Hack The Matrix

2003-11-20T14:00:00.000-06:00

A bugged phoneline...

This just recieved from the bugged phone line of the Wachowski brothers....Okay so this was found on PointlessWasteofTime.com. It had me laughing in no time at all.

*****************************************
JOEL
Andy! Great to hear from you again.
Has your brother gone into labor yet?

ANDY
What do you want, Joel?
I told you we're not doing-

JOEL
-a Matrix part 7. Yes, I know.
But we've talked to Keanu and he
swears he can drop 50 pounds and-

ANDY
Dammit, Joel. Neo died in part 6.
AGAIN. It's the fourteenth time he's
died in the series. We showed his body
being burned and his ashes being shot
into the sun. We even had that
scene at the end where God himself came
down from Heaven and declared that Neo
and Trinity would never, ever, ever
return lest all of existance be unmade.

JOEL
Oh, I'm glad you mentioned Trinity.
Carrie-Ann is close to signing-

ANDY
Joel, I'm getting death threats from fans.

JOEL
You're breaking up here, I'm almost out of
my service area. Quickly, we got Joe
Pantaliano's verbal agreement to do the film
in exchange for some food and a better box
to sleep in-

ANDY
Joel, you do this, and I WILL KILL YOU.
Do you understand?

JOEL
-and Warner wants this one PG-13.
It'll be tough, but I told them you
were my guys and you could do it.
So we're just gonna take out all
of the fight scenes, it's perfect.
It's better than perfect, I love it.

ANDY
AGH!

JOEL
Also - I'm blueskying with Gabriel
and he suddenly says -and you will
LOVE this- that if the movies were
only a half hour long, we could have like
thirty showings a day. So we're thinking,
"How to trim the time?" and it hits
me. The bullet time! It's in slow motion,
for crissakes, right? You ditch that,
you're in at 30 minutes with a whisper!

ANDY
KILL YOU. BULLETS IN YOU AND KILL.
SO MUCH ANGRY. JUST.

JOEL
I TOLD Gabriel you'd love it. Also,
I'll need a script by nine tonight.

LARRY
NO!

JOEL
...and the money truck will be by around 9:30.

ANDY
Oh.

A pause.

ANDY
Yeah, alright.

LARRY
Actually, those were some great ideas, Joel.

JOEL
Homerun Joel! That's why you
guys call me Homerun Joel!

We hear a CLICK and a DIAL TONE.

LARRY
But that's not what we call him.

ANDY
Shut up and get your writing pad.

THE END
****************************************

2003-11-19T12:41:00.000-06:00

A change in the ending of The Matrix

While browsing the internet for some cool screen shots from the trilogy I happened upon a website that had a very interesting thing to say...

From http://www.innerx.net/personal/tsmith/Matrix.html

At the end of the movie, Neo says to The Matrix:

"I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there, is a choice I leave to you.".

As Larry and Andy Wachowski say in The Art of The Matrix (Newmarket 2000), the shooting script for The Matrix is "... not exactly what people saw in theaters. ... An example ... is in the final speech by Neo (scene 219) which was altered when test audiences didn't know the word "chrysalis". ...". At the end of the shooting script, Neo says to The Matrix:

"Hi. It's me. I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I imagine you can also feel me. You won't have to search for me anymore. I'm done running. Done hiding. Whether I'm done fighting, I suppose, is up to you. I believe deep down, we both want this world to change. I believe that the Matrix can remain our cage or it can become our chrysalis, that's what you helped me to understand. That to be truly free, truly free, you cannot change your cage. You have to change yourself. When I used to look out at this world, all I could see was its edges, its boundaries, its leaders and laws. But now, I see another world. A different world where all things are possible. A world of hope. Of peace. I can't tell you how to get there, but I know if you can free your mind, you'll find the way.".

The movie ending leaves humans with a two-fold choice:

for humans to fight to live outside The Matrix ( recall that Neo says, just before he takes the Red Pill: "I don't like the idea that I am not in control of my own Life."); or
for humans to remain in The Matrix ( recall that Cypher says: "Why, oh why, didn't I take the Blue Pill !").

The shooting script ending leaves humans and The Matrix with a three-fold choice:

for humans to fight to live outside The Matrix;
for humans to remain caged in The Matrix; or
for humans (caterpillars) to combine with The Matrix (chrysalis) to metamorphose into a higher form of life (butterfly).

This brings up some new questions as the ending of Revolutions could have been much different had that third choice been kept in the script. Just something to think. The site talks about a lot more than just that little tid bit so I would suggest checking it out, although some heavy termanology is used, but it is well worth your time to check out., here's the link again...

The Link Again

2003-11-16T13:11:00.000-06:00

A few little things..

Reader Scott Bowers writes in talking about a few little instances he has seen in the three films, some interesting obvservations and possible theories...

A few things I noticed that tied these movies together.
In M1, the start of the interrogation scene with Smith starts with
Neo shown on many screens. After seeing the first and second movie
together, I noticed that is the Architects screens, they are exactly
the same as the second one.

Second thing, in the first one when Trinity and Switch pick up Neo in
the car to remove the bug, they stop at an intersection and Neo tries
to leave the car. Trinity says, Neo wait, you have been down that
road before, you know where it leads. I believe that this refers to
the 5 previous Neo's.

