Guest
|
I just read your section on the race issue. This wasn't the first thing that occurred to me when I saw Reloaded for the first time, but during my discussion with a friend immediately thereafter (about the absurd length of the rave scene), it did bother me.
I agree that everything in the Matrix had been planned and thought-out by the Brothers, but unless a really good explanation is brought forward, I consider the ethnic mix in Zion a miscalculation.
I believe that the best argument goes like this: living in poverty and/or repression encourages rebellion, and rebellion is the key factor in escaping the Matrix. And, as you've pointed out, "playing by the rules" and being a conformist has its rewards of luxury and wealth. In America and throughout most of the world, the former class is predominantly black, hispanic and asian, the latter group is predominantly white.
I believe that this line of reasoning is faulty for several reasons. Firstly, rebellion against political oppression or rebellion spurred by poverty is part of the "trap" of the Matrix. If your mind is dominated by money woes and being kicked around by the system, you fight to get those material things, or else you try to get comfort for your woes. The poor and oppressed have little energy (or education) to contemplate the metaphysical. Buddhism teaches to live in the Middle, because wealth makes you lazy and starving keeps you from focusing on transcendence. That is, I believe, part of the failure of the first Matrix and the success of the later incarnations. So, it is those who are in the middle-class, so to speak, who are most spiritual, according to most sources. And those people exist everywhere, of all races, though fewer in Africa and South America, and therefore, I think the mix would be more white and asian than anything else.
Secondly, although there is a mix of black and asian peoples, I was asking myself why there weren't more asians. Most asian religions emphasize transcendence, meditation and realizing fundamental truths. Take Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism for starters, and you've got most of the Earth's population. I would expect most of the minds freed would be asian. Here is where white religions fail to meet the criteria, because Christianity and paganism are very pro-life and anti-death, and to escape the Matrix you have to reject the world, all of creation, and be prepared for death (that is, life "in the next world"). Most Western traditions cannot do this, especially not the "popular" ones. The religions of Africa have varied and rich practices that involve losing the self in rhythmic dance, chant and motion. This would encourage escape from the Matrix. However, black people in America do not practice these rites, so the technologically capable and Americanized blacks we see in t!
he movie are not the type to have used their African cultural heritage to escape the Matrix. Ironically, that is exactly the behaviour we see in Zion.
I had not noticed that most if not all of the antagonists are white, so I thank you for that observation. I like the decison to have them form the backbone of the "system". However, I think the concentration of black people in Zion puts too much emphasis on race. If Neo had been played by Wil Smith, everyone would have concentrated on that. As it stands, it's a minor irritation, but still an issue to me.
|
