The Matrix

Nomad said:
Another theme was developed in the second film, which is the fanatical following of a single person, who is believe to be the 'one', the only solution, the one and only source of every answer to 'all our problems' (does that sound familiar to some recent forum discussions?!). not only does that have some quite obvious monotheistic overtones, but it reminded me of Laura's discussion about a 'metaphysical scarcity' concept being used to lure people. [edit: ok I'm sort of repeating myself here - they are the same thing.]

I was rewatching Matrix: Revolutions the other day, and got thinking about exactly that concept, ie the constant referrences to Neo as 'the One.' My take on it is that it's not exactly about getting everyone to follow the Chosen One or similar dodgy concepts. The viewer is, instead, meant to identify with Neo (he's the hero of the story, after all, and the hero always has a special place), and thus to project themselves as the One. The message seems to be, not that somewhere on the earth there's a lucky individual who happens to be the only one who can stand up to evil, see through reality, etc., but rather that that One exists within each and every one of us. The individual characters are pretty obviously meant to represent various archetypes - their names more or less reveal this - and those archetypes are held in common by everyone as aspects of ourselves. Neo would seem to represent what's possible when the archetypes are united and working towards a common purpose, rather than floundering around individually: not only does Neo possess all of the talents and skills of the other characters (the scene in the first movie, where he trains at a superhuman pace), but his very presence seems to unify and purify the others (as an example: once he appears, Cipher shows his true colors, thus ultimately removing a dangerous influence from the crew that would otherwise have undermined it.) Note also that he does this without imposing his will or in any way forcing others to follow him; rather, he acts as a sort of magnetic center that naturally aligns the rest.

On a completely separate note, has anyone else noticed how the color green pervades the movie, various shades of it appearing in virtually every scene? I couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't an important clue, in the sense that we're supposed to apply the Green Language in order to decode the hidden meanings. This is pure conjecture that I haven't yet followed up on myself; just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the matter.
 
psychegram said:
On a completely separate note, has anyone else noticed how the color green pervades the movie, various shades of it appearing in virtually every scene? I couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't an important clue, in the sense that we're supposed to apply the Green Language in order to decode the hidden meanings. This is pure conjecture that I haven't yet followed up on myself; just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the matter.
I didn't read too much into the use of green, just thought it was artistic license. what do you mean by 'the Green language'? I didn't know there was one.
 
Pob said:
I didn't read too much into the use of green, just thought it was artistic license. what do you mean by 'the Green language'? I didn't know there was one.
I think he is referring to the Language of the Birds, which is also called the Green Language. http://glossary.cassiopaea.com/glossary.php?id=366 - the cassiopaea glossary can help with that.
 
There's some discussion here of the symbolic use of colour in the film:

All the scenes inside the matrix (particularly those before Neo is taken out of the pod) were filmed with green tint to them. In fact, in the words of the Wachowski brothers, this use of green tint "...was a whole motif inspired by the phosphorous green of old PCs." Note that many of the objects inside of the matrix are green as well.
 
psychegram said:
On a completely separate note, has anyone else noticed how the color green pervades the movie, various shades of it appearing in virtually every scene? I couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't an important clue, in the sense that we're supposed to apply the Green Language in order to decode the hidden meanings. This is pure conjecture that I haven't yet followed up on myself; just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the matter.

It is also worth taking into consideration that Matrix, as well as most movies for their special FX, use a technique called "green screen" while shooting the actor's performance so as to digitally add later another background, creating a composition of video layers. The bright green color gets removed by some special software, and this bright green color is chosen as one that creates a good contrast with the warm tones of the human skin and most regular clothing. As someone can notice in the following picture, a lot of this color is also reflected in actors, their clothing and other on stage gadgets. This "color spill" can be fixed in film post-production, but instead of color correcting an entire film to remove this green tint, i would definitely go for an artistic "green look" to save time if i were in their shoes, and my guess would be that they did just that, mainly for practical reasons (saving time) and also because the green color is connected to first era computers, when there were not graphic user interfaces and a lot of the programing was done in "machine code" much like the heroes of the movie do.

Bulletrig.gif


Just another clue to take into account! Thank you.
:)
 
Leonpher said:
There's some discussion here of the symbolic use of colour in the film:

All the scenes inside the matrix (particularly those before Neo is taken out of the pod) were filmed with green tint to them. In fact, in the words of the Wachowski brothers, this use of green tint "...was a whole motif inspired by the phosphorous green of old PCs." Note that many of the objects inside of the matrix are green as well.

