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The Matrix Media Movies

The Gospel According to Neo 797

Posted by michael from the overanalyzing dept.
Xel writes "Josh Burek, writer for The Christian Science Monitor and A.K.A. the guy who sits 4 cubicles from me, has written an excellent essay on religion in The Matrix: The Gospel According to Neo. Sure, this topic has been covered ad nauseum, but it's refreshing to see such a thoughful examination aimed not at geeks alone but a broader, more traditional, and more traditionally religious audience. It also has a nice little glossary at the end where even pasty-faced and vinyl-clad Matrix worshippers may find some easter eggs they didnt know."
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The Gospel According to Neo More

The Gospel According to Neo

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  • And on the seventh day... (Score:5, Funny)

    by vought ( 160908 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:18PM (#5946381)
    the render farms rested, for their caches were full, and their disks bore the fruit of long labors.

    • Re:And on the seventh day... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Gortbusters.org ( 637314 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:53PM (#5946809) Homepage Journal
      The hacker sat back and looked at his new mp3 collection, 'This is good' he exclaimed!

  • Obvious (Score:5, Funny)

    by L. VeGas ( 580015 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:18PM (#5946384) Homepage Journal
    The geek shall inherit the earth.

    • Warner Bros. confirms: Trinity is dying! (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:42PM (#5946671)
      It is official; Warner Bros. now confirms: Trinity is dying

      One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Matrix fanboy community when the Warshowski Bros. confirmed that Trinity's wank appeal has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all geek porn. Coming on the heels of a recent Natalie Portman survey which plainly states that Trinity has lost more market share of masturbatory fantasies, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Trinity is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by dead last [goatse.cx] in the recent "Who do I think of while jerking off" test.

      You don't need to be a pasty-faced, anti-social computer nerd [amazingkreskin.com] to predict Trinity's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Trinity faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Trinity because Trinity is dying. Things are looking very bad for Trinity. As many of us are already aware, Trinity dies in the end of "Matrix Reloaded." Red blood flows like a river of blood. From her. When she dies.

      Nude Trinity is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of her erotic potential. The mannish and unpleasant physique of long time Trinity actress Carrie-Ann Moss only serves to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Trinity is dying.

      Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

      Trinity sycophant Michael states that he has written 7000 fanscripts featuring Trinity. How many people who give a shit about Trinity are there? Let's see. The number of Galadirel versus trinity posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 Trinity fanboys. Trinity in vinyl images on Usenet are about half of the volume of picuters of women shitting on themselves [tubgirl.com]. Therefore there are about 700 losers who fantasize about Trinity being their girlfriend. A recent article put Trinity at about 80 percent of the "jerking off to pictures of distended anuses" market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 total losers still reading at this point. This is consistent with the number of Trinity Usenet posts.

      Due to the troubles of Hollywood, abysmal acting and so on, Trinity was killed off at the end of "Matrix Reloaded" and the role was taken over by a small beagle puppy who conveys emotion better than Moss. Now Trinity is dead, her corpse turned over to the Matrix to be liquified and fed to unsupecting batteries.

      All major surveys show that Trinity looks like a post-operative male-female transsexual. Trinity is very hideous and her long term wankability prospects are very dim. If Trinity is to survive at all it will be among Matrix geeks who bought the first one on DVD. Trinity continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save her at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Trinity is dead.

      Fact: Trinity is dying at the end of "Matrix Reloaded."

      • I clicked on your link (Score:3, Informative)

        by Nazmun ( 590998 )
        And I will never be the same again... My life would be ten times better if I hadn't. I've managed to not click on it several times but it was too long.

  • Meh, sometimes you look a little TOO deep (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kilbasar ( 617992 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:19PM (#5946404)
    Logos: The altered studio logo at the opening of the film may be highly significant. The Matrix-coded WB letters could simply be the Wachowski brothers thumbing their nose at the Warner Bros. But by altering the logo - from the Greek term "logos," for word - the film's opening does two things. First, it corrupts the Gospel of John, which begins with "In the beginning was the Word...". Second, it asserts that metaphysical meaning can be gleaned by mining deep into words, or code.


    I believe that there's symbolism in the film, but come on, that's stretching it just a bit. You can find non-existant messages in anything if you look hard enough. Just like assassination predictions in Moby Dick [anu.edu.au].

