The Celluloid Christ: the Matrix Church of the Saviour Lenten Study - 2011 (Leader: Lejf E

VIEWING GUIDE: The Matrix (1999 The Wachowski brothers)

The Celluloid Christ: The Matrix Church of the Saviour Lenten Study - 2011 (leader: Lejf E. Knutson)

Jesus as the “Butt-Kicking Buddha” – The Wachowski Brothers’1 The Matrix (1999)

For many of you watching The Matrix in connection with this course, I’m sure you’re thinking “This is a Jesus film?” Certainly The Matrix is unlike all of the other films we’ve watched in that its connection with the Gospel narratives is far from obvious. Most of the other films have been set in some cinematic equivalent of first century Palestine. Even Godspell has clear, strong ties to the Gospel materials so that, even though the film’s set in modern New York, by about the fifth or sixth parable it is clear to everyone in the audience that the film’s characters are stand ins for Jesus and the disciples. So, why do I call The Matrix a Jesus film?

Well, The Matrix makes a ton of biblical allusions which, if nothing else, indicate that the Wachowskis consciously used Jesus as a prototype for the film’s hero. The hero’s hacker/alternate name is “Neo” which is an anagram for “One” or “the One,” thereby designating him as the central figure in the history of this particular apocalyptic universe. Of course, the term “neo” is Greek for “new” and by the end of the film Neo is a “new” type of human much as Jesus is the “new Adam” who partakes of humanity, overcomes it and is the key to a new, redeemed life.2

Also, Neo is actually referred to as “Jesus” twice in the film. First, when he’s giving illegal code to some fashionable lowlifes, his customer says: “You’re my savior, man – my own personal Jesus Christ.” Later, as if to make sure we didn’t miss the reference, Cypher (our Judas character) asks Neo if Morpheus has told him about Neo’s mission as “the One.” When Neo says yes, Cypher’s response is literally: “Je- sus! So you’ve come to save the world?” In fact, the name game doesn’t stop with the “Neo” moniker. In the world of the matrix, our hero’s name is Thomas Anderson. The last name “Anderson” literally means “son of Andrew” and the name “Andrew” is etymologically related to the Greek root andr- which means “man.” So, our hero’s last name “Anderson” literally translated means “Son of Man” – Jesus’ favorite self-

1 Actually, they were the Wachowski brothers when they made The Matrix, but one of them subsequently had a sex change and went from Larry Wachowski to Lana Wachowski – no judgments, just info.

2 “And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45).

3 designation in the Gospels.3 In fact, the ship Neo serves on – The Nebuchadnezzar (another biblical reference) – is marked with a name plate reading “Mark III No. 11.” If you look up Mark 3:11, it states: “Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’”

But wait, there’s more! Not only is Neo’s girlfriend’s named “Trinity” (which should require little explanation), when Neo makes his transition from the world of the matrix to the real world, he is literally flushed out of the system in a primordial ooze – sort of icky, steampunk baptism. When Neo is killed by the Agents, not only does he rise from the dead (and rise after he’s been kissed and called back by “Trinity”- get it?), he’s rises from the dead in Room 303 (another Trinitarian reference) and after being dead for three minutes, a condensed version of Jesus’ three days in the tomb. After Neo’s resurrection, he has a glorified, glowing body in the matrix which is impervious to pain and harm. In fact, in the last shot of the film is Neo flying – he’s literally ascending into heaven.

Oh, and The Matrix was released on Easter weekend in 1999.4

Still, while the Jesus references come pretty hard and heavy once you know what to look for, the Gospels are not the only source material for the film. The Matrix takes a “kitchen sink” approach to its source material and, along with the Jesus references, the film makes obvious allusions to Buddhism, French post-structuralism (particularly Jean Baudrillard),5 Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, Westerns, Hong-Kong

3 Interestingly, Agent Smith repeatedly refers to “Neo” as “Mr. Anderson” – in essence “Mr. Son of Man.” Agent Smith is also the character who expresses an overwhelming disgust with the human race and seeks its destruction in order to escape the prison of the world – much like the fallen Lucifer who is trapped in the earthly sphere after his expulsion from Heaven. So, Agent Smith (Satan/fallen angel) keeps hurling the Mr. Anderson (i.e. “Son of Man”) moniker at “Neo” as an insult to deny Neo’s special nature (his “Oneness”) and insist he’s “only human.” So, it appears that the Wachowskis seek the “Son of Man” title as a reference to Jesus’ humble, human nature rather than as a messianic title as it is used in Daniel. (See Daniel 7:13 [“I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like a son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.”].)

