Hack The Matrix

A great essay...

There is an excellent essay over at Matrix Essays entitled Freedom, Determinism, Teleology and Foreknowledge in Matrix: Reloaded. It is really thought provoking, much like the movies. Here is a little excerpt:

The pivotal question to the whole movie, I think, is revealed in the Merovingian's speech to Neo at Le Vrai (which means "The Truth" for non-Francophones).

Just something to get your curiosity peaked, so go and check it out, it is well worth it.

Gnosticism and Buddhism in the Matrix

Someone in the guestbook mentioned this site, I believe it is this one, and I agree that it should be read by people trying to see where the matrix comes from and such.

Wake Up! Gnosticism and Buddhism in the Matrix

It is an excellent read and full of a ton of information. Check it out, it has my blessing.

"I'm an expert in nameology!"
-Willem Dafoe in "The Boondock Saints"
PART I


I have been reading a whole lot about symbolism and meaning of the character names in the matrix. Now, obviously in a movie that can be read as deep as The Matrix there are no coincidences, or accidental occurrences. So it is safe to say that whatever is seen, or whatever happens in the movie is meant to be there, and was put there on purpose by the W. Brothers. So I did some research, looked at some other ideas and have decided to define the symbolism for the names of all main and supporting characters in both The Matrix and The Matrix: Reloaded. Here they are, in no particular order, from the first movie, the second installment will be the characters from Reloaded.


Cypher

Already having an idea of this I went to the dictionary to get some factual evidence. The dictionary says quite a few things, the ones that are most relevant being:

The mathematical symbol (0) denoting absence of quantity; zero.

One having no influence or value; a nonentity.

A cryptographic system in which units of plain text of regular length, usually letters, are arbitrarily transposed or substituted according to a predetermined code.

The first and second definition suggest the whole reason why Judas, excuse me, Cypher wanted to sell out the humans in the first place. He felt like a nobody, all he did was take orders from Morpheus and go about in his dreary and dark life. He wanted out and was tired of everything, this might also suggest why he wanted to be someone important, like an actor. The second defintion points to the actual matrix code and how Cypher is sitting there reading it when him and Neo share that drink.

Something that I found on a website some time ago had to do with his matrix name, Riggin. This could be a bit of a stretch but, Riggin sounds a lot like Reagan, our former President. One of the first things that made me think of this connection was the thing Cypher wanted to do once he was reinserted, he wanted to be an actor, and of course Reagan before becoming the President was also an actor. Finally, when Cypher tells Agent Smith that he wants to remember nothing, nothing! As some of you know or remember Reagan made claims to not remembering things, and was later found to have alzheimer's. Reagan was also referred to as the devil by many people, something that has been pointed out is his name Ronald Wilson Reagan, each name having six letters, 666, the mark of the beast. Unfortunately we do not find out Cypher's middle or first names in the matrix, but Cypher and Riggin both have six letters, so think what you want. Finally, something else that references the devil is how Cypher looks, with that little goatee thing, and when he is eating dinner with Agen Smith he is smoking that cigar, two things associated with the western portrayal of the devil.

One final thing, in reference to my possible Freudian slip above, Judas identified or gave Jesus away with a kiss, and Cypher gave the location of the group away with a sneeze inside of the walls.


Trinity

Trinity reminded me firstly of the Holy Trinity, in Christian faiths, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There are some interesting portrayals of this in the film. Firstly, there are some hints that possibly Trinity and Cypher had some sort of relationship some time ago, and now Trinity and Neo are sort of falling in love, this might suggest a live triangle of sorts, Neo, Trinity, and Cypher, a trinity. A more blatant portrayal of a trinity being that of Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity. Morpheus being the father, "Morpheus was more than a leader, he was a father to us", Neo being the son, and Trinity being the Holy Spirit, she kisses Neo and not only brings him back to life but in doing so he realizes he is the one and now has all these abilities, much like the Pentacost in Christian faiths when the disciples of Jesus recieved the Holy Spirit and they were able to speak in tongues and such, they gained new abilities.

Another thing, this really doesn't have any impact on the film just something neat that was pointed out to me somewhere. Stay with me now, Cypher, as said before, means zero, Neo is referred to as the one, if rearranged his name even spells "one", Neo's name inside the matrix, Thomas, means Twin or 2, and finally Trinity or three. 0, 1, 2, 3. Again, nothing to ground breaking just some interesting number stuff.

In the first movie, the room that Trinity is found in is room 303.


Neo/Thomas A. Anderson

Let me start with Thomas Anderson. As stated above, Thomas means twin, and this would suggest Neo's dual existence, when he is a law abiding citizen and when he is a hacker. Also, the life he lives while inside of the matrix, and the life he lives when he is finally freed. His last name in the matrix is very interesting, Ander is Greek for man, so his last would mean "Son of Man", one of the titles given to Jesus. Finally, Thomas was a disciple of Jesus who doubted that he had risen from the dead, he said that to believe it he had to touch the holes in his hands and feet and feel the wound on his side(from being crucified). Much like when Neo is shot by Agent Smith at the end of The Matrix, he doesn't really believe he has been shot until he reaches down and feels the hole and sees the blood on his hand.

To start with Neo. The prefix neo means new, as in Neo is the new "one". If rearranged his name spells "One". As we all are aware he is referred to as the "one" by just about allthe characters in the film. Along with being the one, and the "son of man" so to speak, if you notice, especially in the first movie, whenever people swear around him, they say, christ, jesus christ, or goddamnit.


Morpheus

Morpheus is the Greek God of Dreams. There is a lot of sleep and dream symbolism in the matrix. Morpheus says often that the people inside of the matrix are asleep and need to be awakened. There is also the line in Reloaded when is watching over Zion as the lights turn off(simulating night) he says, "Sweat dreams Zion." As if he is watching over their dreams, much like the God of Dreams would.