  • Christ.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Ogrez ( 546269 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:20PM (#5946408)
    All this time... I thought it was just a really good movie...
    Soemtimes I think people just get stuck in the "willing suspension of disbelief" and forget that its just a movie... im not looking for a religious revolution, I just want to see Neo kick some machine ass...
    But I will be watching on opening day... I already have tickets...

    • Re:Christ.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mr_z_beeblebrox ( 591077 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:36PM (#5946604) Journal
      Soemtimes I think people just get stuck in the "willing suspension of disbelief" and forget that its just a movie... im not looking for a religious revolution, I just want to see Neo kick some machine ass...

      Literature has always been written to be inclusive to as many levels of audience as possible. An atheist can read the bible and see some "good stories" a zealot sees a way of life. That you appreciate the base level of the movie says only that this is where your enjoyment is. If I enjoy the symbolism my enjoyment is elsewhere. Kudos for having a film with such diverse appeal :-)

  • Once again... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Glock27 ( 446276 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:20PM (#5946410)
    someone confuses American pop culture with serious thought.

    Ooops.

    • Re:Once again... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Gortbusters.org ( 637314 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:11PM (#5947058) Homepage Journal
      Except that serious thought DOES goes into POP culture.

      MTV isn't run by teenie boppers, it's run by Harvard grads who know how to bleed money out of sheep-like hordes of teenagers.

    • Re:Once again... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Xel ( 84370 )
      The bible is re-edited and re-translated re-tellings of ancient oral myths... IOW, the pop culture of its time. How is The matrix any different?

  • Don't forget Eastern Religion (Score:3, Insightful)

    by YllabianBitPipe ( 647462 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:23PM (#5946449)

    There's also a fair amount of Buddhism mixed in the Matrix ... more specifically the idea that the world is not real, and that anybody can find enlightenment through belief. But I guess since we don't have a "Buddhist Science Monitor" in this country we get a lot more observations on Christian "Wester Religion" themes. There's a good essay about Buddhism, Gnosticism and Christianity on the Matrix website...

    • Re:Don't forget Eastern Religion (Score:5, Funny)

      by Muad'Dave ( 255648 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:30PM (#5946530) Homepage

      That's Gnu/sticism, darn it!

    • Re:Don't forget Eastern Religion (Score:5, Funny)

      by DonkeyJimmy ( 599788 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:32PM (#5946563)
      The problem with the "Buddhist Science Monitor" is that whenever someone gets a really good idea and starts to write an article, they ascend to a better plane. Earth gets all the crappy beginer Buddhists. I bet in blisstopia they have tons of great insites about the Matrix.

    • Re:Don't forget Eastern Religion (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fjordboy ( 169716 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:35PM (#5946592) Homepage
      I think maybe you should read the article. The article is pretty clear that there isn't only *one* viewpoint. The author mentions buddhism more than once in the article. He's just discussing the disagreement and discussions within the Christian community about the film. He's not espousing one view over another, just showing how many different ideas there are about it. The author definitely mentions gnosticism as well...he's basically covering all the grounds and saying: "Look, you have these things happening in the film, what are some possible meanings?"

      No one is seriously treating the script as a Neo-New Testament. But "The Matrix" story has stirred debate within the Christian community


      He's not pushing or enforcing any Christian reading of the film or saying that the Christian viewing of the film is the only one.
    • I agree with you that there is much more Buddhsm in the Matrix than most western observers give it credit for. (I haven't seen the latest movie, so I can't comment on that one yet.)

      But there's also a great deal of Christian idealism in the original as well. Neo's willingness to come back to lead others to safety strikes me as different than the Buddhist leitmotif of detachment. (I'm not a practicing Buddist, so if there is a strong tradition of self-sacrifice for others as being foundational to being a

      • But there's also a great deal of Christian idealism in the original as well. Neo's willingness to come back to lead others to safety strikes me as different than the Buddhist leitmotif of detachment. (I'm not a practicing Buddist, so if there is a strong tradition of self-sacrifice for others as being foundational to being a good Buddhist, I'd appreciate being corrected.

        The tradition of boddhisatvas in Buddhism is just this - souls who forego enlightenment to return to Earth and help others reach enli

  • Oh My God! It's true! (Score:5, Funny)

    by bperkins ( 12056 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:24PM (#5946456) Homepage Journal
    Take the word "matrix" and take the numbers that add them together.

    13+ 1+ 20+ 18+ 9+ 24=85

    Subtract the number of apostles
    You get 73.

    If the holy number is expressed as a trinity like so:
    7*(7+7)

    You get 98.
    Multiply the two numbers:
    98*73

    Which gives 7154

    That spells out the word God.

