I have posted something similar to this in the past and have decided to return to the subject matter because of a “newfound interest” from select friends. In 1999, a film made it’s debut and in a lot of ways it changed the very fundamentals of filmmaking and storytelling. That film was The Matrix. Say what you will about the film, from conception to execution, no one can deny that it has had significant impacts on filmmaking today. At the time of it’s release (a month before the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace), it had become an overnight sensation and quite frankly, was critically more successful than the anticipated Star Wars prequel- partially because both films appeal to very different generations, a reason why Episode I was trashed because audiences didn’t realize that unlike them, the franchise didn’t grow up. That is a different story altogether.
In the film’s marketing campaign, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing the tagline: ‘What is The Matrix?’ That generates a very simple answer: The Matrix is an artificial world created by a super-computer that uses the fake world as a way to force it’s human slaves to generate power.
The problem is, the question truly deserves a more complex answer.
Upon seeing the first film, I was captivated by the imagination of the films’ creators, Larry (now Lana) and Andy Wachowski, however, like so many others, I didn’t truly understand what they were trying to say. Yes, I was able to see the Christ parables that manages to find it’s way in many other films, from Star Wars to Superman, but there is so much more underneath. These didn’t become clear until after the conclusion of the trilogy, and The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions were deemed as critical disappointments which just proves that no one was really paying attention.
All three films suffer from many things. They aren’t perfect movies by any stretch of the imagination, but they come close as perfection can get in movies. The first film has a few pacing problems, most notably the exposition scenes in the middle which tend to drag out far longer than they need to. The second film suffers that same fate and the Burly Brawl sequence, while decent in conception was terribly poor in execution. The third film however, is terribly underrated and is the film where everything really starts to make sense. Pacing issues aside, Revolutions is the perfect example of the proper conclusion of a trilogy- and it’s apparent that most filmmakers are unable to figure this out as most trilogy enders are viewed as poor and/or deemed as failures.
Each of the three films represent a certain part of human life; The Matrix is about birth, Reloaded is about life, Revolutions is about death.
The Matrix follows Neo’s journey as he is awakened to a new world; his birth. The symbolism of his “birth” in the real world is not hard to understand; being connected to the machines in various umbilical cords which are severed, sliding down through the tunnels where he will later be used as food to the other “slaves” represents the birth canal, to being wrapped up in a blanket on the ship similar to that of a newborn.
But it goes much deeper than that.
Neo’s “Birth”
Is Neo the “One”, or isn’t he? Morpheus believes that he is is. Even Trinity. Everyone seems to believe that he is except The Oracle. When he asks her, she responds with, “Sorry. In your next life maybe.” He isn’t the One. Not yet anyway. Thomas Anderson is merely a man who has yet to have the One code implanted onto him. In order for this to happen, Neo must die and only then can the One code bring about his resurrection; the birth of “The One”. The Oracle’s above statement rings true that he will be the “savior” in his next life.
As the remainder of the trilogy unfolds, we begin to gain insight what the purpose of The One is. Neo is merely a man carrying the One code where he will reconnect with the source. We hear this from The Oracle, we hear it from Agent Smith, we hear it from The Merovingian. I can’t help but wonder what everyone was wanting with the Matrix sequels when all the information was given to us in various ways and it could have only ended in one way and one way only. Maybe it’s because no one pays attention anymore. Everything you need is there.
Disobedience and Choice
Throughout the first film and entirely placed within the second is the theme of disobedience. This is because humans are disobedient. It’s what makes us alive. In a biblical sense, it’s the reasons we’re here.
There are key things in the first film that point this out. Mouse tells Neo that, “To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human.” Neo, as Thomas Anderson was disobedient. He was frequently late for work. He didn’t do what he was told. He had a problem with authority. In the interrogation room, he deliberately gives Agent Smith the “finger”. We understand that Neo is disobedient. Upon meeting The Architect at the end of Reloaded, Neo rejects his offer.
That’s what makes us human. We are all compelled to disobey. It’s why we have agency, the ability to make decisions and hope it’s for the best. With disobedience comes choice, whether it be the choice between the red pill or the blue pill, or to choose the right door or the left door. Neo, like every human is presented with choices, and he follows his heart with each one despite the consequences.