Morpheus' ship the Nebuchadnezzar also ties in with his name. Nubuchadgnezzar was a Babylonian king who had his dreams interpreted to find out what they mean.


Apoc

Very simply, Apoc is short for apocalypse. The apocalypse, in Christian faiths, is the end of the world when good finally triumphs over evil. Also, an apocalypse is a catastrophic event or something involving a lot of destruction, the war with the machines.


Switch

There isn't much, but some possible meanings are that Switch is involved in "switching" Neo, turning off the matrix for him, so to speak, and freeing him. There are also a lot of mentions of swtiches in electronics and the world of computers. I found this while surfing the internet, in telecommumunications a "switch" refers to "a network device that selects a path or circuit for sending a unit of data to its next destination."


Tank and Dozer

One of the first things that came to mind was size. Obviously Tank and Dozer are not small men, but they are rather big and bulky, and a Tank or a bullDozer are both very big, bulky, and powerful machines. Also, a definition of the word tank.

A large, often metallic container for holding or storing liquids or gases.
-Possibly referring to the pods that hold all the humans still plugged in.

Something that I found while searching for possible meanings of Dozer

Doze - To sleep lightly and intermittently
-Just some more sleep imagery.


Mouse

Mouse is a very "mousy" type of person, sort of timid, and quiet.

A mouse is used to control the pointer of a computer, and Mouse, as with all of the characters for the most part, are heavily computer oriented people.


The Agents

I found and copied the following a while ago, but now I cannot find the website that it came from for some reason.

The dictionary has several meaning for the word "agent." They include:
"A person or thing that acts or has the power to act."
"A drug or chemical capable of eliciting a biological response." By definition, the agents injected Morpheus with an agent in order to break Morpheus own so he would tell them the codes to Zion.
An organism that is a cause of vector of disease.
"A person who acts in an official capacity for a government agency."
In cyberspace, an agent is "a program that gathers information or performs some other services without your immediate presence." In addition, an agent program can search all or part of the internet and gather information for you based on parameters you set.
In the movie, the agents are always on the look out for the human rebel forces and they use their ear pieces to communicate with one another.
Agent Smith: "We'll need a seach running." Agent Jones: "It has already begun."


The Oracle

The Oracle is the really the only thing that keeps the humans going, she guides and manipulates the humans with prophecies. From the dictionary, an oracle is:

A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions. An authoritative or wise statement or prediction.

The Oracle also has a sign above her kitchen door "Know Thyself", the phrase has been accredited to Socrates, the Oracle at Delphi, in Greek literature, also had the same words, in latin as it is on the sign, inscribed in marble. A Christian reference: the Delpic Oracle foretold the coming of the Messiah.

The Oracle's Bodyguard

No I am not talking about Seraph, well not directly maybe, but rather, in the first movie. The black woman that opens the door to let Neo and Morpheus in, and then tells Neo that the Oracle will see him now. She has those braided dread lock things, I am not sure what they would be called, in her hair. It is the same style that the Twins have, and as we know the twins guard the Merovingian, and this black woman sort of guards the Oracle. I was thinking that she might be Seraph, only in another form, and the similar hair styles of her and the twins might suggest both being bodyguards.

Where'd the "ones" go?

Alright, I was replying to a comment about the symbolism behind the number 23 when I came up with a question. When the "one" goes into the door on the right, he code gets reinserted to the main code of the matrix, then he has to choose 23 people to rebuild Zion. Now, when he code gets re-inserted he chooses 23 people, therefore the "one" is still concsiouss. Well, does he stay "alive" so to speak inside of the code of the matrix, or does he die after he chooses the 23? If the "one" doesn't die then there is someplace in the matrix where there are the five previous ones sort of "floating around".

More number theory here, I was discussing the film with Kyle, and I told him about how Trinity had to go to the 65th floor of that one building to disable the backup power supply. We were trying to figure out what sort of signifigance the 65 had. He came up with a very solid theory, he posted it as a comment but I am going to put it up here so more people will see it.

How about this....kinda out there, when trinity has to go to the 65th floor to take out the power system towards the end of the film. Neo is the 6th "one" there were 5 before him, and 6-5=1.

I thought that was pretty good explantion, if there are any more ideas for 65, or 23, keep on posting them.


On a side note I recieved an e-mail from Andrey Podshibiakin about the 2nd scenario in my Dual Matrix Theory outline.

it came to my mind that Neo is somehow became able to enter the Matrix without physically jackin' in. It explains his fight with Sentinels (they are controlled from within the Matrix) and his coma (he is actually in the Matrix).

This would suggest that Neo now has the ability to put his mind in the matrix, but still be able to operate outside of it. This is not that hard to believe since there have been a few instances where there has been interaction between the "real world" and the matrix. When Trinity kisses Neo in the first one, it obviously has an effect on him, when Neo is flying to save Trinity he grips the arm of his chair, and whenever people bleed in the "real world" from being hit in the matrix. So interacting between the two "worlds" or states is not impossible, but the theory is still a little flimsy, but it is a new way to look at it. Thanks for the e-mail Andrey.

well I was with justin while he was taking notes, and I noticed that in the almost completely irrelevant sex scene, Neo is in the missionary postion, as he is a sort of missionary. Its almost embarrassing to mention this, becasue I know most people who read this will laugh and make childish sex jokes, but yeah I noticed it, so there it is.

Trying to decipher...