Next, in the third movie at the end, Smith states to Neo, do you like
what I have done. I recognized the street, it is the exact same
street that was in the first one, at the intersection where Neo tried
to leave the car.

In the second movie, there are many references to older versions of
the Matrix and predecessors to Neo. The first time viewing this
movie, I never noticed the lead up to what the Architect was saying.

Thanks for the e-mail Scott, and as always if you have something to say, shoot me an e-mail or catch me on AIM.

2003-11-09T18:07:00.000-06:00

The Matrix: Inspected

Renowned thinker and physicist Michio Kaku explains in this interview from Tech Tv's The Screensavers, if The Matrix is or isn't possible. He tackles issues such as the humans choice of residence near the center of the earth, and the all important, "could this ever actually happen to us" question. Take a look.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/opinion/story/0,24330,3427948,00.html

2003-11-09T17:37:00.000-06:00

Cameo......hmmmmmm?

Just a little thing I thinki I might have picked up yesterday when I was watching The Matrix. The woman in red looks strikingly similar to the woman in pink at the Merovingian's restaraunt in Reloaded, I have not been able to confirm this for sure, but I am working on it.

I am not toally sure what this could mean, since Mouse is the one that wrote the program and created the woman in red, but it is surely something to think about.

2003-11-07T11:33:00.000-06:00

What's in a name?

Here is a link to an incredible character database of just about every person in the three films, the Animatrix, and Enter the Matrix, from what I can gather. It includes background information, sometimes a picture, a memorable qoute, and more. An absolutley awesome compilation of information. Along with characters it has a database of the machine world, and an outline of all the known ships in the Zion fleet, including personel and such. This place is worth hours of reading, check it out.

http://matrix.thescarymonkeyshow.com/

2003-11-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

Some more Christianity in Revolutions

REVOLUTIONS SPOILERS AHEAD

Obvisouly there is some Christian symbolism in The Matrix Trilogy. At the end of Revolutions we some pretty blatant representation of the whole Christian belief, not that that is a bad thing, I liked it. I just thought I would throw this out there.

Neo = the savior and Smith = the devil, big surprise. Smith goes around the matrix over writing people, or capturing their "souls" so to speak, with sin. As the Oracle says, in no exact words, "The darkness is coming...". Then at the end Neo sacrifices himself to cleanse the sins of all humanity, or to cleanse all humanity, and the machines for that matter, of Smith. Needless to say Neo does this by overpowering Smith and all his copies explodes with white light, pretty obvious.

Just something that I was thinking about.

2003-11-06T18:36:00.000-06:00

First attempt at some answers...

REVOLUTIONS SPOILERS AHEAD

Over at the Zion Switchboard, look over in the side bar for a link, user Kai_Dark has sysetmatically went through and explained the ending of Revolutions. Here is the link to the actual post, and here is the post...

Smith Explained

Smith is death. He will spread through the matrix, through the machine city, and through Zion destroying all life on Earth if Neo does not stop him. When he takes over someone in the Matrix they do not die. They still exist inside of Smith. When Smith takes over someone that new clone takes on some traits of the person who was cloned over. When Smith took over the Oracle he gained her sight, and could now see future events. This also gave him powers like super strength and flight. The Oracle didn't havee these powers. But she was the Mother of the Matrix. And now Smith is the mother of the Matrix. "Like what I've done with the place" This is the Matrix as Smith sees fit. He is bending the rules he is now the one in control of the Matrix. So Neo can not beat him with strength alone. This is Smith's world now.

The Death of Smith

The Oracle is still manipulating Neo, and he still didn't realize it until the very end. She told Neo to go to the Machine city, the source. Why, well that's where is powers come from. This connection also allows for his real world powers. In the crater the Oracle from inside the Smith clone gets a message to Neo. "Every beggining has an end." Neo now realizes that if you are taken over by Smith you live on inside him. So Neo allows himself to be taken over so he can destroy Smith from the inside like in M1. Now people see the surge of power go into Neo in the real world. The machines did not do that. Neo did that. Neo deciding to let Smith take him over was a last minute decission. It was not Neo's plan otherwise he wouldn't have fought. And since it was a last minute decission how could he have communicated it to the machines in the real world. Plus if that's all the machines had to do to kill Smith was pump him full of energy they would have taken some random person in a pod. No, the Oracle led Neo to the Machine city so he could have access to the Source, where his abilities come from, and draw all that power to destroy Smith from the inside.

The Fate of Neo

What happens to Neo. Well He touches the source, kills Smith, and is carted off by the Machines. The Oracle said the first time Neo did that, when he stopped the squiddies in Reloaded, he wasn't ready and it should have killed him. But this time he was ready. So when he used the power from the source to kill Smith he should have survived it. The Oracle said we would seem him again. What happened the first time Neo touched the source? His mind seperated from his body. This most likely happened a second time. Neo's mind is somewhere in the Matrix or the Machine world, and his body is left in a coma state in the real world. When they carted Neo's body off it was glowing very brightly with that Orange aura. Showing even though he was unplugged he was still connected. The same way he was at the end of Reloaded. So, Neo is not dead.

Peace?

