Le Weekend
Nov. 11th, 2003 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootWas intensely enjoyable. On Friday Night, we went to see Matrix Revolutions. I have always promised myself never to use the lj cut, cos the whole idea of this journal is not to fear boring others, and to write without consideration, but it can’t always be done. This isn’t a review, but it does contain spoilers about the film, so here we go. Hope it works.
Matrix Revolutions could never be as good as The Matrix, because the latter worked as a stand alone film. It didn’t need parts II and III. Sometimes things work better with questions unanswered. Still if the story is to continue in the face of the audience, the answers have to be there, and they have to be cinematic. Hard, when the concept is about the nature of reality.
The Matrix presented an image that needed to be reinforced in the later films to keep the point uppermost. For me, the point was not Zion, or the cool fights (though I know, without these you are dealing, not with a film, but with a theory) but the human condition, the reduction of souls to flip-tops.
Those who believe in Maya, The Great Illusion or even the Cathar view of the universe, would argue that the Matrix is indeed where all of us now live. Maya believers calling it the great dream or story (or roleplaying game!) Cathars believing in the ultimate prison, that earth and entrapment in matter = hell. The Maya believers are probably on more of a winning streak here, cos if this is hell, it’s very beautiful. But I guess as a wealthy white woman of the west it is easy for me to choose that perception. Still, it is the Matrix in all its beauty, shittiness and complexity. And we are happy little eating, fucking, fighting sub-machines who can no longer survive outside a preciously controlled environment of pure mind candy.
Then we release ourselves or someone else releases us. And we see the true horror of the prison. But from Cipher we learn that reality is perceptive, that if you can live a ‘true reality’ of shite food and shite clothes and shite life, or a ‘false’ reality of fame and wealth and happiness, wouldn’t you, given the chance, swap the two?
The reverse side of this has been presented before. Consider C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, in the sixth of the seven books, ‘The Silver Chair.’
Puddleglum the marshwiggle is faced with the enchantment of a wicked witch, whose spell’s objective is to make the Narnians forget the beauty of the world above, and accept the ugly gloom of the underworld as the only truth. Lions are just large cats with hair. The sun and moon are just lamps, made bigger through fantasy. Too much childish imagination is the flaw. Puddleglum’s response is that if this is so, the reality seems pretty poor in contrast to the fantasy, and so he is going to believe in the fantasy with all his heart and mind. He chooses his heaven. Cipher makes the same choice. Because it doesn’t matter if it’s not true. You feel it just as much as if it was true, and it’s better than anything else around.
And then there is Smith.
Smith is corrupting the whole matrix, he’s a virus, the pure manifestation of ego, something like that. The agreement between Source and Neo only happens when the Source understands the threat to the Machine city…or its own ego. The emergence of a new God. And so he accepts his human ‘son’ and empowers him to destroy the enemy. Neo transcends, beats Smith, integrates with the source and becomes part of the new one, the new sun. So far, so Christian. There is truce, Zion is saved, all realities still exist for those who want them, the machines can even keep their cherished battery fields, and somehow, we get the new reality without the destruction of the old. This has got to be one of humanity’s sweetest dreams, the making of the omelette without breaking too many eggs – except the bad one, of course. Neo chooses re-integration, just as Cipher did. But we approve of his choice of heaven cos it’s spiritual, it’s hope, he[‘s merging on a par with the Source rather than re-taking his place as blind battery (we hope) he’s our hero, we have truce, and we really care about Zion. OK.
None of this would happen without Smith working as threat or ultimate distortion of that which is. There have been six ‘ones’ before, but never a Smith. He, unlike Neo, is totally unique. Without his antagonism, the new ragnarok-free dawn would never happen, the cycles continue as before. It could be argued that Smith is truly ‘The One’ who makes Morpheus’ dreams come true, because it is only the advent of a real destroyer that brings source and new son together, brings about real change and forces reality itself to renew. Every Luciferian, Satanist, Gnostic and Crowleyite in the world would sing ‘Ta-Daaaa!’ at this conclusion. Hmm. I’m not sure that’s what the Brothers Wachowski meant...
The writers/directors having asked all the questions in The Matrix, avoid going too deeply into answers in Revolutions, and to a certain extent gloss it over with the Battle for Zion, the love between Trinity and Neo, etc. They have to. The answers don’t need to be deep or true, but they do need to look good on film, and they have to be superficially fulfilling to a wide audience. These are the kind of answers that work for us, the ultimate matrix dwellers!
On Saturday we played Stab Face, in its most mind blowing, colossal incarnation. Saturday was fantastic, but almost ruined for me by the intrusion of one particular memory from very long ago. I wasn’t ready for this most raw and hungry ghost, despite my belief that the Darkening of the Moon always forces some primitive response from me. The game reached it’s magnificent conclusion, and long afterwards, gentle conversation about bugger all through the night did the trick and I was fine. The weekend was blown apart by the game. It’s just yooooooj and incredibly cinematic. Clever old Beloved Bear! His imagination is truly spectacular!