I am looking at my notes from the movie and trying to decipher what I wrote, not because I have to figure out what it means, but rather I can't read it very well. It was dark and I couldn't see where I was writing, so I just had to hope for the best. Luckily I have sloppy handwriting anyways so I am used to deciphering my own handwriting regularly. Anyways, here are some new theories, observations, what have you, that I saw last night. These are just things that I saw, they are not really theories, rather they are observations that could deal with some theories, or they are just neat little things that I think have signifigance in the film.


- The coat Neo is wearing inside of the matrix, aside from being completely awesome, is the same coat a Catholic priest would wear. I am not sure if priests in other religions also wear it, but my friend is Catholic and he pointed that out to me. This points to Neo as being a spiritual guide, or a guide to salvation(freedom). Nothing really new, just something that I haven't thought about before.


- My friends and I have been talking a lot about the signifigance of the sunglasses, which I still can't figure out totally. Something that might help is in the underground meeting at the beginning of the movie. My friend pointed out that he thinks all of the naysayers, the people that were questioning Morpheus or saying that he was wrong, were not wearing sunglasses. I do not have confirmation on this, but it would be interesting if it were the case.

- Something that I really am surprised I missed the previous three times I saw the film is when they are in Zion, after the cave dance, Morpheus is leaning on the guard rail of some floor as all the lights of Zion turn off, sort of like he is watching over Zion, and he says "Sweet dreams." Since Morpheus is the Greek God of Dreams I just thought that this was fitting for him to be watching over the "dreams"of Zion.


- Also, when talking to Niobe in the cave after his speech, Morpheus says in reply to Niobes statement about him dancing, "Some things in this world never change.....but some things do." Obviously on the surface he is talking about his abilit to dance. Do you think though that he could be indirectly referring to this endless cycle that everyone is a part of?


- When Neo and the Counciler are talking in the engineering level, Neo is compared to the water purifying machine. Water is life giving, it is what humans need to exist, Neo is also life giving(he frees people from the matrix and protects the freed), and the humans need him to survive or exist.


- The good luck necklace thing that Z gives to Link is silver, the necklace the Keymaker rips of his neck and gives to Neo is silver, the operator of Soran's ship(the first one to get blown up by a Squiddy bomb) looks to be wearing some sort of silver jewelry wrapped around his hand, and finally Persephone kills the "werewolf" with a silver bullet.


- Okay, something that I think might be important to proving the Dual Matrix Theory, when Neo is given the gift from the orphan, the crude spoon, it is wrapped in a green clothe, and green is the color associated with being inside the matrix.


- When Neo sees the Oracle, she is wearing what looks like to be a blue jacket( blue being the color associated with the real world), over a green shirt(green being the color associated with the mattrix). This might suggest that she has the ability to see into the "real world" and that the "real world" is "over" the matrix(the blue over the green), but still part of it. I might just be looking to far into it.


- Seraph tells the Oracle that it is time to go, and when she is saying goodbye to Neo you can see Seraph looking into the distance, searching. As if he can sense, feel, or see Smith coming. This might explain something about what kind of program Seraph is.


- In the little talk between Smith and Neo before the Burly Brawl Smith seems to focus on purpose. This made me think, Smith represents Purpose, Neo represents Choice, and the Merovingian represents Causality. There may be more but I just thought of those three immediately.


- When Smith does his "duplication" thing, it mirrors what happened to Neo in the first one after he takes the red pill and the mirror covers him.


- Something that one of the councilers said to Lock during the meaning, "Comprehension is not a requisite for cooperation." Much like the humans can't comprehend "the matrix" yet they still cooperate. Or, none of the humans can comprehend the whole "cycle of control" that the machines have them in, yet they still cooperate unknowingly.


- The Merovingian goes to see the woman in the pink dress in the bathroom, much like Mouse offered Neo a meeting with the woman in red, red and pink being the same color, just differing amounts of white.


- The whole black/white imagery in the film, and sometimes the reversal of what the two colors traditionally mean. All the humans usually wear black inside the matrix, and some of the villains wear white. Also, the car the humans drive is white, and the car the twins drive is black, and finally, the two semis that crash together are black and white.


- During the whole freeway chase scene, on the two sides of the road you can see either power lines or power plants flying by in the background. Alluding of course to the fact that humans are just sources of power.


- When Morpheus and the Agent are fighting atop the semi, Morpheus is able to cut the Agent and make him bleed with the katana that he took from the Merovingian, also, the sword that Neo stops with his hand is the Merovingian's, and it makes him bleed.


- Trinity must get to the 65th floor to halt the back-up system from restoring power. 65 might have some double meanings.


- The Architect is wearing grey, rather than black or white.


- Something that is really interesting, and might be a huge stretch, is when Neo is talking to the Oracle, when he standing, in the background you can see a blurry "no left turn sign". A sign with an arrow indicating a left turn with the red circle around it with the line through it. If you apply this to the choice that Neo has to make in the Architects room, I believe it is the left door that leads to the destruction of the matrix, it is also the door that the Architect does not want Neo to choose.



Alright, that is a lot of information, some of which might not even mean anything. I just thought I would put my thoughts down so that I would not forget them. There is still more that I want to write, but it has to do more with theory and not with observations or symbolism. So I will work those out a little more and then put them up.

Some New Things

Alright I just got back from seeing Reloaded for a fourth time, at the drive in no less, and I have got some new observations and theories to try out, but as it is I am tired and I got a little lost driving home. So first thing tomorrow I will type them up so you can see what craziness my cranium is coming up with. Also I suggest that you read the Reprogrammed series at Matrix Essays, it is pretty interesting.

The Matrix has us...

The sunglasses...

I also think there is something to the sunglasses. I think it has something to do with people having a mask, revealing their true self. You notice that Neo takes his glasses off few times, the Oracle, Trinity, and Persephone. In these three instances, he has to give all of himself for what cause is at hand. First, the Oracle, he has to reveal his entirety for himself to speak genuinely to her, and vice versa. Second, saving Trinity, he cannot hold back in order to revive her heart. Last, he cannot kiss Persephone truely without revealing himself. Just a thought though...

