www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Matrix movie

This is very interesting, well to me at least. It is a write up on the move "The Matrix," stating that it is an anaolgy of the christain faith. My sons saw it this evening and really liked it. They were tellling me somthing similar to what she is saying and I didn't understand it until I read this article. Interesting.

Rose

http://www.nationalpost.com/artslife/story.html?id=6C66777A-7626-4FB3-BC2A-A02D38F24C12

Dear Rose,

The article you cite is one interpretation. However, the National Catholic Register did an analysis of The Matrix and concluded that instead of being an allegory of the Christian Faith it is instead a cleverly disguided version of the Christian heresy of Gnosticism.

The story is:

Into the Gnostic Wonderland

National Catholic Register
April 6-12, 2003

Part 2 of 2
Commentary & Opinion
by FATHER ALFONSO AGUILAR

P.S. I wanted to give you a link to the article, but the way the Register's website is set up doesn't allow the full address to appear. So you need to access the recent archives feature on their main menu. Go to http://ncregister.com/

I found another link to a story that relates to the same concerns as the Register's article:

http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/4.5/coverstory.html

PAX

It's only a movie, folks

Dear Brian,

I know it is only a movie. Please don't assume I am one of those Christians who fears popular entertainment because it is Satanic, demonic, or some such nonesense. In fact I liked Harry Potter and am a longtime science-fiction fan. I was only pointing out to Rose that the makers of The Matrix probably did not create their film to be a vehicle of Christian evangelization. Instead they (whether consciously or unconsciously) incorporated several Gnostic themes in their production. Once again, I am not saying that this is some sort of "plot" or "conspiracy" - I assume it was done to make what they thought would be a cool story.

I just would not recommend it to anyone as a Christian allegory or a revelation of deep theological meaning.

If you want a flim with Christian themes how about The Lord of the Rings series? Tolkien is a professed Catholic. Or better yet, attend the liturgy! There you get the real deal not an entertaiment industry facsimile. (One of our older monks is fond of telling young people who visit our monastery that God has better "special effects" than Hollywood could ever hope to produce. )

PAX

Brian,

I would normally agree, but in this case I really can't. Nor do I agree that it is somehow Chirstian or gnostic, at least not in its entirety.

The films are really a form of postmodern-cyberpunk propaganda. I would say it's subtle, but it's not at all. For instance, in the first film Neo takes the data tape hidden inside a book called "Simulation and Simulacra" by Jean Baudrillard. In his book Baudrillard states his belief that we live in a world of signs that have made a break from underlying reality.

I really don't want to get into a long discussion of this issue, mythology and culture, what IS posmodernism, poststructuralism, and cyberpunk bla bla bla. I used to read this nonsense. I really enjoy these movies, but I'm not so oblivious to the fact that they ARE trying to say something. Say something enough times and people may just start to believe it.

Here are some other reviews on this movie from a Catholic point of view.

- Review of "The Matrix":
http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/matrix.html

- Review of "The Matrix Reloaded":
http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/matrix2.html

- An article considering whether the worldview of these movies
is Christian, Gnostic or neither:
http://www.decentfilms.com/commentary/matrixissues.html

i just saw the movie, and like some critics have indicated, it is more video game than movie. Also, it's target audience is 14 to 22-year-old males. It's an entertaining movie, but I certainly didn't see any Christian symbolism in it. Like someone else said, "it's just a movie."