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Want the REAL philosophy in The Matrix? Play the game, watch the animated short.

It's unfortunate that most of the fairweather people (and I would assume many who fancy themselves hardcore) don't get the whole picture of the Wachoski Brothers' "The Matrix" saga, meaning they've only watched the three films.  Or perhaps it's more preferable that the deepest philosophical concepts lie within the series of animated shorts "The Animatrix" and in the video game "Enter The Matrix". 

In my opinion, the character of Ghost is the deepest of all, philosophically-speaking, both in his actions and dialogue.  In the video game he openly and directly admits his admiration of history and philosophy, and quotes several Asian and western scholars (e.g., telling Trinity when she asks when she can get him a girlfriend, "Like Augustine, I serve a higher purpose...onanism").

And in the short films The Second Renaissance, Parts 1 & 2, the fundamental flaws of man that gave alolowed the war with machines to start - vanity and corruption - are exposed, shedding new light on the assumed theory for the passerby that it was the machines who were the evil being in the war, and they that started it.  Quite the contrary - the story goes that machines tried a number of times proposing peaceful resolve and a co-existence with their carbon-based counterparts, which fell on man's deaf and ignorant ears.  So this changes the whole context of who's battling who.

I enjoy the reference to famous philosphers and concepts peppered throughout the saga (ships, character names, etc.), but I've also found the most meaningful content in the least-marketed products within the Wachioski's empire. 

But maybe therein lies the point.

Posted: Apr 21 2005, 04:10 AM by guam-aspdev | with 2 comment(s)
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Comments

Jeff said:

Been there done that, and the bros got too arrogant in thinking their whole mythos was something really important. The second movie was OK, the third one sucked. The game wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. The other little pieces were clever, but did little to add to the big picture.

The whole thing was more interesting when it was one money and not a gigantic cash grab.
# April 20, 2005 10:43 PM

Jason Salas said:

Hi Jeff,

> The other little pieces were clever, but did little to add to the big picture.

You really think so? I will admit that the only parts of The Animatrix that really contribute to the main storyline are the Rennaisance films 1 & 2, but they completely change the context of the story once you see them. And the other films arguably did go a little overboard, but the whole story about B1-66ER and 01 really made me think. How about you?
# April 20, 2005 10:47 PM
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