Take the blue pill and conform, return to life as a robot. Red pill, disobey.
Take the left door and return to Zion, become complacent and let the cycle repeat itself. Right door, disobey the commands of your creator and see what happens. This same kind of choice was presented to Adam and Eve with the fruit of the tree. Eve, and later Adam was given a choice and they chose to disobey.
One of the criticisms of The Matrix Reloaded was the rave scene in Zion as I’ve heard many complaints ranging from it’s importance, relevance, length, and so on. Good writers and directors are very intentional with their references and scene choices. Story scenes are there for a reason, not just to fill time or show some tits.
The rave scene lived up to it’s purpose perfectly. What are we shown in this scene? Repeated shots of feet on the ground. People dancing in a sexually provocative manner. Many people of African ethnicity. Molten lava underground, covered and occasionally black skies. Neo and Trinity, naked and having sex.
The feet on the ground is to dictate that Zion is on Earth, plain and simple. Humans were cast out of heaven and living in the real world- life is dirty. Symbolically, The Matrix is heaven. Cypher makes this point in the first film; the real world is hard, dirty, and uncomfortable whereas as The Matrix is paradise. Agent Smith makes this point yet again who calls the Matrix “the perfect human world”. Zion is dark and dirty, contradiction to the scene with The Architect in his pristine white suit and clean white floors. The biblical reference is clear: Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and the rest of Zion have rejected God’s Garden of Eden where all their needs are take care of in favor of a hard, scrabbling existence where at least they have free will.
Morpheus’ speech before the sexually driven dance is the meaning of the dance: that we are in the real world of flesh and blood, of dirt and animal instinct. This is not “heaven” where divine, passionless entities ‘do what they are there to do’. This is passion and feeling. This scene, we see human beings neither rejecting their animal selves, nor completely giving over to their animal selves either- it is a human activity with choice and rhythm and purpose, but also filled with basic impulses. In other words, they are reveling in their humanity.
Nordic concepts of Middle Earth means literally “in the middle between the animal world and the divine world.” To be human is to stand in between animal instinct and godliness.
Morpheus in his speech talks about the actions of those present resonating ‘from red core to black sky’- between them. The red core is the animal, warlike heart (hell). The black sky is the Dome of Heaven. This is also the reason for the various shots of molten lava beneath them within the cracks of Zion. Furthermore, this represents that the core of the Earth is deadly, but it is also a holy place where humanity is born. Africa is also the birthplace of humanity, which leads into the reasons why Zion is filled with people of African ethnicity. It’s also no wonder then if Africa is “the Mother” of humanity, than the mother of the Matrix (The Oracle) would be black herself.
The sex scene continues the theories. Not only does this scene cut back and forth between the dance sequence, clearly dictating that Neo and Trinity, like those in Zion, are doing what it means to be human- not denying one’s impulses. They are both naked and being intimate with one another. They are in love, something the machines don’t and can’t comprehend. They are both embracing their animal sides (close ups of fingers gripping into one another, etc.).
This scene also shows close ups of their sockets that once connected them to the Matrix. They contain the marks of heaven, again clearly suggesting that they are in fact human.
The Father
The Architect clearly states that he is ‘The Father’ of The Matrix, whereas The Oracle is ‘The Mother’. By basic comparison, The Architect is God as we see him in the creation stories of Genesis. He created Earth in six days, then took a break and took leisurely walks in the Garden of Eden. Of course he created trees containing the forbidden fruits of the Trees of Knowledge and of Life.
The Architect creates the Matrix and sits back in his chair watching everything unfold on his TV sets.Away from the Creator God theories, there is also Brahma who creates the world but does not rule it. He essentially sits on his lotus flower (chair) and watches as things unfold (TV sets).
With any creation story like one in Genesis, you also have the serpent. In the first film, Agent Smith said, ‘the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world. Where none suffered. Where everyone would be happy.” The Architect confirms this in Reloaded as well. The Garden is timeless. So is the Matrix.
We then are introduced to the Tree of Knowledge through Morpheus. New knowledge is change; the exit from the immortal, perfect, unchanging Garden (Matrix) into the field of time via an apple (red pill).