Neo stopped Smith and reloaded the Matrix saving it from crashing and killing the machines and all the people still connected. This was done on one condition though, that after this there would be peace. Zion and the Matrix would still exist. And anyone who wanted to be free would be allowed to leave the Matrix. This means that one day the war could start back, or that the peace will last. The skies could be repaired, the machines could live off solar power again (meaning no more Matrix) and everyone would be happy. As an ending it promised what M1 said it would: that the discovery of the One would hail the destruction of the Matrix and the war would be over. Well, the Matrix as we know it is gone, and the war is over. Oh, and as a side note the previose ones before Neo did not do this. That is pretty clear by Colonel Sanders...I mean the Architect and the Oracle's talk at the end.

These are Kai_Dark's interpretations, but please, if you have something that you feel should be contributed shoot me an e-mail, justingauthier@mail.com, or catch me on AIM runningmazungo(my e-mail and screen name are over in the side bar under "Contact Me"). Everyone out there has got to have some interesting theories, interpretations, or ideas floating around, let me know and I'll see if I can get them up here. Take care.

2003-11-06T11:53:00.000-06:00

The Universe as a Hologram

Here is one of the most amazing pieces of writing I think I have ever read. Not only does it explain the matrix and Neo's abilities in the machine world and in the matrix, but it has implications in our world. I strongly recomend reading through it as I guarantee after you are done your view of what reality could be is drastically altered. Here is a little excerpt...

The article that is going to blow you away...

University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed hologram.

2003-11-06T06:36:00.000-06:00

One of the best software companies in the world

I think this site has been up for a while, but I think it is supposed to be the company that Neo/Thomas A. Anderson worked for when he was inside the matrix, have fun looking around it.

MetaCortex

2003-11-05T13:51:00.000-06:00

For every beginning, there is an end...

GO OUT AND SEE REVOLUTIONS!!!

2003-10-28T20:39:00.000-06:00

The Matrix on TBS...

I recieved an e-mail from Seth Miller, the Web Producer at TBS Superstation.com, letting me know that The Matrix is going to be shown on TBS November 2, 3, and 4th. Along with the film I gather that there are going to be some extra things as well. Here is a link to the TBS page that talks about their "special."

TBS: The Matrix

2003-10-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

And on he 7th day there was rest...

This is an e-mail from Logan,a reader, about a few theories on Neo and the Merovingian, as well as the Dual Matrix Theory, and a few more things.

On ideas about the "previous ones"....

Two things that I came across. One, it is possible that the whole theory that Neo is the sixth one which was not a special number in the bible could also be interpreted as a reference to genesis. God worked on the Earth for 6 days and on the 7th their was rest and peace. It is possible that Neo is the last of the
ones to "work" at freeing the humans from the matrix. In which case there would be no need for a 7th matrix, or anomaly for that matter.
Two, the theory that Neo and the Merovingian are both "Ones" (for lack of a better term) and therefore Neo is a program is either false, or it
supports the dual matrix theory. Neo should not be able to be as he is (in appearance and manner) in the real world if he is indeed a program.
So either the theory is false, or there is a matrix inside of a matrix. If the latter is true, then that means that if Neo does succeed in
"re-freeing" the human race, then he will not be able to share their bliss, but will die with the matrix.

Thanks for the e-mail Logan.

2003-09-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

Reference Site

I got this from an e-mail the other day. It is a good reference site for the films, absolutely chock full of information.

http://www.geocities.com/rushi4687

Give it a look.

2003-09-17T08:32:00.000-05:00

Plotinus and "The One"

A friend of mine told me the other day of a Greek philosopher he had learned about in history class named Plotinus, and how some of his concepts may apply somehow to The Matrix, he just didn't want to look into it. So, I did a little research and there seems to be some possible connections between Plotinus' philosophy and The Matrix. I found an excellent website that from what I can tell has all of his works organized and available. Here are some more pertinent excerpts from the stuff that I read, and here is the link if you want to check out all of it.

To quote from the website, Plotinus developed a complex spiritual cosmology involving three hypostases: the One, the Intelligence, and the Soul. From this it is easy to see the almost immediate implications that Plotinus could have on some ideas that exist in The Matrix. Reading further however it is also easy to find a lot of ambiguities, meaning that some of his ideas could be associated with The Matrix if one wants to believe that. What I am trying to say is that if you are trying to find some connectino between Plotinus and The Matrix, then you will find one. This does not mean however, that there was meant to be a connection found. Anyways, as stated above there are three main pervading ideas in Plotinus' spiritual cosmology, I will look at them in three separate parts. So, today will be the first part, which is appropriately Plotinus' idea of "The One".

The One: Part 1 of 3

The 'concept' of the One is not, properly speaking, a concept at all, since it is never explicitly defined by Plotinus, yet it is nevertheless the foundation and grandest expression of his philosophy. Plotinus does make it clear that no words can do justice to the power of the One; even the name, 'the One,' is inadequate, for naming already implies discursive knowledge, and since discursive knowledge divides or separates its objects in order to make them intelligible, the One cannot be known through the process of discursive reasoning (Ennead VI.9.4). Knowledge of the One is achieved through the experience of its 'power' (dunamis) and its nature, which is to provide a 'foundation' (arkhe) and location (topos) for all existents (VI.9.6). The 'power' of the One is not a power in the sense of physical or even mental action; the power of the One, as Plotinus speaks of it, is to be understood as the only adequate description of the 'manifestation' of a supreme principle that, by its very nature, transcends all predication and discursive understanding.....