An odd theory...

Someone pointed out to me that maybe since Neo possibly copied part of himself into Agent Smith, that maybe the same is possibe in the opposite direction. Maybe part of Agent Smith's characteristics were copied into Neo's code as well. We all know that Agent smith has control of most robots, seing as how he has the robotic genetic coding... So the theory I've formulated from this is that maybe Neo now has the power to control robots in the same fashion, since he may be partly robotic now. Now this theory also means that somewhere along the lines that the "real world" might have to be a matrix as well... As much as I am opposed to this theory, I think I may have run myself right into it... oh well, I had another theory about why Neo could have powers in the real word, but I forgot what it was about...

Is 23 Symbolic?

Something that has yet to be explored I believe is the signifigance of the number 23 when choosing people to repopulate Zion. It could be that this is just looking to far into it, but I highly doubt it. In a movie like this, few, if any, thing is just randomly selected, which is why I am confident that 23 was chosen for a reason. In an e-mail I got from Charles/Tinesthai, he pointed out a few possible reasons.

1) The current talk in matrix arenas about this line is that 23 individuals are the minimum amount of people required to create a viable gene pool. This didn't sit well with me, so I did some research and found that it's pretty wrong. Here: http://www.discover.com/ask/main53.html is a link which explains it in greater detail.

2) I next checked biblical refrences to see if these numbers were trying to point to a blatantly obvious quotation, and I came up with 2 weak attempts:

The strongest one was:
"Do not be overrighteous neither be overwise - why destroy yourself?"
Ecc 7:16

This seems like exactly the message the Architect was trying to get across to Neo, doesn't it? I found another weaker quote too:

"Man looks at the outward appearance but the lord looks at the heart"
1 Sam 16:7

This seems like an appropriate quote for Neo, but it lacks the strength of context that the previous quote had.

3) Next, I moved on to biology. There are 23 chromosome pairs in the human body. I checked chromosomes 16 and 7for anything unusual that would have a relation to the matrix, but the closest thing I could come up with is the fact that Autism & Asperger's (Sometimes referred to as a Hacker/Geek disease) was related to genes found on the 16th and 7th chromosome. Unfortunately, this wasn't what I was looking for either, because the diseases were also found to be related to genes on the 2nd and 17th chromosome as well.

4) Lastly, I checked a database of numbers, whose sole purpose is to catalog the significance (mathwise or "real world") of pretty much anynumber you can think of. I struck out in this area too.

These are just the main points in his e-mail, and I believe that they are viable ideas that should be checked out further to exhaust all possibilities. One other thing that he said was that 23 might have something to do with the secondary characters in the movie. I believe he has some very good ideas and we could use the help to sort things out and see what is going on.

I've discussed this a little with Justin.. but I've been looking into this whole "werewolf/vampire" issue lately (aka since last night...)
Vampires need blood (or in some folklore it's souls) to survive. They desire and crave them. If this is true, then the vampires in the matrix would comply to this. I've noticed how most people discuss Merovingian's goons. These men were killed by silver bullets--the same thing that kills werewolves. However, there is some belief that silver can also kill vampires (and that it actually takes three bullets to kill a werewolf). I feel that since that has not really been established in much of lore, that they are indeed werewolves. (Even though there has to be more signifigance than that of them being silver bullets due to the fact that they killed programs.) So, this leaves us at who is/are the vampire(s)?
While I am not 100% on this, I'm leading towards Persephone. I know that you are contemplating her role as possibly the mother of the matrix... I just do not really agree with you on this. Her character does not seem interested in anything but emotions. Emotions could very well be the "blood" that she feeds off of. It is emotions that set the humans appart from machines, as well as blood does. We all know that blood interested Smith once he took over Bane.
If you notice, the main emotion she is feeding off of Neo is passion and love. This is very clear. Yet, she is also taking emotions from Trinity. Recall back to the same scene when she offers a trade of one passionate kiss from Neo for the Keymaker. Trinity is filled with rage and jealousy. Persephone seemingly enjoys how she is effecting Trinity's emotions. She said she once felt love from her husband, while I doubt she actually "drained" any emotion from him--it could be too that he is another vampire. I have not really dwelled over that. I plan on watching the movie again this weekend to get a better understanding. So hopefully I can continue with this idea.

All right, here is what I think Neo should do if he ever totally masters the matrix. I would have him turn into a T-1000 type of robot and make his arms turn into like giant vibro-blades that just cut through anything he wants to like agents and the like. That way his fights wouldn't be so dangerous, cause he'd just have to hit them once and decapitate them or something like that.

Another thing, are the humans who are still in the Matrix allowed to progress their civilization past 1999 or whatever? Can't the human race go like maybe 500yrs. or so before another One shows up and starts destroying thier zoo? If it were possible and then the humans made new robots, would the robots that control them be angry and start tearing the humans apart. Like they would know what the humans are going to do to the robots and probably they would feel angry and just go nuts on them.

Also, If I get shot in the Matrix and don't die and make it out, would I lose the ability to move that arm? Or would I see that it is okay, and my mind would realize that the matrix is not real, thus even maybe making me stronger in the matrix? Like how the ghost/twins got shot a bunch of times, then they fade in and out and they are perfect again. Couldn't like Trinity or someone do the same basic thing? LIke if they had a limb removed in the Matrix, get pulled into Zion, they would realize they still have an arm and go back into the matrix with a brand new limb. Then the next time they might lose the same arm, they would remember the last time and realize that their arm is in fact still attached to their body, and force thier mind to accept the fact that the Matrix is fake. This might make a good training session for them.

