solitary_summer | (no subject)

[ETA 13.3.2008: picture lost with the unet account; probably keanu reeves]

hm... re-watched 'the matrix'

fact, keanu reeves is one of the most beautiful men, ever. absolutely breathtaking ca. 'my own private idaho', ((1), (2), (3), good movie, too, for once) but still very beautiful. pity he chose to act in so many crap movies. (i remember watching 'little buddha' - horrible, btw - and there's this scene where siddharta decides to give up his princely life & cuts his long hair - with his knife, face slightly averted. when he turns to face the camera afterwards, enlightened smile and all, there was a collective sigh across the cinema. i swear.)

er, well. moving on. because drooling aside, i think 'the matrix' is seriously weakened by the entirely too apocalyptic scenario.

whichever way you take the metaphor - face value, modern society enslaved and manipulated by its rulers and media, or on a more metaphysical level, the human search for a balance between a rational, super-human, de-humanised state, where the only emotion left is cynicism and disgust with humanity and the pleasant illusionary mindlessness of the matrix life (in freudian terms, an ego balanced between the id and the superego), the effort demanded to maintain the balance, to 'face reality' is somewhat too elitist and heroic. maybe it's cowardice on my part, but imo Cypher has an entirely too valid point there. even if they manage to destroy the matrix, what world would people wake up to? freedom to do what, live a life in some ruined subterranean city, without any chance of ever looking at the sky, of ever rebuilding an earth worth living upon? my guess is that most would go mad, and there'd be a revolution to re-create the matrix within a week. as a reflection on the general state of humanity this is a bit too cynical for my taste, and too materialistic and not religious enough for the saviour metaphor to appeal to me...

i don't usually subscribe to the 'ignorance is bliss' point of view, but in this case i think knowledge is too dearly bought and of questionable value. in fact i'd have liked to see this dilemma presented in more balanced fashion in the movie, would have made it more interesting. but then again, messiahs don't tend to tolerate ambiguity. still, i'll be interested to see what they'll make of it in parts 2 & 3, because whether you look at it reaistically or metaphorically there's a basic bleakness that can hardly be ignored much longer...

on a sidenote, unsurprisingly the saviour is again white & male.

(also, keanu reeves apparently shares a dubbing voice with david duchovny, which can be slightly irritating at times. 'the answer is out there'... yes indeed. along with the truth and all the other capitalised big ideas.... :: snort ::)