SPOILER ALERT!!!
Please don't read this
essay before seeing The Matrix Revolutions, unless you
don't care.
First off: why stage the
scene with the councilor?
Councilor Hamann
could be one of the "original" 23 individuals who were
'freed' from the Matrix by the previous One to rebuild
Zion. He seems to be privy to the knowledge that the
humans and the machines are interdependent and that
interdependency is mediated by the matrix. The machines
need the humans for a power source in the matrix and
they also need Zion as a spill valve for the 1% who
reject the matrix but most importantly they need Zion as
a place to nurture the One. The One is needed by the
machines because only the One can reload the matrix. The
reason for this is explored in the conversation with the
Architect. Without the one, there would be no
reinsertion of the prime program, ergo no matrix and
eventually no machines, although they have levels of
survival they are prepared to accept...
If the machines need the One and hence
Zion then why do they destroy it over and over? Zion
represents a potential threat and a danger to the
machines that cannot be allowed to reach critical mass.
It is a threat both in terms of the havoc free humans
wreak within the matrix and potentially so (although far
less so) in physical terms. Also, realize that much of
the matrix and the programs that roam it are not subject
to "reprogramming" - the matrix is a clockmaker's
universe - once set in motion the dynamics cannot be
altered. So the logic of the programs within the matrix
is to preserve the fabric of the matrix at all costs -
including the complete destruction of Zion. This is true
despite the fact that the architect and oracle realize
that preservation of the matrix "as is" is not possible.
So the agents are necessary (without them the matrix
would collapse before it could be reloaded) but they are
ultimately doomed to failure in their aim of preserving
the matrix "as is" - the reload process is ultimately
necessary. One can speculate that eventually "static"
builds up within the system rendering it more and more
vulnerable to crash - hence the need to reload. But the
reload cannot be accomplished by the machines themselves
- it is not simply a question of programming or
mathematics. The machines require something that they
cannot produce and something they can't quite understand
but something forced upon them by the nature of the
material with which they are forced to work with -
humans. They require an example of free human volition
to reboot the system - think of it as the broadcast of
one form of static to cancel out another: the insistent
static of millions of humans "trying" (without realizing
it) to wake up... and the machines cannot produce or
reproduce human choice or volition - they need the One
to do this for them. The inexplicable nature of free
will is needed by the machines to "tune" the matrix,
thereby providing for a degree of stability that
degrades over time as the irreducible static of human
"resistance" (unconsciously) builds up within the matrix
again.
Why obliterate Zion? The destruction of
Zion - like its refounding - serves multiple purposes.
The destruction of Zion of course prevents humans from
progressing to the point where they might actually pose
a physical threat to the machines and also helps mystify
the true nature of the matrix system to the majority of
those in Zion, but the key reason the destruction of
Zion is necessary is to coerce the One into willingly
reloading the matrix - because the One is then faced
with either reloading the matrix or the extinction of
humanity. But Zion must be refounded in order to permit
the matrix to be reloaded once again - and as before the
reload occurs in despite the efforts of the matrix'
agents.
Were the sex scenes really
necessary?
Some of the scenes in Zion
came across poorly, perhaps the least well done of any
of the scenes in either movie. At one point I was
reminded of the cheesy subterranean human community from
the original "Planet of the Apes" movies. Yet, I can see why many might defend both
the sex scene, and the
religious ceremony to the death (even i still hold that they were WAAAAAY too long!).
The sex scene
with Neo and Trinity not allowed the directors to
foreshadow Neo's nightmare, creating dramatic tension,
but it also illustrated in a way words simply cannot
(and hence in a way in which movies can excel) the
difference between the machines and humans - a theme
again underlined by the rite.
Contrast
the relations between Neo and Trinity with Merovingian
and Persephone. The former couple experiences a bond
that - despite its almost painfully embodied nature,
what with all those sockets - is almost artistic in its
realization of authentic love. The latter couple,
however, in spite of all the polish, panache and
elegance the matrix can conjure, are revealed as worse
than children playing at love - because they have no
true concept or experience of feeling or emotion. Sure,
they know how to manipulate the sensations of others -
and they are expert in so doing - but in so doing they
are like bored children pulling the wings off a fly.
That is why those two maligned scenes
- involving the cake and the kiss - are so necessary to
the film, for they expose - in a visceral manner that
the Architect's speech can only render as dry logos -
the complete failure of any of the machines' attempts to
grasp emotion and choice. Merovingian has all the
outward appearance of refinement, culture and education
but his marvelous abilities with regard to language are
wasted on meaningless tongue-twisters and the
cultivation of curse-words, just his prodigious skill at
program-writing is expended on the basest form of
manipulation. And unlike Mouse from the first movie,
Merovingian is not even acting on instinct or urges - he
is merely playing at having such urges.
The same
can be said for the Italian eye-candy Persephone, but in
her case her outfit speaks even more loudly than her
banal adolescent desire for a kiss. Despite her outfit's
obvious advantage in revealing her cybernetically
perfect figure, there is something askew - the color,
texture, cut - that, as with Merovingian's "manners,"
marks her as a monstrosity. Not because of what she is,
but because what she attempts to pretend to be. Both are
vampires for human feeling, hungering for what they
cannot experience and do not even understand. Needless
to say their "relationship" is equally devoid of any
authentic feeling.
What of the Oracle
- is she on "our side" or the machines?