4 I can’t take credit for spotting all of these biblical allusions by myself. See Gregory Bassham “Religion in The Matrix and Problems of Pluralism,” pgs. 111-113 in The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002).

5 Early in the film, when Neo’s giving the computer disk to the fashionable lowlifes, we see that he’s hiding it in a copy of Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulations which, apparently, argues that in modern society we have moved from a world of “representation” (where a symbol stands for another, existing thing) to a world of “simlulations” filled with images or signs without clear reference to a preexisting, external reality. (See http://transcriptions.english.ucsb.edu/archive/courses/warner/english122tg/ MartixBaudrillard.html). For myself, I’ve never found Baudrillard particularly interesting or even readable, so, I don’t have much to say here.

3 action movies,6 film noir, cyberpunk,7 steampunk8 and comic books. This “kitchen sink” approach usually goes by the descriptive term “postmodern” which, in this context, refers to a view where history is seen as a series of competing, contested narratives or images which can be disassembled and reassembled at will.9 Clearly, this “something for everybody” approach is one of the reasons why the film is so widely discussed – there are so many things to talk about. At the same time, and in my opinion, the Jesus motif is the strongest, sustained series of references in the film. Not that The Matrix is a biblical allegory – rather, The Matrix uses a version of the Jesus story as a structural backbone on which it can hang all of its ideas, allusions and motifs.

So, rather than lose ourselves in the postmodern thicket, and assuming Neo is a type of “Jesus figure,” what kind of Jesus is he?

Jesus As Enlightenment Figure

The first “type” of Jesus we can see in The Matrix is Jesus as figure of enlightenment. Neo starts as a questing figure who is haunted by the nature of his existence which, in this film, is expressed in the question” “What is the Matrix?” Not knowing the answer, Neo is driven into an underground world of computer hacking criminals and away from his respectable, stable day job as a computer programmer. Even when the Agents capture him and offer him a plea bargain where he can return to his normal life, he refuses, is contacted by Morpheus and “takes the red pill” – which turns out to be a one-way ticket out of his previous, normal life. Once outside of the world of the matrix, he learns two major truths: First, that his prior life was part of an elaborate, computer simulations designed to keep him and his entire human race “in bondage” to an intelligent computer system in control the matrix. Second, that he may be the prophesied “One” who is expected to turn the tide in the perennial war and liberate the human race (and, as we’re told, the final “party” will be at “Zion” – the last, true human city).

6 Specifically, The Matrix’s action sequences were developed by Woo-ping Yuen who worked on films like Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master (1978), his own Iron Monkey (1993), Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003-2004).

7 “Cyberpunk” is a sci-fi subgenre focused on issues of artificial intelligence, events in computer networks/ cyberspace and corporate control of information. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk)

8 “Steampunk,” in turn, is a sci-fi subgenre focused on the fantastical use of older technology (usually Victorian-era). (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk).

9 This view of postmodernism is usually associated with Friedrich Jameson, particularly in his work Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1999). The other major understanding of the term “postmodernism” is a reference to our present, historical age where we see ourselves as having moved past “modernism” and its belief in progressive, universal knowledge and history. (See, e.g., Jean-François Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition (1979).) In my opinion, you’ll never come up with a consistent, universally agreed-upon definition of the term “postmodernism” and even discussing it in a footnote gives me bad flashbacks to my graduate school days.

