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May. 15th, 2003 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseThe following contains spoilers for
Half-way into one of the action sequences in the new Matrix movie, it occurred to me that the action sequences last long enough for the previous sets of symbols to sink in before introducing the next set. That's when I started becoming a little frightened.
It sounds odd to say that, but the film deals in symbols and philosophies on a very low level. For those unfamiliar with computer programming, the lower the level the deeper the influence. I can, in the high-level database language I write, crash a system. I can't rewrite the computer's basic functionality. In human terms conscious thought can filter down and become a deeper level of our code, but it's faster to work on the symbolic level and have the connections well upward.
Within the movie, I caught references to Christian and Jewish mythologies and scriptures -- including the eternal question: Was Judas the most faithful apostle? Neo and Morpheus now dress like priests, specifically Jesuits. Neo -- both the one and the new -- loves Trinity, and in one startling bit of intercutting, this trinity manages to represent Eros, Philia (sic?), and Agape. There's also another trinity operating -- The Architect (who wears a white suit and sits in a room with all the possible reactions of Neo projected around him, as blatant an example of the Father as I've seen depicted), Neo, and the Oracle (her connection to the holy Spirit is clearer when it's remembered that the holy Spirit is often seen as an aspect of Wisdom which is feminine in Greek).
There are also references to Celtic mythology, Brave New World, Alfred Hitchcock, Freudian theory, Calvinism, and Jungian archetypes. When I was talking to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jerminating earlier this evening, I said that I couldn't find any references to Hinduism. But Neo's tested by his ability to fight, both by the "good" and the "evil" of this universe, which leads me to ask if it's a reference to ideas of caste put forward in the Bhagavad Gita. Neo's way is the path of the warrior. What paths did his predecessors choose?
As a programmer, I had some interesting moments as well. When the Oracle was speaking about understanding why the choice was made, I kept seeing Procedure code. It was inexplicable to me. I assumed that it had to do with the fact that I've been programming this week for the first time in ages. Instead the scene with the Architect makes explicit what I was intuiting. He refers to Neo as an anomaly in the code, a flaw in the system. The Oracle found that the denizens of the matrix can be kept happy by having the illusion of choice. It works in 99% of cases. Neo, Morpheus, and the inhabitants of Zion are the one percent.
In taking care of some legacy code a few years back, I came across a call to a procedure that was completely commented out. It was buried so deeply that the line would almost never be tripped. I deleted the procedure entirely and commented out the line of code. The program wouldn't run at all. When I restored my backup, I inadvertently uncommented the procedure. I crashed my computer. It took IT an hour to put me back to where I'd been. The procedure had to exist; the call to it had to exist; it did nothing except let the program run.
The heavy Calvinism that runs through the movie disturbs me more than anything else. Though considering how Neo and Morpheus are dressed and the Architect's mention of the fatal flaw, Augustinianism is probably closer to the truth. All the influential characters at one point or another mention that they have a purpose, that there's a grander purpose to it all, and that choice is an illusion. The Oracle, in admitting that understanding why the choice has already been made is important, holds out some hope that humanity has an influence on the inevitable outcome. Or maybe it's a hope that some individuals within the plan may become enlightened enough to see the purpose and consciously help it along.
Most of all, I think that the Wachowski brothers were influence by Arthur Koestler. They put the ghosts in the machine and explained the origins of parapsychological phenomena. Several times, I found my mind returning to exerpts from Bricks to Babel.
There are doors and keys throughout. Doors that will only work for one person; keys that change the destination on the other side of the door. Persephone, in helping the key maker to escape, is shown opening multiple doors (7?) down a long hallway in the most blatantly Freudian moment in the movie.
Her husband, the Merovingian, lets loose with the foulest stream of French I've ever heard (I hadn't realized that I knew that many swear words in French). But more significant to me is the fact that this avatar of deep code chooses as his favorite language one that has no direct synonym for mind. Brain, intellect, psyche, persona, personality can all be defined, but there's nothing in French that gives the equivalent feel to the English word mind.
It worries me that Neo chooses what I believe to be the wrong door. He's capable of Eros and possibly Philia, but seems to stumble on Agape.
Thanks to his choice, we are left at the end with only a few people surviving the destruction of Zion. I don't know if it's the required 23. It certainly seems heavy on the males. Neo's unconscious and the only person to survive Zion's destruction -- who is also unconscious -- is the man who tried to assassinate Neo earlier.
The movie is brilliantly done. I am worried that by working on such a deeply symbolic level that it's acting as a meme -- an extremely pessimistic one. Koestler and his wife ultimately chose to take their own lives. I've often said that if I didn't believe I had free will, I'd kiss the railroad tracks. In that context after all, my suicide would be predestined.
Several times the filmmakers imply that we are living in the Matrix. We're all part of a complicated illusion.
I'm scared.
Half-way into one of the action sequences in the new Matrix movie, it occurred to me that the action sequences last long enough for the previous sets of symbols to sink in before introducing the next set. That's when I started becoming a little frightened.
