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The Matrix
(1999)
 | Information at Internet
Movie Database |
| "Buddhism,
Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary
Cinema," James L. Ford, Ph.D., Journal of Religion and Film. |
|
"Wake Up! Gnosticism and
Buddhism in The Matrix," Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner,
Journal of Religion and Film. |
| "Matrix:
Spirituality Fiction," Christianity Guide
Charles Henderson, About.Com. |
|
Cinema in Focus,
a social and spiritual commentary by Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman. |
| Hollywood
Jesus visual review. |
|
Looking Closer, review by Jeffrey Overstreet, "searching for truth, beauty
and meaning in the movies." |
|
Movie Parables
review. |
| Next
Wave movie review. |
|
"The Matrix:
Setting the Questions of the Ages in Bold Relief," Steve Lansingh, TheFilmForum:
Christian Conversation about the Movies. |
|
"Preaching Peace in
Hollywood," (Terminator 3, LOTR 3, and Matrix 3), Jeff Krantz and Michael
Hardin, preachingpeace.org. |
| Themes
 | Adam/Everyman
 | As well as being rather like John
the Baptist , Morpheus is also representative of everyman. He is one
who knows that the world needs a saviour, and that he cannot save
the world himself . "The people who sat in darkness have seen a
great light". Morpheus in some way represents the whole human
race , crying out for and believing in Neo. Eventually Neo has to
make the choice to sacrifice himself in order to free Morpheus (the
human race), as he cannot free himself . This raises the idea of
looking at John the Baptist as an everyman figure also. (submitted
by Anne Gordon) |
|
| Alternate Reality
| Neo goes to the other reality at the beginning of
the movie through a mirror. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| Apocalyptic
|
| Ascension
| Neo and Trinity on the roof after Neo's death and
resurrection. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| Baptism
| Neo decides between "false reality" and
"true reality" and then is |
|
| Call
| Neo receives a "call" literally, by cell
phone no less. (submitted by Mike Clark, Hamilton Canada) |
|
| Call/Fate
|
"Discovering your Destiny"/"Dealing with
Fatalistic Thinking" - Matrix-
Neo is struggling to come to terms with his
destiny. Morpheus asking him if he believes in fate- he doesn't because
he likes to be in control of his own life. His visit with the Oracle
reinforces this- she comments that he seems to be waiting for something
instead of moving forward and that he doesn't believe in "all that fate
crap". He finally comes to terms with who he
could be at the end of the movie- great action stuff.
(Mike Simpson)
|
|
| Confrontation with Evil
| Neo's final battle scene. |
|
| Decision
| Neo must choose between the red pill and the blue
pill - the ability to see the world as it really is, and the
illusion of the world as he knows it. |
|
| Empowerment
| One particular theme I noticed can be summed up in
a passage of scripture which states in so many words "No weapon
formed against thee shall prosper." Morpheus tells Neo that he
should free his mind. And he tells him about the agents and the fact
that noone has ever defeated any of them. Morpheus begins to tell
Neo that where everyone else has failed, he(Neo) will succeed. Neo's
questions Morpheus if he's trying to say that he will dodge bullets.