Once Neo has these two bits of information, his quest switches from learning the nature of the matrix to the question of whether or not he is the “One.” While Neo spends considerable time doubting whether he is the “One,”10 he actively trains for his work as the “One” until he is finally taken to see the Oracle. The Oracle, in a clever bit of mystical misdirection, tells Neo his isn’t the “One” but that Morpheus’ belief in Neo will create a situation where Neo will get to choose which one of them gets to live. Believing that Morpheus is more important that he is, Neo goes on a seeming suicide mission into the matrix which eventually ends up with Neo’s death.11 However, rather than stay dead, he rises from the dead, fully enters into his “Oneness,” kicks some Agent butt and, finally, ascends into heaven after putting those in control of the matrix on notice that he intends to free mankind and essentially bring the history of the matrix to its conclusion.

So, ultimately Neo’s narrative as a Jesus figure is a narrative of his accumulated knowledge and mastery over his environment and himself – Neo/Jesus moves from being a conflicted, confused individual to the master of the world and the savior of his race. This type of narrative has several (in my opinion) interesting features.

First, this neatly solves the narrative problem we’ve seen in other Jesus films. The Matrix is structured around Neo’s desire for knowledge which, in turn, leads to Neo’s efforts to overcome/redeem his entire universe. Although it feels like an entirely different film, from a narrative standpoint The Matrix is directly analogous to The Last Temptation as both films are structured around their respective Jesus’ process of becoming the Messiah – with the difference being the essential understanding required by each film hero to become their films’ respective Messiahs.12

Second, this type of narrative structure makes The Matrix a very accessible film. While there are not a lot of films where the protagonist learns how to become the Messiah, one of the most prevalent, popular narratives structures is the story of a young person overcoming their lack of knowledge and inexperience, often under the guidance of a mentor or mentors, and thereby becoming an exemplary individual with mastery over themselves and the world around them. This type of bildungsroman13 story has been

10 Remember, his earthly name is “Thomas Anderson,” so Neo is not only a “son of man” (i.e. human), - he’s his own “doubting Thomas.”

11 Which, in essence, illustrates the Gospel principle that “[g]reater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

12 As we discussed, Jesus in The Last Temptation first has to accept that he is the Messiah, then has to accept that as the Messiah his job to be the suffering servant who reject earthly life and dies on the cross in order to usher in the new covenant. In The Matrix, Neo has to accept that he is the “One” and that, as the “One” he has power over the world of illusion (the matrix) and, as such, can and will be responsible to liberate humanity from the same bondage he has overcome.

13 This is the German literary term for this type of narrative and literally means “novel of experience” and/ or “education.”

3 used repeatedly in works like Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795), Dickens’ classic novels like Oliver Twist (1838) and Great Expectations (1860) and up to the present in novels like the Harry Potter series and for characters like Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy.

In addition to these generic features, the story of enlightenment in The Matrix is also central to the film’s other two main religious themes or allusions – Gnosticism and Buddhism. As we’ve discussed in passing, Gnosticism was an early church heresy which taught that the origin of human suffering was the creation of the fallen, imperfect world by a lower, fallen god. Humans are trapped in this material world of suffering, although they contain an immaterial, divine spark that yearns to be freed from their fallen, imperfect human bodies. However, salvation comes from a true, higher divine being (who is not responsible for the botched, fallen material world) who sends Jesus as a messenger with the divine, secret knowledge (or Gnosis) of the origins of human suffering and how to overcome it – i.e. how to be released from prisons of the material world and the human body.14

Many discussions of The Matrix note that the film is really not a true analog for Gnosticism, but that it has several points of contact with Gnostic thought.15 The world of the matrix is a fallen, imperfect world where humanity is entrapped without knowing it by the matrix’s malevolent creators. To overcome this enslavement, heroes learn the secret history behind their entrapment and, armed with that knowledge, reenter the fallen world with the goal of liberating the human race. In this struggle, Neo acts as a pseudo- Gnostic Jesus with such perfect mastery over the matrix that he is the key to the human race’s final liberation. But again, the essential story is a story of enlightenment – Neo and his companions have taken the time and paid the price necessary to learn the truth which has “set them free.”16

