The “Matrix” trilogy is one of the most profound stories I’ve ever been exposed to. Something I’ve noticed is how at some point in the sequels people shut down receiving the story. What I believe is that if you’re not asking big spiritual questions in your personal life you are not going to get much from watching these. The basic frame work of the story is birth, life and death. For the most part people have accepted birth, it happens to all of us. We are unable to consciously examine it from a human perspective before being born. Most films deal with this viewpoint, the becoming. The second installment is about life, which is a more loaded concept. Humanity is still at odds with what the true purpose of life is. The Matrix claims it’s about choices. The third delves into death. There is no subject more feared and misunderstood that this whopper. No wonder it fell on such harsh criticism.

In the first film Mr. Anderson is working as an office drone by day and a computer hacker by night, which is just his way of lashing back at the system. Which, in turn, just entangles his energy further into what he’s trying to leave. I see a similarity to the movement of the past 20 years or so of the business types going toward the New Age to escape their humdrum life (i e: Neo going into the Matrix.) Why I say this is because in the end Smith still calls Neo “Mr. Anderson.” Neo’s reflection that he still hasn’t grown beyond his Matrix personality. He finally must allow what was always inevitable, a return to the system. He never truly transcended it because his goal was always to defeat Smith. He never left the cycle or Revolution of life as he knew it.

Something I noticed watching #2 was how there were certain characters not wearing sunglasses. I saw that those wearing them were hiding something and were most likely very sensitive and used them as an emotional shield.

The scene in #2 where Neo is fighting many Smiths in the courtyard represented the fruitlessness of fighting against the system. It just keeps getting bigger. The only way he gets out of it is to ascend from the situation. After seeing the finale I saw that that scene was akin to the “Take this job and shove it” thought form. He only left it physically, but in the end he never escaped.

The Merovingian represents the Old World elite. What really hit me is how the first time we see him he’s in a fancy restaurant with great views. This is how that ilk would like the masses to view them. When we see
him where he lives, it’s full of perversion that is kept underground. That’s who they truly are. Nothing pretty or enlightened. Turns out Persephone was at home there after all. Also when Neo and the gang try to get the Key Maker they are faced with their lack of why they need him. No true knowing of themselves or what really drives their actions. When Trinity threatens to kill the Merovingian to get Neo back her clarity of mind overcomes all of his game playing.

In #2, in the lair of the Architect, the way in which
it keeps zooming into the TV sets seemed as if it was
going deeper into his awareness and understanding.
I’m not quite sure if the Architect was lying when he
said the Oracle was not the mother of the Matrix. I
think he was just trying to save face and appear more
in control by downplaying her creative role.

When Neo saves Trinity after his Architect visit, there
is a building in the background the looks like a
combination of the Twin Towers and the lighted
replacement in the aftermath. When I saw the DVD
I noticed it was a whole building that just had that
section lighted. It gave the illusion without looking
anything like it. Was that intentional? I’m still figuring
out how that connects. Of course we also have the
Ghost twins. Hmmm.

When Neo decides to save Trinity and throw destiny
to the wind he has to go through fire and basically
alters space and time just with the power of his will.
Also, the Key Maker says that the door to the Architect's
lair will be open for 314 seconds. I read somewhere
that it’s a partial number of Pi and, I believe, the
number corresponding to the cerebral cortex. So
the source exists at the zero point of creation.

When we first see Smith in #2, the car head lights’
effect on the darkened silhouette creates greenish
orbs that look like alien eyes.

When Neo and gang are landing in Zion in #2 we
see this white control room from which the main
gate is being opened. We then see a quick flash
of that same woman jacked in. I found it interesting
that in order to physically allow passage it has to be
routed through a Matrix type environment.

The battle between Neo and Smith in #3 had another
level to it than I had originally thought. I saw a little
documentary on the film and Hugo Weaving (Smith)
described the battle as starting in the street, goes
to a building, then to the air and ends in a crater.
I realized this is the cycle of war. It starts with the
support of the public, who all look like or are similar
in thought to the ones involved in the conflict. Then
it goes to the corporations for planning. Then goes
air born, i.e. bomber jets. Finally it ends in a crater
of destruction, where at that point right before death
they come to except that they are one and the same.

In #3, Neo becomes blind physically while fighting
Smith but in the spiritual or non-physical world of
the Matrix he has to become one with him. He had
to end the conflict within himself, which is where
all conflicts truly end.

Only in the first and third installments do we see
rain. In spiritual and dream analysis water usually
means intense emotion. The first time we see rain
it’s when Neo is first becoming exposed to the truth
of his physical world. The next time he’s battling
with Smith for the final time. This time he comes
face to face with the truth of his spiritual world
and beliefs.

