I’m tired. Just tired of

I’m tired. Just tired of all the garbage people are spewing about The Matrix: Revolutions. CNN’s American Morning program has
a cultural segment they call 90 Second Pop. I haven’t figured out if
this is because the audience has a 90 second attention span, or if the
3 idiots they get to talk about popular culture news can’t string
more then 10 monosyllabic words together in front of the camera. They
each gave about 10 seconds to panning Revolutions. Did they give any
reasons? No. It was just more parroting of the blather that we’ve
heard from other critics recently. Baaaaaaaa…Baaaaaa…baaaaa. More
sheep to the slaughter.
Most of the crap sounds a lot like this: “…the movie that should
provide more answers, the movie that should clear us all about
everything, is actually a movie that seldomly (sic.) stops to dwell.”
Regardless of the made up word, this sentiment reveals the inherent
intellectual laziness in modern society. They wanted the answers
spoon-fed to them. They all claim The Matrix was brilliant, but it was merely an introductory course. They all claim that Reloaded
was full of “third-rate philosophy”, and yet never reveal if they
understood it or not. How many philosophical precepts were presented in
Reloaded? How many more in Revolutions? Even a book about the philosophy of The Matrix
failed to ‘get it’. This book was a compilation of the writings of
many different philosophy professors and writers and ‘people in the
field’, I suppose. All of the theses were so self-centered and one
sided in their review of what they saw in the Matrix that I was amazed!
If these are the prevailing philosophical thinkers in the West
today…we’re in deep metaphysical shit! (By the way, Eco-Feminism is
NOT a philosophy…it’s a political stance! And any professor forcing
students to look at the world from one political perspective at the
expense of all others should be criminal.)
I call these responses lazy, because if you want the deeper thought
provoking experience from Reloaded and Revolutions that most people
seemed to get from The Matrix, then you have to put some effort into
it. It’s not kindergarten anymore. The Matrix
set the premise, and Reloaded and Revolutions use that setting to
explore many different questions. These questions are perennial.
They’ve been asked by everyone from Socrates to Ken Wilber.
To think that the Wachowski brothers are going to hand you the answers
on a silver platter (silver screen?) is the height of presumption!
There is so much going on in these movies that already many books have
been written about them. Kathy was promising you some coverage from me
about the movies, but this is all I can provide in this medium. I could
talk for hours (and have already) and have only begun to organize my
thoughts on these films and the concepts they force us to examine.
I’ll have to spend a month just organizing the different strata of
concepts available here. There’s the philosophy of the group, the
philosophy of the individual, politics and power, free-will, belief in
self, faith, the role of religion and a whole host of other topics that
can be addressed by examples in the films. They are starting places.
Parables for a modern age meant not to deliver the answers, but to get
us to discuss the questions. These levels of involvement don’t even
address the sheer entertainment value. These movies are DAMN cool!
Science fiction, cyberpunk, martial arts, anime all rolled into one. If
you only went to these movies for the effects and entertainment, you
would not have been disappointed. They’re spectacular, and you can
see the Wachowski brothers pay homage to their influences throughout.
If you went for enlightenment, you can get it, but it’s not going to
be spoon fed to you. It’s like the Zen Koan that instructs by asking
an implausible question – forcing you to alter your way of looking at
the world, if only for a moment, to see beyond.
As far as actually watching Revolutions was concerned, it was a strange
experience. I had tried not to let myself get overly worked up for what
might have been a disappointment, so I went to the film with a very
open mind. Sitting there I became aware that I was not just watching
this movie, but experiencing it. It was like being on a ride for my
mind. I know this will sound very, very strange to some people, but
there was nothing at the end for me. No desire. It was complete, it
felt whole. I was satisfied. Just satisfied. Although I couldn’t tell
you why I was satisfied. (I can’t fully explain it now, either.) The
cycle was complete, the characters had ridden their arcs to conclusion
and we see the dawning of new hope. The ever present cycle of change
continues.
I’ve seen some people writing very specific things about why they
didn’t like it, what was wrong with it, what they think should have
been done, etc. In each one of those I read, I easily see the
‘answers’ that they were complaining weren’t delivered. I really
don’t want to sound condescending, but most of the people who have a
specific problem with the plot or how things turned out just don’t
get it. Honestly. Quite frankly, it’s not my place to explain it
either. You have to get it for yourself…or not. Ask the questions. Of
course, you could always just take it for the entertainment that it is,
which is phenomenal. Well worth the price of a ticket! And if it’s a
particular level of philosophy you’re looking for, try this. It is a good summary.