»The Matrix is a chrysalis (wtf is a "chrysalis"?)«

Feral Boy wrote:

Is anyone besides me totally excited about this? I know there are many people on the forums who know exactly what I'm talking about, but I want to know who has an emotional response to it as well, apart from any intellectual curiosity.

I know what you're implying, but I think you're overlooking the metaphor and taking it a little too literally.

Neo is saying that the Matrix doesn't have to remain a forum of imprisonment, but can become a place of freedom where uniqueness can be encouraged to allow humans - as humans - to fulfill their own potential. Not in a 'superpower' sense, of course, but in a sociological, psychological sense.

This is basically a vision of the end of Revolutions, where the Matrix exists as a forum of free existence for both human beings and obselete programs alike. However, with the actual ending - which implies a more ass-kicking message - it's obvious that Neo as a messiah figure has yet to ask the real questions and get to that stage of enlightenment. It is this messianic evolution that occurs over the course of Reloaded and Revolutions where, in ragards to Neo, the Brothers discuss the way in which the Nietzschean Übermensch, who is supposed to be above and beyond the realm of love, relates to the commoner he is trying to save and the woman he loves. A fascinating study of this is observed in the Architect's chamber where these emotions and fallibilities of the Übermensch are made evident.

It seems to me that the Brothers are highly critical of both Nietzsche and Baudrillard in their approach to the void. A culmination of this debate of Nihilism vs. Existentialism issue is represeted in the Superbrawl of Revolutions. In this scene, Neo (who represents the Existentialist philosophy) is in a raw, fierce debate with Smith (who represents the opposing Nihilistic thinking) and is fascinating to watch as purpose attempts to grapple with the void. At the bitter end when Neo is confronted by the raw truth of Nihilism of "why bother when everything that you perceive is naught but an illusory construct of the human mind?", Neo responds with the ultimate Existentialist reply: "because I choose to". In the void, what else do we have except these illusory constructs? They may not matter in the context of a vast, hostile, indifferent cosmos, but it matters to us, 'real' or not.

Besides, if we didn't hold on to these things, we'd probably all go the way of Nietzsche who - in his search for the Overman - ended up sleeping with his sister (I think), going insane and killing himself.

It's kinda like Kierkegaard (Neo) Vs. Nietzsche (Smith) for the cyberpunk generation. Fucking cool, if you ask me.

max314 wrote:

In the void, what else do we have except these illusory constructs? They may not matter in the context of a vast, hostile, indifferent cosmos, but it matters to us, 'real' or not.

Now we're getting somewhere! Great post And thanks for bringing my favorite thread back up to the top!

CaptPostMod wrote:

Now we're getting somewhere! Great post And thanks for bringing my favorite thread back up to the top!

Well, it seems to me that the Wachowskis seem to support Existentialism from the outset. The journey to define the purpose of one's existence? That's obviously something that is started in the first Matrix, evolves to an ever-increasing illusory construct in the first and second movies, before ultimately being broken down and rebuilt in a new way in the second and third.

Quote:

As Larry and Andy Wachowski say in The Art of The Matrix (Newmarket 2000), the shooting script for The Matrix is "... not exactly what people saw in theaters. ... An example ... is in the final speech by Neo (scene 219) which was altered when test audiences didn't know the word "chrysalis". ...".