The Matrix on one level is the world of the mind.
The mind believes all of this to be real while the
body is immobile. (I just realized while writing this
that when Neo is trapped in the subway station in
#3 the stop is called Mobil Ave. His mind and body
were now one and was fully powerful in neither.
When outside the systems he was used to he was
lost.)

The Train Man is the guy who does all the dirty
work for the Merovingian. He looks terrible but
his domain is spotless, whereas his boss’ playpen
is full of perversion and darkness but he looks
fabulous. It’s kind of a “Portrait of Dorian Grey”
type idea.

A few things about the Train Man struck me.
His lair is called Mobil Ave. That spelling only
means one thing: the oil company. Which makes
him the embodiment of the fossil fuel industry. No
wonder he looks like crap! He wears many watches.
He is ruled by time. The train goes nowhere, just like
where his world is headed. Yet it could also mean the
void or where all life comes from and goes back to.
Recycling. Neo can’t go down the tunnel alone because
he still has baggage he took from the Indian man.
The Indian man is in charge of recycling, his wife’s
in charge of communications and the daughter doesn’t
fit. So she goes to the Merovingian and the Oracle to
find her place. It was interesting how the Merovingian
wanted the eyes of the Oracle. I wonder if that connects
to the Indian girl? Like she will be his eyes on the
Oracle or become the next Oracle. We were never
told what happened between them.

In #2 when the trio fail to obtain the Key Maker,
Morpheus says “What happened happened and
couldn’t have happened any other way.” Neo responds
“How do you know?” He replies “We are still alive.”
This line helped me through a major ordeal where
I hurt myself and had to get surgery and endure a
lengthy recovery. What it conveyed to me was there
is no point in regretting what has happened because
then you will not see the next step. Since you created
it all what’s the point in blaming yourself? It only
keeps you struck in the past.

In #3 when Neo is going to the computer mainframe
he is seeing the world through new eyes, which is
utterly beautiful. Only he has to become blind to see
it. It’s just like in real life, when you lose a body
function it makes you appreciate the world in a
new way.

At the very beginning of #2 it opens on the image
of a clock. We enter the Matrix, a world ruled by time.
That sure makes since this one is about Life.

In #3 the little girl seems to represent the birth of
a new cycle and appears to be the new protégé of
the Oracle. She was a cog that didn’t fit in the Matrix,
so the Merovingian placed her in the care of the Oracle
instead of deleting her. Her parents seemed to project
a lot of love toward each other when talking to Neo on
Mobil Ave. This all took place in a realm between both
worlds. Did Neo help shift the future with this personal
encounter? Is that where his true power to change
the system lies? After his battle with Smith, the
system resets itself. We also saw the black cat just
as this occurred. The last time we saw that cat it
was a déjà vu in #1 when something in the Matrix
was altered by the system. We also see the little girl
on the sidewalk as the cat comes by. I’m not quite
sure how this all fits together. Another thing is that
while in the train station no one there is wearing
sunglasses. No one’s hiding anything. I saw this
subway station as being an pure embodiment of
the original dirty subway tunnel where Neo first
realized he had power.

The Architect says that the Oracle was an
investigative program designed to explore the
human psyche, which brought balance and
believability to the citizens of the Matrix. So
it takes something unexplainable to make
reality acceptable to the mind.

The Merovingian claims that only those with
power can truly make choices. They give the
rest of us the illusion of choice, which we use
but since it’s not of our own creation our choices
only support the system. One such example is the
idea of heaven and hell. We’re supposed to live up
to all of these impossible standards to get into heaven
but then do the things that would send us to hell.
If you take on any of that you’re trapped within a
realm of control. There are many beliefs that have
some version of this that run rampant on our world.

At two different points the Oracle speaks of not
being able to see beyond the choices we don’t
understand. Once to Neo about Trinity dying and
the other to Smith, whom she embodies until
the battle with Neo is finished. When smith dies
he reverts back into the form of the Oracle. So it
started with Neo embodying Smith and then back
into himself in the first film, then Smith envelopes
him and evaporates. The yin and yang canceled
each other out. What I want to know is “Were Neo
and Smith both creations of the Oracle just to mix
things up?” She did say she’s there to unbalance
the equation. One of the things that hit me is how
Neo’s story is a version of the Christ story. In which
case he’s just living out a pattern that’s been going
on for centuries. History repeating itself. The Oracle
might also represent the religious sects that want to
keep the old traditions alive and well. With Morpheus
being like a new leader of a congregation, not
knowing he’s just spouting the party line of the
Oracle, who has her own agenda. Reinforcing the
old ideas of set destinies, which becomes reality
if you swallow it, and Neo did.