The Oracle is the "intuitive" program originally
designed to probe the human psyche. As such she comes
closest to being able to realize the necessary means for
integrating humans into the architectonic of the
Architect's matrix. She seeks to fulfill the "prophecy"
as a means of reloading the matrix, which from her
perspective (as well as that of the Architect) is best
for both machine and man. The machines continue to enjoy
the energy and diversions afforded by the inherently
unstable matrix and the humans avoid extinction. Hence
the Oracle is not on the human's side any more (or any
less) than a shepherd is on the flocks' side. She guides
the herd as best she can and accepts that a culling of
the flock as necessary for its ultimate maintenance -
and for her (and the other machines) ultimate
well-being. As for Neo making her a "believer," I
interpret this as the Oracle acknowledging the distinct
possibility that Neo will refuse the "proper" door (the
potential of which even the Architect acknowledges)
hence "redeeming" the prophecy - but in apocalyptic
finality. Her sereneness in the face of such a potential
reflects her understanding of the dependence of the
matrix upon the One - it's simply out of her hands.
Why doesn't the Architect simply
trick Neo into going into the door he wants?
The Architect could trick Neo, but in
so tricking him the Architect would be deprived of what
he needs from Neo. So the Architect is dependent upon
Neo (and the humans both in the matrix and in Zion) in a
way similar to that which the councilor hinted at early
on in the movie. Sure, he could trick Neo, but that
would only result in shutting down the matrix, because
what he needs from the One is something he cannot
simulate or provide, despite his mastery of mathematics.
Even in its "unconscious" state, the human psyche
"resists" the matrix. What is needed to overcome this
resistance - if only temporarily - is an instance of
choice and acceptance provided by the One, that no doubt
the Architect propagates or amplifies throughout the
matrix, influencing the unconscious millions who are
unconsciously "resisting." For whatever reason, the
Architect has found that no mathematical formula or
chemical reaction allows him to reproduce or simulate
the "feeling" of willing consent or choice. Hence the
Architect cannot fool the One (nor the millions others -
at least for very long) but must actually enlist the
One's willing consent - if only through means of
blackmail - as the means of preserving humanity not only
within the matrix but also in a newly (re)founded Zion.
So the statistically predictable anomaly becomes the
savior of humanity - and the matrix as well.
As
you have no doubt guessed, I don't share the enthusiasm
that some have for the theory that Zion is actually
another matrix within the matrix. Granted, this would
explain some of the issues explored above (as well as
the zapping of the sentinels at the end), but it would
do so in such a manner that renders certain aspects of
the film not only puzzling but unnecessary. One could
ask, for example, why - if Zion is merely another matrix
-does Agent Smith only replace Bane's psyche rather than
his (presumably, under this theory) residual body image?
More importantly, why would the machines need to the
stage the whole Oracle-prophecy rigmarole? It would be
one thing to send the "free" humans on a wild goose
chase, but why - if Zion is actually a new and improved
matrix that is as yet wholly perfect in its functioning
- is the One needed to reload the matrix? Why would the
matrix need to be reloaded if it is working as planned
(indeed, better than any within the matrix have dared
imagine)? Hence the "dual-matrix" theory, although
attractive to some as a means of explaining the
destruction/refounding of Zion, actually introduces
insuperable difficulties when it comes to explaining the
overriding necessity of the movie - the need to reload
the matrix. Think of the extraordinary lengths that the
extra-matrix programs (the Architect and the Oracle) go
in order to promote Neo's reloading of the matrix
despite the degree to which it runs counter to the
programming of the matrix itself... and then ask how the
dual matrix accounts for this behavior. It doesn't.
Me, me, me... Me too!
But let's explore those two anomalies - Agent
Smith imprinting a human and Neo zapping the sentinels.
Obviously, these two events are meant to represent a
mirror-image of each other, and both stem from the
entanglement between the two characters at the end of
the original film. Somehow a little of each was
imprinted on the other - Smith neglects his programming
to become precisely what he accused humanity of being, a
virus, and Neo can already "sense" the presence of
sentient programs within the matrix at the beginning of
the second movie. Each somehow has gained an "in" to the
other's essential reality - Smith's sentience is able to
commandeer human flesh and Neo's "brain-power" is able
to command (or at least short-circuit) machines.
Neither example requires a "second matrix" to
work - although that would be an easy (to my mind too
simplistic) solution. No, what I think is happening is
that each has become attuned to the essential nature of
the other in a way foreign for all machines and humans
before them. Again, Merovingian and Persephone provide a
visceral contrast - not only to humans but to Smith, who
feels true emotion, even if it is only hatred, rather
than the pretense of emotion. Smith grasps for real
power, he doesn't play at being powerful in false
chateau in a false world. Likewise one can contrast Neo
to Morpheus, who - for all his courage and tenacity -
utterly and totally misunderstands the true nature of
the matrix and the aims of the machines behind it. It is
Neo, not Morpheus, who correctly divines the identity of
the Oracle and Neo, not Morpheus, who is able to pierce
the dream of prophecy - the most narcoleptic of all the
illusions spun by the machines, and it only consisted of
an appealing story: no images, smells, tastes or
sensations! Smith and Neo are not in a second matrix,
they are transcending the matrix as the primary
human/machine interface and in so doing experiencing the
power and vulnerabilities associated with their
adversary. How this plays out is no doubt a large part
of the Matrix Revolutions. I can hardly wait!
Essay Submitted 17 November 2003
| |