Okay, so it took me a little less time than I thought it was going to, but I have compiled all the things that I could think about. Obviously I have missed some things, so after you read it, if you care, please feel free to post on here or e-mail me, I have my e-mail address on there, and help me make this as deep as possible. I have a link to it over in the "Links" section for when this post gets buried, but I will put a link here to.

The fruits of my labor

As I said, it isn't done yet, at least I hope not. So get the word out to people so that we can get all the theories and all the ideas that we can possibly get.

The Dual Matrix

Here is an excellent post by Tinesthai, in response to my original post, Programs and more programs, it presents some very interesting ideas. Like how to discern between who or what gets reset along with the matrix whenever it is reloaded, and more evidence to point towards Persephone being the mother of the matrix. It seems that the more things people come up with a hypothesize about, the deeper into the rabbit hole we go so to speak, the more tangled this web becomes. I love it.

If we say that the "dual" matrix theory is true, we can come up with a very nice hypothesis which seems to tie things together nicely.

Lets say that the matrix resides within the "ubermatrix".

When a reset occurs, all things connected to the matrix get reset.
We can define who resides in the matrix and who resides in the ubermatrix by their knowledge (or lack of) knowledge of events or information that has occured in the past incarnations of the matrix.
Neo, and the rest of the humans have no knowledge of the previous matrices so they get reset.
It appears as if the agents are only aware of 2 matrices ever existing. The perfect matrix, and the "current" matrix. I would have to say the agents have no knowledge of the rest of the matrices. If their goal was to destroy the resistance, and they had previous knowledge of other matrices, they would realize the Oracle is a much easier target to find to destroy "the prophecy" then tracking down "the one".
The Merovingian and his crew would all NOT be reset.
Persephone too would not be reset. She knew that silver bullets killed the Merovingian's thugs. This seems like special knowledge that only someone who has experienced it could know. There is no reason for the Merovingian to tell his wife how to kill the thugs that are under his control.
The oracle on the other hand, has a little more knowledge then the average matrix program, but she never displays any evidence that she has experienced anything outside of the current matrix. Here is where I really stretch...I would bet that based upon the Merovingian's equal dislike for the humans AND for the oracle, that he feels they are beneath him. If the oracle is NOT part of the ubermatrix, this makes a VERY strong case for Persephone being the mother of the matrix. On top of that, why would the Merovingian tolerate a marriage of that length to someone he clearly dislikes (or maybe is bored of?) unless she was either a token wife, or offered some sort of unique service to him. I can think of no one who would fit that description more then the mother of the matrix.

Now if your still with me, and you want to extend this line of thought further:
What is the significance that Persephone (as the mother of the matrix) has an attraction to Neo that mirrors her old attraction for the Merovingian? What was the Merovingian''s original instructions? I think we can rule out that the Merovingian was a
"one" like Neo because he said he had survived 5 of neo''s predecessors. If he had been the original, he would have only survived 4.

NEO CANNOT LOSE TO BUGS BUNNY!!

I found a link to this place on the Zion Switchboard, WWWF Grudge Match. It is a site that pits characters from various things against each other. There is some comedic value to it as well. I know that this deviates from the more serious discussion to the completely irrelevant side of things. But nonethless, Neo cannot lose to Bugs Bunny, even though they are both Warner Brothers, so either way they win. Come on though, we need to represent the faction of people who still believe Neo is the one! Currently, Neo has 1734 votes and Bugs Bunny has 2269 votes!


I apologize to those of you who find this stupid and needless, please don't stop frequenting my blog, :-)!

Programs and more programs...

If the Oracle is just a program, then when Neo goes to see her in The Matrix, are all the people in there programs as well? I say this because why would the machines want to help and harbor more possibly problems?

I think I am able to asnwer that, because the machines want to find the one before the humans do because then it would much easier for them, they wouldn't have to do all the chasing and extra work. So they take all these "hopefuls" and see if any of them has the right stuff so to speak, and that brings me another query. If Neo dies inside the matrix, could they still insert his code into the system and achieve the reload?

Which leads me to yet another question, I love when this happens. When the matrix gets reloaded, what exactly happens? Is all the software deleted, and a new matrix is re-installed, so to speak? To use a computer analogy, is a reload like a clean install of an OS, where everything is formatted and there is just blank space for the OS to be installed on, or, is it more like an update, where all the files, installed programs, and such remain on the hard drive and a new OS is installed replacing the old one. I ask this, because if a reload is a clean install, then all the programs in it would be wiped away, meaning that the Merovingian, his wife, the Oracle, and all the other programs would just be wiped away, and they couldn't be from the earlier versions of the matrix as is stated. Or of course, if it is just an upgrade then there is no conflict.

The Dual Matrix Theory

Okay I am going to work on compiling a list of all the evidence for and against the Dual Matrix Theory because as the days pass this seems to be a very crucial plot point in the movie. Until then I urge you to check out Matrix Essays because he is posting some very interesting material about the whole Neo is a program, Duel Matrix idea. Here is an excerpt just for an idea,

Neo is a program. When he voluntarily puts something into or against his mouth, his program gets altered. Morpheus gives Neo a pill to swallow. The Oracle keeps giving him food, first a cookie and then candy. ("The Oracle has a way of changing people". Neo: "yeah, she does.") And Persephone wants a loving 'voluntary' kiss from Neo.

