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The Gospel According to Neo
Xel writes "Josh Burek, writer for The Christian Science Monitor and A.K.A. the guy who sits 4 cubicles from me, has written an excellent essay on religion in The Matrix: The Gospel According to Neo. Sure, this topic has been covered ad nauseum, but it's refreshing to see such a thoughful examination aimed not at geeks alone but a broader, more traditional, and more traditionally religious audience. It also has a nice little glossary at the end where even pasty-faced and vinyl-clad Matrix worshippers may find some easter eggs they didnt know."
I believe that there's symbolism in the film, but come on, that's stretching it just a bit. You can find non-existant messages in anything if you look hard enough. Just like assassination predictions in Moby Dick.
All this time... I thought it was just a really good movie...
Soemtimes I think people just get stuck in the "willing suspension of disbelief" and forget that its just a movie... im not looking for a religious revolution, I just want to see Neo kick some machine ass...
But I will be watching on opening day... I already have tickets...
Fire in the hands of the village idiot is no tool, but a weapon of mass destruction
Ooops.
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
this is a movie that ... captures people's intellectual imagination.
With dialog like "Noone can be told what the Matrix is", "Woah", and "I know Kung Fu" it's no wonder everyone's in an intellectual tiffy over it. And let us not forget that whole brilliant monologue on weather chicken tastes like chicken.
The Matrix rocks, but it's a silly sci fi super action movie-not some kind of brilliantly thought out metaphor for reality. I'm reminded of my English teach in HS telling me how every noun in every book is a symbol for humanity and her struggles. Come on people, the people who wrote that script were just making a good movie, not sending us a message. That said, I still have opening day tickets.
"Probably the toughest time in anyone's life is when you have to murder a loved one because they're the devil." -Philips
Matrix's storyline which projects the world as a simulation is very similar to what Eastern philosophies say. Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism treat the world as Mayajaal or web of deceit/temptation/unreal things. To realise one's true potential a person needs to only break mental barriers is also theorised by Eastern philosophies.
Sure there's Christian symbolism all over the place in The Matrix. Take Neo's name for example:
Neo Anderson
Neo = New
Ander = Man
Which translates to 'New Son of Man'.
What did Christ call himself? The Son of Man.
But then again, there's also Bhuddist imagry and as was mentioned the main theme is based on Plato's Cave.
BTW: My wife attended a talk by Leonard Sweet several months back and he claimed that he is one of the spiritual consultants for The Matrix movies. That would explain where the Christian imagry came from.
He's not pushing or enforcing any Christian reading of the film or saying that the Christian viewing of the film is the only one.
The anti-salmon
Meh.
A young man's "one of the oldest stories" is an older man's cliche.
When I need my dollops of Greek Tragedy (or Christian Philosophy or Buddhist Revelation or Qaballah Interpretation or Zoroastrian Interior Design) I think I'll look in directions other than the Brothers Wachowski or, um, Lawrence Fishburne for my enlightenment.
Why must we always cloak our guilty pleasures in layers of "meaning?" (Probably something to do with our Judaeo-Christian mores, but I'll leave that to the armchair theologians and film-makers to posit upon...)
Gimme Carrie-Ann, vinyl trenchcoats, automatic weapons, a hundred Agent Smiths, some wacked out over-the-top Martial Arts, and a big tub of p-corn and I'm happy to suspend my belief. Just don't expect me to gain any insight into my Belief in the process.
Actually, though the people who came over here were protestants, the actual founding fathers of America were Deists or Atheists. They were attempting to form a non-religious system of government, escaping the tyranny of a faith-based monarchy. Although the words "creator" and whatnot are mentioned within the Declaration, it by no means says anything about having to have this country ruled by christians only...*shudder*. That would be a scary day...oh wait...the Bush cabinet...
~~ Everyone run! All has been found out!
It seems like the people who think that The Matrix has some revolutionary or revealing philosophy are always the same ones who deride me whenever I mention that they might enjoy reading some of the classic works of philosophy from Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, etc. These, and many other philosophers, were the basis for the main ideas presented in The Matrix and delve into the topics in a much more in depth fashion.
Could it just be the typical geek fashion to write off something as worthless if it is not exciting or doesn't have any practical application? I don't know, but I encourage any of you who have shrugged off philosophy but find interest in the philosophy found in The Matrix to try out reading some real philosophy. Philosophy may change the way you view the world and--more importantly--make you think about the world.
Besides the philosophy in The Matrix, there are other geek appealing topics in philosophy. For example, you can find AI in philosophy, and I don't mean from some research paper written by some cognative scientist at MIT. What it means 'to think' and to 'be conscience' have been thought about by some of the most profound thinkers in human history thousands of years ago.
If you are in college, I would recommend taking an introductory survey course in philosophy. If taking courses is not your thing, try reading some of the philosophy books put out by Penguin Classics. Their books generally have understandable translations, provide historical context where needed, and have explainations for the more difficult readings.
Christian groups like to talk about "The Matrix" and "The Lord of the Rings" because they're very popular movies that include a lot of religious symbolism and draw on theology for their themes and stories. This is well and good. It's always hard to get people to talk about religion when they're not in the habit of it, especially when they're not very informed on the facts of Christianity or any other major religion.
What I have problems with is when people hold up these films as proof of their creators' intentions to promote particular religions. The "Star Wars" films have been accused, off and on, of promoting "New Age" religion and spirituality. "The Matrix" relies on Buddhist beliefs and themes as much as Christian ones, if not more. And I still can't understand why the Christian right touts "The Lord of the Rings" as a brilliantly disguised retelling of the Gospels (which it wasn't) while the "Harry Potter" books are vilified for encouraging witchcraft and occult interests (which they aren't).
All of these are works of fiction, not of faith. They use a variety of religious themes together to make their story more interesting to viewers, often in ways that's not immediately obvious. But religious sorts should be careful to take these stories as they are and not assume too much about the creators' intents.
Don't confuse ethics with religious dogma. There are plenty of occurrences of murder, theft, looting and rape that are *motivated* by religious beliefs. It can make peoples lives unbearable, as much as giving others hope. Many other people (most athiests in fact) will continue to make decisions based on an ethical framework with the good of the individual and society in mind. With no need for deities.