The perfect contemplation of the One, however, must not be understood as a return to a primal source; for the One is not, strictly speaking, a source or a cause, but rather the eternally present possibility -- or active making-possible -- of all existence, of Being (V.2.1). According to Plotinus, the unmediated vision of the 'generative power' of the One, to which existents are led by the Intelligence (V.9.2), results in an ecstatic dance of inspiration, not in a satiated torpor (VI.9.8); for it is the nature of the One to impart fecundity to existents -- that is to say: the One, in its regal, indifferent capacity as undiminishable potentiality of Being, permits both rapt contemplation and ecstatic, creative extension. These twin poles, this 'stanchion,' is the manifested framework of existence which the One produces, effortlessly (V.1.6). The One, itself, is best understood as the center about which the 'stanchion,' the framework of the cosmos, is erected (VI.9.8). This 'stanchion' or framework is the result of the contemplative activity of the Intelligence.

In bold are some key words or concepts that help secure the tie between The Matrix and Plotinus, but I also decided to make the references to the "Intelligence" bold because the "Intelligence" is the second part of Plotinus' cosmology.

So, we have here some pretty vague things that need to be expanded upon to make them a bit more crystalline. We read here about the One itself is something beyond comprehension and reason, it is something that exists to lay a foundation and give a place for all of existence to well, exist. This can be brought back to Neo quite easily with the notion that his job is to clear out the machines and make safe a place for all of mankind to exist, or, to at least make it so that both mankind and machine can co-exist. Also, there is a mention to the power of The One. Plotinus states that the power of the one is not a physical, or even mental power, but rather it is " the 'manifestation' of a supreme principle that, by its very nature, transcends all predication and discursive understanding". Meaning again that The One, and the powers that he would posess bypasses all human understanding and reason. This says a lot because at the end of Reloaded we see Neo able to bring his "powers" over into what we believe is the real world. The whole time this is happening everyone is saying that it is impossible, that Neo can't do that, but if there is any validity in the tie between Plotinus and The Matrix, then I believe this definition of The One may shed some light on our confusion.

The second part of Plotinus' explanation of the one holds some interesting terms,such as "the source", "the Intelligence", and "ecstatic dance of inspiriation". First off, we read that to understand The One, to perfectly understand The One, is not thinking that The One exists in a primal state or simplistic state, like that of someone who reaches Nirvana in the Buddhist fate. This correlates loosely to the point in Reloaded when Neo disregards the Architect and leaves the source. The Intelligence isn't something that I am going to elaborate on now, because it is the focus point of the second part of this, but it is something to be thinking about. Finally though we read about how The One, and how his "undiminishable potentiality of Being, permits both rapt contemplation and ecstatic, creative extension". Very loosely said, this could have something to do with the whole rave/dance cave scene after Morpheus' speech in which he promises an end to the war, and eludes to the potential resurgence of the human race. Indirectly all of this is tied to Neo, and that is where the connection occurs.

In conclusion, one could read into Plotinus' cosmology pretty deeply and no doubt find many connections. At the same time though, one must entertain the idea that these are only coincidences, and maybe not purpseful. Either way, I believe this is fun, and thought provoking, and again,here is the link to the site that has the entirety of Plotinus' works available to you, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

So, leave me some feedback with your thoughts, and as always, if you have something of your own that you want other people to read, just send it my way and I'll put it up, my e-mail is justingauthier@mail.com.

2003-09-08T21:32:00.000-05:00

Some New Links

It has been a while, and I apologize, I have been getting aclimated to the college lifestyle. I am pretty settled in now, so I will start back with the banter. I recieved an e-mail from David with some pretty interesting links. As he said in his e-mail..

[The first is fun (how to have a Matrix party); the second is a more serious (but short!) philosophical article, about why the Matrix is real and in fact, man has always been a "world-builder".]

It is some pretty interesting conntent and I would recomend checking it out. Here are the links.

How to throw a Matrix party.

Men as World Builders

Here is a little excerpt:

The problem of the matrix in The Matrix is not that the humans are in an artificial environment; we've been in artificial environments ever since we built our first homes. The problem is that the matrix is a prison – it's an environment that people are unaware of, and cannot (easily) escape from. As the character Morpheus says, it is a “prison for your mind.”

Thanks for staying with me all this time, there is more to come so stay tuned.

2003-08-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

And the results are in...

After a few weeks up the poll for the best Animatrix episode has come to a close, and the winner is......(dramatic drum roll).......

The 2nd Renaissance: I & II

It grabbed 31% of the votes, and the rest of the episodes came in as follows...

Final Flight of the Oriris 19%
Matriculated 13%
Beyond 12%
Kid's Story 9%
A Detective Story 6%
World Record 5%
Program 5%

There you have it. I am sorry that I have not been keeping up on this blog, but I am running out of things to write about...soooo...if you have something to say about the matrix, new or old theories about anything involved with the movie, or just want to voice your opinion on something that has been written here, drop me a line, justingauthier@mail.com, or catch me on AIM, runningmazungo. I will be more than happy to talk with you about The Matrix, or anything for that matter.

2003-07-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

Iterations

I received an e-mail from Del talking about the different versions of the one and how, or if, they are able to exist in the newer versions of the matrix, which I touched upon a while ago in my post, Where'd the Ones Go? on May 26th, but here is a new interesting take on things.

