Major spoilers ahead.
I wasn’t going to comment on my trip to see the Matrix (I liked it, mainstream reviewers weren’t paying attention, end of story) but then someone sent me a link to a discussion of the philosophy in the movie, which I have to share. The author makes some excellent points, although I don’t think I’m buying the idea that the five previous Ones represent the Five Books of Moses. His links to philosophical sources, particularly Simulacra and Simulation, are great. (I love the fact that in the first movie, Neo’s copy of this book is hollowed out.)
The page on Origen is your typically dry philosophical nutshell. (If you bother with it, skip to Philosophical Views. The bio is mind-numbing. And keep in mind that the OCR software coughed up a few bad characters in the middle of the text.) This part did strike a chord:
…man conceived in the image of God is able by imitating God in good works to become like God, if he first recognizes his own weakness and trusts all to the divine goodness.
Got root?
I would like to study the great philosophers, but I’m deeply afraid that if I do, I’ll end up writing like whoever wrote Origen’s page.
Getting back to the original article, I do like this bit:
It is my prediction that in the third and final film, it will be revealed that there is a power behind the Architect, and that he is the one who sent the One into the Matrix. It is also my prediction that this guy will look a lot like Neo.
It’s my prediction that this “guy” will look a lot like Trinity, She of the Mythologically Significant Name who brought forth Mr. Superhuman Hacker Boy to be her lover. Ever notice that she’s the one who gets things done while he’s shooting the breeze with the Oracle and the Merovingian? Notice that she cracked the password on the first try? The Oracle says that Neo’s dream means that he has some of her gift (if I caught that part correctly; the projector skipped during that scene), but he’s only seeing one person’s future, not all the free people’s. His choice to save her instead of choosing people to repopulate Zion was so obviously selfish and wrong that it must have been right; she must in some way be more important. And they’ve both come back from the dead now, so which is the real Christ figure is up for grabs.
Not an airtight theory by any means, but I’m kind of fond of it.
Here are my questions:
Who is the guy guarding the Oracle?
Was it just me, or was the pervasive greenness of the Matrix more overwhelming this time?
What is the significance of Neo’s annoying stalker-boy?
Are there more keygens running around, or was that guy the only one?
If not, can Neo find the hallway with the green doors again?
Why did he receive the spoon before leaving Zion?