But what of the serpent himself? He had to have been made by God- who else would have created him? I also do not view the serpent as evil, how can I? The serpent allows us to ask questions. Why do things work? Why does this do that and that do this? These questions bring about new technology and inventions. The correlation between one who asks questions and creates technology with Neo is clear as Thomas Anderson is disobedient to ask questions, to hack, and to invent.
Does God want us to disobey? Does The Architect and The Oracle want Neo to chose the red pill? Of course they do, otherwise God wouldn’t have designed ways to exit the Garden.
Neo stands before The Architect and both are drastically different from one another; The Architect (God) dressed in white, Neo (the serpent) dressed in black. The serpent in the Garden isn’t evil. It is of change. The opening of the door to exit the Garden that was designed by God himself. How could one view the serpent as evil when he is clearly doing what God had created in the first place? The serpent is merely a catalyst, inviting us to think rationally about our surroundings. On one hand, the serpent is responsible for putting events in motion that lead to the invention of agriculture- the inventor. On the other hand, the very idea of a snake is the most rudimentary image of life (life equals change) and so by following the serpent we can awaken to genuine humanity. Again, who created the serpent? God. Who created Neo? The Architect. He also created the exits. The One code that Neo carries with him which has one purpose and one purpose only: to reboot the Matrix.
In the scene with Neo and the Architect, the latter speaks while cryptic, but truth that can be misinterpreted but is truth nonetheless. He tells Neo that he is human. He isn’t a program of the Matrix. He is a man carrying a code, although imprinted upon him. He is also disobedient, therefore still human and not a machine programmed to do anything. He notes that Neo is in love with Trinity- love being a thing of humanity and not one for programming within machines.
Obviously, Neo’s purpose to carry the code and return to the “source” is something that he is designed to do, but he’s human after all and doesn’t deny his own impulses. He choses a different door.
It is in this scene that Neo truly discovers that there have been previous versions of the One. And all previous incarnations have chosen to return to the source. Because that was what they were told to do. The Architect even explains that Neo’s feelings this time around are more “humanized”. He’s in love with Trinity (sex scene earlier tells us this). Neo also realizes, unlike the versions before him, that he has a “choice”. He isn’t suppose to do anything. Otherwise he wouldn’t be human.
This choice is why Neo and The Architect are shown as competing opposites – the God and the Devil. They are the embodiment of the two choices. However, by design, there is an exit.
So God created man in his own image….And there was evening and there was morning- the sixth day. -Genesis 1:27;31
Neo has free will. He can choose. He’s in love. He’s human. He’s also the sixth version of The One— the sixth day. The sixth Neo is the creation of man on the sixth day. The true human being, who disobeys, who leaves the Garden and finds his own way back.
The Mother
The Architect designed a perfect Matrix in versions 1.0 and 2.0, and both failed. He couldn’t capture what it was to be human. It took another program to do that, one “less bound by the parameters of perfection.” The answer came from an intuitive program: The Oracle. The part she contributed that he could not was Neo.
Matrix 1.0 and 2.0 are devoid of suffering because The Architect and machines do not understand growth. In fact, they can’t grow, they strive instead for static perfection. The only way they machines have grown is in response to human actions. The Oracle understands this clearly, to which she says “the only way forward is together.” To counter some complaints I’ve heard about people disliking The Matrix is to clearly state why the machines don’t use cows to power themselves. They don’t want power, plain and simple. They want suffering. How will an immortal machine suffer, die, and grow? They use humans to generate that kind of energy for them.
Strangely enough, it is The Oracle who brings death and misery to the world, but in that comes renewal. The Oracle is telling us that we must disobey and have suffering in order to become genuine human beings. Otherwise we’re robots. Machines. You cannot grow and remain static at the same time. The Architect thinks that the Neo code, birthed by The Oracle is routine for maintaining a static system. Each time the routine runs, the death and rebirth cycle repeats, and all of humanity grows up a little more, expressed specifically as Neo. By it’s very nature, but it’s will to grow, humanity will rejet this Matrix too. Like versions 1.0 and 2.0, this one will also be destroyed.
If the Architect is Brahma as depicted as the Creator God from earlier, then The Oracle is Shiva of the Hindu trinity; Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (Vishnu will play a heavy part later).
