Sunday, November 16, 2003
Matrix Musings
Watched the Matrix 3 last night and left feeling a bit ripped off. Most of the questions that were there after Reloaded are still there, and a few more have been added. I guess the big one at the end of 2 was whether there were multiple matrices or whether the ship’s EMP had destroyed the sentinels. That was sort of answered, with the oracle saying that “the one” has power in the real world also.
I guess the question then becomes why does he have power there? The only thing that makes sense to me is that Neo is part of the computer system itself, more than being just a human whose mind was in the matrix. Somehow then he is linked electronically with the machines and can control them himself.
The architect said in Reloaded that .1% of people wouldn’t accept the matrix, and seemingly they would be those who escape and go to Zion. The system is quite happy for them to escape from the matrix and go to Zion, as this stops the entire system from crashing. Occasionally the numbers of people in Zion get too large and pose a significant threat to the machines, so they have to be destroyed once again.
When the architect says “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”, perhaps this means Neo is not really a human, but is instead a computer projection of the hopes of Zionites for a saviour, or the total sum of all the errors in the matrix.
So how about this for a theory? Because humans needed to be allowed a choice, and allowed to escape the matrix if they chose, they also needed to be given a hope of defeating the machines. Hence Neo and all the previous “One”s were allowed to exist by the machines to offer hope to the masses. This would make Neo less of a Christ figure, and more of a false prophet offering false hope to the world. That would be a fairly anti-God message. In every other version of the Matrix Neo takes the supposedly logical step and resets the matrix and starts the system all over again, doing precisely what the architect wants. (While the architect is constantly trying to balance the equations and get the system rebooted, maybe the oracle is trying to encourage chaos, break the reboot cycle and help NEO)
There are two differences this time, and they would be the fact that Neo falls in love with trinity, leading him to make some weird choices, plus the fact that Smith goes feral. When he sees the humans, especially Morpheus in M1 making freewill decisions, he somehow morphs into a virus that leads the entire system into danger. Hence instead of Neo trying to encourage humans to fight, he offers peace to the machines, by offering to destroy Smith, who the machines are scared of. All previous Neo’s had not considered peace, and had not had the bargaining chip of offering to kill Smith to obtain it with. When Smith infects/kills Neo at the end, then either this allows the source to get a lock on Smith and delete him through Neo’s code, or Neo is actually has an anti-Smith code in his Matrix programming that acts as an anti-virus.
Or, it could be that this version of the matrix really was the same as the others, and when you see the black cat at the end, that is a symbol something being changed ie the Matrix is being reset as promised
Either way, there are still a lot of questions, and not a lot of resolution.
At the end of the first movie, Morpheus says that they will fight to destroy the machines, free the humans and end the matrix. This doesn’t even come close to happening, as they settle for the machines, matrix and free humans co-existing beside the matrix, with 99.9% still enslaved. Looks like a massive failure to me.
When Smith gets Neo at the end, is that the matrix resetting itself, hence there being no humans in the final scene within the matrix? That would also explain the black cat, as a black cat in movie one was a symbol of something being changed in the matrix ie the system resetting the Matrix again. Would this mean that everything the Architect said came true, and Neo’s life was worthless after all, despite the hope? Or is it a victory that those who want to escape the matrix can without being persecuted? Or is the system reset, but Zion wasn’t destroyed this time so it is a victory.
Is the message of the movie that free choice can override anything, or that free will is an illusion designed by the system? Does love conquer all, or does it blind us and lead us into stupidity?
I suspect none of this makes any sense, but any movie that can get people thinking is worthwhile in my books.
Watched the Matrix 3 last night and left feeling a bit ripped off. Most of the questions that were there after Reloaded are still there, and a few more have been added. I guess the big one at the end of 2 was whether there were multiple matrices or whether the ship’s EMP had destroyed the sentinels. That was sort of answered, with the oracle saying that “the one” has power in the real world also.
I guess the question then becomes why does he have power there? The only thing that makes sense to me is that Neo is part of the computer system itself, more than being just a human whose mind was in the matrix. Somehow then he is linked electronically with the machines and can control them himself.
The architect said in Reloaded that .1% of people wouldn’t accept the matrix, and seemingly they would be those who escape and go to Zion. The system is quite happy for them to escape from the matrix and go to Zion, as this stops the entire system from crashing. Occasionally the numbers of people in Zion get too large and pose a significant threat to the machines, so they have to be destroyed once again.
When the architect says “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”, perhaps this means Neo is not really a human, but is instead a computer projection of the hopes of Zionites for a saviour, or the total sum of all the errors in the matrix.
So how about this for a theory? Because humans needed to be allowed a choice, and allowed to escape the matrix if they chose, they also needed to be given a hope of defeating the machines. Hence Neo and all the previous “One”s were allowed to exist by the machines to offer hope to the masses. This would make Neo less of a Christ figure, and more of a false prophet offering false hope to the world. That would be a fairly anti-God message. In every other version of the Matrix Neo takes the supposedly logical step and resets the matrix and starts the system all over again, doing precisely what the architect wants. (While the architect is constantly trying to balance the equations and get the system rebooted, maybe the oracle is trying to encourage chaos, break the reboot cycle and help NEO)
There are two differences this time, and they would be the fact that Neo falls in love with trinity, leading him to make some weird choices, plus the fact that Smith goes feral. When he sees the humans, especially Morpheus in M1 making freewill decisions, he somehow morphs into a virus that leads the entire system into danger. Hence instead of Neo trying to encourage humans to fight, he offers peace to the machines, by offering to destroy Smith, who the machines are scared of. All previous Neo’s had not considered peace, and had not had the bargaining chip of offering to kill Smith to obtain it with. When Smith infects/kills Neo at the end, then either this allows the source to get a lock on Smith and delete him through Neo’s code, or Neo is actually has an anti-Smith code in his Matrix programming that acts as an anti-virus.
Or, it could be that this version of the matrix really was the same as the others, and when you see the black cat at the end, that is a symbol something being changed ie the Matrix is being reset as promised
Either way, there are still a lot of questions, and not a lot of resolution.
At the end of the first movie, Morpheus says that they will fight to destroy the machines, free the humans and end the matrix. This doesn’t even come close to happening, as they settle for the machines, matrix and free humans co-existing beside the matrix, with 99.9% still enslaved. Looks like a massive failure to me.
When Smith gets Neo at the end, is that the matrix resetting itself, hence there being no humans in the final scene within the matrix? That would also explain the black cat, as a black cat in movie one was a symbol of something being changed in the matrix ie the system resetting the Matrix again. Would this mean that everything the Architect said came true, and Neo’s life was worthless after all, despite the hope? Or is it a victory that those who want to escape the matrix can without being persecuted? Or is the system reset, but Zion wasn’t destroyed this time so it is a victory.
Is the message of the movie that free choice can override anything, or that free will is an illusion designed by the system? Does love conquer all, or does it blind us and lead us into stupidity?
I suspect none of this makes any sense, but any movie that can get people thinking is worthwhile in my books.
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