One thing that I did want to add onto this though, assuming of course that this is all correct, is that the lipstick Persephone puts on before she kisses Neo could be code altering lipstick, much like the Merovingian's "Chocolate Surprise". Also, notice how Neo and Persephone kiss twice? There is a bunch of 2 imagery in the movie. Thomas Anderson, Thomas meaning twin.(side note his full name is Thomas A. Anderson I believe Agent Smith says when he is interrogating him in the first movie, what is the "A" all about?) More 2 imagery, Smith/Bane cuts himself twice, the obvious growing connection between Smith and Neo, the two choices that Morpheus gives Neo with the pills, the whole idea of choice represents the idea of "2", there are two doors to choose from in the Architect's room(choice again), the twins working for the Merovingian,. Anyway, there is probably more, but that is just an idea of what I am talking about.

Funny Mike should talk about making "Religion out of the film".... This is found on a site about Religions that I frequent... If Buddism Had A Messiah
I thought you guys might enjoy it, or be humored by it... (keyword: might)
Something that sprung into my mind while reading it was a scene from Dogma, when Metatron (Rickman) was speaking to Bethany after she went spazticly running through the woods. He makes a comment about how in the Bible Jesus jumps from, I think age 18 to 34... Well, he states that Jesus "begged him to take it all back" and he questioned his duty.. You get the idea.. I just think that it sort of goes a long with the whole "Neo is the Messiah" thing.. But then again.. not too many people would dare to compair a Kevin Smith movie with the Matrix... so I'll stop now before Justin rips into me...

So how about Neo being a program? It makes a little sense, most especially during that whole Architect dialogue where he talks alot like he knows whats going to happen to Neo because Neo is a program, programed to do his chore. Which reminds me, whats the deal with all those other Programs? The wind program, the color program, the millions of unseen programs floating around the matrix. Do they know that they exist? Obviously, the agent programs are self-aware. They make decisions, but in the case of like the wind program, I don't know if it ever realizes that it exists. Or maybe it does, and when it gets angry, it makes a tornado or something like that. Which would lead me to belive that all of mother nature's outbursts are also equations. So even those "freak" occurances are already planned out. However, I don't understand why the robots would kill a perfectly fine human in its prime just to satisfy the human knowledge that people die without reason. At the least I would think they would maybe move the "dead" to maybe a second matrix and let them be pumped for fuel while the other humans in Matrix I would assume that the person was dead. If I was a robot running the Matrix, I'd just make little human programs to do all the freak dying, so that none of the human fuel would go to waste. Maybe thats what it is all a long. but of course, the whole using humans for fuel is a bit illogical, Cause they should be smart enough to use like nuclear fission or some other tequinque. or they just like using humans because they are torturous robots and just like the whole power trip thing. well I hope this is an adequate first post. Thank you justin for inviting me to this blog. Just don't make a religion out of a film, kay?

I was wondering this today, is there ant significance to the way Smith takes over someone elses body? With his hand position and such.

Neo/Architect Transcript

I just created a little page with the transcript, that way you can book mark it or whatever and can have it for easy reference so you don't have to go searching around the web or blogs or message boards. There ya go.

Mother of the Matrix Theory

This theory Alex was able to propigate from our bantering the other day.

Okay, the Oracle might not be the mother of the matrix. Persephone might be.

Here is why, the Architect said that they needed a lesser mind to figure out why the humans were rejecting the perfect matrix, they had to create a program that was more like a human. Persephone makes allusions to this in the bathroom scene, as I have pointed out before on this blog, about knowing once what it felt to love, and she wanted that feeling again. Also when the Architect mentioned the mother of the matrix, and Neo said ,"The Oracle." Followed by the Architect, "Please, as I was saying..." Like he was annoyed that Neo would say something so preposterous. This also might point out to the fact the Oracle may not be evil, as I believe she could be at this point. Anyway, this all might suggest that Persephone is the mother of the matrix, rather than the Oracle.

The Neo/Architect Dialogue

This is from The Zion Switchboard, Mem posted a transcript of the Architect and Neo exchange. Thanks Mem!

Architect: Hello Neo.

Neo: Who are you?

Architect: I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I have been waiting for you. You have many questions and although the process has altered your consciousness you remain irrevocably human, ergo some of my answers you will understand and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question maybe the most pertinent you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.

Neo: Why am I here?

Architect: Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent in the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden deciduously avoided it is not unexpected and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you inexcerably here?

Neo: You haven¡'t answered my question.

Architect: Quite right. Interesting, that was quicker then the others.

Neo: Others? (What others? How many? Answer me)

Architect: The Matrix is older then you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next. In which case this is the sixth version.

Neo: Then there are only two possible explanations, either no one told me, or no one knows.

Architect: Precisely, as you are undoubtedly gathering the anomaly is systemic. Creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.

Neo: Choice, the problem is choice.

Architect: The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect; it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being. Thus, I redesigned it, Based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However I was again frustrated my failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus the answer was stumbled upon by another and intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

Neo: The Oracle

Architect: Please, as I was saying she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99 percent of all test subjects accepted the program as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at an unconscious level. While this answered function it was obviously fundamentally flawed thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly. That if left unchecked might threaten the system itself, ergo those that refuse the program while the minority if unchecked would cause an escalating probability of disaster.

Neo: This is about Zion

Architect: You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated.

Neo: Bullshit.

Architect: Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it. And we have become exceedingly efficient at it. The function of the One is now to return to the source allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry reinserting the prime program after which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix. Which, coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.

Neo: You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive.

Architect: There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However the relevant issue is whether you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world. It is interesting reading your reactions. Your 5 predecessors were by design based on a similar predication a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species facilitating the function of the One. While the others experienced this in a very general way your experience is far more specific, Vis a vie love.

Neo: Trinity

Architect: Apropo, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own.

Neo: No

Architect: Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed and the anomaly revealed as both beginning and end. There are two doors, the door to your right leads to the source and the salvation of Zion, the door to your left leads back to the matrix to her and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know we you are going to do don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple and obvious truth, she is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.

Neo: If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again.

