»Black vs White«

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This is a poll about the black / white issue at:

hey, we all originated from the african continent.. or in that general area anyway. There were human life in Asia before it came to Europe/US as well. Maybe that's why there are a majority of africans and asians in Zion? The beginning of something new begins at the beginning so to speak.. Cause and causality... It must begin somewhere.

the Architect represented the "system" or the majority and who is thought of as the majority in this world?

people of color & women are often considered minorities and that is why there were many fighting the "system"... again, the W-bros wanted to take facts from our lives that we could relate to... but I do not think they wanted to apply the race issue in an obvious & contrived way but subconsciously...

they manipulated the idea of the "little" man fighting the "big" man on many levels

I found it extremely refreshing that a sci-fi movie casted so many different people... just like the world is full of different people

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I agree! The diversity is refreshing. And it feels natural, not forced in any way. Too bad that they messed up doing the trance-new-age rave party.. it could have been a great show of mixed ethnic groups.. instead it was a melting-pot of new age lesbians (nothing bad with being a lesbian though, just want to make that clear, and I am a male) and horny guys groping all in sight..

oh well..

I agree! The diversity is refreshing. And it feels natural, not forced in any way. Too bad that they messed up doing the trance-new-age rave party.. it could have been a great show of mixed ethnic groups.. instead it was a melting-pot of new age lesbians (nothing bad with being a lesbian though, just want to make that clear, and I am a male) and horny guys groping all in sight..

oh well..

I don't think that anyone would know how people over 200 years into the future dance and theres definately still gonna be people attracted to the same sex. I agree aswell that it was refreshing to see a movie that casted races from all over the world, and in a Sci-Fi.

i dont even think its a part. its just a coincidink

I think that due to the fact that most of the developed countries/regions in the world are predominantly white (Europe, the U.S., etc.), most of the people who were killed in the original war with the machines were white - because ultimately they had the technology and man power to fight the machines. As a result, most of the people who survived were people of color (Asians, Latinos, Blacks, etc.) But who knows.

I reckon there is definitely some deeper meaning, because somewhere along the line the Wachowski's chose to cast these people, so they must have had a reason.

The people of Zion are probably survivors from the whole planet and therefore represent a variety of cultures. if you took a sample of say, 100 humans from the earths population, a large proportion would probably come out as asian/black (as suggested), hence this spread....

tho not easily provable that the original writer was a person of color.

When people write stories they generally tend to consist of what the writer sees around them. Most working writers in hollywood are white hence most stories are written with white people in mind. There are a few films that have cast a person of color but generally those roles were written with a white person in mind in the first place (the character Red from the Shawshank Redemption was irish, the of the doctor that Arnold Schwartzenegger rescues in the Eracer was supposed to be white but they cast Vanessa Williams)

There aren't that many sci-fi stories that involve alot of people of color. The first 3 star wars flicks only had one POC (lando calrissian) Battlestar galatica had 2 (boomer and colonel tie) even now they only have 3 (one black, one latino, one asian) Stargate has a number of POC but it also infuses Egyptian culture in its story. Even in sci-fi stories were a person of color is cast its usually just one or two not half the film UNLESS its by design in the story (an urban or exotic setting for example)

There is nothing in the wachowskis past writing background that would suggest that they would write or cast in such a way. Assassins was all white as was Bound. Of course they just wrote Assassins and had to power to cast BUT they did write and direct Bound and there was no reason for everyone to white in it. The lesbian couple COULD have been interracial for example or the crime gang COULD have been the asian mob, etc... it wouldn't have effected how well the story was told. The fact that the majority of the cast were POC and there is some trivia that says Will Smith was considered for the role of Neo at one point kind of suggests to me that the story was written from the perspective of a person of color.

or maybe the Wachowskis are just progessive like that...

KnowMe wrote:

I agree! The diversity is refreshing. And it feels natural, not forced in any way. Too bad that they messed up doing the trance-new-age rave party.. it could have been a great show of mixed ethnic groups.. instead it was a melting-pot of new age lesbians (nothing bad with being a lesbian though, just want to make that clear, and I am a male) and horny guys groping all in sight.. oh well..

They got hundreds of teens from around america to come to the studio to do that scene -- apparently it was quite a par-tay. Personally I wouldnt have had any hesitation playing one of the thirsty groping males, pay or no pay.

These days the vast majority of roles go to dark skinned roles that way no can sue them for racism.

For example: When the BBC returned Alf Wiedasehn to our tv's a perfectly good cast had a black role added and it broke the vibe i think.

They only worked when the role has been written for them, eg Shaft, Morpheus, kojak

and the same vice-versa

If you are living in a dream world, and you life is a dream (big suv, house in the burbs, 2.5 kids, dog, picket fence) you are going to be less likely to question your surroundings.

There are more minorities in Zion because they would reject the matrix more easily, since it wasn't such a good dream.

Taisou wrote:

If you are living in a dream world, and you life is a dream (big suv, house in the burbs, 2.5 kids, dog, picket fence) you are going to be less likely to question your surroundings. There are more minorities in Zion because they would reject the matrix more easily, since it wasn't such a good dream.

I would like to answer the question that bugged me about watching the MATRIX RELOADED the first time where there were a lot of NON-WHITE actors in ZION.

Now, I am NOT WHITE but I am so used to seeing white people in movies that it seemed somewhat bizzare. Now I understand why in the context of what the BROS had written.

Taking what the architect said in RELOADED that people who didn’t accept the matrix program were sent to ZION.

The fact that a lot of people in ZION were dark-colored or African descent, women, Asian, RAVE lovers and religious types and NOT MANY WHITE people tells you what the BROS were INFERRING ABOUT THE CURRENT SOCIETY.

