cosmic ascension and 'balancing the equation' in Matrix III

[sophiaserpentia]

It didn't take me long at all to figure out why so many people disliked Matrix III. We are a jaded, cynical moviegoing audience, and have every reason to expect that if any movie is going to celebrate and uphold that cynicism, it will be a movie with a driving soundtrack, hip movie stars in flashy black outfits, impeccable special effects, and lots of kung fu.

This movie, however, ends on a note which is anything but cynical. It is also glaringly, overtly, and unashamedly Christian -- or perhaps Buddhist -- in the message it presents.

There are still overt references to Gnostic esotericism. We see Neo and Trinity follow the course of cosmic ascension described in the Gnostic literature, culminating in a confrontation with the Demiurge (who, it turns out, is not the Architect, as I surmised in my review of the second movie).

A lot of attention is given in this movie to the idea of "balancing the equation." The Architect is described as the one who balances the equations, while the Oracle describes herself as the one who unbalances it. Discordians might have a moment of glee in seeing their own mythology thus enshrined.

The Demiurge is shown as a machine whose sun-shape is given as a dark and metallic imperfect replica of the *real* sun. The real sun, hidden behind clouds (the "fog of error" described in the Gospel of Truth) is here akin to the Root of All, or Source, in Gnostic mythology.

Agent Smith is revealed as "sin nature" which infects us all, against which we have no defense, and which threatens the mastery of the Matrix itself. It is also revealed that Smith and Neo are two sides of the same coin -- and so the more powerful one becomes, the more powerful the other becomes as well.

So Neo makes a deal with the Demiurge, to defeat Agent Smith (whose rise to power represents a threat to the Demiurge himself) in return for peace between the machines and the free humans of Zion. Neo defeats Smith by allowing himself to be assimilated, and then offering himself as a sacrifice. This is like balancing the equation and then setting all terms to zero.

This is where we see the soteriological element specifically of Christian theology come into play: Neo "takes on the guise of sinful flesh," or IOW offers himself as a token to pay the debts owed to Smith. An alternate view would see Neo in the role of Buddha or perhaps Bodhisattva, but this is a more subtle and esoteric point that might be more difficult to demonstrate.

But the real moral can be summed up with this sentence: balance the imbalance within you to achieve peace between your body and soul. It is, as I said, a deliberatly un-cynical message.

The Wachowski brothers have created here a myth that is potentially as enduring as any myth ever offered.

Comments

[ranastella.livejournal.com]

Some of us don't simply hate it because we are jaded or cynical, but because we thought the acting, script and storyline sucked. I didn't like the first film for those reasons, so I'm not surprised that I didn't like the following ones. It has nothing to do with the creativity of the idea behind the films, which I think is pretty incredible. I just think it wasn't a plan that was executed very well, and we all have our own tastes, eh?

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Hehehe. Yes, I guess there's that, too... :)

[ranastella.livejournal.com]

Happy belated birthday, by the way!

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

:-D Thank you.

[taka-kitsune.livejournal.com]

I suppose the thing that set this one apart from the others in my own mind was that part of what I liked about the others were the many layers of subtle symbolism, while in this, much of the symbology is blatantly obvious.

But that doesn't sound right. I only saw it once, and I think that I really need to see it at least one more time before I can rightfully review it. I was distracted when I saw it.

Bleh.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

I can see what you're saying. It does kind of bash you over the head in this one.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

What evidence is there that your "demiurge" is not the architect? I and others assumed that the sun-shaped machine was indeed the architect.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

You know, I started to think about that last night after I wrote this post. In the last scene the Architect sure acts like he was the one who made the deal with Neo. But he could be working for the sun-shaped machine. It's not clear either way, but you're probably right. In fact, maybe I should revise my post to reflect this.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

In fact I was told by my beloved that when the little machines make the 'face' for the sun-shaped machine, it actually takes on the appearance of the architect, though I havent been able to verify this.

[dragonguyver.livejournal.com]

In the credits there is something called "deus ex machina". My friends and I concluded that this was the lord of the machines that Neo confronts, who is not the same person as the architect. The arcitect created and maintaisn the matric, but this is something different.

That is what we concluded.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

No doubt the DVD special extended uber commentary edition will reveal all.

[dragonguyver.livejournal.com]

There has never been a Matrix commentary that I am aware of. Just behind-the-scenes stuff. If they release an edition with commentary, it will be momentous.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

Now it's all done maybe?

[dragonguyver.livejournal.com]

The wachowski brothers keep to themselves a lot. In the behind the scenes they never speak themselves. It's always the actors and all these other people. so weird.

anyway, have you read Ken Mondescheim's analysis of Matrix 2 & 3? Great stuff at www.corporatemofo.com

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

Actually, I didn't like the movie for this reason:

When Neo and Trinity were flying into The City, being attacked by The Flying Monkeys (or Sentinels, or whatever you want to call them,) N and T outsmarted the machines and dodged the threat by flying UP and OVER the stream of attackers. This was apparently enough to fool their enemies, and apparently more than any other human had managed to come up with in the way of strategy for lo these hundreds of years. No wonder we were losing the damned war.

There are many more reasons I called the movie poorly thought out and badly written and ill planned and rushed into production for the money it would bring in, but that one is pretty much indicative of all the rest.

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

Well they seemed to know it would shut down their engines and was therefore very much a last resort/suicidal sort of affair, so it would make sense that there was at least a reason for this manoevre not having been tried very much in the past.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

The symbolism here is that Neo and Trinity are able to rise up into the Pleroma (the light of the Sun) where the machines (the Archons) are not able to go.

Still, you are right that the machines would probably have known where they would come back down from the clouds. But I think it is a clear nod to the Gnostic "cosmic ascension" literature where the aspirant is described as passing a test which allows them to ascend beyond the challenging Archons.

Or, if that symbolism doesn't apply, maybe the Sentinels just didn't have time to move into position before the Logos crash-landed.