The word Revolutions has a few meanings in the
context of the story. As mentioned earlier it refers
to cycles. The most obvious other view is a revolt
against the Matrix. Another is the inner revolution.
The way in which they blended these meanings really
struck me. How rebelling against the system only
gives it power. That way of going about it has never
worked and yet as a planet we think we’re going to
get different results from doing the same thing over
and over. Thus it being a cycle that keeps revolving.
For me the story turned into an allegory about war,
showing it for what it truly is. Not good or bad, it just
simply showed it. It’s up to us to keep it going or
change that pattern, it is a free will universe after all.
How that’s done is not going to be accomplished this
way, so it’s time to explore new options. Thus the
third meaning of an inner revolution that is going
to take place. – Something that connects to this is
when Tipper Gore was on her mission to label music
with a warning about explicit lyrics. At that point it
was a small part of the market. With all that attention
on that subject CD’s with that label on it became
most of the top-selling artists every week. I’ve
even seen how movie soundtracks will contain
just one song that has profanity on it just so it
can have that label on it! That makes it hip. So
the system created a rebellious label that now
fully supports the establishment.

Something this tale shows is how Neo and gang
are totally goal oriented. All of their training was
for conflict, never fun. I had seen a documentary
on Shaolin monks that went into them living in
America. Even though they weren’t fighting anyone
in this time period their philosophy was still in part
about fighting. They were teaching cops about defense
moves, still trapped in that world. Of course there are
other forms of ground breaking physical feats that
don’t involve fighting, like Cirque Du Soleil and
figure skating. Martial arts don’t lead to a world
outside of conflict.

Something I noticed in #3 is that the real world
surface is always stormy but rain never falls. It’s
perfect for the Machines: no water damage, no sun
damage, lightning as a power source. But without
those things the planet never gets nourished at all,
yet just above the cloud layer everything is doing
fine. Could the eternal cloudy skies be the ultimate
end point of the Chem Trail phenomenon? Perhaps
they are there ultimately to block the sun's rays
from hitting the surface all together.

When they’re nearing the Machine City and the
Sentinels attack we see one of the drones strike
his body with its aura?! Interesting. In order to
get to the City they go with no weapons, Neo is
unable to see and has to allow the feminine lead
the way. He’s no longer in control, he finally has
to allow.  

Just before Smith takes over The Oracle he says
to her “You would know, Mom!” It sounds like
sarcasm, but I think he’s being literal. He’s her
creation to unbalance the equation. Smith goes
nuts over analyzing how the Oracle operates, which
is why he has to become her. I think that he took
over Seraph and the Indian girl as well. The Oracle
is always cooking up something new.

In #1, the Oracle says “Here, take a cookie. By the
time you finish it you’ll feel right as rain” She’s using
the familiar non-threatening image of the kindly
grandmother baking cookies as a brainwashing
technique. Similar to many a company that put
out products that use old fashioned visuals on
their labels to project an idea that’s very different
than what’s actually contained within. By letting his
guard down due to the false image projected by her
he swallows her recruitment technique more easily.
(That’s something I’ve noticed with many new agers
& health food types. When it comes to sweets all
logic goes out the window. Like there’s an inherent
goodness to anything that’s labeled a treat. No
questioning of ingredients.) The only other setting
Neo visits her in is the park bench setting. Another
completely non-threatening setting. Image is
everything.

I got a little poster for the third film that has
the caption “Everything that has a beginning has
an end.” That saying really put me through my paces.
I said “Why do I want to have such a fatalistic saying
on my wall?” After a bit, I realized that any relationship
that started with defined, noticeable starting point also
had defined ending point. The best relationships I’ve
had felt they were always there.

Something I find most intriguing is the reaction to
this series by the people. The filmmakers were very
surprised by the negative reaction the sequels
received. They overestimated people's ability to
have a participatory experience.

My take on why there was such a shift for people
from the 1st to the 2nd was that the 1st was the
classic savior scenario. A story everybody's comfortable
with. It's the hero's journey told a million times over
from religion on into infinity. The idea that someone
goes through a trial by fire, either facing near death
or in this case death and rebirth, in order to save
others. The 2nd and 3rd went beyond the resurrection.
Since the end times have never occurred, most
people can't imagine, even in story form, that
anything could exist after that.