It sounds odd to say that, but the film deals in symbols and philosophies on a very low level. For those unfamiliar with computer programming, the lower the level the deeper the influence. I can, in the high-level database language I write, crash a system. I can't rewrite the computer's basic functionality. In human terms conscious thought can filter down and become a deeper level of our code, but it's faster to work on the symbolic level and have the connections well upward.
Within the movie, I caught references to Christian and Jewish mythologies and scriptures -- including the eternal question: Was Judas the most faithful apostle? Neo and Morpheus now dress like priests, specifically Jesuits. Neo -- both the one and the new -- loves Trinity, and in one startling bit of intercutting, this trinity manages to represent Eros, Philia (sic?), and Agape. There's also another trinity operating -- The Architect (who wears a white suit and sits in a room with all the possible reactions of Neo projected around him, as blatant an example of the Father as I've seen depicted), Neo, and the Oracle (her connection to the holy Spirit is clearer when it's remembered that the holy Spirit is often seen as an aspect of Wisdom which is feminine in Greek).
There are also references to Celtic mythology, Brave New World, Alfred Hitchcock, Freudian theory, Calvinism, and Jungian archetypes. When I was talking to
jerminating earlier this evening, I said that I couldn't find any references to Hinduism. But Neo's tested by his ability to fight, both by the "good" and the "evil" of this universe, which leads me to ask if it's a reference to ideas of caste put forward in the Bhagavad Gita. Neo's way is the path of the warrior. What paths did his predecessors choose?As a programmer, I had some interesting moments as well. When the Oracle was speaking about understanding why the choice was made, I kept seeing Procedure code. It was inexplicable to me. I assumed that it had to do with the fact that I've been programming this week for the first time in ages. Instead the scene with the Architect makes explicit what I was intuiting. He refers to Neo as an anomaly in the code, a flaw in the system. The Oracle found that the denizens of the matrix can be kept happy by having the illusion of choice. It works in 99% of cases. Neo, Morpheus, and the inhabitants of Zion are the one percent.
In taking care of some legacy code a few years back, I came across a call to a procedure that was completely commented out. It was buried so deeply that the line would almost never be tripped. I deleted the procedure entirely and commented out the line of code. The program wouldn't run at all. When I restored my backup, I inadvertently uncommented the procedure. I crashed my computer. It took IT an hour to put me back to where I'd been. The procedure had to exist; the call to it had to exist; it did nothing except let the program run.
The heavy Calvinism that runs through the movie disturbs me more than anything else. Though considering how Neo and Morpheus are dressed and the Architect's mention of the fatal flaw, Augustinianism is probably closer to the truth. All the influential characters at one point or another mention that they have a purpose, that there's a grander purpose to it all, and that choice is an illusion. The Oracle, in admitting that understanding why the choice has already been made is important, holds out some hope that humanity has an influence on the inevitable outcome. Or maybe it's a hope that some individuals within the plan may become enlightened enough to see the purpose and consciously help it along.
Most of all, I think that the Wachowski brothers were influence by Arthur Koestler. They put the ghosts in the machine and explained the origins of parapsychological phenomena. Several times, I found my mind returning to exerpts from Bricks to Babel.
There are doors and keys throughout. Doors that will only work for one person; keys that change the destination on the other side of the door. Persephone, in helping the key maker to escape, is shown opening multiple doors (7?) down a long hallway in the most blatantly Freudian moment in the movie.
Her husband, the Merovingian, lets loose with the foulest stream of French I've ever heard (I hadn't realized that I knew that many swear words in French). But more significant to me is the fact that this avatar of deep code chooses as his favorite language one that has no direct synonym for mind. Brain, intellect, psyche, persona, personality can all be defined, but there's nothing in French that gives the equivalent feel to the English word mind.
It worries me that Neo chooses what I believe to be the wrong door. He's capable of Eros and possibly Philia, but seems to stumble on Agape.
Thanks to his choice, we are left at the end with only a few people surviving the destruction of Zion. I don't know if it's the required 23. It certainly seems heavy on the males. Neo's unconscious and the only person to survive Zion's destruction -- who is also unconscious -- is the man who tried to assassinate Neo earlier.
The movie is brilliantly done. I am worried that by working on such a deeply symbolic level that it's acting as a meme -- an extremely pessimistic one. Koestler and his wife ultimately chose to take their own lives. I've often said that if I didn't believe I had free will, I'd kiss the railroad tracks. In that context after all, my suicide would be predestined.
Several times the filmmakers imply that we are living in the Matrix. We're all part of a complicated illusion.
I'm scared.
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no subject
Date: 2003-07-04 08:10 am (UTC)Part One
Half-way into one of the action sequences in the new Matrix movie, it occurred to me that the action sequences last long enough for the previous sets of symbols to sink in before introducing the next set. That's when I started becoming a little frightened.
I didn't think of this the first time I saw the film, but I kept it in mind for my second viewing. I think you are right. Although, in the case of the lengthy Agent Smith scene, I think TPTB made it long to force the viewers to be sick of the fight--so that they would draw the same conclusion that Neo did: why am I doing this again?