Iterations
By: Del

As The Architect stated, Neo is the sixth emergence of The One... Version 6, if you will. From this, we gather that there are five previous iterations of The One who may or may not continue to exist within The Matrix.

Many have theorized that The Merovingian is one of these previous iterations. This theory is largely based upon Persephone's statement to Neo just before she kisses him: "He was once like you". Also, the Merovingian's restaurant is on the 101st floor. Remember, Thomas Anderson lived in apt 101.

If The Merovingian is one of the previous iterations of The One, then he cannot be from Version 5. Just before The Merovingian exits the chateau, he says to Neo: "I survived your predecessors, and I will survive you, as well." Because "predecessors" is plural and not singular, The Merovingian must be from Version 4 or earlier.

However, there may be more than one previous iteration of The One still within The Matrix. I'm referring to The Trainman. He was seen briefly in Reloaded, had one line in Enter The Matrix, and appears in the trailer for Revolutions. Before I talk about his brief appearance in Reloaded, his line in Enter The Matrix is: "72 hours...that's how long Zion lasted last time..."

From this, we gather that The Trainman is aware of what's going on. He describes himself as "Nobody... a spectator".

If we theorize that The Merovingian is one of the previous iterations of The One, then it is equally possible that The Trainman is another iteration. This is further enforced by his single appearance in Reloaded.

At the end of Neo's scene with The Oracle, she tells him to go to The Merovingian. She hands Neo a slip of paper with a location and time on it and says "Be there at that exact time, and you will have a chance." When the rebels arrive at the Merovingian's restaurant, at the exact time specified by The Oracle, we see The Trainman being escorted out by Cain & Abel.

Furthermore, in Enter The Matrix, The Oracle explains her new face to Niobe by saying "The Merovingian warned me that if I made a certain choice, it would cost me. He is, among other things, a man of his word." She then explains that the choice was to help Neo or not.

From The Oracle's new face, we gather that she did, in fact, help Neo. It is also worthy to note that both The Architect and The Merovingian display disgust and anger when they speak about The Oracle.

The Oracle describes The Merovingian as "a very dangerous program" who was "one of the first", and holds great power within The Matrix.

Given this fact, if we theorize that The Merovingian is a previous iteration of The One (possibly Version 1), then it must be postulated that all iterations of The One are, in fact, programs. As far as I know right now, this theory is the only current explanation as to how previous iterations of The One can continue to exist within a later version of The Matrix.

It is also worth noting that The Architect says Neo "carries code" that must be reinserted to create Version 7. I don't know how a human can carry code.

Given the following:

1. The Merovingian is a previous iteration of The One. 2. The Merovingian is a program.

Then how does Persephone fit? If The Merovingian is Neo, then Persephone is Trinity.

In the first film, Cypher tells Trinity that he used to be in love with her. Before Apoc dies, his last word was "Trinity"... not "Switch". I believe this alludes to the fact that he also was in love with Trinity. In Enter The Matrix, we learn that Ghost also loves Trinity and that his love will always be unrequited.

If Persephone is The Merovingian's Trinity, then it is logical to assume that Trinity, also, is a program. In Reloaded and Enter The Matrix, we see that Persephone likes to do a lot of kissing. She affects men in a certain way. It would appear that Trinity also has that effect among the men she serves with.

This leads me to one more conclusion:

The machines will succeed. All of the rebels will die. Zion will be destroyed. I came to this conclusion based upon what I've seen in the films. First, The Wachowskis are obsessive about numbers within The Matrix. In Reloaded, we learn that Neo is from Version 6.

That's the wrong number.

In the Bible, which the Wachowskis reference almost constantly throughout their films, 6 is not a good number. If Neo were indeed to save Zion and all of humanity, then shouldn't he be from Version 7? In the Bible, seven is a holy number. It is one of God's numbers. I do not believe that Neo being from Version 6 is a simple oversight, simply because such things are practically impossible to find within The Matrix.

The Wachowskis have made some oversights, but nothing major that would affect the story in any way. For instance, in Enter The Matrix, Sparks says "I don't think you're crazy... I think you have a death wish! A major, full-on Bronson!" The problem with this sentence is that Sparks is an operator. He has no plugs in his body, and has never entered The Matrix. He is a Zion native. If that's the case, then how can Sparks know who Charles Bronson is?

A minor glitch. Nothing that will affect anything. It was just a cute throwaway line that wasn't quite right.

I don't believe they'd make the same mistake with Neo's version number. I believe the fact that Neo is from Version 6 was intentional.

Given this, I believe The Matrix will still continue to exist after Revolutions. Perhaps there will be more Matrix movies, perhaps not.

Lastly, I believe Sparks, as a character, is an homage and/or direct copy of Sparks from Sealab 2021 on Adult Swim. Both are antagonistic assholes who are self-centered, nihilistic, and utterly lacking in compassion. They also both wear earpieces with boom mikes and function as operators.

2003-07-11T11:21:00.000-05:00

Finally Some Answers

Over at Matrix Essays there is some interesting stuff involving the licence plates and such in Reloaded. For a time I have been trying to convince my friends that the plates have signifigance in the film, otherwise they wouldn't be in such plain view deliberately in the shot. They just thought I was overanalyzing, but alas ther is some light shed on it! For example...

