Emotional fuel for world liberation

Rating: 10/10 (2 April 2007)

This controlling central power (let's call it the Beast) is the fundamental ailment we are in sore need of healing from. The movie The Matrix is a metaphor of our own heroic struggle for liberty against the Beast, and provides a hopeful message that vigorously stirs the blood of freedom people.
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The time is approximately 200 years from now, planet Earth. Early in the 21st century, humans achieve functional artificial intelligence (AI) which instead of leading to a comfortable human-machine Singularity[1] results in an earth-razing cataclysm. Machines (computers) 1: Humans 0.
The machine uber-intelligence (MUI) that takes over is analogous to our "Beast." In a licentious twist of any physics I'm familiar with, the MUI needs energy, so it clones, incubates, and grows humans in vast fields of sealed chambers to take advantage of their electrical potential. Humans in name only: their consciousness is channeled via a sophisticated neural network set up by the MUI to resemble Earth of 1999, i.e. the Matrix.[2]
(You might ask why bother providing to these Eveready 'droids such a dream world where they seem to grow, live, love, and die as generations before them. You won, why not just turn their minds off entirely? Well, apparently the pod people don't generate the BTUs if they're bored.)
Not everyone in the Matrix is comfortable with the system. Thomas Anderson, who goes by the hacker name Neo (Keanu Reeves) is one such discontent. The few remaining real humans, led by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), believe Neo is "the One" who will ultimately free humanity from the Matrix and defeat the MUI.
They locate Neo, convince him to unplug (take the red pill), then spend weeks with him in training. The rebels hack into the Matrix where Neo visits the Oracle (Gloria Foster). Before they can safely exit, Morpheus is captured by agentsagents are the MUI's fearsome sentient programs that enforce the Matrix.
In the attempt to rescue Morpheus, Neo goes toe-to-toe with Super Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in a scene reminiscent of the final showdown in A Fistful of Dollars. Only the Wachowskis in addition to massive gunplay send up exciting martial arts sequences and special effects that blow you away.
In case you're the one person who hasn't seen the movie yet, I won't spoil the ending, except to say it's terrific.
To me the movie strikes parallels to our real world and our struggle against the Beast[3]. The Matrix itself is the epitome of our quasi-Orwellian, TV-mind-controlled nation: Consider our Beast's indoctrination systems (compulsory schools and the criminal justice system) and propaganda ministries (mainstream media and academic elites). Too many people enfold themselves into these pods of conformity. Agents are analogous to our central-system soldiers and cops turned against Constitutional liberty.
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. When you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters, the very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."  Morpheus
How different is this from America or the world? ...
For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.
Brian Wright Copyright 2007