The fear I do understand--although for me, the fear comes from an awareness of how deep this film is. Of the messages. And it's a slippery fear. For example, right at this moment, I can't feel it at all. But sometimes, when I really thinking about the movie, I get scared. I think it's because it is so disorienting. And because there are people who have done this--created this film. What do they want? Why did they do it? That frightens me I think.
It sounds odd to say that, but the film deals in symbols and philosophies on a very low level.
Yes. And at a high level. Everywhere. Everything in the film is so very controlled. Everything is there for a reason. Never have I seen something so very contrived. There is something almost sinister about it.
Was Judas the most faithful apostle?
What made you think of this?
and in one startling bit of intercutting, this trinity manages to represent Eros, Philia (sic?), and Agape.
Which scene are you referring to?
I said that I couldn't find any references to Hinduism.
Well the cycle of creation and destruction seems very Hindu to me. Remember the main three Hindu gods: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the destroyer).
The heavy Calvinism that runs through the movie disturbs me more than anything else.
Well certainly the machines and programs seem to be Calvinist (if by that you mean that every is pre-destined). This is natural, because as far as a computer program is concerned, everything is predestined. But it is different for Man and I think the movie is trying to point that out.
Most of all, I think that the Wachowski brothers were influence by Arthur Koestler. They put the ghosts in the machine and explained the origins of parapsychological phenomena. Several times, I found my mind returning to exerpts from Bricks to Babel.
I don't know anything about this. Care to elaborate?
It worries me that Neo chooses what I believe to be the wrong door. He's capable of Eros and possibly Philia, but seems to stumble on Agape.
I don't think he chose wrongly. But I suppose we will see in the next film.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-04 09:47 am (UTC)What made you think of this?
Niobe and the betrayer from the first film. Something about Niobe reminded me of the one who went back into the Matrix. I don't think that she has betrayed anyone nor that she will. I thought it was interesting that she chose that name (I'm assuming that like Morpheus and Neo everyone we meet in Zion uses their self selected computer handles). I first knew the legend and the name at University when I saw the RSC production of The Maid's Tragedy The whole image of someone who could "weep till I am water," struck me forcibly then. Her eyes are behind the glasses, does she weep? Do we know why? I wish I could tell you why that set of images brought up that question. Maybe I need to see the film again.
As far as the original question goes: Nikos Kazantzakis has argued that any good Jew who recognized and followed Jesus knew that certain prophecies had to be fulfilled for him to truly be the Messiah. The other 11 shied away from the harsh and hateful reality of betrayal, but Judas believed so strongly and loved so well that he gave up his place at Jesus side in order to help him fulfill the Messiahship.
and in one startling bit of intercutting, this trinity manages to represent Eros, Philia (sic?), and Agape.
Which scene are you referring to?
The rave and lovemaking intercuts. We see the friendship and bonding of Morpheus and Neo, but also of Niobe and Morpheus, Neo and Trinity, and Trinity and Morpheus. They choose to celebrate life in various ways. But dance and sex are two of the main ones. Morpheus chooses to abandon his solemnity and dance (unlike Niobe's current lover who holds himself apart -- like a pharisee?). Neo wants some time to himself -- or at least with Trinity -- and Trinity takes him through to their arch. We see all the dancing, and, while within Christian tradition the original agapes were a sharing of food, the Romans accused the Christians of orgies and dancing. So, the rave is the agape, the friendships that transcend love affairs are the philia, and the two naked bodies (who look a little too much like brother and sister for me to be entirely comfortable -- maybe their going for the Egyptian myths *g*) are the Eros.
Elaborating on Koestler
Arthur Koestler started as a German communist who wrote some brilliant novels. His most famous was a roman a clef called Darkness at Noon which was based on his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. He was tortured and sentenced to death. After the Spanish Civil War he ended up in Britain -- he couldn't go back to Germany because communists under Hitler and very short lifespans and he'd already beaten one death sentence. After World War II, he stopped writing novels (he wrote one more in the mid-1970s that wasn't very good) and started writing non-fiction. The book Bricks to Babel is a compendium of his works which he selected. There are excerpts from all his works from his anti-death penalty pamphlets (his article in the Sunday Times before the British referendum is credited with ending capital punishment in Britain as those voters who couldn't decide had been expected either not to vote or to vote conservatively to maintain the practice. The facts that he presented in the article may have gotten them off the fence.).
Much of Koestler's non-fiction was an exploration of probability and the stranger edges of popular science. From this he started writing philosophical works which incorporated science. The Ghost in the Machine was his attempt to explain some of the more complex mental illnesses. In his view, some of the earlier less civilized parts of our brain will come to the fore in some people or produce hallucinations or voices. It's the ghost in our machine. The Matrix gives us dreadlocked twin horrors that pursue through everything except escape.
Koestler and his wife committed suicide together. His estate was left to the University of Edinburgh to endow the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-04 09:47 am (UTC)I'd like to point out that I think that Neo and Morpheus, at least at the beginning of the film, aren't so much Calvinist as Augustinian. Not just is everything predestined, but humanity is born impure and unheeding too boot.
Re:
Date: 2003-07-04 09:58 am (UTC)This is all very interesting.