There is something inherently naïve about taking the “philosophical” underpinning of The Matrix series seriously and discussing its implications. The Wachowski brothers, who wrote and directed the films, are not philosophers, but just two guys who flirt with and exploit, in an often confused way, some “postmodern” and New Age notions in the service of science fiction. But The Matrix… return to article
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Reader Comments (8)Page 1 of 1 pagesI agree with this arguement. “The Matrix” itself has become “The Matrix.” Here we have a movie, that argues that life is just a system of controls, yet the film has action figures, video games, and so much other merchandising to keep track of. It seems to me that a movie like this wouldn’t need any of these things to get its “point” across. Instead, people have bought into the idea. Society almost wishes “The Matrix” was real.
Posted by Franco Vitella on Jun 6, 2003 at 6:49 PM Thanks so much for posting Slavoj Zizek’s review. He is one of the last people on the left that still keeps my interest.
As for “Matrix Reloaded” I agree that there is something deeply cynical about the message of this film. The pseudophilosphical jargon of this film only forces young men to return to watch this film again and again. The political message of this film needs to be more overt.
If Zizek is right and we can no longer battle the Matrix in the realm of the real, as the film seems to suggest, what are we to exactly do? The Right firmly believes in its ridiculous foundations, and will never abandon itself to the idea of mulitple layers, each struggling for prominence. With the American Right we have an emerging group of transcendental talking, fascist thugs. Perhaps, the Left needs to wake up, throw off their umbelical cords, and create a transcendental space of their own within the real that are our bodies. We need to open the doors to physical spaces that return us to the moment. Jouissance should not be entirely legislated by the mind.
Posted by Dan on Jun 8, 2003 at 8:29 PM There is a great philosophical saying, “ If we lay down and live with our dreams, the iguana will bite.” The matrix may be an appropriate image that reflects conflicting distinctions economic ability and theory and political theory. But for the vindication of free-will, determinism, and our ability to determine consciousness, it is just a maze of sophistry with nothing coming close to being substantial.
Posted by J.P. Cate on Jun 9, 2003 at 3:03 PM The ultimate awakening must always occur after it becomes clear that there is really nothing to awaken from—very literally.
And we must eventually awaken from nothing because the “Matrix” of social paradigms in which we live are forever bombarding us with the message that our most personal and lasting possession—our consciousness—is nothing.
This violation is so subtle, and so powerful, that only the rare human being dares to question its hegemony. It is a violation so complete that it literally drives most of us to expend an insane amount of time and energy in the aquisition of a fiat currency whose value fluctuates as the masters of our Matrix see fit.
Imagine if we were driven not by our fear of the revelation as to the unreality of our present Matrix but by our love of the awareness that we do what we love to do. What if our grand unity of purpose sustained our efforts and also supported the very threads of the social fabric that we participate in?
The mere presence of a revolutionary consciousness in the midst of human history suggests that fear can not, and does not, sustain any Matrix of civilization.
What about love? Can a real love of one’s life works, and the love of the works of others, subsume this fear that our masters continually lash us with in order to keep us at our workstations doing only what they have decided we need to do?
Posted by Greg Mucha on Jun 9, 2003 at 6:30 PM The problem with a utopia based on each person doing what she loves is that too many people love to watch tv and not enough people love to haul garbage. Until this discrepancy is rectified, somebody’s going to be forced to do something she doesn’t want to. For the good of society, of course.
On a slightly different note, I wonder what Mr. Zizek would have to say about reading the scene in the first Matrix movie, the one in which Neo gets covered by the “liquid mirror,” from a Lacanian perspective; after all, it’s essentially a pre-natal mirror stage....
Posted by Aaron on Jun 24, 2003 at 4:53 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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