Architect: We won't.

Justin, don't forget the 1st Matrix that both Smith and The Archetecht mention. The perfect one that people wouldn't accept, the one that failed. You need to add that one into the mix as well and we have no idea how long that one lasted, although it didn't sound like it lasted too long.

Okay I am going to explain something that I at first had some trouble figuring out, so maybe this will help some of you who have not yet figured it out.

I was wondering the whole story Morpheus told Neo about the man that was born inside the Matrix, being able to change things, and how he set the first people free. I was thinking, there was no mention of him by the Architect. Then the key phrase hit me "inside the matrix". What that means is Morpheus was talking about the 5th "One", the anomoly before Neo, and how when he went back to the source, his code was re-insterted into the matrix, thus, him being "inside the matrix". Plus, the 23 people that he had to choose were the first to be "freed", the ones that Morpheus alluded to. So the story Morpheus is telling Neo really isn't the very first one, it is the fifth, Morpheus only knows it as the first one though, obviously.

Now, I had forgotten about this until I was writing. My friends and I got in a discussion about what year it actually might be. Morpheus of course tells ut is closer to the year 2199, but I believe this to be false. Here is my reasoning. All the humans that are alive right now have no idea about the five previous reloads of the matrix, they believe that they are, shall we say, the first and only string of humans to fight the machines. So they are measuring time due to what they believe, but that is false because this has all happened five times before. So, just roughly judging, Morpheus believes it to be 2199, so that might be really only 199 years after the last reload, because I believe that the machines start everything over again around the year 2000, because that would fit into the whole story of the machine rebellion which actually happened a really really long time ago, but the people who are freed by the re-inserted one believe that war was very very recent. Anyways, so I believe that since the humans were first enslaved, it has been nearly 1200 years! So that would put the calendar at the year 3200. So what this is, if one looks deeper, is really just another way for the machines to control the humans outside of the matrix. Again, this is just speculation, so who knows, but more people thinking about this will certainly help.

Here is another theory, I am not sure what this would support or whatever.

Okay, in the first movie Neo had to be killed and then re-awake or whatever, for him to realize his true potential and power in the matrix. So, at the end of Reloaded when he goes into that coma, that could mirror when he got shot, and again, when he wakes up he will realize his true potential, but instead of realizing his true potential inside the matrix, he will realize his true potential in the real world.

matrix hmm... sounds like a new kind of waffle... a new kind of kick ass kungfu waffle. the blog begins.

Persephone

Here is a theory.

In the bathroom scene, Persephone tells Neo that she wants to feel that love that him and Trinity have, and that she had felt it once, long ago, and now she wants to remember what that feels like. Since she is a program, how could she have feelings? Just like the Merovingian seeks to experience a BJ in the bathroom. These are programs that shouldn't be able to experience these things. However, this might suggest that these "programs" might be more than programs. Further than that I have not yet thought, so what does everyone else think?

Well, Justin and Myself have just returned from annother viewing of, you guessed it, X2....NOT! wow that was dorky. Ruth, don't cast aside the spoon theory so quickly. There are a few things that point to it still. For instance the Oracle knows that Neo isn't getting much sleep. Last time I checked whenever Neo slept it was outside of the matrix. Could it be that she can see into the matrix outside of a matrix, or mabey she can sense that he's tired.

On the theory that Neo is just a program, there is some evidence to that as well. It could be that Neo is not totally a program but has, overtime been slowly replaced by a program. In the first movie Neo does quite a lot of bleeding, yet none of the programs ever bleed, in the seccond film when Neo stops the blade with his hand he doesn't bleed that much. Also there is evidence to point to others that this process has happened to. The Marovingians wife for instance says that at one time she could feel love and stuff, but no longer can.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Smith is my favorite character. It seems that he may be the only person who really knows what is going on. He seems to be playing both sides in Reloaded, on the one he is thwarting the attepts of the Zionians to fight off the attackers, on the other he is fighting and trying to kill neo inside the matrix. What's that you say, theat just one side? Not so fast there Steely Dan. If Smith had not stopped Neo in the hall on his way to the Archetecht, Neo, Morpheus, and The Key Maker would all have been burnt to a crakilly crunch, and I think he knows this. He wanted them to get to the Architecht he wanted the things that happened to happen, but why?

Okay, I just got back from seeing Revolutions the third time, here are some new observations...


The candy the Oracle offers Neo is not only red, but resembles the pill that Neo had to take to be freed from the matrix in the first movie. This could suggest that Neo is still in a matrix, thus supporting the "duel matrix theory".

Bane/Smith cuts himself on the hand twice, this would suggest the whole twin thing that Neo's name stands for(Thomas), in that Neo and Smith are connected or twins.

At the end when the squiddie throws the first bomb at the first ship and the guy with the leg splint breaks the bridge which in turn impales the ships controller, the blood splatters on the screen and then a zoomed in shot is shown where the matrix code and blood are both flowing together. This could suggest the "Neo is a program" theory.

And what is with the whole sunglasses motif. Whenever in the matrix everyone has on sunglasses, Neo only takes them off in a few instances, when he is talking to the Oracle, when he kisses Persephone for real, and when he saves Trinity. There is certainly something here.

Finally, something to support the idea that Neo is able to control the machines because part of Smith's code was imprinted on him, when Morpheus, Link, Trinity, and Neo see the image of the squiddie getting ready to throw the bomb, they ask, "What is that?"(or something like that) and Neo says, "It's a bomb." Which would show that he might have some sort of connection with the machines.

And finally, someone needs to figure out what the Merovingian says when he is talking in French.

Some small things now, the song at the end "Calm Like a Bomb" by Rage, that symbolizes how Neo is very calm, and the fact that he is a "bomb" to the machines, or a threat.

