Topic: The Matrix

[Zamurito]

NEO
The Matrix.  What is the Matrix?

TRINITY
Twelve years ago I met a man, a
great man, who said that no one
could be told the answer to that
question.  That they had to see
it, to believe it.

Her body is against his; her lips very close to his ear.

TRINITY
He told me that no one should look
for the answer unless they have to
because once you see it,
everything changes.  Your life and
the world you live in will never
be the same.  It's as if you wake
up one morning and the sky is
falling.

There is a hypnotic quality to her voice and Neo feels
the words like a drug, seeping into him.

TRINITY
The truth is out there, Neo.  It's
looking for you and it will find
you, if you want it to.

THE MATRIX
Written by
Larry and Andy Wachowski

[Zamurito]

MORPHEUS
We are trained in this world to
accept only what is rational and
logical.  Have you ever wondered
why?

Neo shakes his head.

MORPHEUS
As children, we do not separate
the possible from the impossible
which is why the younger a mind is
the easier it is to free while a
mind like yours can be very
difficult.

NEO
Free from what?

MORPHEUS
From the Matrix.

Neo locks at his eyes but only sees a reflection of
himself.

MORPHEUS
Do you want to know what it is,
Neo?

Neo swallows and nods his head.

MORPHEUS
It's that feeling you have had all
your life.  That feeling that
something was wrong with the
world.  You don't know what it is
but it's there, like a splinter in
your mind, driving you mad,
driving you to me.  But what is
it?

The LEATHER CREAKS as he leans back.

MORPHEUS
The Matrix is everywhere, it's all
around us, here even in this room.
You can see it out your window, or
on your television.  You feel it
when you go to work, or go to
church or pay your taxes.  It is
the world that has been pulled
over your eyes to blind you from
the truth.

NEO
What truth?

MORPHEUS
That you are a slave, Neo.  That
you, like everyone else, was born
into bondage...
... kept inside a prison that you
cannot smell, taste, or touch.  A
prison for your mind.

Outside, the WIND BATTERS a loose PANE of glass.

MORPHEUS
Unfortunately, no one can be told
what the Matrix is.  You have to
see it for yourself.

NEO
How?

MORPHEUS
Hold out your hands.

In Neo's right hand, Morpheus drops a red pill.

MORPHEUS
This is your last chance.  After
this, there is no going back.

In his left, a blue pill.

MORPHEUS
You take the blue pill and the
story ends.  You wake in your bed
and you believe whatever you want
to believe.

The pills in his open hands are reflected in the glasses.

MORPHEUS
You take the red pill and you stay
in Wonderland and I show you how
deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Neo feels the smooth skin of the capsules, with the
moisture growing in his palms.

MORPHEUS
Remember that all I am offering is
the truth.  Nothing more.

Neo opens his mouth and swallows the red pill.  The
Cheshire smile returns.

THE MATRIX
Written by
Larry and Andy Wachowski

[Michael]

this is some of the core wisdom in this film which attracted some people. however i would wager it's not the reason the film became famous - it was only a clever plot feature for a popular audience.

I was quite taken by this aspect (you quote) of the film myself. I only saw the first one, because I was completely turned off by two things.

one the grungy space ship which the freedom fighters were in - that to me is simply wrong. the people in this world who are fighting the hardest against the matrix live in beauty - in fact it's the familiarisation and accustomisation to grunge and what I see as the leeching of quality from our lives, that is one of the best tools of the matrix - it is a strange combination of watching flashy stylised stuff on TV while your house is a dump, or worse, a clean and bland cell just like all the rest down the street. Homes without beauty or personality.

second, and this really did it for me, all the gun shooting. I can't stand that stuff, its so brute low-brow banality. That also is one of the best tools of the matrix.

This left me in a very strange mood. Here was a film score that was talking about ripping the veil of illusion from our eyes, and yet what did it do? who did it attract? not the hippies living off in the hills smoking dope, playing their own music and meditating. no, it attracted the 'with-it', the 'go-get-em', the spiffy the smart the young kids who think they are all those things - the people who desire to live in our new Star-Wars film set world, like Hong Kong. And that is the matrix - the rejection of the natural, the organic, the home-grown, the ramshackle beauty.

So how am I to fit these two aspect together? on one hand here is a film, after so long, that really wanted to get dug into the truth behind our world, and then off they went and sealed it's viewers further into it by all that modern bullshit and worse, some stupid scene where the hero dodges millions of bullets. I nearly walked out right then. Precisely why the US was loosing the war in Iraq (ps, did you hear they may now be winning it? - now they have put a counter-insurgency guy in charge).