Thanks Leonpher! Very interesting link!

spyraal said:
It is also worth taking into consideration that Matrix, as well as most movies for their special FX, use a technique called "green screen" while shooting the actor's performance so as to digitally add later another background, creating a composition of video layers. The bright green color gets removed by some special software, and this bright green color is chosen as one that creates a good contrast with the warm tones of the human skin and most regular clothing. As someone can notice in the following picture, a lot of this color is also reflected in actors, their clothing and other on stage gadgets. This "color spill" can be fixed in film post-production, but instead of color correcting an entire film to remove this green tint, i would definitely go for an artistic "green look" to save time if i were in their shoes, and my guess would be that they did just that, mainly for practical reasons (saving time) and also because the green color is connected to first era computers, when there were not graphic user interfaces and a lot of the programing was done in "machine code" much like the heroes of the movie do.

Just another clue to take into account! Thank you.
:)

I actually hadn't considered that. It does make sense, however, I can't wonder if both aren't true, ie a convention more or less stumbled upon because it was cheaper and more convenient turning out to have wider symbolic usefulness as filming went on. Few other CGI movies have a green tint to them, at least not that I've noticed....
 
Greetings:

Well, talking about the movie, I realized this:

In the part that The Architect told Neo to make a choice: Save Trinity (STS) or save Sion (STO). Is a choice that "previous NEOs" had to do but they "failed". I could interprete that as a reencarnation process and the learning that result of that process. Since the "Previous NEOs" selected to save his beloved, the were selecting STS. Regardless of the choice of the "Last Neo" (In which he selected both options), he selected an STO action.

Edit: When Neo got hurt when he fell from that building, when he got more aware, that didn't happen anymore. "Knowledge protects".

But, as always, pure subjetive ideas.

PD: Sorry If I'm not posting right now, I'm in a process of rearrange of ideas and concepts. Still reading the forum.

Take care.
 
anart said:
I think he is referring to the Language of the Birds, which is also called the Green Language. http://glossary.cassiopaea.com/glossary.php?id=366 - the cassiopaea glossary can help with that.
Thanks Anart, - off topic but due to censorship I've been unable to access the glossary. the rest of SOTT is fine, but for whatever reason the glossary is blocked. Just discovered google translate from Chinese to English works to get around this: _http://translate.google.com/translate_t?sl=zh-CN&tl=en# :D
 
Yes, I am indeed referring to the Language of the Birds. Sorry I wasn't more clear about that; I took it for granted that everyone here would know what I was talking about.

Anyhow, my thought was that much as with alchemical texts, the Matrix may have hidden within it a fair bit of knowledge, intentionally disguised through the use of double meanings etc. On one level there's all the sturm und drang of the fight scenes, which serve to distract those who aren't looking more deeply from the philosophical aspects; but perhaps there is another level? That's pure speculation, of course; I wouldn't even know where to start.

One thing I did notice, at least amongst my friends, was that the 2nd and 3rd movies were not anywhere well received as the first, largely because the philosophy started coming to the fore and getting in the way of the action. Perhaps this was on purpose, and the most important information is to be found in the later movies? Once again, I can't answer that question myself (well, not yet: I do intend to sit down and analyze them more closely, once I get the chance.) Just wondering if anyone else on the forum had any thoughts on the matter?
 
if anyone has access to the 'Matrix Ultimate Boxset' i can recommend the commentaries on all 3 movies by philosophers Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber. interesting stuff.
i intended to listen to the 'critics who hated the movies' commentaries, but i had to turn them off after 45 minutes... they see everything in marketing terms and just don't get the movies at all.
 
I agree with Foofighter,

After all, even if Matrix tried to justify raw fight against machines and blind belief in miraculous Messiah (what other to expect from 3d STS movie maker) but let's not forget the main message that is up to now the closest to the truth in most recent cinematography.
 
wow you guys , just wonderful interpretations with good observations, that were supposed to make you stop and think, on purpose!
First i would like to add my two cents worth on a couple of things mentioned, in this thread.
The agent, where everyone and everything gets sucked into being an agent, and it is hard to escape it.......thats a couple of things, one, i think is the negatvitiy that shoots out at you, when you try to get to the positive side of things, sometimes...sometimes it is so hard to avoid negativity, bec ause it is so 'programmed" into so many others, that it just becomes a natural state for them, amd so you find yourself not getting the support you need or seek, for how you truly feel , or the ideas you would to explore, or just being able to go and do the things that you would like to, work on, for youself, and so you have to end up ignoring the things you want, because theres no form of support for you, int he way people dont want you to advance, any further than they are, whether it is financially or emotionally, or intellectually, etc...etc...
and your dreams die or get put on hold for a long time, until you find yourself struggling thru things, to get the simplest dream part of you done....
BUT....
when you see the green in the background of movies alot, it is supposed to make you think of "the field", in the quatum space of things..for that is the place where ALL things are possible, once you've removed all preconceived notions and things you were taught, by others......to keep you ignorant........once the ego is let go, then it is possible for that field to be opened up, and accessed and then maniplutated b y you.....
You can confirm that, by how Neo goes and jumps into MR Smith...he is jumping into the space of things, into that spce of the quatum field see,,,when he does that