Also, I was wondering if there were any connections with the license plates of all the various vehicles in the film, maybe, maybe not.

Lastly, during the burly brawl, far in the background on a brick wall the words "one" and "mob" are spray painted in white.

There are more things but those are what I have remembered. When I go to see it again this weekend, I am bringing a notepad.


The Matrix Has You...

By reading further you will see how deep the rabbit hole goes, and to accomplish all of this, you must understand that there is no spoon.

Ok, ok enough mumbo jumbo.

Alex, your theory is quite extensive, and I have to admit nearly flawless. But for it to work, machines must have developed a method of putting someone’s "soul" as you call it into a form represented by numbers and symbols. Now as Justin and I have discussed on many occasions you can describe any tangible object by a series of symbols and numbers, but ok....sh!t hang on...a light bulb just clicked on in my head.

It would seem to one who lives in our time almost impossible to imagine having their thoughts represented by numbers. And to replace ones "Soul" with Numbers seems almost blasphemous, but as we know the Matrix's inhabitants all have circuitry implanted in their brains, allowing them to function as a normal human would if they didn’t have a large metal spike in their head. But if you think on it for a moment, it might dawn on you that with Agent smith coping himself onto Bain's circuitry he would infact replace Bain's "soul" or as I would like to say, Consciousness, with his own (represented by numbers). This could possibly circumvent my belief that Zion is really just another level of the Matrix, b/c it explains how Smith could transcend the Matrix and free himself of computer bondage. This also would explain why Bane/Smith (BS) was slashing his hand with that knife; BS was experiencing feeling for the first time, which could also point to Zion not being another level of the Matrix.

None of this gets me past "THE Spoon Theory" though. It is such a powerful hint that I can't get past it. My mind wants to wake up, but that blocks me. I guess the machines have the blanket pulled over my head very tightly. Just to let you know, I'm not quite so steadfast in my theory of 2 levels of Matrices anymore, but I'm defiantly not convinced the other way.

Thats about it for now, stew good theory, Commander; good sight

Here is my personaly theory on the source of Neo's power outside of the matrix (If you find holes in it tell me when I am no longer infected with SARS). I believe that he gets his power from the "soul". There is allready some evidence of "souls" in the move. I know what your saying. "But the W. Bros are athiests and therefore don't believe in a soul." By "soul" what I mean is a life energy, a life force, an exhistance, the mental parts of a human, which when in the matrix is put into the form of code. This is how Smith is able to take controll of Bane. He mearly replaces Bane's "soul" with his own inside the matrix and instead of Bane being put back into his head, Smith is now in this place. I digress, so back to Neo. Neo is Neo outside of the matrix but inside the matrix he has take the much more powerful form of "The One." And because we know that by mearly switching "souls" with Bane, Smith was able to trancend the matrix, "The One" just does this same thing, but since Neo is "The One" and "The One" is Neo there is no noticable change in behavior just a noticable increase in power.

Commander Lock

One of the things I like about the Matrix is all of the symbolism in the names of the characters. I had an idea about what Lock's name might mean.

John Locke was a philosopher/economist/some other things, back in the 1600's. The reason I believe this is where the W. Brothers got the Commanders name from is what Locke believed in and wrote about. Locke spoke out against the control of any man against his will. This control was acceptable neither in the form of an unfair government, or in slavery, here is a quote, "The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth..."

Also, Locke's idea about revolution was that if a government subverts the ends for which it was created then it might be deposed, indeed, a revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation, another quote, "If the ruling body offends against the natural law, it must be deposed."

These are pretty loose ties, but who knows, I'm just throwing out ideas.

A possible answer to why Neo is able to halt the squiddies, something that no one has mentioned yet, so it may just be rubbish. But while talking to the Architect, Neo is told that one of the things that makes him different from the previous five was that he was able to ascend to a new level of consciousness. That his where his great power IN the matrix comes from. Now, there is a trend in the movie of Neo becoming more powerful. He flies three times in the movie, and each time Link makes a comment about how fast he is going, each time he is flying faster and faster, or gettin more and more powerful. Finally at the end he starts to see some of his what would be called "matrix power" transcend the actual matrix and spill over into the real world. However, since he is not used to this, he falls into a coma due to the massive energy expinditure.

Also, at this point there seems to be evidence of the "Big Matrix" Theory for both sides. So we need to keep this discussion going to dig to the bottom of it.

One more thing. This is just a little side note. Okay, the machines need humans to power themselves, we are their main source of power. Really though, think how inefficient that is. The machines have to find a way to power all of the machinery and such that keep us alive, they have to power the machinery that harvests the energy from us, and then they have to power the machinery that brings the energy to them. Now, being this perfect machines, one would think that they could create a much more direct power source that is not so inefficient. This raises the question, after all the humans did to the machines in the early going, as seen in the Animatrix, could the machines be doing all this as sort of payback, they are willing to put up with the inefficiency because of the cruelty and control they can ascert over us?


Another thing, I don't believe that the Oracle really knows the future. All she knows is that the humans NEED to do to keep the cycle going, plus what has happened the five previous times. So she isn't so much predicting the future as telling them what they need to do and the things that need to be accomplished to perpetuate the cycle or "game" as the Merovingian said. Although the Oracle was able to foretell the love between Neo and Trinity(foretell or lead).

I do believe however that the Merovingian will have a larger role in Revolutions. I believe that the Merovingian is somewhat of the leader of the "Matrix World". He is the one pulling all the strings of the programs that control the people who control the matrix, if that is understandable. That explains what the Oracle said about the power thing. The reason that he has the keymaker in captivity also has to do with wanting more power.

That's all for right now, there is more that I want to say but I just can't think of it at the moment.

Let the search for truth begin...