1 Wake up, Neo. Welcome to Journey Planet. In this issue, we discuss the Matrix trilogy, in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the first film’s release. Fan authors discuss everything from their first impressions of the movies way back in 1999, to the role of prophecy and religion in the movies, to the statements the films make about sexuality and how we relate to it. Amongst all of this, we have recollections from James Bacon of his favourite scenes from the first movie, and from Dave Lane explaining various factoids from the world of the Matrix that you may be unfamiliar with. We are your editors: John Coxon, James Bacon and Chris Garcia. We’ll be re-introducing you to the Matrix. So, take the red pill. Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes. 2 Cover by Meg Frank 1 Editorial by Chris Garcia 4 My First Matrix Movie by John Coxon 6 The Crew 9 A Revolution in the Post-Apocalyptic Metropolis by Emma Harris 10 Lana, Lilly and the Art of Pansexual Smartypantsing by Warren Frey 12 Mirrorshades and PVC by España Sheriff 14 Five Views of The Matrix by Chris Garcia 16 The Role of Prophecy in The Matrix by Jenn Scott 18 A World Without Rules, Borders or Boundaries by Helena McCallum 22 The Ultimate in Cyber-Noir Buddhism by Ulrika O’Brien 23 The Splinter in Your Mind by Peppard Saltine 26 Memories of the Matrix by Pete ‘Cardinal’ Cox 29 Loving ‘the One’... Movie by James Mason 30 Style Over Substance? by Bill Howard 32 Enditorial by James Bacon 34 A Paper Generated by the CiteUnScene AI 36 3 Editorial by Chris Garcia There is a moment in The Matrix that blows my mind the nature of reality, Plato’s Cave, and the ways in to this day. No, it’s not in bullet-time, or any of the which destiny steps all over apparent free will. Why effects, honestly, but in a simple scene of the crew do I love the scene of them eating so much? Be- eating in the real world. They’re eating this stuff cause it’s about the middle. We are to assume that that is nowhere near as good as the food they have the world they are living in is the real world, and access to within The Matrix, and they mention that The Matrix is the illustion world. What they’re talk- it reminds them of ‘runny eggs’ and then go off on ing about is the mediator, what ancient man must figuring out how they managed to come up with the have wondered about the gods, what the medieval ideas and experiences for food and such. philosophers probably discussed about God. How did they create the things we see, and how did they de- Let’s break that down a bit. They’re talking about termine what their effect on us would be? It’s BIG the very fabric of reality, how the world is designed PICTURE type stuff, from people who had been living for them to experience. That’s a powerful concept, in a simulation and are now out of it, but STILL have and one that hits at the very significant philosoph- those big questions. In essence, there is no escaping ical debates over the nature of our reality, and the from The Matrix because we always want to know the idea that it might, in fact, be a computer simulation. answer to the most important question – How? Note: there are actual sciencers talking about this. And that’s ultimately why when the theory that Let’s take an interesting step here. The Matrix is about the Universe might be a computer simulation came 4 running itself on a virtual machine, we’d not be of Dave’s Matrix Facts the same stuff. That sort of nested universe isn’t too strange; it’s the basis of a very funny Rick and Morty The Wachowskis initially went to episode. Warner Brothers and essentially said ‘we want to make this trilogy, and The scene illustrates something very interesting to we want to direct it’. They were me; even when we have proven that there is more to politely informed that studios tend the world than we can know, we still want answers. not to give hundreds of millions There is nothing that will stop questioning. They of dollars to unknown first-time know that there is a God, as it were, and they are directors, and to perhaps start with something smaller. They then went still wondering about it. The answer to the question and made Bound, nailed it, and after “why are we here?” isn’t enough. There will always a fair bit more persuasion were given be questions. At first, they are questions of existence. the go-ahead for The Matrix, which Is there more than this? Who made us? Then come then went on to be WB’s highest the questions of process. How did they create us? grossing film. What were the rules? How’d they choose what runny eggs taste like? Then, as we get more and more sol- about, I was intrigued. You see, The Matrix is about id in our understanding, it’s about questioning your those who escaped the simulation, which is fascinat- role in things. Do I have free will? Am I the only one ing, but if the Universe as we know it is a simula- who knows. We can see this throughout the history tion, then how would one escape? My guess would be you’d have to go to the edge of the universe and of thought. jump off, I guess. We all know that we are real, that That’s partly what makes the scene so effective: it’s we’re not simulations, that we exist, we have form, obvious that it’s a thought process that is happen- we are true. We can only guess about everyone else. ing to people who are no longer questioning the big There’s the classic question of whether what we see picture. No matter how far we go down the rabbit as blue is what anyone else sees as blue, which is sor- hole, we’ll still have things to ask. That’s why I love ta a big question with the almost certain answer of The Matrix, and partly why I don’t think we’re living “No, I’m the only one who sees it like this” which is in a simulation: because there would be an obvious kinda a bummer. endgame if we were! If the universe is a simulation, then what does that mean? On a base level, it means we can blink out of James’ Favourite Scenes existence at any given moment whenever the simu- lator decides they’ve collected enough data. That’s The comment, “you look a little whiter kinda freaky, no? Next, it means that so many of the than usual” and the response, “ever fringe-thoughts are actually true. Is there other life have that feeling if you are not sure in the Universe? Uh-huh, unless you consider the if you are awake or still dreaming”, area where the computer running the simulation is was responded with with hilarity, housed to be extra-universal. Intelligent Design? No mescaline and unplugging for some rest and relaxation, and why not, doubt. An intelligence would be required to create chase that white rabbit. Hold on, is a simulation. A meaning to life? Why else create a it chasing the dragon, anyhow. The simulation? The mind-body problem? Completely club was good, although I would have solved, because there is no actual body, only mind, liked more sleaze and filth (in a program, code. good, sex-positive way) than cool, and didn’t Trinity just take the What they’re talking about around that table in screen, her shoulder, so sexy. Neo’s The Matrix is the ways and means of gods, and how misconception: “Jeez… I thought you they create the things they’ve created. What’s real- were a guy”, clumsy and obvious yet ly interesting is that the crew manages to both be honest and real. Trinity intimately within the simulation, and outside it, manipulating leans in, intensely whispering her it. That’s kinda nuts, and if we are living in a simula- warning, “they are watching you Neo,” intimidating in its invasion of his tion, there’s a weirdness to that. We would be code, personal space. and unless we are running on a virtual machine 5 My First Matrix Movie by John Coxon We all have things about us that we’d rath- time) that I didn’t actually realise that the character er our friends didn’t know. For some of us, it’s depicted in those parts of the movie is Trinity, and The Wasp Factory, but for me, it’s my route into it wasn’t until Neo’s poorly-timed flashback to that The Matrix. As many of the authors within this issue scene that I realised what was going on there. have remarked, The Matrix came out in 1999, and at the time it did, I was 10 years old (sorry). The movie I think that presages people’s main criticism of was given a 15 certificate, and so I was too young to Reloaded, which was that it relied far too heavily on see it, but by the time The Matrix Reloaded came out CGI and set-pieces and lost a lot of the tight dialogue in 2003, I was 14½ years old, and so I blagged my way and cleverly directed scenes for which the original into the local cinema and settled down to watch it movie is beloved.