    Coincidence?

    I think not!

  • The Horse (Score:4, Funny)

    by Obiwan Kenobi ( 32807 ) * <(evan) (at) (misterorange.com)> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:25PM (#5946469) Homepage
    Imagine a field, where hordes of writers are crowding around a lone, dead pony.

    And in their hands are whips.

    And one at a time they step forward and take a few good licks at the stoic creature.

    When they're done, they smile broadly and scream "Next!"

    This is the image that comes to mind when I read about another "insightful" and "interesting" article philosophizing The Matrix.

    (yeah, its a joke)
  • I think people should just enjoy the movie and not read too much into it. After a while, its like 10 preachers interpreting the bible in different ways

    Its like reading Asimov's foundation series and reading the Roman empire into it and so on.

    Trust me fellow slashdotters, this is just a really good movie (just like Salvor Hardin was a figment of Asimov's imagination), with a really good premise and some really kewl fight scenes and clothes.

    Just go enjoy on thursday!

    PS. Keep the spoilers to a minimum in

  • My favorite Matrix "easter egg": (Score:5, Funny)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:26PM (#5946473) Homepage
    Something that a friend of a friend noticed upon spending an entire day watching "the Matrix" over and over while it was still in theaters (they would hide elsewhere in the theatre when the ushers were clearing the seats between showings, then just go back in.. they *claimed* they were doing this for a class.):

    Every time that someone says "God" in the movie, Trinity (if she is present) responds as if she was being addressed. This happens at least twice.

    Whether she is actually responding is always left kind of pseudoambiguous:
    <Neo> Jesus!


    <Trinity> What?

    <Neo> I used to eat chinese food there..
    But, while it could be coincidence, I'm guessing that it just means that Trinity has a healthy amount of self-esteem. If you were a leather-clad female trapped in a hovercraft with a bunch of antisocial geeks, you'd probably start to think you were God too.

    • Wow! (Score:4, Funny)

      by NaugaHunter ( 639364 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:48PM (#5946756)
      Um... maybe Trinity thought that it was just an exclamation, and wondered what it was in reference to? Replace "Jesus!" with "Wow!" or "Damn!" and it really doesn't change her reaction much. I'll bet if you go back, you might even find her responding to "Shit!". She doesn't thing she's a pile of excrement, does she?

      In fact, you probably do the same thing. If you're somewhere with a person who says "Jesus!", do you think
      a) Hey! They mean me!
      b) The second coming? Already?
      or
      c) What would cause them to say that now?

    • Re:My favorite Matrix "easter egg": (Score:4, Interesting)

      by mblase ( 200735 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:09PM (#5947021)
      Every time that someone says "God" in the movie, Trinity (if she is present) responds as if she was being addressed. This happens at least twice.

      Unfortunately, this only happens twice (in the nightclub and in the car en route to the Oracle).

      Search a copy of the screenplay [216.239.33.104] online sometime. Neo says "Jesus Christ, that thing's real!?" after he's debugged and Trinity doesn't react. Trinity says "Goddammit", "God damn you, Cypher!" and "Jesus, he's killing him", thereby allegedly invoking herself. There are plenty of other times characters say "God" to or around Trinity with no reaction.

      It's just an interjection, that's all. Of all the supposed easter eggs, this one's clearly a coincidence.
  • ...with a multi-layered storyline...

    Sometimes if you see something weird in your dreams, it might not mean anything, you could have just been dreaming something you might have seen on the TV or something.

    All this armwaving about "hidden meanings" is just making a fun movie more than it really is: a fun movie.

  • And some critics said "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" relied heavily on the account of Christ's passion - a suggestion that director Steven Spielberg, who is Jewish, rejected.

    I got as far as the line above and had to stop reading. I dont remember ET whipping out a hammer or saw during the movie to do a bit of carpentry and if I remember correctly he goes back to his buddies in the end without being crucified to death.

    Its a movie. Turn your brain off for a couple of hours and enjoy the spectacle

    • Re:What a load of bollox (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      But E.T. makes the kids fly on their bikes just like that time Jesus did... oh wait, that didn't happen. Well, Jesus liked Reese's Pieces, too... err, wait, no he didn't.
    • Its a movie. Turn your brain off for a couple of hours and enjoy the spectacle

      Amen! oh crap...