"When Agent Smith pulls up in an Audi at the beginning of the film, his license plate is 'IS 5416'. In the King James Bible, Isaiah 54:16 says, 'Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.'"

That is just a little bit of it, so go and read that, good stuff. Another thing that comes right to mind is on the Ducati motorcylce that Trinity and the Keymaker ride in the highway scene. Its "ID" number is on the side of it in plain view quite a few times during the chase, I cannot recall what it is at this point in time so I am going to try and find some pictures of it, unless someone else knows what it is.

2003-07-11T11:12:00.000-05:00

A Little Facelift

I was having some problems with the old template so I decided to try some things to see if I couldn't fix the problems that I was having. I'll be working a little on the new look with hopefully some new graphics and such, nothing important really, just changing the aesthetics of the site. If you think it it ugly or looking decent please let me know, justingauthier@mail.com

2003-07-01T10:51:00.000-05:00

Reasons Behind the Ethnicity of Zion

I've heard people asking about why is Zion made up mainly of darker skinned people and not caucasian people. I hadn't given much thought to it personally, but I stumbled upon an article that explains it. Here is the little snippet I am talking about...

People of color outnumber whites in the world's population, he noted. "It's not just the representation in numbers but the humanity displayed," said West, whose writings urge cross-cultural tolerance and a recognition of the power of diversity. "The acknowledgment of the full-fledged and complex humanity of black people is a new idea in Hollywood, given all the stereotypes and distortions," he said.

The article is rather interesting and it explains a little about the actor who plays Counciler Haman, Cornel West, who is actually a professor at Harvard University, and how he got the part and so on. You can find it here.

2003-06-24T10:09:00.000-05:00

Some New and Some Old

I was posting on a message board this morning in response to someone asking a question about the scene where Bane/Smith cuts himself, so I thought I would just put my thoughts up on here as well. This is mostly old stuff but there is some new theory in there as well.

There is some signifigance in the scene where Bane/Smith cuts his hand. The obvious being now that Smith is in the "real" world he wants to feel pain, and other things that he never could have experienced. However, he cuts two slices in his hand, that also resemble the Roman numeral 2, and two has signifigance in the film. First of all back in the matrix Neo's first name was Thomas, which means twin or two, and also the audience is starting to see the similarities between Smith and Neo now that each one has copied part of himself onto he other, which would suggest that they are alike, or twins, we see the theme of two tying together quite nicely.

Also, if anyone has played Enter the Matrix then they would have seen that cut scene where Bane/Smith adds a third cut to his hand, this time at the top of the two pre-existing lines, which represents the mathematical symbol of PI. As we all know number theory and mathematics are a big influence in the matrix, PI itself occurring somewhere else in the film, when the Keymaker says they have exactly 314 seconds(3.14 the abbreviated form of PI). Anyway, Bane/Smith putting the symbol for PI on his hand may suggest that Smith, just like PI, is becoming infinite. As we know PI, in decimal form, has yet to repeate itself, thus making it infinite, just like Smith who is duplicating himself and will continue to until stopped, thus making him infinite.

2003-06-23T19:36:00.000-05:00

Matrices or Matrixes?

I was just sitting around today, not that that is different from any other day really, and I was just doing the proverbial "surfing" of the world wide wow, sorry, I mean web, there was just an annoying AOL commercial on the TV. ANyway, I was reading an article on some random site when I came across a word that I had not seen before, so in my questioning nature I immediately set forth to Dictionary.com and looked up the word. So one thing led to another and suddenly I was transported back to my days in Algebra where I learned about what a matrix is. Of course I have forgotten the exact definition, so I went and looked it. I apologize for the completely irrelavant intro, but that's how the web goes.

Anyway, I just thought that it would be interesting to see why the Brothers Wachowski chose "the matrix" to be the name of the centeral focus and of course the title of their films. As we all know there is seemingly neverending amounts of symbolism and reasoning behind just about everything in these movies, so of course the name is going to be chosen for a reason, that just goes without saying. Some of the things I found were pretty interesting, and of course some of the things I found were pretty useless, but again, that's what you get with the web.

So here are the dictiionary defintions of the word "matrix", the ones that mean anything.

1. A situation or surrounding substance within which something else originates, develops, or is contained: “Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every form of freedom” (Benjamin N. Cardozo).

This is of course just saying that a matrix is just some benign substance or thing in which something else takes place or happens. As we all know the matrix is the "neural interactive simulation" created to occupy the human's minds whilst the machines use us for batteries, or if you subscribe to the school of thought presented in the essays entitled "The System", which can be found at the Matrix Essays, then it is something different, but I will stay away from that for now. What was really interesting was the quote attached to it, as Cardozo states that a matrix is the embodiment of free will. The matrix in the films is obviously the polar oppositte to that since it is nothing but a means of control, just something interesting.

2. The womb.

When you see the fields of humans being grown they look much like a fetus looks while it resides in its mother's womb. The humans are even curled up in the fetal position and surrounded by a placenta like substance in the pods, where they grow and mature, just like a baby in a womb.

5. A mold or die.

The matrix is a program designed as a mold where we the machines put our minds so that everything turns out the same and they can continue to have dominion over us.

9. Computer Science. The network of intersections between input and output leads in a computer, functioning as an encoder or a decoder.