Agent Smith
One of my favorite film villains of all time, Agent Smith is simple, but in that becomes complicated. Smith is to the machines what Neo is to humanity. Neo is good. Smith is evil. Smith really hates humans and most of all he hates Neo. What that gains him is clarity, to which he tells Neo that he has found a “purpose.” When we’re searching for a purpose we are pretty ineffectual, but when we can submit ourselves to a higher purpose we respond with increased energy.
At the end of The Matrix, Smith reaches his demise only to return in greater numbers throughout the sequels. Neo consumes Smith and causes him to explode resulting in his death. Somehow, Smith is resurrected from death. He spends a lot of time being disoriented and confused, and thus finds a purpose- destroy Neo.
Resurrection, however, is a human trait. Machines are not living to begin with, so resurrection seems moot. In the first films climax, Neo consumes Smith and a part of Neo (apart of The Oracles gift to the Matrix) is imprinted upon him.
With pieces of humanity now apart of Smith, he is able to be resurrected- death and rebirth and the fundamental characteristics of biological life. He then too, begins experiencing spiritual growth. He gains his purpose: to kill Neo, and plans to do so in a variety of ways including of which taking over the avatar of Bane with the intent to kill Neo in the real world.
In Smith’s years of studying upon human beings, he discovered a way in which they have managed to grow; replication. Either it be through reproduction, or to his analogy of the virus in the first film, he finds a way to replicate himself over and over again. He is growing programmatically.
What I love most about villains is that they become what they hate most. Agent Smith tells Morpheus that he is disgusted and revolted by human nature- how they “replicate.”
By hating Neo, he also doesn’t realize that he is exactly like him in other ways. He has become a hacker, like Neo, and he’s surprisingly good at it. Hacking into systems and replicating himself. Hacking into back doors. He’s even able to hack into reality by downloading Avatars of himself into real human beings.
Neo has given a gift to not only Smith, but the Matrix itself; the ability to make programs co-exist with humans in ways never thought possible. But in Smith’s human like nature, he is compelled to disobey.
It is this character relationship dynamic that sets up the entire story arc of The Matrix Trilogy. The Oracle already mentions it with “the only way forward is together.” Smith is a direct reference. It’s obvious now that the remainder of the story can only end in one particular way.
All of these facets so far get to the principles that Smith is a mirror image of Neo, and perfect storytelling structure with such multiple levels of functionality. Neo and Smith are the same person. Neo was killed by Smith, then resurrected. Smith was killed by Neo, then resurrected. Neo is on a quest (to the Source). Smith is on a quest (to destroy Neo). Neo is motivated by love. Smith is motivated by hate. Neo has growing supernatural powers. Smith has growing supernatural powers. Neo has transcended the system. Smith has transcended the system. Neo hacks the Matrix, then hacks reality. Smith hacks the Matrix, then hacks reality.
Smith using avatars of himself to transcend into reality to make him more human is directly contrasted with Neo being able to “feel” the sentinals as a way to be transcending into the Matrix itself, and thus, gaining insight into his own purpose.
The History
To truly appreciate what the Wachowski’s have done with The Matrix is to experience all of what The Matrix has to offer, which includes key principle story lines in The Animatrix. Like the rave scene, there is a reason why they wrote them in the first place, and play an important part in the understanding of The Matrix itself.
In The Second Renaissance, we are told the beginning of what happened to cause the black sky and the formation of the artificial intelligence that is known as the Matrix.
We learn that 01 is born, and it’s important and profound to understand that 01 is God. 01 wants to coexist with humanity and offers as such. Humanity disobeys and rejects 01’s offer of coexistence.
Humanity then feels it can wipe out God by blackening the sky. If the molten core is hell, the sky is Heaven, humanities rejection is an assault upon Heaven itself. The assault on Heaven fails and humans are cast into a pit.
Several iterations of the Matrix are tried, and finally one is devised that allows humans to grow (so they won’t reject it). In large part, the machines don’t understand the growth aspect of the Matrix and want to control it, to make the humans comply. The Oracle, who helped design Matrix 3.0, ruminates on her creation for a while and realizes that it will eventually lead to humans that can transcend the Matrix. Evolution. For both man and machine.
Then Neo 1.0 arrives on the scene, chooses rebirth for Zion, and the cycle begins again. Until, Neo 6.0 arrives, chooses Trinity and begins the Revolution.
