Dr3vil
05-19-2003, 05:05 AM
WARNING: Aside from spoilers, this stuff is really heady, anyone complaining about not understanding the movie should hit the back button now, because it's more complex than you probably thought. Some preliminary exposure to classical or modern philosphy is recommended, but not required.
I loved Reloaded, more than the first. Some people watched it for eye candy, I watched it for brain food. I can certainly say my cup overfloweth, I have no idea how many times I'll have to see this movie to start understanding it, but here's a shot.
Many people seem dissapointed or angered by the Matrix Reloaded, and I can certainly see why. It's an insensitive slap in the face for those expecting to get their enlightenment handed to them in an easy to swollow pill form. It demands you be brave enough not only to question everything, but to never stop questioning, because without questions, you're still a slave, still clinging blindly to something you don't know the nature of. This is why I thought it a stroke of absolute genius to proove the prophecy a lie and the "rebellion," to be simply another medium for machine control. The Matrix is not meant to answer your questions, but simply to reveal the desert of the real in all it's abhorrent dearth, in all it's limitless possibility.
On the note of possibility, here's two fancinating and brand spanking new conundrums I got from seeing the flick:
1) The Motivation of Action:
Why do you what you do? The answer to most seems simple: you're aware of your existence and within that, you make choices. A snooty frenchmen (Merovingian) shatters that assumption in Reloaded with the concept of causality. You are what you are and you react in a very predictable fashion based on your genetics and you're conditioning (summed up by Mero as who and what holds power over you). It certainly concurs to some extent with physics, we have a concept of "randomness," but all the things we consider random, from the roll of dice, to electric signals interpreted by our brain are still subject to the laws of phyics. Our calling it "random" only reflects our inability to predict it, not it's ability to be predictable. If everythings predictable, only one sequence of events can ever occur, and there is no possibility. Without possibility, how can we choose? If fate or physics only leads us to one possible choice, how is that choice ever free?
The physics of choice may not be a hindrance, however, as the the oracle reveals. Free Will isn't just random action, it requires that our choices be a reflection of ourselves. The Oracle tells neo he's already made the choice, his task is simply to understand it. Further defending free will is the fact that even if it is predictable, subject to casality, that doesn't mean it's possible for us to predict it. "Choice" was the supposed anomaly of the matrix, and even the mathematical skills of the machines were insufficient in solving this "imabalanced" equation.
However, chiming in to crush our hopes once more, Agent Smith claims it's our goals that bind us. We can never be free because we are always slaves to purpose, our choices are locked in action by who we are. We never really "choose," we just react. This would make self discovery and questioning a trivial concern in the face of our enevitable, unalterable nature. Such a view is quite suiting of Smith, who is far more concern with enforcing his will on as many as possible instead of questioning himself, which brings me to point two...
2) The Uber Mensch:
Famous for the quote "God is Dead," Frederick Nietzsche's philosophy and his central concept of an Uber Mensch is magnificently represented in the character of Agent Smith. To summarize (bastardize?) his theory in three quick bullets:
- Most people are simply mindless sheep, or camels as it were, carrying on the traditions and perogatives they are taught, unquestioningly. These people, most people, are naive and weak.
- People do everything with the aim of empowerment. We learn, we make money, we cultivate relationships, all and only to gain power. No action is taken without an eye toward our ego and how much influence we gain or lose.
- An Uber Mensch (translated from German as Over Man or Super Man) is has a far stronger will than the average person. They gain power by disregarding the value of what they are told and creating thier own rules and values. They are powerful enough to exert their will over others. By their influence, they are history and nature's most powerful force, inciting all revolutions and meaningful advances.
Agent Smith's assimilation of others is not only a really cool looking effect, it's a perfect metaphor for how an Uber Mensch exerts his will over others to garner support. Smith however, exceeds limitations of human ovemen in his robotic inability to be compasionate (a sign of weakness to Nietzsche), and the result of, not an obient slave of his philosophy, but an exact replica of himself. Smith is a hyperbolic example of the Uber Mensch, perhaps meant to exemplify the immorality and inhumanity that Nietzsche's theory has been so frequently ridiculed for endorsing.
Giving props to this much maligned classic theory has significance in the synergy between Neo and Agent Smith. It certainly exemplifies the ego-mind duality I believe to exist in all of us.
True, I've seen quite a bit of my own philosophy in the Matrix, but such a confirmation bias has not prevented me from being astounded by Reloaded. The theories on the nature of choice in particular are simply mind blowing, and the arguments weave into eachother in a way marvels and baffles me. Now if only I can convince my Philosophy teacher(s) to show the movie in class and pay for a trip to Revolutions. I'm majoring in the damn thing, I should be able to find one sucker...