      *ducks*

  • Lawrence Fishburne Interview (Score:4, Interesting)

    by crashnbur ( 127738 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:27PM (#5946491)
    I haven't read The Gospel According to Neo yet, but I've thumbed through it. (It sits on my shelf, and I'm currently involved in William Irwin's The Matrix and Philosophy -- great book!)

    Switching gears... In an interview released today over at Coming Soon [comingsoon.net], Lawrence Fishburne gives a pretty detailed account of (some of) his experience with The Matrix and playing Morpheus.

    What was it about the first film that struck the chord with so many people? There's a lot of things, and I think the major thing is that in crafting their story and structuring their story, the Wachowski brothers relied heavily on Greek mythology and primarily the old myths: the hero's journey, the reluctant messiah story, which is one of the oldest stories and has been with us in every culture, in every time in some way or form. And they basically put it in a modern context...
    WARNING: The interview may spoil some minor plot details near the bottom -- the first six paragraphs are safe. When it gets to "Early audiences are already getting a different sense...", you might consider waiting a day or two to see the movie and then catch up on what he had to say about his character.

    • Re:Lawrence Fishburne Interview (Score:4, Insightful)

      by RobotRunAmok ( 595286 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:47PM (#5946729)
      Meh.

      A young man's "one of the oldest stories" is an older man's cliche.

      When I need my dollops of Greek Tragedy (or Christian Philosophy or Buddhist Revelation or Qaballah Interpretation or Zoroastrian Interior Design) I think I'll look in directions other than the Brothers Wachowski or, um, Lawrence Fishburne for my enlightenment.

      Why must we always cloak our guilty pleasures in layers of "meaning?" (Probably something to do with our Judaeo-Christian mores, but I'll leave that to the armchair theologians and film-makers to posit upon...)

      Gimme Carrie-Ann, vinyl trenchcoats, automatic weapons, a hundred Agent Smiths, some wacked out over-the-top Martial Arts, and a big tub of p-corn and I'm happy to suspend my belief. Just don't expect me to gain any insight into my Belief in the process.
    • the old myths: the hero's journey, the reluctant messiah story, which is one of the oldest stories and has been with us in every culture, in every time in some way or form. And they basically put it in a modern context... (quoting a quote is bad, I know)

      I think this is a really important, well spoken point, and it might shed light on why I had a hard time getting through the CSM article.

      When I read articles like this, they always seem to come across as saying "Look how Christian the [insert item of disc

  • Just because a director tries to put symbolism in a film:
    1) It does not auctomatically make him successful.
    2) It does not make the film have a plot. (And before the sheep come out, I understood what they thought the plot was [It didn't "go over my head."], but it was not internally consistent or logical enough to warrant a suspension of disbelief.)

    Because when I think of eastern religion and Christianity (as in its core teachings and not as practiced), I think of a casual disregard for human life and mi

  • Bull (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DonkeyJimmy ( 599788 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:28PM (#5946505)
    this is a movie that ... captures people's intellectual imagination.

    With dialog like "Noone can be told what the Matrix is", "Woah", and "I know Kung Fu" it's no wonder everyone's in an intellectual tiffy over it. And let us not forget that whole brilliant monologue on weather chicken tastes like chicken.

    The Matrix rocks, but it's a silly sci fi super action movie-not some kind of brilliantly thought out metaphor for reality. I'm reminded of my English teach in HS telling me how every noun in every book is a symbol for humanity and her struggles. Come on people, the people who wrote that script were just making a good movie, not sending us a message. That said, I still have opening day tickets.
    • With dialog like "Noone can be told what the Matrix is", "Woah", and "I know Kung Fu" it's no wonder everyone's in an intellectual tiffy over it.

      Thats probably the most insightful summation of the crap written about the Matrix I have seen.

    • Re:Bull (Score:4, Funny)

      by Rick.C ( 626083 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @03:40PM (#5948099)
      And let us not forget that whole brilliant monologue on weather chicken ...

      Yes, let us not. Here it is now..

      When I was a kid back in Iowa, we had us a weather chicken. It was like a weather rock, but it had feathers and it moved around more. When the weather chicken was wet, it was rainy. When the weather chicken was white, it was snowing.

      But one day we noticed that the weather chicken had had its head cut clean off and a wooden stake driven through it, pinning it to the ground. We looked skyward to see what this might mean, weather-wise.

      The sky was pure blue. There were absolutely no clouds. Yet there was something eerily wrong: there was no sun!

      As we stood there gazing, white words started to appear across the sky:

      *** STOP 0x0000001E KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED ...

      As it turns out Reality is a Windows app.

