Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 71
Book and Film Reviews
Film Review: The Matrix Cult
Much of the semiotic discussion around the deeper structures of The Matrix has tended to
center around positive ethical and philosophical systems. Thus, numerous critics have
pointed out the Christian subtext in the film with Neo as Christ and Morpheus as John the
Baptist (James L. Ford: 8). The Garden of Eden story has been superimposed on The Matrix
as well with the implication that just as Adam's and Eve's awakening to knowledge makes
Christianity possible, so too, Neo's awakening will lead to the salvation of humanity by a
Christ-like figure (cf. James S. Spiegel: 13). Others have picked out connections with
Joseph Campbell's monomyth concept where the hero must depart from the familiar world,
go into a netherworld and return morally transformed (A. Samuel Kimball: 176, 198).
There is also the Platonic interpretation where the passage toward the light from the famous
cave allegory is read into the awakening process of The Matrix: "The theme of appearance
versus reality is as old as Plato‘s Republic. And while perhaps no writer or artist has
improved upon his cave allegory in presenting this theme, the Wachowski brothers‘ The
Matrix might be as effective an attempt as any since Plato, in cinematic history anyway"
(James S. Spiegel: 9). Buddhism and its notion that reality is illusion appears as an equally
convincing model for reading The Matrix (James L. Ford: 10). Even Gnosticism has been
used as an interesting semiotic framework for the film (Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel
Wagner: 10-12).
However, most of the authors mentioned above sooner or later end up dealing with the
issue of violence in the Wachowski brothers' film. This violence seems to be at odds with
the ethical principles inherent in the Christian, Buddhist or Gnostic interpretative models.
In fact, the martial arts and bloodshed in The Matrix and in The Matrix Reloaded might
move some viewers to discount whatever philosophical message(s) the films might seek to
convey. If one is still bent on applying a positive semiotic model to the film, one may be
tempted to make the argument that in the cyberworld of the Matrix the violence is as unreal
as the residual images of the characters. This desire for moral consistency is undoubtedly
what motivated the film's special effects supervisor John Gaeta and editor Zach Staenberg
to make the following remark in the scene-by-scene commentary accompanying the DVD
version of The Matrix: "Nobody actually dies. All these people are virtual. [...][It's] a
cathartic experience" (The Matrix DVD: Feature Length Audio Commentary). They are
referring to the scene where numerous government security men are killed by Neo and
Trinity as the two rebels try to rescue Morpheus. However, this attempt to pretend the
violence is not real within the logic of the story does not stand up to scrutiny.
As Morpheus trains Neo in a virtual reality program that resembles the Matrix, he explains
the relationship that the rebels have with the inhabitants of the evil cyberworld: "The
Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. [...][The people we're trying to save]
are a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. [...]Anyone we haven't
unplugged is potentially an agent" (The Matrix DVD: The Gatekeepers). Therefore, apart
from the agents, the people with whom the rebels interact in the Matrix are computerized
projections of those imprisoned in the pods, i.e., each individual within the Matrix is linked
to a specific existing physical body that lives in the power plant. Neo is a case-in-point
since his virtual self is not merely a bunch of numbers in a computer (as would be the case
in a video game for example), but rather a bunch of numbers that represent a real person
in a pod. Thus, the dwellers of the Matrix are virtual and real at the same time.
What makes the reality of these people indisputable is that the death of a computerized self
in the Matrix means the death of the body to which it corresponds. This is evidenced by
the death of Mouse at the hands of government security men who are pursuing the rebels.
Mouse's virtual self is shot by virtual bullets within the Matrix, and then we immediately see
Book and Film Reviews
Film Review: The Matrix Cult
Much of the semiotic discussion around the deeper structures of The Matrix has tended to
center around positive ethical and philosophical systems. Thus, numerous critics have
pointed out the Christian subtext in the film with Neo as Christ and Morpheus as John the
Baptist (James L. Ford: 8). The Garden of Eden story has been superimposed on The Matrix
as well with the implication that just as Adam's and Eve's awakening to knowledge makes
Christianity possible, so too, Neo's awakening will lead to the salvation of humanity by a
Christ-like figure (cf. James S. Spiegel: 13). Others have picked out connections with
Joseph Campbell's monomyth concept where the hero must depart from the familiar world,
go into a netherworld and return morally transformed (A. Samuel Kimball: 176, 198).
There is also the Platonic interpretation where the passage toward the light from the famous
cave allegory is read into the awakening process of The Matrix: "The theme of appearance
versus reality is as old as Plato‘s Republic. And while perhaps no writer or artist has
improved upon his cave allegory in presenting this theme, the Wachowski brothers‘ The
Matrix might be as effective an attempt as any since Plato, in cinematic history anyway"
(James S. Spiegel: 9). Buddhism and its notion that reality is illusion appears as an equally
convincing model for reading The Matrix (James L. Ford: 10). Even Gnosticism has been
used as an interesting semiotic framework for the film (Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel
Wagner: 10-12).
However, most of the authors mentioned above sooner or later end up dealing with the
issue of violence in the Wachowski brothers' film. This violence seems to be at odds with
the ethical principles inherent in the Christian, Buddhist or Gnostic interpretative models.
In fact, the martial arts and bloodshed in The Matrix and in The Matrix Reloaded might
move some viewers to discount whatever philosophical message(s) the films might seek to
convey. If one is still bent on applying a positive semiotic model to the film, one may be
tempted to make the argument that in the cyberworld of the Matrix the violence is as unreal
as the residual images of the characters. This desire for moral consistency is undoubtedly
what motivated the film's special effects supervisor John Gaeta and editor Zach Staenberg
to make the following remark in the scene-by-scene commentary accompanying the DVD
version of The Matrix: "Nobody actually dies. All these people are virtual. [...][It's] a
cathartic experience" (The Matrix DVD: Feature Length Audio Commentary). They are
referring to the scene where numerous government security men are killed by Neo and
Trinity as the two rebels try to rescue Morpheus. However, this attempt to pretend the
violence is not real within the logic of the story does not stand up to scrutiny.
As Morpheus trains Neo in a virtual reality program that resembles the Matrix, he explains
the relationship that the rebels have with the inhabitants of the evil cyberworld: "The
Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. [...][The people we're trying to save]
are a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. [...]Anyone we haven't
unplugged is potentially an agent" (The Matrix DVD: The Gatekeepers). Therefore, apart
from the agents, the people with whom the rebels interact in the Matrix are computerized
projections of those imprisoned in the pods, i.e., each individual within the Matrix is linked
to a specific existing physical body that lives in the power plant. Neo is a case-in-point
since his virtual self is not merely a bunch of numbers in a computer (as would be the case
in a video game for example), but rather a bunch of numbers that represent a real person
in a pod. Thus, the dwellers of the Matrix are virtual and real at the same time.
What makes the reality of these people indisputable is that the death of a computerized self
in the Matrix means the death of the body to which it corresponds. This is evidenced by
the death of Mouse at the hands of government security men who are pursuing the rebels.
Mouse's virtual self is shot by virtual bullets within the Matrix, and then we immediately see