The other major enlightenment motif running in The Matrix is Buddhism. Again, the film is no more a true Buddhist allegory than it is a true Gnostic or Christian allegory.17 However, the Buddhist motifs fit neatly into the enlightenment structure of the story. On that point, there have been many discussions on how the life of Jesus and the life of the Buddha can be seen as related stories of enlightenment, as their respective heroes start from their early human origins, to becoming religious seekers and, in doing so, each of them discover their respective, divine callings. Having discovered their divine, salvic

14 For a couple of brief discussions, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism and http:// www.gnosis.org/gnintro.htm (this last site is really a trip since it’s written by a modern “Gnostic bishop”).

15 See, e.g., http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/matrixissues.html and http://atheism.about.com/library/ FAQs/religion/blrel_matrix_gnos.htm

16 And, conversely, the antagonistic forces (i.e. Cypher, the Agents) want to maintain the preexisting system of illusion, enslavement and control.

17 See, e.g, http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophyofreligion/a/maxtrixbuddhism.htm and http:// www.unomaha.edu/jrf/thematrix.htm.

3 message, they are required to go back into the world to teach their message to others.18 In the context of The Matrix, the enlightenment message is not about discovering the source of human suffering and its solution – no four noble truths here. Rather, the Buddhist motif is reduced to a tagline about how the world is a world of illusion. As our cute little bodhisattva tells Neo while he’s waiting to see the Oracle – “there is no spoon.” With this bit of metaphysical insight, Neo has the wherewithal to do increasingly crazy things like single handedly attacking a militarized skyscraper and confronting the Agents until he is finally transformed into “the One.”

Still, the major theme and narrative structure of The Matrix is one of enlightenment. Our Jesus-type hero is not divine because of his faithfulness to the divine will – he persists in his quest and, in doing so, is transformed so that he has mastery of himself and the world around him. Moreover, in this heroic, enlightenment myth, there is a certain mythical collapse of multiple, religious narratives and figures into one. Neo/Jesus/Buddha is just one of many faces of the same, reoccurring divine hero who persists, overcomes, is transformed and thereby shows us a path out of our present, human predicament.

Still, say what you want about Jesus and the Buddha, we don’t normally imagine either of them arming themselves to the teeth and blowing away a lobby full of security guards just because they stand between him and the elevator. So, you have to ask yourself, how can Neo be a Jesus figure with all of the ultra violence in The Matrix?

Jesus As The Machine Gun Wielding “Lord Of Hosts” This may seem like an odd idea at first since we usually think of Jesus Christ by his pacifistic titles like the “Lamb of God” and “Prince of Peace.” For some reason, I think we have a tendency to imagine the God of the Old Testament as being the angry one while Jesus represents the perpetually giving, nurturing side of God (think The King of Kings). However, this is not the whole picture.

One of the common titles for God in the Old Testament is “Lord of Hosts” (Jehovah Sabaoth or Tzevaot) which depicts God’s divinity in the image of God as the supreme leader of a military force – either the head of the armies of Israel or the heavenly armies.19 However, early in the Christian tradition this typology passed to Jesus as he was understood to have been elevated to the position of “King of Kings” which,

18 In this context, many folks have discussed the respective narratives of Jesus and Buddha as variations on a universal “heroic monomyth” where the hero goes through a series of trials and events as they move beyond their local, individual and historical limitations to an idealized state embodying the universal, ideal truths of human existence. See http://www.jrank.org/cultures/pages/5533/Heroic-monomyth.html

19 See, e.g., Jeremiah 46:10 [“But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty—a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.”] See also http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13286a.htm

3 among other things, made him the supreme military commander of the world.20 In fact, Christianity became the dominant religion of the West through an understanding of Jesus as a divine general. Reportedly, the Roman Emperor Constantine had had a vision of a cross of light above the sun before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge and heard a voice telling him that “in this sign you will conquer.” Taking the hint, Constantine had his army put the symbol of the cross on their shields, they won the battle, Constantine converted to Christianity and the rest, as they say, was history.21 Since then, it had been common to represent Jesus as a type of military figure, particularly in his function as the lord of the earth and history. Moreover, the symbol of the cross itself has been repeatedly used in the West as a military emblem.