  • Exclusive Matrix 2 screenshot (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fuxoft ( 161836 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:29PM (#5946517) Homepage
    See exclusive MATRIX REVOLUTIONS screenshot here [fuxoft.cz]. :)

  • Similar to what Eastern religions say (Score:4, Insightful)

    by losttoy ( 558557 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:30PM (#5946526)
    Matrix's storyline which projects the world as a simulation is very similar to what Eastern philosophies say. Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism treat the world as Mayajaal or web of deceit/temptation/unreal things. To realise one's true potential a person needs to only break mental barriers is also theorised by Eastern philosophies.

  • Huh? (Score:2, Funny)

    by CGP314 ( 672613 )
    Numerology: Neo's apartment number is 101, suggesting that he's "the one." Neo is shot in apartment number 303, and after 72 seconds (72 hours = 3 days), he rises again.

    I'd love to meet the first guy who thought to time that. I can see the tinfoil hat now.

    Also, as a physics major, it hurts my eyes to see 72 seconds = 72 hours = 3 days. I guess no one bothered to teach the numerologists unit conversions.

  • Christian symbolism (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Colonel Panic ( 15235 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:30PM (#5946535)
    Sure there's Christian symbolism all over the place in The Matrix. Take Neo's name for example:
    Neo Anderson
    Neo = New
    Ander = Man
    Which translates to 'New Son of Man'.

    What did Christ call himself? The Son of Man.

    But then again, there's also Bhuddist imagry and as was mentioned the main theme is based on Plato's Cave.

    BTW: My wife attended a talk by Leonard Sweet [leonardsweet.com] several months back and he claimed that he is one of the spiritual consultants for The Matrix movies. That would explain where the Christian imagry came from.

    • Re:Christian symbolism (Score:3, Informative)

      by ajs ( 35943 )
      I'm not sure I buy your take on the name (Neo is named Neo because calling someone "New" just wouldn't sound as cool), but even so, the movie is no more Christian than any other story with a messianic theme. I know this is going to be hard to swallow, but Jesus of Nazareth wasn't the first person in human history (real or fictional) to be called "the one" to fulfill prophesy. That list starts with our earliest recorded works of mythology (which happen to be Indian) and follow in every human society I can th

  • Christian Science Monitor Not Really Religious (Score:5, Informative)

    by stardazed0 ( 558289 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:31PM (#5946550)
    Despite the name of the publication, it should be understood that the Christian Science Monitor is not an intensely religious newspaper. In fact, it is one of the most objective and well-written news publications in national circulation. The CSM is often cited by debaters, etc. as a reputable and impartial source of journalism (much more integrity and journalistic value than the likes of CNN, for example).

  • What the CS Monitor is (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mnemonic_ ( 164550 ) <jamec@umich. e d u> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:32PM (#5946561) Homepage Journal
    About the CS monitor (if you've never heard about it before, it's probably not what you think it is).

    Is the paper a religious periodical?

    No, it's a real newspaper published by a church -- The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass., USA. Everything in the Monitor is international and US news and features, except for one religious article that has appeared each day in The Home Forum section since 1908, at the request of the paper's founder, Mary Baker Eddy.

    In an age of corporate conglomerates dominating news media, the Monitor combination of church ownership, a public-service mission, and commitment to covering the world (not to mention the fact that it was founded by a woman shortly after the turn of the century, when US women didn't yet have the vote!) gives the paper a uniquely independent voice in journalism.

    Then if the paper's basically secular and for everybody, why is "Christian Science" in its name?

    Eddy insisted, against strong opposition from some of her advisers and church officers, that the words "Christian Science" should be in the paper's name. According to one of her biographers, Robert Peel, to Eddy, "the designated title was an identification of the paper with the promise that no human situation was beyond healing or rectification if approached with sufficient understanding of man's God-given potentialities. Nor did the 'good news' of Christianity involve the prettification of bad news, but rather, its confident confrontation" (witness Monitor correspondent David Rohde's widely followed reporting in late '95 on alleged massacres by Bosnian Serb forces).