The final shot in #1 is Neo flying into the sky.
He's gone through death and resurrection and
now is going up to heaven. What I and many
others thought, was that this was going to lead into
a story about spiritual enlightenment. It turned out
it was but not in the way everyone expected. It
instead chose to explore the nature of blindly
following orders (The Oracle's, Morpheus') and
thus recreating what has always been. Something
all religions re-enforce, that someone else always
know what's best for you. The ultimate basis of all
brainwashing. For many, spiritual enlightenment
exists only withinthe confines of a doctrine.

#1 was the grammar school and high school years.
It was about looking to the one voice (teacher, parent, etc)
that will guide you correctly. #2 was about growing up.
The wisdom comes from everywhere: the environment,
your friends and your enemies. Where the confusion came
in for viewers was that in real life many are looking for
that singular being that will steer them to salvation/enlight
-enment. But that isn’t how the world works. Life is the
reflection and the answers are everywhere, never from
one source. It doesn’t only come through words and
the musings of a teacher.

When Morpheus gives Neo the choice, the blue pill
or the red pill, I feel that he is the mouthpiece of
medical industry. Something I've noticed is how
modern medicine is treated like a religion, in this
country particularly. Here's a few such examples.

1. When Tom Cruise mentioned on a morning talk
show that taking anti-depressants might not be positive
he got more negative coverage than almost anything
I've ever seen. Something to note is that probably a
good third of the commercials on TV are for various
pharmaceuticals.

2. How almost everybody just believe that diseases
come from some mysterious place (an evil place?)
that can only be treated by modern medicine. AIDS
clearly came from a monkey, what other explanation
could there be? That line of thinking puts the doctors
in a savior like light.

3. The irony of the choice is that either one leads to
the same place, being enslaved by the Matrix. The
legal drugs won't get you to the promised land. Of
course, neither will the illegal ones. The only way is
to operate outside any system that says it has all
the answers.

As the story progresses, Morpheus seems to become
less literate, less philosophical. Yet the world around
him gets more complex. It turns out it’s easy explain
everything as it’s starting but gets more difficult
when you’re in the thick of it. He seems more
focused on just being. Getting back together
with his old flame and such. Maybe he'd just
finished his duty to the Oracle and now could
chill with his severance package, so to speak.
Just a theory.

When Smith has Neo in custody in #1, he inserts
a metallic bug into his belly button. A few things
strike me about this. First, it seems like an analogy
for vaccines, especially with them putting mercury
into many of the ones on the market. Second, that
area is where the gut is. It's injected there to dull
the instinct. I assume this is a standard procedure,
for men & women both. That got me thinking of the
gross number of cesareans (done mostly for
convenience) that women are getting. The same
logic applies, stifling the gut instinct.

On a side note, in this scene Neo's passport is
on the table. It has an expiration date of 9/11/01.
The film came out 3/31/99!

The big battle at the end of #3 obliterates all memory
of all the amazing stuff that proceeded it. That was by
design. It was showing how the big battle invalidates
all of the spiritual justifications for anything. It’s
just big and loud and ultimately meaningless. It's
basically about the fruitlessness of raging against
the machine. In the movie's case, literally. What did
the 1960's lead to? 1980's. Conformity and corporate
takeover. I know there's more to it than that, but for
the most part that's what happened.

In the end Neo doesn’t stand victorious basking in
his glorious accomplishment, something that didn’t
satisfy the lizard brain. The reason why they didn’t
do that is because his journey wasn’t his own. If you
fight for the state, it’s the state that is the victor. The
movie is called The Matrix, not Neo. The Matrix is the
main character and it’s being told from its perspective.
The tendency in watching a movie is to think it’s all
about me, and what validates me or not. An accurate
title gives valuable information about the focus of any
story. Terminator & Star Wars are two examples that
tell you exactly what perspective it’s being told from.
You can take almost any title and you’ll see how
true it is.

When Neo sees the White Rabbit tattoo he sees
it as a sign that will lead him to the truth. The way
I see tattoos is that they are simply one of the
socially accepted ways for people to show their
rebellion. The odd thing is that the most common
place for tattoos before the past couple of decades
was sailors. It never had anything to do with real
rebellion or original thought. It still doesn’t. It was
popularized by devout members of the system.

Anyways, there's a lot different ideas in here. Some
that probably contradict, much like real life. But as
the channel Bashar used to say "When you're dealing
in the world of paradoxes you know you're near the
truth." That quote always stuck with me.

Beyond of all of the cool story elements it has the
most perfectly executed action sequences ever put
on film. Never before have I seen anyone who knew
how to put all of that together. It captured everything
I love about Japanese Animation and comic books.

It’s odd that I can see all of this and still enjoy all the
action. It seems contradictory. I’m still figuring out that
one. I think it’s all about seeing other views of reality,
it makes life a bit more interesting.

Ciao for now, Cozy