THE MATRIX

 

THREE STARS - Intriguing

 

 

       The awareness that life is more than what we can see with our eyes or experience with our senses is a spiritual truth which sets the stage for one of the most intriguing science fiction films yet made.

       People throughout the world and through the centuries have experienced the “breaking-in” of transcendent spiritual reality into the physical level of existence.  From such simple experiences as de ja vu, to the more complex experiences of Divine encounters, human beings are often unnerved by their own sensations of the world “beyond” this world.

       This universal phenomenon is appropriated by the Wachowski brothers as they create a film which gives an alternative explanation to that of the spiritual transcendence.  They suggest that these “transcendent” experiences are due to the fact that this world is actually an illusion, a computer program, and the “real world” often reveals itself in glitches in the program which we identify as de ja vu repeats.

       But what makes the film even more intriguing from our perspective is the obvious parallel themes between the film and the Christian faith.

       The film suggests that in the near future, human beings will give birth to artificial intelligence, or AI.  These computerized, mechanical AI beings will be given solar energy as an unending power source.  But, for unexplained reasons, these creatures declare war on humanity.    Fighting an evil of our own creation and, in a last-ditch effort to pull the plug, the humans decide to move underground near the warmth of the earth’s mantle in a great city of Zion and destroy the atmosphere to stop the sun’s rays.

       But the AI creatures improvise and, having lost their solar power, they discover that they can use the electrical impulses of human beings themselves as their power source.  Artificially inseminating billions of humans, the efficient machines enslave us in pods and connect us to one central computer which creates an artificial experience of life called “The Matrix.”

       Not realizing the truth of our existence, billions of us are living our lives lying in a nourishing solution while being cerebrally stimulated to think we are living real lives in a real world.

       But the humans of Zion are seeking a savior to set us all free.

       Using ships which sail the great caverns deep within the earth’s crust, one crew has discovered ways to enter “The Matrix” and identify human beings with minds capable of defeating the artificially created world.

       The captain of this ship is Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne).  A “John the Baptist” figure who is preparing the way for the savior, Morpheus identifies a gifted human being who is “The One” prophesied to save them by the Oracle (Gloria Foster).  This One’s name is Neo (Keanu Reeves) which means “New.”

       Neo doesn’t realize at first that his intuitive sense that something is wrong with this world is in fact true.  But when Morpheus takes him out of stasis and removes him from his pod, he begins to understand.

       Morpheus’ crew is a motley gathering of disciples, some of whom were born free in Zion and others were set free from their deceived enslavement by Morpheus.

       One, a beautiful woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) falls in love with Neo.  A supportive friend and transcendent presence, Trinity plays a very important role near the end of the film as Neo completes his messianic mission and rises to new life through Trinity’s love.

       Also present within Morpheus’ crew is a Judas character who betrays Neo for little more than 30 pieces of silver and puts him into mortal danger with the Sentient Agents (Hugo Weaving, Paul Goddard and Robert Taylor).  These agents are capable of entering into the matrix and adapting any form or shape to catch Morpheus and his crew and destroy them.  Though the Matrix is a complex computer program, it is explained that if you are killed according to the laws of the program, which fit the physical laws of bullets, gravity, and martial arts, then the brain accepts its death and the body cannot exist without the brain.

       With its obvious use of religious language to name both the characters and the city (Zion is a biblical word meaning Heavenly City), the film presents an alternative explanation of spiritual phenomenon.  What is intriguing is that in both the real world of the film and our own world, a savior is needed to set the people free.  And in both, this Savior finds his power to overcome evil through the resurrecting love of Trinity.  That is a message worthy of consideration in both worlds.

 

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