    More about the CS Monitor's origin and purpose [csmonitor.com]

  • They forgot to mention Descartes (Score:3, Informative)

    by Samari711 ( 521187 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:32PM (#5946567)
    the bulk of his book meditations on first philosophy deals with the idea that we can never truely know if reality exists as we percieve it. one of the possible realities he throws out is that we are constantly being decieved by some all powerful evil being who's goal is to make us believe everything that is not true. what descartes concludes is that even if everything he believes is false, he can still convince himself that he exists, because of the fact that he can convince himself (i think therefore i am). Descartes was one of the first christian philosophers to actually try to find other explanations for the way things worked other than "God willed it that way" so i'm surprised he didn't get brought up. maybe it has something to do with his whole "machines will never be able to think" theory ;)
    • One day on the bus home from campus, I sat next to two people having a conversation about philosophy. The one doing most of the talking was a fairly typical long-haired pseudointellectual type making a kind a claim about existence similar to Descartes but more in line with Berkeley.

      After hearing him repeat "But I can't know if you really exist -- you could just be a figment of my imagination" in response to protests from his companion, I leaned forward with the following suggestion to the annoying metaphy

  • Universal Themes (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Wordman ( 79573 )
    The whole concept of a savior and other ideas mentioned in the article are universal themes, of which both Jesus and Neo are examples. It only seems to Christians like Neo is "Christ like" because they were first exposed to these universal themes through the Jesus example. If Christians whorshipped, for example, Moses instead of Jesus, this article would have been all about how Neo was "Moses like".
  • Getting a "more traditionally religious" view of Christian things from an entity associated with Christian Science is sort of like getting a "traditional Mexican dinner" from Taco Bell. Christian Science is a contemporary "religion" (though some prefer to use the term "tax evasion scam") and has about as much in common with mainstream Christianity as the Backstreet Boys have with Beethoven--alliteration.
    • Everything else, IMHO is getting bogged down in the details. I see no basic difference between Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Southern Baptists, although each would give you a litany of reasons why they're not "real" Catholics or why they're better than the other. Does it really matter? Not to most non-religious people.

  • But where previous films made vague references to the Christian story, "The Matrix," some theologians argue, appeals directly to the heart of Christian identity.

    I guess it's somewhat interesting, but there are other popular movies out there that make better examples of the "Christian story" than the Matrix. In the realm of sci-fi, we have ET, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and of course Star Wars. If you want some really overt symbolism try watching Cool Hand Luke.

    • If you want some really overt symbolism try watching Cool Hand Luke.

      Religiousfolk tend to consider their literature to be Revealed Truth(tm) so whenever someone makes such allusions, they get all antsy and nervous, especially when the borrowing is not subtle. Some react with disgust, others rationalize. The literary allusions are somewhat overt in Cool Hand Luke, but they're buried in the story. The casual viewer won't pick up on it, as for them it's just a prison movie with memorable dialogue.

      I'm ac

  • Neo Nebo (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Black Copter Control ( 464012 )
    From the article:

    Neo: The messiah. This is Thomas Anderson's virtual name. Literally meaning "new," Neo is also referred to as the "One," which is an anagram for Neo.
    Nebuchadnezzar: Morpheus's ship. This figure referenced in the Book of Daniel was the powerful king of ancient Babylon who suffered from troubling dreams. The name literally means "Nebo, protect the crown."

    If Nebo later became Neo ( a reasonable linguistic morph), then Nebuchadnezzar might have meant "The one[who] protects the crown."

  • kinda sad (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Joe the Lesser ( 533425 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:43PM (#5946689) Homepage Journal
    How people who initially disagree with something(The Matrix) that chatises their way of life(Organized Religion) do their best to make it seem their way is actually confirmed through it.

    If I had time, I could write a equally definitive argument that the Matrix is about personal spirituality and questioning authority and what other's tell you you're perceiving.

    But I guess that's what art's about, and sometimes narrowminded people aren't going to change no matter what you show them.

    • Re:kinda sad (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Slime-dogg ( 120473 )

      But I guess that's what art's about, and sometimes narrowminded people aren't going to change no matter what you show them.

      -Says the speaker....

      You have to come up with definitive proof of everything before you can make a blanket statement like that. Organized religion is not wrong, as it seems that you yourself subscribe to one of them. Just becuase it is "anti-religion" does not mean that it is itself, a religion.

      Learn that religion takes something called "faith," which basically means that you hav

  • "If you can see a way through those things and really pick out the good stuff ... any Christian could apply those things to life and grow from it."

    Comments like these really make me wonder how a lot of these people think. To observe in this fashion is like looking at reality through a polarized lense polarized to your own personal tastes. Reality consists of many things and to interpret it without recognizing the whole is futile.

    Furthermore, it's interesting to note that one of the central messages in

  • Before there was the Matrix... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rai ( 524476 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:49PM (#5946757) Homepage
    There was the Butlerian Jihad.

