence as well is carefully, beautifully choreographed. I was laughing to myself when I drew the connection between the Matrix movies and movies from the 40s. Much like the old films would have a break for a song and dance number, the Matrix would take a break for a violence and gunfire routine, then they would return to the story.
I did enjoy the twins in Matrix II. They did seem to be fanciful creations. There was humor mixed in with the violence and horror action.
“We are becoming annoyed.”
” We are.”
that was funny
I willingly stretch my credulity when I go into a theater. I'm willing to go along with the improbable for the sake of the story, but my credulity broke during the freeway scene. Never have so many shots been fired without a single hit.
For what seems like forever, the twins fire high powered automatic weapons at Morpheus and Trinity and the Keymaker without even a grazing wound. It is one of the biggest lies of the Matrix series_ what guns do, the damage they cause, the awful wounding and lifetime of suffering that is so often the result of a short burst.
The other connection I made when looking at the cover of M2 is the similarity to the young men who committed the Columbine massacre. So many of the same themes from the movie: coolness, power, insider vs outsider, nihilism and the grotesque desire to “go out in style”. I don't want to take the movies too seriously but they have contributed to and reflected back to us as a culture, our fascination with violence and in particular the violence possible when you couple human emotions with the efficiency of a machine. Deadly.
Enough out of me. Oh, one more thing, I had to laugh when the Architect (male) told Neo that he would have to re-populate Zion with 23 people_ 7 males and 15 females. Ah, now there is an almost Mormonian fantasy of many females replenishing the human stock, all seed supplied by a few selected males. Where is Eros in that scenario? What are the power relations? And what does that fantasy say about the fantasizer/creator? It seems to be a standard dream of an adolescent computer nerd_ finally I can get lucky…
okay now I'm overheated
c
cayoteyogi,
Ur funny! Although I do appreciate you commentary on guns, I think that the shooting scenes in The Matrix are deep…quantum physic…spirit enegy…protection from “blasts”…living beauty in a world of chaos.
nice riffing d and cy - ummm yea of course in the world of matrix illusion, the world in whcih you appear as “residual self image” everyone looks cool, stylish, attractive, wears shades etc…. i covered this in my piece on matrix one and made a case for the message actually being that the humble, drab, vulnerable real world humans with humiliatring plastic plugs attached to their bodies were the real hearoes and their precarious existence in the post-apocalyptic desert of the real was what was being fought for inside the matrix by these flashy figments…
yes of course everything that happens in the matrix has an intentionally two dimensional unreality about it… i think this almost hits you over the head in the first movie and is meant to both seduce the eye and leave a tel tale taste of cliche in your mouth….. while blowing your mind with absolutely ground breaking CGI and special effects/camera work.
coyorte the whole second movie is to some extent about eros, about neo's love for trinity becoming more important to him than the grandiose fantasy of an impersonal savior destiny. the zion rave scene and neo and trinity's love making is a strong statement about the importance of the body, eros and human love…
of course the architect's repopulation scenario is odious, as is everything else he says he's the father of all bad guys!
I watched all three yesterday, and made notes. Its all so very satisfying getting it with the left and right brain! My left and right brain that is, with my own perceptions … and I was not wearing sunglasses.
Symbolically sunglasses are also to lessen the impact of a light that is currently too bright … in order to see clearly in the current conditions with the eyes you have.
Sunglasses being cool is a ‘partial’ truth.
Julian, since you are taking us through in stages I will keep to your sequence and try very hard not to bring up anything you haven’t addressed yet but most probably will!
To stick to the four conversations, and see them as the characters ‘preferences’, we can see that none of them are balanced points of view. Neo is trying to come to terms with responsibility, ambiguity and attachment - these are the ‘good’ traits.
All the males inside the matrix are Neo’s shadows. They have aspects which need to be confronted and integrated in different ways by Neo.
The Merovingian is a power-monger, a rebel against the system within the system, (he used to be like Neo…) he chose the dark-side. He is a trickster archetype. Causality goes both ways (do or do not), therefor he chooses to manipulate, because he only wants causality to go his way. He is not the keymaker, he guards him. He is a test, he appeals to rationality…
Smith wants control over life, lifes purpose for him is purpose itself, and purpose for him is his ego’s idea of what purpose is ‘(masculine) reason’ - he doesnt want to ‘(feminine) surrender’ control, the will to power opposes Neo’s will to love. Smith is a warrior archetype… albiet a canny one.
The architect is the repressed shadow of the Father. All reason, all calculation, no warmth, no emotion, but poweful and decisive nevertheless. He attempts to bring balance through reason. It isn’t actually odius for him to suggest more women than men for the rebirth of Zion, its a clue to understanding reason for what it is. Unvarnished, Spock like logic. These are humans he is talking about and statistics of behaviour is what he is using, not intuition or feeling. The movie is also trying to test us…
Which brings me to the Oracle. She is his intuition, she brings news of the choices he is ready for. He has recognised that she alone does not hold the key, he cannot rely on her, she is a ‘partial’ part of his psyche, and he must connect to everything, but she offers direction away from listening to his fears. She is an aspect of his mature Self.
All a bit Jungian, but hopefully clearer than cloudy!
thanks Julian,
I appreciate your more positive spin on interpretting the movies. Helps me to break free from my Cotton Mather persona.
I do forget the dual aspect of the matrix and the “desert of the real” image of human bodies plugged into the machines as an energy source. But that image itself (here I go again) is something of a programmers fantasy e.g. that humans could be kept alive for long stretches of time by machines. Think bees and mites or any of the other opportunistic infectious agents that would love to go from pod to pod. Evolution never stands still.
I again invite anyone who has found these movies to be deeply moving and important to write in and share your passion. Don't make Julian do all the heavy lifting.
I think the use of shades force you to look into the emptiness of the other… it also limits the sensory input keeping the zenlike tone of the movies… vacilitateing from the focused intensity of the action sequences…and the detached but engaged conceptual elements of the films… simply beautifully done… the movie is the main reason i'm on the path.
seatgrabber,
I liked that! :)
always enjoy you coyote and what you are saying is of course accurate - party poooping and diminishing the depth of what is being expllored in the flawed story vehicle - but accurate!
nice observations seatgrabber…
ah sanjuro - yum! thank you…
Julian, your ubercool matrix doppleganger has been replaced by a smiling human icon! This is the desert of the real!… or perhaps the Oasis! :)
this is how i look outside of your dreamworld sanjuro… you're awake! welcome to the real world….
this is all great…i love it…weren't we talking about the Matrix?????????????????\
Am I lost, again….it's okay, i discover the best places when i'm lost!!!
haha! Well Julian, I know kung fu…
Thanks, Julian. I watched these movies when they first came out, but am looking forward to this weekend when I'll have some time to watch them again. I read this book then, too. I see there's another one out by the same author covering ideas brought out in Revolutions & Reloaded. Just in case anyone's interest in another individual's thoughts about the movies:)
Elizabeth, i ordered the book..looks very interesting, thank you so much for that
recommendation, i'm excited to read it!