I loved Reloaded, more than the first. Some people watched it for eye candy, I watched it for brain food. I can certainly say my cup overfloweth, I have no idea how many times I'll have to see this movie to start understanding it, but here's a shot.
Many people seem dissapointed or angered by the Matrix Reloaded, and I can certainly see why. It's an insensitive slap in the face for those expecting to get their enlightenment handed to them in an easy to swollow pill form. It demands you be brave enough not only to question everything, but to never stop questioning, because without questions, you're still a slave, still clinging blindly to something you don't know the nature of. This is why I thought it a stroke of absolute genius to proove the prophecy a lie and the "rebellion," to be simply another medium for machine control. The Matrix is not meant to answer your questions, but simply to reveal the desert of the real in all it's abhorrent dearth, in all it's limitless possibility.
On the note of possibility, here's two fancinating and brand spanking new conundrums I got from seeing the flick:
1) The Motivation of Action:
Why do you what you do? The answer to most seems simple: you're aware of your existence and within that, you make choices. A snooty frenchmen (Merovingian) shatters that assumption in Reloaded with the concept of causality. You are what you are and you react in a very predictable fashion based on your genetics and you're conditioning (summed up by Mero as who and what holds power over you). It certainly concurs to some extent with physics, we have a concept of "randomness," but all the things we consider random, from the roll of dice, to electric signals interpreted by our brain are still subject to the laws of phyics. Our calling it "random" only reflects our inability to predict it, not it's ability to be predictable. If everythings predictable, only one sequence of events can ever occur, and there is no possibility. Without possibility, how can we choose? If fate or physics only leads us to one possible choice, how is that choice ever free?
The physics of choice may not be a hindrance, however, as the the oracle reveals. Free Will isn't just random action, it requires that our choices be a reflection of ourselves. The Oracle tells neo he's already made the choice, his task is simply to understand it. Further defending free will is the fact that even if it is predictable, subject to casality, that doesn't mean it's possible for us to predict it. "Choice" was the supposed anomaly of the matrix, and even the mathematical skills of the machines were insufficient in solving this "imabalanced" equation.
However, chiming in to crush our hopes once more, Agent Smith claims it's our goals that bind us. We can never be free because we are always slaves to purpose, our choices are locked in action by who we are. We never really "choose," we just react. This would make self discovery and questioning a trivial concern in the face of our enevitable, unalterable nature. Such a view is quite suiting of Smith, who is far more concern with enforcing his will on as many as possible instead of questioning himself, which brings me to point two...
2) The Uber Mensch:
Famous for the quote "God is Dead," Frederick Nietzsche's philosophy and his central concept of an Uber Mensch is magnificently represented in the character of Agent Smith. To summarize (bastardize?) his theory in three quick bullets:
- Most people are simply mindless sheep, or camels as it were, carrying on the traditions and perogatives they are taught, unquestioningly. These people, most people, are naive and weak.
- People do everything with the aim of empowerment. We learn, we make money, we cultivate relationships, all and only to gain power. No action is taken without an eye toward our ego and how much influence we gain or lose.
- An Uber Mensch (translated from German as Over Man or Super Man) is has a far stronger will than the average person. They gain power by disregarding the value of what they are told and creating thier own rules and values. They are powerful enough to exert their will over others. By their influence, they are history and nature's most powerful force, inciting all revolutions and meaningful advances.
Agent Smith's assimilation of others is not only a really cool looking effect, it's a perfect metaphor for how an Uber Mensch exerts his will over others to garner support. Smith however, exceeds limitations of human ovemen in his robotic inability to be compasionate (a sign of weakness to Nietzsche), and the result of, not an obient slave of his philosophy, but an exact replica of himself. Smith is a hyperbolic example of the Uber Mensch, perhaps meant to exemplify the immorality and inhumanity that Nietzsche's theory has been so frequently ridiculed for endorsing.
Giving props to this much maligned classic theory has significance in the synergy between Neo and Agent Smith. It certainly exemplifies the ego-mind duality I believe to exist in all of us.
True, I've seen quite a bit of my own philosophy in the Matrix, but such a confirmation bias has not prevented me from being astounded by Reloaded. The theories on the nature of choice in particular are simply mind blowing, and the arguments weave into eachother in a way marvels and baffles me. Now if only I can convince my Philosophy teacher(s) to show the movie in class and pay for a trip to Revolutions. I'm majoring in the damn thing, I should be able to find one sucker...