    "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." -The Orange Catholic Bible

  • Disappointed too (Score:2, Interesting)

    by too_bad ( 595984 ) *
    If at all movie-viewers are looking for a profound message in this movie, which is first and
    foremost a highly entertaining, but still just an entertainment nevertheless, one can push and
    pull the plots, the names, the numbers and everything else to fit their personal beliefs.
    I expected something beyond this in this article and I was deeply disappointed.

    Firstly the article just touches upon other interpretations of Matrix other than
    that of christianity. Secodnly there is a desparate attempt at bending and me

  • Matrix Philosophy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @01:58PM (#5946874)
    It seems like the people who think that The Matrix has some revolutionary or revealing philosophy are always the same ones who deride me whenever I mention that they might enjoy reading some of the classic works of philosophy from Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, etc. These, and many other philosophers, were the basis for the main ideas presented in The Matrix and delve into the topics in a much more in depth fashion.

    Could it just be the typical geek fashion to write off something as worthless if it is not exciting or doesn't have any practical application? I don't know, but I encourage any of you who have shrugged off philosophy but find interest in the philosophy found in The Matrix to try out reading some real philosophy. Philosophy may change the way you view the world and--more importantly--make you think about the world.

    Besides the philosophy in The Matrix, there are other geek appealing topics in philosophy. For example, you can find AI in philosophy, and I don't mean from some research paper written by some cognative scientist at MIT. What it means 'to think' and to 'be conscience' have been thought about by some of the most profound thinkers in human history thousands of years ago.

    If you are in college, I would recommend taking an introductory survey course in philosophy. If taking courses is not your thing, try reading some of the philosophy books put out by Penguin Classics. Their books generally have understandable translations, provide historical context where needed, and have explainations for the more difficult readings.

  • It's an icebreaker, not a treatise (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:02PM (#5946921)
    Christian groups like to talk about "The Matrix" and "The Lord of the Rings" because they're very popular movies that include a lot of religious symbolism and draw on theology for their themes and stories. This is well and good. It's always hard to get people to talk about religion when they're not in the habit of it, especially when they're not very informed on the facts of Christianity or any other major religion.

    What I have problems with is when people hold up these films as proof of their creators' intentions to promote particular religions. The "Star Wars" films have been accused, off and on, of promoting "New Age" religion and spirituality. "The Matrix" relies on Buddhist beliefs and themes as much as Christian ones, if not more. And I still can't understand why the Christian right touts "The Lord of the Rings" as a brilliantly disguised retelling of the Gospels (which it wasn't) while the "Harry Potter" books are vilified for encouraging witchcraft and occult interests (which they aren't).

    All of these are works of fiction, not of faith. They use a variety of religious themes together to make their story more interesting to viewers, often in ways that's not immediately obvious. But religious sorts should be careful to take these stories as they are and not assume too much about the creators' intents.

  • Go to the source, Luke (Score:3, Informative)

    by leoboiko ( 462141 ) <leoboikoNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:05PM (#5946964) Homepage

    You can find interesting articles about The Matrix's philosophic and religious background right on the official site [warnerbros.com]. Enjoy.

  • philosophical implications (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cally ( 10873 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:28PM (#5947264) Homepage
    I just read a fascinating (but somewhat heavy going for the layperson) paper by a professor of Philosophy [arizona.edu] inspired by the Matrix - I think someone actually linked to it from a previous /. Matrix story. There are lots of similar hypotheses to the idea that we are all brains in vats (or bits in a computer simulation.) For instance, if the god-botherers are right after all and there's a big guy with a white beard and we're all just figments of his imagination, how is this different from the Matrix? What about the Wolfram cellular automata work (and other less well-known work in the same field)? What about advances in cosmology and physics?

    Any pointers from /.ers to similar material received with thanks :)

    See also http://www.simulation-argument.com [simulation-argument.com].

  • Searching for the truth (Score:3, Insightful)

    by aengblom ( 123492 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:42PM (#5947432) Homepage
    More recent films, from "Signs" to "Contact" have used a sci-fi setting to discuss serious questions of faith.

    Why is this true? Because science and religion are closely entwined--if not the same thing. They are both the search for the truth. There is a reason so many scientific discoveries were made by priests and monks

    At some point, the major religions lost the bit about the search, and decided the truth had been found. I think science, as Contact points out, must also acknowledge that not everything is knowable.

