The Matrix
released 1999
www.ink2quill.com

“The Matrix” is an American, sci-fi, action, cyber-sci-fi, cyberpunk, mind bending film taken from the books, The Third Eye and Matrix 4, written by Sofia Stewart (who is soon to receive one of the largest payoffs in film history from the theft of her work). It was directed by the Wachowski Siblings, (formerly Wachowski Brothers). It was produced by Joe Silver, Bruce Berman, Erwin Stoff, Andrew Mason, Barrie M. Osborne and the Wachowski Siblings. It stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Gloria Foster, Carrie-Ann Moss, Hugo Weaving, Joe Pantoliano, Marcus Chong, Julian Arahanga, Matt Doran, Belinda McClory, Anthony Ray Parker, Paul Goddard, Robert Taylor, David Aston, Marc Aden Gray, Ada Nicodemou, Deni Gordon, Rowan Witt, Fiona Johnson, Mike Duncan, Nash Edgerton, Rana Morrison and many others.

The Matrix IMDb webpage

“The Matrix” is the story of hacker by night and cubicle worker named Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, who questions reality and feels on the verge of discovering something big. He doesn´t feel right in his skin, more precisely, he feels that there is something wrong with the world he lives in. His feelings are not due to any mental illness. As it turns out, Neo is being drawn into a reality that is both terrifying and fantastic on his search for the truth.

“The Matrix” is an action packed story where the hero, Neo, is forced to question reality and everything else he thought that he knew. The said real world is not at all what it seems and our hero is forced to make some hard choices on his quest for the truth.

First and foremost, the symbolism and story elements in this film are very well done. For example, when Neo passes from one reality to another for the first time it´s a traumatic process very much like the birthing process. Another is the character of Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, who is the archetypal mentor. He´s wise, knowledgeable about what the hero must face, capable and understands just how important the hero´s quest is. And of course, the symbolism everybody caught on to was the white rabbit tattoo on the shoulder of Dujour, played by Ada Nicodemou. The viewers knew full well that if Neo went out with that troop his life would never be the same again. We the viewers knew that Neo was about to take a trip down the rabbit hole, as the expression goes.

I cannot say much about the Matrix movie sequels but “The Matrix” is an excellent film. It´s a new topic in its genre, something that is sorely needed, and it introduced some revolutionary technology to the action genre. The themes are very occult ones, outside of all academia, but that is what made it so great. It´s story was a truly unique one as far as Hollywood films go.

So, to answer the big question about “The Matrix” without giving away any spoilers. What is the Matrix? It is `the wool that has been pulled over our eyes to keep us from seeing the truth´, to paraphrase Morpheus. But to be less cryptic, the Matrix is the best attempt at a prison humanity has ever seen or been a part of. It is near total control of the human mind as most would say is possible. Complete with false messiahs, doomed rebellions and a character we see in later movies known as The Grand Architect, who is basically the warden.

So, one difficult question leads to others and we have to ask that if reality can be so tampered with and the illusion of reality so strong, then how do we distinguish reality from simulacra?

Just as an addendum, I saw an interview with Sofia Stewart and her interpretation of the story is slightly different and more optimistic. Keep in mind that “The Matrix” and “The Terminator” movies are her creations. She describes The Matrix as the womb where The One, Neo, is born from. The One is the second coming of the savior of humankind (according to Christian Culture) and the threat to humankind are the machines which are the creation of humankind. So, it´s the battle between humanity (God´s creation) and the machines (humankind´s creation). In Christian culture humanity wins but with occultists it´s the opposite.

So check out “The Matrix” folks and enjoy it. It´s a good watch that is timeless and fun.

John

I2Q Blogs / The Visual Medium ink2quill / quill / reeves / stewart /