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."

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Lawrence Fishburne Interview

[crashnbur]

I haven't read The Gospel According to Neo yet, but I've thumbed through it. (It sits on my shelf, and I'm currently involved in William Irwin's The Matrix and Philosophy -- great book!)

Switching gears... In an interview released today over at Coming Soon, Lawrence Fishburne gives a pretty detailed account of (some of) his experience with The Matrix and playing Morpheus.

What was it about the first film that struck the chord with so many people? There's a lot of things, and I think the major thing is that in crafting their story and structuring their story, the Wachowski brothers relied heavily on Greek mythology and primarily the old myths: the hero's journey, the reluctant messiah story, which is one of the oldest stories and has been with us in every culture, in every time in some way or form. And they basically put it in a modern context...

WARNING: The interview may spoil some minor plot details near the bottom -- the first six paragraphs are safe. When it gets to "Early audiences are already getting a different sense...", you might consider waiting a day or two to see the movie and then catch up on what he had to say about his character.

Exclusive Matrix 2 screenshot

[fuxoft]

See exclusive MATRIX REVOLUTIONS screenshot here. :)

What the CS Monitor is

[mnemonic_]

About the CS monitor (if you've never heard about it before, it's probably not what you think it is).

Is the paper a religious periodical?

No, it's a real newspaper published by a church -- The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass., USA. Everything in the Monitor is international and US news and features, except for one religious article that has appeared each day in The Home Forum section since 1908, at the request of the paper's founder, Mary Baker Eddy.

In an age of corporate conglomerates dominating news media, the Monitor combination of church ownership, a public-service mission, and commitment to covering the world (not to mention the fact that it was founded by a woman shortly after the turn of the century, when US women didn't yet have the vote!) gives the paper a uniquely independent voice in journalism.

Then if the paper's basically secular and for everybody, why is "Christian Science" in its name?

Eddy insisted, against strong opposition from some of her advisers and church officers, that the words "Christian Science" should be in the paper's name. According to one of her biographers, Robert Peel, to Eddy, "the designated title was an identification of the paper with the promise that no human situation was beyond healing or rectification if approached with sufficient understanding of man's God-given potentialities. Nor did the 'good news' of Christianity involve the prettification of bad news, but rather, its confident confrontation" (witness Monitor correspondent David Rohde's widely followed reporting in late '95 on alleged massacres by Bosnian Serb forces).

More about the CS Monitor's origin and purpose

You'd have a lot of depressed, mentally ill folks

[YllabianBitPipe]

... if somehow you were able to convince the masses there was / is no God. A lot of people simply can't imagine a life with no higher power as being positive, good, or worth living. Others who see the existence of God as keeping them in check would suddenly feel free to break all 10 commandments and enjoy it. So all these people would likely become depressed, suicidal, putting a huge burden on our healthcare system. Or, they might just go bonkers and start killing people, stealing, looting, pillaging, and practising all sorts of heathenous behaviors. Of course, once all these deluded people passed on we could get down to business, but there'd be about a hundred years of rough times. Religion has a purpose in society, even if it has none to you. Largely, it's to make an unbearable life worth living and as universal policeman. And if only for those reasons alone, I tolerate it. I just don't practice it myself.

Re:Christian symbolism

[Colonel Panic]

Didn't Christ also say he was the son of God and King of the Jews?

It's interesting that he never said either of these things about himself. Others around him said it of Him and he didn't dispute it when they did.

For example, at one point He asks his followers what people are saying about him. They give answers like "they think you're a prophet", etc. And then he asks them "Who do _you_ say I am?" and Peter answers "You're the Son of God." He didn't dispute the statement.

Just prior to His crucifixion, Pilate asks him if He is the King of the Jews and Jesus answers something to the effect "It is as you say".

thus possibly explaining to Christians that while Christ's philosophies were good, he should be viewed as a normal person who believed in himself.

Well, in a word, no. Sure while Christ was fully God and fully Man; He didn't rely on his 'God'ness while he was here on earth (that would have been cheating). But He did know who He was. He didn't tell people to belive in themselves, but that the only way out was to beleive in Him. Christian thought doesn't teach to beleive in yourself (that's the Positive Thinking crowd) but instead it teaches that the self is bankrupt and you must surrender it if you're going to get anywhere - to focus on others, not the self.

Re:My favorite Matrix "easter egg":

[mblase]

Every time that someone says "God" in the movie, Trinity (if she is present) responds as if she was being addressed. This happens at least twice.

Unfortunately, this only happens twice (in the nightclub and in the car en route to the Oracle).

Search a copy of the screenplay online sometime. Neo says "Jesus Christ, that thing's real!?" after he's debugged and Trinity doesn't react. Trinity says "Goddammit", "God damn you, Cypher!" and "Jesus, he's killing him", thereby allegedly invoking herself. There are plenty of other times characters say "God" to or around Trinity with no reaction.

It's just an interjection, that's all. Of all the supposed easter eggs, this one's clearly a coincidence.