    This is what is what's is so disturbing about "the origin of the species through evolution" and "creationism" debate where it seems each considers the other "blasphemous". They aren't really so mutually exclusive.
  • and the village voice [villagevoice.com] just came out with an article in a similar vein today:

    Hacking the 'Matrix' Master Code [villagevoice.com]

    favorite quote:

    Consider the messianic thread of "The One." As much as we all like a good Christian allegory, 'The Matrix' doesn't decode like 'The Old Man and the C Drive'. When I asked Laurence Fishburne, who plays Morpheus, if he followed the first flick's philosophy, he announced he'd mused plenty in his life about "all that, you know, spiritual fucking voodoo fucking mumbo jumbo kind of shit."

    lol ;-P

  • Gnostic Christianity? (Score:3, Funny)

    by gricholson75 ( 563000 ) * on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:50PM (#5947510) Homepage
    Is RMS behind this?

  • If you think the matrix is deep, try slashdot... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Iowaguy ( 621828 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @02:52PM (#5947536)
    Personally, I am impressed by the themes and symbols interwoven in slashdot. For instance, look at the name itself. "Slash"--in ancient Latin this implies a decrease and "dot"---Greek for really small. This implies the quest for the ever smaller, to look beyond minutia with a trained eye. Buddhist if I ever saw it. Then, there is all the bad spelling and grammer, even found in this post. This is the Post-modern idea that we live in an imperfect world, and there is nothing we can do to fix it. But, oh, the Christian irony since spell checkers do exist and we can be saved if only you take the effort to love what is beyond yourself. Oh, I could go on. And, if I was an English major, I would. But to suffice it to say, if you have a million philosophers look at something for a million hours, they will find it to be profound, no matter what it is. As Frued could have said, "Sometimes a posting is just a posting." -Iowa

  • The Masks of God (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stanwirth ( 621074 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @03:21PM (#5947910)

    ...by Joseph Campbell [amazon.com]

    Campbell's thesis is not particularly religious, but rather that groups of people create similar myths. Campbell, like Jung, arrives at this conclusion through comparative mythology.

    That the same archetypes should emerge in the dominant storytelling medium of the day--sci fi movies--is not surprising. Believe it or not, Hollywood draws heavily on Joe Campbell, all the time . Even the fact that Hollywood stories are so formulaic is evidence of this: there's always The Hero, The Trickster, The Seductress, The Higher Power, etc. It's the very familiarity of these archetypes that make these modern-day myths so compelling.

    Most Hollywood movies, however, stay within the conventions of the archetypes and their stories, rather than raising questions about art, artifice, consciousness, myth and reality. Hollywood movies work within dramatic and myth-making conventions, whereas The Matrix is about getting behind and beyond the masks, which is what is so fascinating about it. The Matrix chooses Gnostic Christian forms for its own mask, rather than the forms we're more familiar with from schul , catechism class, Sunday School, etc. The choice of gnostic forms allows them to get much closer to eastern philosophies, while dodging doctrinal disputes. Skillful means, grasshopper.

    One thing I was surprised to see undiscussed in the CSM article was really the central theme of the Matrix, and also the unifying principle in all religions: compassion. The AI simulacra, The Smiths, lack compassion, and his is what makes them, and the artificial world they have constructed, so inhuman, so terrifying and so inhumane.

    The "is it live, or is it Memorex" debate is begging the question, really. It duss jusn't matter. Also, I wish that they'd used Peter Gabriel's song Mercy Street [lyricsdomain.com] just once.

  • I think (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cyno ( 85911 ) on Tuesday May 13, 2003 @04:14PM (#5948466) Journal
    the matrix was more synonymous of capitalist society than religion. Most of the population except the few that took psychedelic drugs were oblivious to the facts that they were living in a dream work constructed to make them live out their lives, working, keeping busy, but never knowing the truth.

    In our society we try to make more jobs, more work, for people to do. This is so they can eat, right? Wrong. We have the technology to automate the production of food. Meaning if we put the thought, time and resources behind it we could give everyone the food they need to live without asking for money in return.

    Do most people do productive jobs or are they some psychology major sitting in some marketting department thinking up new ways to get people to spend their money?

    I think the message in The Matrix is society doesn't have to be a complex matrix of propoganda designed to keep us independant and greedy. Society could be anything we want to make of it.

    Is it logical to raise cows so every human can eat a steak? No. But some people would rather live in a society that would destroy our environment so they could eat steak everynight, blissfully ignorant of reality.

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