In terms of this defintion the matrix is the intersection between the human mind and the machines, it decodes our brain waves and electrical signals so that they can be read by a computer and then it decodes them as they go back into our brains.

The one avenue that I have not explored is the actual mathematic defintion of what a matrix is and how that correlates with the movies. Mainly because I couldn't find any ties from the definition, but there is more behind it than just the defintion so there is probably something there that I am missing. Anyways, this stuff isn't anything ground breaking, just some interesting reasoning behind the name of the movie and all, just some brain candy.

2003-06-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

One of the best theories I've heard

You have got to read this three part essay over at Matrix Essays, it discusses another theory that explains the trilogy. It is extremely well written and something that you have to read, here is just a little taste of it.

Therefore, the System, which is the real Matrix, is actually an iterative, adaptive program engineered by our future selves to facilitate the emergence of a truly intelligent artificial entity that will have a belief in free will indistinguishable from our own, and will ultimately become aware of its own nature and its relationship to the world in which it was conceived.

It is entitled "The System" and was written by Michael, it comes in three parts, just scroll down to find the first two parts, and I strongly suggest that everyone takes the time to read through these and read through all the comments left as they add even more to the essays, bravo for Michael for writing this and Tom for putting in on his site.

2003-06-20T18:12:00.000-05:00

Quick question about archives...

To anyon who is readiing this that has experience with blogs I have a query. My archives were spazzing out for a while but I was able to fix most it, however, all of the archives before this week are gone, and I went through the FAQ and have found nothing letting me know how to retrieve lost archives because they aren't showing up, so, if anyone knows what to do, please let me know, thanks so much.

2003-06-20T13:07:00.000-05:00

Cast your vote!

I have put up a little poll over on the side of the site so you can cast your vote on your favorite episode of the Animatrix. Lets see what you guys all think!

2003-06-20T12:53:00.000-05:00

The Animatrix Awards

After watching through the Animatrixa few more times I have decided to write a little something about some of my favorite "episodes". First though, I would like pick some favorites of mine in some different categories that I devised while watching the Animatrix.

Animation
I have to go with "A Detective Story" and "Final Flight of the Osiris". It goes without saying that the level of realism achieved in Osiris is unparalleled, especially when Thadius and Joanne(I am not sure this is her name but it is the closest thing I could come up with) are face to face in the very beginning during the katana fight scene, it is just ubelievable! The amount of skin that is shown is also quite astounding, for anyone who has ever tried doing CG Animation, you know how difficult it is to make skin and hair look real, well, they nailed it on the head in Osiris. Finally, "A Detective Story" really wasn't anything groundbreaking, I just loved the feel of it, especially the snow, the fact that it was done by the guys who made Cowboy Bebop, just an overall joy to watch. Now, I'm not saying that all the other ones weren't good, these are just my two personal favorites.

Style
Style wise I have to go with a tie again, "World Record" and "Kid's Story". Both were refreshing to watch, the best of these two though goes to 'Kid's Story", I loved that shaky hand drawn type of style, espeically towards the end when everything begins to get distorted, very nice. Overall though I was very pleased with the Animatrix, going into it I just expected to see a whole lot of Anime, which isn't a bad thing, but I was certainly both surprised and pleased with it.

Story
Ah, this is a tough one to choose. How would I go about rating the stories? Well, first of all, I love the Matrix, and I extremely enjoy finding out more stuff about it, that's partly why I created this blog. That is what the Animatrix does, it gives you a glimpse at other facets of the matrix that are not explored in the films, so, overall I loved all the stories, but, I have to pick favorites so here it goes. "World Record" and "Beyond". For me, these two sessions really gave interesting and exciting glimpses into the matrix. In "World Record" you have a guy who "realizes" that the reality he believes is reality is really only a transitory state of mind, so he runs so hard that his muscles rip and snap, but he doesn't accept that as real so he goes on, and in doing this he "wakes up" from the matrix. Unfortunately though, the machines were aware of this, so right after he woke up, they simply reinserted him. This story shows us what happens to all the not so Neo's, that are able to realize the existence of the matrix, but don't actually make it out. Secondly, "Beyond" was amazing, this episode shows us more of the anomalies in the matrix. It has been pointed out that the matrix is not a perfect equation so there are mistakes. In Reloaded we are told that natural disasters, or freak occurrences are nothing more than mistakes in the matrix. In "Beyond" however, we get to actually see these mistakes. Also, we also get to see how the other 99% of humanity would deal with something like this. The main character, after experience these freak occurrences, doesn't really give a second thought to them and just keeps on with her life, like she doesn't care. Anyways, in my mind, these were the two best stories, although I have to give an honorable mention to "Kid's Story" and the whole self-substantiation idea, that was way cool.

Entertainment
Now obviously all of these episodes are extremely entertaining, but the ones that I would want to watch the most are Osiris and "Matriculated". Both of these episodes offer me a great deal of entertainment, there isn't much else to say about that.

Knowledge/Insight
This category is a lot like the Story category, but point of the Animatrix was to inform, and give us some history on it. So, for this category it is a no brainer. "The Second Renaissance: I & II" take the cake. I know I am not the only one who wanted to know, when Morpheus was giving us the cliff notes version of the war in The Matrix, what actually happened. This episode I believe had the most to offer in terms of knowledge, history, and insight as to why there is even a matrix to begin with. I am glad that they decided to show us all of it.