Counter-insurgency? well I'm an insurgent. I studied this in my youth and have been fighting in the hills ever since. I see a film that seems to speak to our dwindling cohort, but then I walk our confused and uncertain - have I been betrayed or validated?

OK, I'll add something on the subject.

This is my most favourite song ever, and it's not mine. One either immediately recognises these words, or is on the other side. This song sums up so much of my life - so much emotion, it is like a secret anthem for me:

The Partisan

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
but I have many friends,
and some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
kept us hidden in the garret,
then the soldiers came;
she died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
but I must go on;
the frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

Les Allemands e'taient chez moi,
[The Germans were at my home]
ils me dirent, "Signe toi,"
[They said, "Sign yourself,"]
mais je n'ai pas peur;
[But I am not afraid]
j'ai repris mon arme.
[I have retaken my weapon.]
J'ai change' cent fois de nom,
[I have changed names a hundred times]
j'ai perdu femme et enfants
[I have lost wife and children]
mais j'ai tant d'amis;
[But I have so many friends]
j'ai la France entie`re.
[I have all of France]
Un vieil homme dans un grenier
[An old man, in an attic]
pour la nuit nous a cache',
[Hid us for the night]
les Allemands l'ont pris;
[The Germans captured him]
il est mort sans surprise.
[He died without surprise.]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

and for those who can:
The Partisan

I too will die without surprise ... into the wind.

[Jennifer-]

Ive only seen the first movie.. and found the concept of it interesting.  The scene that lingered the longest for me after watching it was a party underground (or wherever.. in my mind underground) where they were all dancing in a very earthy sort of energy chaos.. loved that part.  Up Up Up

I really dont watch TV, wouldnt even own one if it werent for my husband.. who is hooked on sports.. ack!

Crafty message there within the quotes Zam posts here.. I like that. (the whole movie I guess was geared toward that message)

[Jennifer-]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
through the graves the wind is blowing,
freedom soon will come;
then we'll come from the shadows.

 

[tommy2]

I've watched the first movie more than several times and the others only once.  The first of any movie trilogies is usally always the best.  The concept of the Matrix borders more on "truth" of our mass self-awareness than I feel most people can grasp.  I sincerely feel that 95% of existing humanity live in true self-ignorance 95% of the time ............. generation upon generation.  They do not, nor will they probably EVER, know anything of human value past their autos, homes and stock portfolios and what's riding in them, except maybe the love of their children when they are still smalll and cuddly.  They, like look-alike masses in the Matrix, have chosen to be oblivious to anything else.  This, in a nutshell, is what I refer to as Two Feathers Theory of 95 - 5.

If I WAS in the remaining 5%, would it matter to anything except for maybe the earth, herself?

[Zamurito]

this is some of the core wisdom in this film which attracted some people. however i would wager it's not the reason the film became famous - it was only a clever plot feature for a popular audience.

I was quite taken by this aspect (you quote) of the film myself. I only saw the first one, because I was completely turned off by two things.

I'm not suprised that Michael (and many others I'm sure) picked up on some of these aspects of the film.  I did as well, and many others aspects that I won't discuss here. 

I actually received the script to the movie before the movie was released, and 'the message' seemed to come thru a great deal clearer in the script than in the film version. 

z

[Zamurito]

~

FADE IN:

ON COMPUTER SCREEN

The cursor beating steadily, waiting.

A PHONE begins to RING.

It is answered and the screen fills instantly with the trace program.  After a long beat, we recognize Neo's voice.

NEO:

Hi.  It's me.  I know you're out there.  I know you're working as fast as you can to catch me.

I thought I should call and let you know how things stand.

I know you're real proud of this world you've built, the way it works, all the nice little rules and such, but I've got some bad news.

I've decided to make a few changes.

[Firestarter]

Michael, the Matrix was not just successful due to superior special effects. Tho at the time, they were unlike ones we had ever seen. It was a philosophy that got folks to really think, and now, the movie is prophetic. I know you say folks who are awake "live in beauty," um, not all do. Many who are awake, are all over the world, and are muti-vast, different type of lives. All over. But the movie was intented to show something deep, we are being used, energetically, as a source, and as slaves, and the world is Maya. It takes a lot of eastern philosophy, if you listen to it, pay attention. The movie actually caused a lot of people to think about just how hard they are manipulated, and even question if we are in a "simulation." (I suspect we are in, some kind of "simulation."). I know the bullets is so USA, but still, watching Neo dodge bullets was fun. Now two and three was kinda hokey and exhausting. But The first Matrix will always be dear to my heart. Tho I did like Matrix Resurrections. It was kinda nice to see Neo and Trinity get back together again.