A CYBERPUNK PARABLE? -1- THE MATRIX – A CYBERPUNK PARABLE? CONTENTS: Page # 0. “Spoiler” and Rating Warnings ..................................................................................... 3 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 II. The Many Ways of Viewing The Matrix ........................................................................ 4 III. The Matrix as a Cyberpunk Parable ............................................................................. 6 A. Overview ......................................................................................................... 6 B. The Parable 1. TRACKING: Confusion, Contact, and Conviction 1a. Apartment ................................................................................. 7 1b. Club ........................................................................................ 10 1c. Office ...................................................................................... 11 1d. Interrogation ........................................................................... 13 1e. The Road to Morpheus .......................................................... 14 1f. A Visit With Morpheus ............................................................. 16 2. TRANSFORMATION: Conversion, Conception, and Construction 2a. Red Pill ................................................................................... 19 2b. Reflection ............................................................................... 20 2c. Rebirth .................................................................................... 21 2d. Rejection ................................................................................ 22 2e. Rescue ................................................................................... 23 2f. Section Summary ................................................................... 24 3. TRAINING: Conscription, Concepts, and Conditioning 3a. Crew ....................................................................................... 25 3b. Construct ................................................................................ 26 3c. A History Lesson .................................................................... 27 3d. Combat Training ..................................................................... 29 3e. What is the Matrix? ................................................................ 31 3f. The Enemy ............................................................................. 33 3g. New Identity ........................................................................... 34 3h. The Oracle ............................................................................. 35 4. TRAPS: Contamination, Conspiracy, and Consequences 4a. A Parable of a Parable? ......................................................... 38 4b. Mouse..................................................................................... 38 4c. Cypher .................................................................................... 39 5. TRANSCENDENCE: Confrontation, Conflict, and Conquest 5a. The Mission ............................................................................ 43 5b. The Mayhem .......................................................................... 45 5c. The Murder ............................................................................. 46 5d. The Master ............................................................................. 46 C. Shortcomings in This Parable ............................................................................... 47 IV. The Matrix as Messiah Movie (Neo allegorized as Messiah figure) A. Jewish Messiah or Christian Messiah? ....................................................... 48 B. Cautions about Comparing Neo to Christ ................................................... 49 C. Allegory of Neo as a Christ Figure Part 1: The birth and earthly ministry of Christ ....................................... 49 Part 2: The betrayal of Christ .................................................................. 51 Part 3: The death, resurrection, victory, and ascension of Christ ........... 52 V. Conclusion and Personal Remarks .......................................................................... 54 -2- 0. “SPOILER” AND RATING WARNINGS (as a service to readers) SPOILER WARNING: This document is a detailed examination of the story and some allegorical possibilities of The Matrix. Readers not wishing to know such things before seeing the film may wish to see it before reading further. RATING WARNING: The Matrix film was rated “R” in the USA for: • intense scenes (medical, acupuncture, blood, burns, physical grotesquerie, the “bugging” of Neo, etc.) • violence (including a direct gunshot to the head when Trinity says “dodge this”) • language (19 scatological references, 4 “posterior” references, 11 variants of “God”, 7 vari- ants of “Jesus”). The film does not contain sex or nudity. I. INTRODUCTION The Matrix, a Warner Brothers film released in April of 1999 in the USA, was directed by brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski. The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, among others. (Plot summary paragraph) Mankind created Artificial Intelligence (‘A.I.’), which in turn “spawned a race of machines” that defeated humanity in a great war. Because nuclear winter has darkened the sky, those machines required a substitute for solar power. The machines found a way to siphon the heat and bioelectricity from a human body, but they needed a way to keep captured humanity docile during the process. So the machines built a vast ‘power plant’ system of prison pods where humans float in a lifelong coma, their brains hooked up to a vast virtual reality called the ‘Matrix’. The Matrix is a simulation of 1999 earth, where people go about their illusionary lives oblivious to their true state of captivity. The machines have ‘sentient programs’ called ‘Agents’ who patrol within the Matrix simulation to ensure the mental prison runs smoothly. Neo, the protagonist, is a human in the Matrix who senses something is wrong with his existence. A tiny group of freed humans from outside the Matrix extracts Neo from the Matrix simulation then physi- cally rescues him from the machine ‘power plant’. From their hovercraft, they train Neo to over- come the rules of the Matrix. Neo must then use the socket on his skull to jack back into the Matrix simulation world so he can free other humans and fight the virtual Agents. Neo masters the Matrix world and destroys an agent at the end of the film, leaving us to guess the rest as he ascends into the simulated sky. On the surface, The Matrix is a polished, thinking man’s sci-fi action flick with big budget special effects, tech tunes, and cyberculture influences. But The Matrix mainly succeeds as a canvas for conjecture. The film pulsates with religious and philosophical nuances, provocative names, cul- tural commentary, and myriad metaphors, giving the perceptive observer a mental playground. Simply put, it seems that with a little effort, one can get just about anything out of this multifaceted movie. And for a thinker, that’s fun – which is one reason why the film quickly developed a dedicated fan base. Is The Matrix a commentary on man vs. technology? Or reality vs. illusion? Does Neo represent an anarchist? Or the antichrist? Or even Christ? Is Neo a nihilistic rebel? Or is he a parable of a Christian? Does The Matrix use eastern philosophy? The answer to all these questions is “Yes”, depending on how you choose to view the film! We will glance at some of the many ways to view the film, then analyze in detail two fascinating allegories of The Matrix: Neo as a lost person who finds truth, and Neo as a Messiah figure. As DuJour says, “Come on - it’ll be fun!” -3- II. THE MANY WAYS OF VIEWING THE MATRIX (If this list bores you, just skip ahead to the allegory in part III) To give you an idea of just how many ‘lenses’ are available to view The Matrix, here is a very incomplete (and purposefully so!) list of themes and influences that people are analyzing in the film: • Neo as man who becomes a Christian and learns to walk in faith • Neo as Christian Messiah • Neo as Jewish Messiah • Christ’s Second Coming (the hint from Morpheus that Neo came once before) • Neo as Antichrist (reverse all good/evil roles in the film) • Neo as Moses who leads people out of captivity • Neo as key figure or exemplary believer for various religions, philosophies, movements, govern- ments • Neo as man coming to enlightenment (Buddhism, some eastern philosophy) • Neo as man discovering himself and/or truth (many philosophies and religions) • Alice in Wonderland (white rabbit, looking glass, etc.) • Dorothy / Kansas / “Mr. Wizard” / Oz • The nature of reality • The nature of truth • The nature of identity • Philosophy vs. Religion • Man vs. Technology • Science vs. Faith • Fate / Free Will / Destiny • Illusion / Dreams • Conscious vs. Subconscious (Jung) • Superstition (Neo sees black cat = ‘bad luck’) • Man vs. “The System” • Nihilism • Social Rebellion / Anarchy / Nonconformity / Disestablishmentarianism (a fifty-cent word!) • Control / Authority (“You have a problem with authority, Mr. Anderson”) • Greek mythology (Morpheus, Oracle, etc.) • Mind over matter (‘Spoon boy’ bending spoons, girls levitating blocks) • Metaphysics • Humanism (a future with ‘no borders’, ‘the power is within you’, ‘free your mind’, etc.) • Evolution (cf. Agent Smith’s speech