A lot of white men just do what they are TOLD & follow the MEASURES OF SUCCESS in our materialistic society[ie accept the matrix program] while others who rebel are predominately NON-WHITE MALES.

That is why the no of people in ZION seemed to be populated by NON-WHITE MALES, ie non-conformists.

IF this is the explanation, then it shows you how CLEVER and THOROUGH the BROS were in constructing the RELOADED & REVOLUTIONS.

~_A Splinter In Your Mind wrote:

I would like to answer the question that bugged me about watching the MATRIX RELOADED the first time where there were a lot of NON-WHITE actors in ZION. Now, I am NOT WHITE but I am so used to seeing white people in movies that it seemed somewhat bizzare. Now I understand why in the context of what the BROS had written. Taking what the architect said in RELOADED that people who didn’t accept the matrix program were sent to ZION. The fact that a lot of people in ZION were dark-colored or African descent, women, Asian, RAVE lovers and religious types and NOT MANY WHITE people tells you what the BROS were INFERRING ABOUT THE CURRENT SOCIETY. A lot of white men just do what they are TOLD & follow the MEASURES OF SUCCESS in our materialistic society[ie accept the matrix program] while others who rebel are predominately NON-WHITE MALES. That is why the no of people in ZION seemed to be populated by NON-WHITE MALES, ie non-conformists. IF this is the explanation, then it shows you how CLEVER and THOROUGH the BROS were in constructing the RELOADED & REVOLUTIONS.

Great explanation Splinter! I agree, I think the Bros. did it for a reason. Whether it's like ur explanation that white people usually conform to society and minorities tend to be non conformists OR like the other one, where it represents how humans came into being.

I must agree more with the theory that the first humans came from Africa and Asia, and the people in Zion seem to represent that. Since it's the beginning of freed humans from the matrix, the first people are african and asian desent. I think the Zion rave looks like an african tribal dance... does anyone else think so?

I also think it's awesome that the Bros. didn't have an all white cast, and there is a large amount of minorites in the movies also. It shows diversity and that not all humans are white. I respect that.

Many people in this forum believe that the non-whites were used in Zion because they are the non-conformist, and it is amazing to me.

I would love for someone to give me an example historically of the non-conformist activity of the Asian or black community. Forget the civil rights movement of the sixties; that was a joint movement by all American races that felt that the oppression of black America was wrong.

The Greeks that moved beyond their borders hundreds of years BC were white. The Spaniards and the English that formed the first American colonies for religious freedoms where white.

Asians, as individuals, have left there homelands in search of a better life. However there has never been a led movement of Asians to tell their status quo to "screw yourself, we are looking for something better." And the blacks were forcibly taken from Africa. They never ventured out of Africa before then. Non-conformist by defination look for greener grass.

The white cultures, (Spanish, French, English, etc) has always been the most unsettled and the most violate. They have always been the ones who where never satisfied.

The fact that the movie reflected the bad guys as white (Mr. Smith) and the human race in Zion as non-white is nothing more that a reflection of today’s political environment. AND NOTHING MORE!

Quote:

The white cultures, (Spanish, French, English, etc) has always been the most unsettled and the most violate. They have always been the ones who where never satisfied.

You mean White peasants trying to escape White nobility. And White religious fanatics trying to escape other White religious fanatics. But just recreating the same insane power structure with different names and a lot of rhetoric about FREEDOM.

And a little egotistical delusion thrown in.

Quote:

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

psikeyhackr

The woman that wrote the Matrix, "Sophia Stewart", is Black and she wanted her story to have mostly Black people in it. The Wacky Bros merely stole the idea.

Paladin wrote:

The woman that wrote the Matrix, "Sophia Stewart", is Black and she wanted her story to have mostly Black people in it. The Wacky Bros merely stole the idea.

she is a crazy women, who thinks that santa her father and the easter bunny is mother.

She also thinks that she wrote the terminator movies as well.

ERR! Wrong.

The W/Brothers wrote the matrix.

I think it represents somthing like the ying-yang. Balance

I think it's a representation of the world's population. Most people in the world are dark skinned or East Asian so it seems to make sense that most of the people in the real world would be non-white.

I thought the diversity of the movies was quite refreshing, as well.

I think they tried to show Zion as more primitive sort of speak, where the people its free like animals in a way.

I dont think there´s an especific reason, more than esteticall, i mean in the city we only see white people with suits like robots, and in Zion black people or asian, but i think they did it to show like a contrast between our wild side and our role in society.

~_A Splinter In Your Mind wrote:

A lot of white men just do what they are TOLD & follow the MEASURES OF SUCCESS in our materialistic society[ie accept the matrix program] while others who rebel are predominately NON-WHITE MALES. That is why the no of people in ZION seemed to be populated by NON-WHITE MALES, ie non-conformists. IF this is the explanation, then it shows you how CLEVER and THOROUGH the BROS were in constructing the RELOADED & REVOLUTIONS.

wow.

non white males = non conformist.

wow.

that's why nine of every ten black kids i see is dressed exactly like fifty cent and wastes a ton of money he doesn't have on the sneakers that michael jordan said to buy.

VERY non conformist.

i don't mean to be insulting or anything, but, that's probably the dumbest thing i've ever heard of.

It's not white males that do as they're told and don't question, it's the vast majority of people. If some people are getting fooled one way and others the other way, there's no difference.

one last thing that always makes me laugh...Viacom owns BET. ha. so silly.

Ain't that the freakin' truth.

The W's are breaking the stereotypical view of the future that is all too common in yesterday's Sci-Fi.