Not only does the militarized image of Jesus tie into understandings of his sovereignty over the world – it ties into his function as an apocalyptic hero. While Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection represented his first and central victory over the forces of sin, evil and death – it is not his last victory. Rather, the faithful are to pray and wait for the second, final victory where the forces of sin, evil and death will be finally subdued and the world will come under the final and total control of God in the new heaven and new earth. Of course, this has been repeatedly represented as involving actual military battles and the book of Revelation is filled with all kinds of military imagery, including the various horsemen, the sounding of trumpets and the various armies of darkness which are ultimately defeated.22

Out of this Christian apocalyptic tradition is a repeated tendency to present Jesus as a supreme, irresistible military warrior who single handedly defeats the armies and forces of darkness – from Milton’s Paradise Lost to the lyrics of The Battle Hymn of the Republic up to the present day Left Behind series. While this may seem like an odd, old fashioned theme to us pacifistic Episcopalian types ask yourself, which New Testament site is best known to most people: The Mount of Olives, The Jordan River . . . or the Plains of Armageddon?

So, The Matrix also draws on this apocalyptic tradition and presents a Neo as a type of hybrid Jesus figure – both a figure of enlightenment and a supreme warrior/commander leading the apocalyptic struggle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. Neo/Jesus fights the good fight for us, quite literally – and if a room full of ignorant security guards has to be mowed down in the process, so be it.

20 See Jaroslaw Pelikan, Jesus Through The Centuries: His Place In The History Of Culture (Yale 1999), chp. 4 “The King of Kings.”

21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity

22 See, e.g., Revelation 20:7-9 [“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”]

Concluding Comments

When considered in this light, I think a Jesus figure who is presented as the ultimate, enlightened warrior is essentially a figure for wish fulfillment. Not that the fact that a Hollywood blockbuster would ultimately be about wish fulfillment should surprise anyone. But, I find this type of wish fulfillment interesting in the sense that it points to the things we often feel trapped by and wish to escape.

At first, the world of the matrix is a very recognizable, modern world that takes little imagination to place ourselves in. Given the fact that most of us regulated life where we’re always working in order to make our mortgage, car and student loan payments – I don’t think it’s hard to imagine ourselves as trapped in a system which keeps us alive to in order to systematically suck us dry over time. The matrix itself is a very elaborate, potent and recognizable metaphor for our individual, modern existence – like all good sci-fi scenarios should be. Given our modern state of bondage, who wouldn’t like to imagine themselves as one of the enlightened ones who can see through the bars of the cage, break through and then rip the entire prison apart with their bare hands?

While this apocalyptic wish fulfillment is all great fun, and great film making to be sure, it empties out the central element of Jesus’ actual victory over the forces of sin and death – the Cross. While Neo dies and rises from the dead, this is just his final stage on his way to enlightenment and power. It’s the last major trial for our hero to overcome – much like Luke Skywalker losing his hand during his dual with Darth Vader – before our warrior hero can fully come into his own and deliver the death blow to the final enemy.23 While such heroics can inspire, the most that they can teach us is perseverance. However, the Cross of Christ represents far more than perseverance, although it does that as well. The Cross is God’s central revelation of his truest nature and redemptive power to the world. And the victory over sin and death is not a military massacre, it’s God through Christ (and later through his church) suffering at the hands of sin and death in the world until through that suffering sin and death themselves are overcome and the world is redeemed.

Well, that’s as good a place to end as any. If you’ve taken the trouble to read this far and follow with me through all of these films, I want to thank you. I’ll even thank you for following me part of the way – I’m not picky. It’s been an honor and privilege to go through these films and to share our thoughts as a community as we find new ways to reflect on our Lord and his life during this season of Lent. Pax et Bonum to you all.

23 We could talk about Harry Potter here too, but I don’t know if everybody’s read the last book and the last movie hasn’t come out yet . . . so I don’t want to be a spoiler.