Morpheus says"I'm saying when the time comes,
you won't have to." At the final battle scene, Neo rises from
the "dead" and bullets are fired at him. He stops them;
all the bullets fall without ever harming him. In the end, Neo not
only survives but he transcends the boundaries of the Matrix and
life in general. For me, this is one of the things that God is
trying to show His people. Our faith in Him, our dedication to
reading and doing His word---this empowers us to be the sons of God
and to therefore free our minds from the boundaries(tests, trials,
tribulations, temptations) of this world. You don't have to dodge
bullets. Be assured that they are coming, but because the power of
God is in us, we can look at those bullets, stop them in their
tracks, and make them of none effect. (submitted by Katrina Finley) |
|
| Eucharist
| Neo is taken to the Oracle who meets (and feeds)
people in her kitchen. She gives Neo a cookie and commissions Neo,
though he does not learn the truth about his identity. |
|
| Exodus
| A suggestion for a movie dealing with some underlying
themes to Moses and the Hebrew slaves. I am speaking
of the sci-fi hit the Matrix. I very quickly saw an
implied theme through out the movie. It is the theme
of slaves needing freedom. The people in the Matrix
(or Duracell batteries for the machines) are enslaved
by a tyrant force using them to power their world. The same can be
said for the Hebrews in Egypt. The Pharaoh
enslaves the Hebrews to build his world. The
machines in the movie use the people literally as a
power source. The only difference is that the Hebrews
were aware that they were slaves, the people in the
Matrix do not. If you have seen the movie you
understand why they don't realize they are slaves. In both cases a
prophecy is made that a man will be born and he
will be the one to free the people. In the Bible
it is Moses and he is the 'deliver'. In the
Matrix it is Neo and he is 'the One'. And both
'delivers' are not mighty men from some far away land,
but are born as slaves themselves. While the movie makes a more
obvious reference to Alice in Wonderland, the
underlying theme of freedom from slavery
is far more interesting and enlightening. (Emily
Harding) |
|
| Female God types
| Neo is taken to the Oracle who meets (and feeds)
people in her kitchen. She gives Neo a cookie and commissions Neo,
though he does not learn the truth about his identity. |
|
| Illusion/Reality
| There are two worlds - we only think we
live in the "real" one. |
|
| John the Baptist
| Morpheus recognizes (and wonders about) Neo as
"the one who is to come." (See reivew
by John D. Banks at Hollywood
Jesus.) |
|
| Judas
| one of their own betrays them toward the middle of
the movie. (See review
by John D. Banks at Hollywood
Jesus.) |
|
| Mary Magdalene
| relationship between Trinity and Neo. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| Mirrors
| Neo goes to other reality through a mirror. (See review
at Hollywood
Jesus.) |
|
| Protection
| One particular theme I noticed can be summed up in
a passage of scripture which states in so many words "No weapon
formed against thee shall prosper." Morpheus tells Neo that he
should free his mind. And he tells him about the agents and the fact
that noone has ever defeated any of them. Morpheus begins to tell
Neo that where everyone else has failed, he(Neo) will succeed. Neo's
questions Morpheus if he's trying to say that he will dodge bullets.
Morpheus says "I'm saying when the time comes,
you won't have to." At the final battle scene, Neo rises from
the "dead" and bullets are fired at him. He stops them;
all the bullets fall without ever harming him. In the end, Neo not
only survives but he transcends the boundaries of the Matrix and
life in general. For me, this is one of the things that God is
trying to show His people. Our faith in Him, our dedication to
reading and doing His word---this empowers us to be the sons of God
and to therefore free our minds from the boundaries(tests, trials,
tribulations, temptations) of this world. You don't have to dodge
bullets. Be assured that they are coming, but because the power of
God is in us, we can look at those bullets, stop them in their
tracks, and make them of none effect. (submitted by Katrina Finley) |
|
| Rebirth
| Neo is "born again" toward the beginning
of the movie. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
| Neo is asked to meet the Rebel group under the
"Adam" Street Bridge. This meeting happens just before
they take the electronic bug out of him. Slightly later, Neo's
"baptism/rebirth" (if you will) occurs. Consider the
following scripture and its relationship between "Adam"
(all human beings) and "The Christ" (Neo in the movie) 1
Corinthians 15:20-23 (Tim Robertson) |
|
| Resurrection
| Neo is shot dead and comes back to life toward the
end of the movie. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| Sacrifice
| "Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) discovers the
truth about giving his life over for the sake of the community. The
principalities and powers, in this case Artificial Intelligence,
wish to kill Neo (literally the New Man). They believe that once
they take Neo's life, the problem will be solved - the new man will
be destroyed. What Neo discovers is this: that the new person comes
directly out of the act of self-giving. Neo is killed but rises
again." (Robert Widdowson) |
|
| Savior
| Neo as savior. |
|
| Suffering Servant
| Neo is beaten up and killed. He comes back to life to
save the world. (Luke Gibbs) |
|
| Transformation
| A rather literal transformation: "Neo (New) is
literally reborn, sprung from his womb in the Power Plant, sent down
a channel and plunged into the water. He is then plucked up by
the rebels, rising towards a light of the hovercraft's
interior. He is awakened from a dream. Of course
the name of the hovercraft is Nebuchadnezzar who, in
Daniel, asked for his dreams to be analyzed." (submitted by
Mike Clark, Hamilton, Canada) |
|
| Trinity
| Morpheus as "Father," Neo as
"Son," Trinity as "Spirit". (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
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