and then he manipulates that space he is in, that quantum field, that he opened up, see....thats what he is, NEO, demonstrating to us, visually, because the majority of people learn by visual techniques....
he manipulates that space inside Mr Smith, who is the field of the space, and that is why you see bright light busrting out, when Neo makes MR smiths body evaporate,explode, etc....the image of the white light bursting out, by Neos actions, is Neo showing us visually, man in his purest form, can do anything, when he is at that point in the field of things...
The long awaited expected one, has to have a background of some kind of "Green" heritage or background or bloodline, or history, as that is prophesized in all prophecies in any language.
even the christ himself, said "from a green branch" ..the coming again of the expected one...
its the same message, of the green cloths in the background of the movie, "kartohum" ( i think i did not spell that right), with lawrence olivier, and charles heston, in their meetings in the mahdi's tent...the prophecized one, has a green histpry background etc..e.tc...
The image of the Gardener, is also supposed to make you reminded of the long awaited one, for the gardener, is green foillage, just as the image of the cabbage man head, on the rennes le chateau church, inside on the beams, the cabbage head man, is the one who can make foillage grow out of his mouth, ggiving us the impression that, he can make things happen, and so on and so forth

who can put aside their ego, and the things they have known and been taught, and accept that they can access and build up that field from within the space of the spaces, of things, that quantum field, and make their own heavan, where they are successful at anything, against all odds...
even reading this, one would tell you something to make you doubt it.....highly
but then why did they go and hide it all, and how to do just that, and remove the teachings of so....
the only visual evidence we have left of it,the possibility of it being so..... is the ancient hieroglyphs, and hte oldest of the ancient languages.......if one can ignore the so called superior interpretations of so called scholars and experts, on what those heiroglypohs are really trying to tell us....
that quantum field, some give it other names..such as shamballa, or heavan
here we have some proof, of that quantum field, by people who have seen the light and then come back from point of death, they claimed to have seen the master..in the garden.....hence the gardener, in the field image.......

When i think about the one comment about morpheus doubting even after all the stuff they all just went thru, and him seeing visually for himself, even, all the things that neo, did, being the expected prophesized one, declared by morpheus....
I can clearly understand why he still questioned it all....
its because that is what has been ingrained into us, by our teachings and the htings "programmed" at us.
since we are mainly a visual learning group of peoples, even if you see something with your own eyes, you are more likely to still doubt it, even if you saw it again, repeated...
the mind doesnt want to accept it, as so, as that is not what you have been taught as being so...
doubt and negativity are what makes mr smith strong and stronger and assimulates everything around into him.
when we read about the christ, you can clearly see the same doubting pattern, ingrained into people....the same as morpheus suffered from even after he repeatedly sawfor himself.....christ has to perform miracle after miracle, and they still doubted him even after they saw him create the miracles....
If someone were to come to you today, and perform a miracle in front of your eyes, how many other miracles as proof, would it take, before you would believe???

[moderator note - the four consecutive messages were put into one post]
 
jubazo said:
I agree with Foofighter,
After all, even if Matrix tried to justify raw fight against machines and blind belief in miraculous Messiah (what other to expect from 3d STS movie maker) let's not forget the main message that is up to now the closest to the truth in most recent cinematography

Yes, but can we see it differently? I suspect that many characters in the movie could be interpreted as various components of a single personality. At least, Anderson (the son of man) may represent any regular person who wants to become Neo (New man, perhaps Noah or even Christ). Morpheus (transformation?) could be a inner call and Trinity something like a higher self? What do you think? I'm just throwing hypostheses :)
 
mkrnhr said:
At least, Anderson (the son of man) may represent any regular person who wants to become Neo (New man, perhaps Noah or even Christ). Morpheus (transformation?) could be a inner call and Trinity something like a higher self? What do you think? I'm just throwing hypostheses :)

Sounds good to me! When I read Gnosis and Cassiopaea articles about Polar Opposites, I thought Trinity was Neo's Polar Opposite. It was interesting that, at the end of the movie, he died and born again which is transforming into man 4. After that, the couple got together. From a gnostic point of view, getting out of Matrix is first threshold, becoming the One is second threshold, after which he found his love and began to live.

I also see Neo as anybody who undertakes the Work. Cypher could be predator's mind, Agent Smith negative introject, others are different components of personality as you said. And I think the higher self would be Oracle who tells what you need to hear, but that's just my take on it for fun. :D
 
Hi Mkrnh,

Absolutely, could be interpreted almost Rashomonic, it is still movie from 3d STS, pompose fight scenes, almost biblical names and straight cut between light and darkness with Messiah to save us, cliche cliche, yes in deed, on other hand: matrix (main control program) it self, agents, subprograms in all variates and the real truth behind the screen, this is what fascinate me in this movie and perhaps because it was radical in it's approach in 1999 (forgetting all misleading cliches) same as Orvel's earliest works were radical for it's time I guess.
 
Back
Top Bottom