Well, that is it. As I have said before, overall I loved the Animatrix. It was an excellent edition to the trilogy and I am very glad that the W. Brothers decided to go through with it. I strongly urge any of you who have not seen it to go out and buy it or rent it or whatever, but is a must see for anyone interested in the matrix. I also would like to know what you think, so e-mail me, or leave a comment, let me know which ones you thought should've won in the above categories or just things that you liked about something, let me know.

2003-06-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

Some Interesting Links

Here is a link to the abridged version of the Matrix Reloaded Script, a rather humorous take on it.
-THE MATRIX RELOADED: THE ABRIDGED SCRIPT By Rod Hilton

This is an extremely intersting site. The owner e-mailed me about and asked me to check it out, I did and needless to say I am very intrigued with it. I suggest that you check it out and help with the search for the answer to the "question that drives us mad", what is the matrix?
-Jon Lippe's Cell Phone

2003-06-12T21:49:00.000-05:00

Has Smith Gone Unnoticed

Okay, so obviously as we have seen in Reloaded, the machines are often times more worried about the exiles, the renegade programs, than they are about the rebels. So, why haven't the machines done anything to try and get Smith taken care of. Especially now that he has started duplicating himself. Think about it, at that rate Smith could probably "take over" the whole human race inside the matrix. If that were to happen the machines would have quite a problem on their hands.

2003-06-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

PI(MMMMMM)

No, not that kind of PI,

3.141592653589798594254864360313829340438145573431763425042576916719999025782926484920135789853191185950452987295269682469844607569190204601072121260892773947526465387520939147889838379128943

That kind of PI.

I was playing through Enter the Matrix the other day and I saw a cut scene with Bane, now, for those of you who have not yet played the game I will include a short description of the scene for it lasted only a few seconds. I can't recall where he was, but it showed Bane for a second then he looked down at his hand, the one that he sliced twice with a knife in Reloaded before attempting to kill Neo. The two cuts were slightly healed, then Bane made a third cut that was at the top of the two previous slices and intersected both of them, much resembling the symbol used to portray PI, 3.14 for that is, which can be seen here, with some explanation.

Another occurence of PI in Reloaded is, when talking with the Keymaker, the rebels discover that they have exactly 314 seconds after the power is cut to get into the door that will eventually lead to the source.

The Matrix is full of numerology and that is just a tiny bit of it. I was wondering also if there were any more incidents where PI popped up in the two pictures? E-mail me or leave a comment if you can think if one, and for a more in depth history of PI, check out this page.

2003-06-09T17:29:00.000-05:00

Babies and Residual Self Image

Crowley left a comment asking the question about babies inside the matrix.

If babies are "grown" in the matrix pods, from the liquified dead, then their parents in the matrix "really" are not their parents, right? They really don't have parents. Because their parents in the Matrix didn't really have sex together?

So, there has to be a program in the matrix that keeps track of when a new baby is ready to be inserted into the Matrix, and then "matches" the it to a woman programmed to be pregnant? Right?

This raised a very interesting question that I don't think has been explored. So, how do babies occur within in the matrix? If you were to think about it then a possible explantion would be the machines would let people naturally have sex inside the matrix. The machines would then have some regular interval worked out for when a baby needs to be created to keep the population up. So the machines would then randomly choose a couple having sex and match the sperm and egg which ends up creating a baby. This has quite a huge hole in it though. If there are multiple farms then what happens if someone plugged in over in asia has sex with someone plugged in say in South America, it would be quite a hassle to get the sperm and egg together to create a baby.

Another thing is RSI or residual self image. If no one ever sees themselves inside the matrix then how come their RSI matches how they actually look? My answer to this is that a persons RSI is purely sub concious, and that is why people can't change what they look like inside the matrix, because their RSI is so deeply entombed in their mind that it would take quite a bit of meditation to dig down that deep and find it. So I believe that your RSI occurs naturally inside your sub-concious, and that your body "knows" what it looks like, even if your eyes have never seen it.

I don't know, both of these things need to be explored, so let me know what you think.

2003-06-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

AHHH!

Alright for some reason the menu bar on the right has duplicated itself. I am trying to figure out just why this is happening, at this point in time I have absolutely no idea. So if there is anyone out there who might have had a similar problem or has an idea for a solution, please let me know because this is really bothering me. Thanks.

2003-06-08T18:10:00.000-05:00

Back To The Search!

I just returned from a short vacation to the east coast, I have a load of new content ready to be put up but I am going to pace myself, so stay tuned.

2003-05-29T13:10:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-28T16:19:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

"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.

2003-05-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-26T10:29:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-24T23:54:00.000-05:00

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...

2003-05-24T16:04:00.000-05:00

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...

2003-05-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

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...

2003-05-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-24T00:51:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-22T23:47:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-22T13:54:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-22T10:54:00.000-05:00

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, :-)!

2003-05-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-21T23:57:00.000-05:00

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...

2003-05-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

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?

2003-05-21T16:45:00.000-05:00

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

2003-05-21T07:28:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-20T15:29:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-20T10:07:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

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

2003-05-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

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?

2003-05-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

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?

2003-05-19T21:09:00.000-05:00

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...

2003-05-19T19:02:00.000-05:00

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

2003-05-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

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.

2003-05-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Let the search for truth begin...