Matrix Revolutions could never be as good as The Matrix, because the latter worked as a stand alone film. It didn’t need parts II and III. Sometimes things work better with questions unanswered. Still if the story is to continue in the face of the audience, the answers have to be there, and they have to be cinematic. Hard, when the concept is about the nature of reality.
The Matrix presented an image that needed to be reinforced in the later films to keep the point uppermost. For me, the point was not Zion, or the cool fights (though I know, without these you are dealing, not with a film, but with a theory) but the human condition, the reduction of souls to flip-tops.
Those who believe in Maya, The Great Illusion or even the Cathar view of the universe, would argue that the Matrix is indeed where all of us now live. Maya believers calling it the great dream or story (or roleplaying game!) Cathars believing in the ultimate prison, that earth and entrapment in matter = hell. The Maya believers are probably on more of a winning streak here, cos if this is hell, it’s very beautiful. But I guess as a wealthy white woman of the west it is easy for me to choose that perception. Still, it is the Matrix in all its beauty, shittiness and complexity. And we are happy little eating, fucking, fighting sub-machines who can no longer survive outside a preciously controlled environment of pure mind candy.
Then we release ourselves or someone else releases us. And we see the true horror of the prison. But from Cipher we learn that reality is perceptive, that if you can live a ‘true reality’ of shite food and shite clothes and shite life, or a ‘false’ reality of fame and wealth and happiness, wouldn’t you, given the chance, swap the two?
The reverse side of this has been presented before. Consider C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, in the sixth of the seven books, ‘The Silver Chair.’
Puddleglum the marshwiggle is faced with the enchantment of a wicked witch, whose spell’s objective is to make the Narnians forget the beauty of the world above, and accept the ugly gloom of the underworld as the only truth. Lions are just large cats with hair. The sun and moon are just lamps, made bigger through fantasy. Too much childish imagination is the flaw. Puddleglum’s response is that if this is so, the reality seems pretty poor in contrast to the fantasy, and so he is going to believe in the fantasy with all his heart and mind. He chooses his heaven. Cipher makes the same choice. Because it doesn’t matter if it’s not true. You feel it just as much as if it was true, and it’s better than anything else around.
And then there is Smith.
Smith is corrupting the whole matrix, he’s a virus, the pure manifestation of ego, something like that. The agreement between Source and Neo only happens when the Source understands the threat to the Machine city…or its own ego. The emergence of a new God. And so he accepts his human ‘son’ and empowers him to destroy the enemy. Neo transcends, beats Smith, integrates with the source and becomes part of the new one, the new sun. So far, so Christian. There is truce, Zion is saved, all realities still exist for those who want them, the machines can even keep their cherished battery fields, and somehow, we get the new reality without the destruction of the old. This has got to be one of humanity’s sweetest dreams, the making of the omelette without breaking too many eggs – except the bad one, of course. Neo chooses re-integration, just as Cipher did. But we approve of his choice of heaven cos it’s spiritual, it’s hope, he[‘s merging on a par with the Source rather than re-taking his place as blind battery (we hope) he’s our hero, we have truce, and we really care about Zion. OK.
None of this would happen without Smith working as threat or ultimate distortion of that which is. There have been six ‘ones’ before, but never a Smith. He, unlike Neo, is totally unique. Without his antagonism, the new ragnarok-free dawn would never happen, the cycles continue as before. It could be argued that Smith is truly ‘The One’ who makes Morpheus’ dreams come true, because it is only the advent of a real destroyer that brings source and new son together, brings about real change and forces reality itself to renew. Every Luciferian, Satanist, Gnostic and Crowleyite in the world would sing ‘Ta-Daaaa!’ at this conclusion. Hmm. I’m not sure that’s what the Brothers Wachowski meant...
The writers/directors having asked all the questions in The Matrix, avoid going too deeply into answers in Revolutions, and to a certain extent gloss it over with the Battle for Zion, the love between Trinity and Neo, etc. They have to. The answers don’t need to be deep or true, but they do need to look good on film, and they have to be superficially fulfilling to a wide audience. These are the kind of answers that work for us, the ultimate matrix dwellers!
On Saturday we played Stab Face, in its most mind blowing, colossal incarnation. Saturday was fantastic, but almost ruined for me by the intrusion of one particular memory from very long ago. I wasn’t ready for this most raw and hungry ghost, despite my belief that the Darkening of the Moon always forces some primitive response from me. The game reached it’s magnificent conclusion, and long afterwards, gentle conversation about bugger all through the night did the trick and I was fine. The weekend was blown apart by the game. It’s just yooooooj and incredibly cinematic. Clever old Beloved Bear! His imagination is truly spectacular!
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Date: 2003-11-10 04:25 am (UTC)Sorry about the ganging up.. :S
Oh dear, oh dear.. things are still afoot! God knows how the Surya/Ralik thing is going to pan out.. mmmm Johnny Depp :)
xxx
OK, attempt number 3!
Date: 2003-11-12 09:54 pm (UTC)Like I said, no need to apologise...skewed perceptions are not your problem!
Re Larians, OK, you win! He am JD. This means Hrunga can never be rude to him again. I just don't think I can take it!
Let's go visit his clan. At least she could trash his house...