My 3 Encounters with the Matrices

After reading Marilyn's latest posting, i was reminded of how much the Matrix trilogy seems to have made an impact on this cohort, so i thought, why not post my views on it here so provoke some views from everyone?

The Matrix (1) blew my mind. I went to the film with little expectations, thinking it'd be just another action flick with some cool effects. But the plot was fascinating. And the directors seemed to know what they were up to, with references to Baudrillard, etc. The idea that THIS reality can actually be entirely FALSE, collectively dreamed up by us and controlled by a computer-machine really changes the way we look at things. To me, i love the Matrix because i see it as the computer age's updating and reinterpretation of a Buddhistic universe (and scenes from The Animatrix confirms this - later).

There is a Buddhist saying - before I was on the path to enlightenment, i saw mountains and rivers. When i was on the path to enlightenment, the mountains and rivers disappeared. When i was truly enlightened, i saw mountains and rivers again. This is exactly what Matrix was saying, i thought. Before Neo was "saved", he mountains and rivers, what the Matrix wanted him to see. But when he was saved, he saw the matrix for as an evil construct to be fought against. But when he became truly enlightened, he saw through the matrix, beat it, and could zip in and out of it at will - seeing mountains and rivers again.

But one problem always bugged me - Neo and company never questioned the reality of the un-plugged world. How would they know that THAT world is not false too? How could the movie rest, and expects us viewers, after being blown away by such a cool idea, to not think this? The film side-stepped this issue and even played up the narrative of Neo as Saviour-Messiah, "unplugged version" (i can't resist the pun). The film has set up two mirrors (literally - remember the scene where Neo was asked to swallow the red pill, and immediately, he touched the mirror and it consumed him?), endlessly casting images (and doubts) upon the other, ad infinitum. Why did the directors cop-out?

So, i was undecided - Matrix 1 was good, but it might be fluke. We have to see the entire trilogy to decide. And, the other films that producer Joel Sliver pushed out (previous to Matrix as well) were horrendous - Romeo must die, etc. I was losing faith....

Then came Animatrix - a commercial product pushed out to stimulate interest in the other two installments and to rehash storyboards and other waste materials used to prepare Matrix 2 and 3. I didn't care - i lapped it all up. And I loved it. The first two stories confirmed my hunch that Buddhism played a part in the Cohen brothers' conception of the original film, evidenced by the mandalas endlessly opening up AND blending with the computer circuitry - brilliant image. And the short stories (except the last one) all carried the same philosophical depth and promise as the first.

Then came Matrix ... reloaded, right? Can't be bothered to remember. Pure crap. Confirmed my suspicion that Matrix 1 was a fluke. The introduction of the key master chinese kung fu guy was but just one of many the terrible moves made by the director-producers. Unlike Star Wars (IV-VI), where the elaboration of the plot made the story more interesting and complex, here, the writers were clearly out of their depth. What the *#@~! is the Architect? God? The way the film tried to provide a meaning and explanation to the story only simplified it and made it mundane. So, the whole story of the Matrix, of Neo's heorism is nothing but a self-regulatory programme run by the Architect, with the Oracle in "collusion"? We might as well call it "Matrix Reloaded; with Norton Antivirus and latest patch!" Neo is "destined" to rebel, so as to make the Architect's programme (which is "the world") stronger. The Oracle is there to add the element of chaos, unpredictablity. He, the father figure, she the mother. It was a plot twist for the twisting's sake. It was so cliched I was laughing and crying at the same time. And, of course, there has to be LOVE to save the day. Yawn... Can we have a movie that does NOT have love as the PRIME motivating factor?

So, when it came to Revolutions, i went in expecting nothing but mindless action. Heck the plot and the pseudo-philosophy. And sure enough, I had a good time, seeing the copy-cat Battletech-Aliens crossbred mechwarriors shoot off the drones or probes or whatever those squid-like things were. By now, the plot had become as unwieldy and messy as the ludicrous virus that Agent Smith had grown into. You see where all this is going - the entire Matrix trilogy has become nothing more than an allegory of computer virus-busting - the stuff that programming geeks fantasise about. From a potential parable about the problems of perception and experience, about the realities of existence, the Matrix had descended to the level of a storm, not in a teacup but a floppy disk. Which actually proves my first thought right - that all this action and heroism is taking place within the space of kilobyte - Neo thought he was the One; actually he's only a bit (literally) in another larger programme. But in this case, i hate to be right.

So, there you have it, my tirade against the Matrix, feeling very let down and betrayed by what could have been an extremely fascinating film. I get angry thinking of the wasted opportunities the writers-producers squandered away with the other two matrix installments.

But that's my view. What do you think?

LT