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Alienation has a new name

May 19, 2003

What is it about this movie that so captures everyone’s attention?

Frank, in Neo. Kill! points out that blaming “being in the Matrix” is becoming a popular new murder defense… My personal opinion is that if it wasn’t The Matrix, they’d have played their Black Sabbath albums backwards, or the devil disguised as the neighbor’s dog would have told them to do it, or any of the other excuses down through time people have used to keep from having to ‘fess up and take responsibility for their own actions.

Not that being “at effect” instead of “at cause” isn’t the default state of most of humanity these days, but fortunately the majority take it out on their livers or the dog or something else slightly less damaging to those around them…

But using the movie as a murder defense or not, the release of the sequel (which I will get out to the theater and see soon, regardless of the reviews) has of course unleashed another flurry of pseudo-philosophical essays on the whole concept.

My favorite yesterday was the one trying to portay Neo as “the reincarnation of Buddha”. 

‘Scuse me?

I thought enlightenment in Buddhism was all about not having to reincarnate anymore…

Just how much karmic burden do you have to be sweating off to be forced to reincarnate as Keanu Reeves?

Nevermind… I really don’t wanna know…

The idea of the perceptual world being illusion is at least as old as the Hindu Vedas, and as new as quantum tunneling—it’s been with us forever.

Which is probably why this movie strikes such a chord with so many people—it appears to tie into some deep-seated archetype in our personalities somewhere.

Which is not to suggest that the idea is wrong, of course, just that as usual, a lot of people have totally managed to miss the metaphor as it was presented, and have confused the map with the territory…

I guess we should be thankful that we don’t find them at the snackbar at the theater, attempting to eat the menu…

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Written by User ImageChuck Lawson · Filed Under Media 
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One Response to “Alienation has a new name”

  1. Aaron Agassi on October 24th, 2003 2:20 am

    Actually, Siddhartha Gautama is, indeed, purported to have been only one of many Buddhas, reincarnations. For, as the story goes, Buddha, from compassion, has continually postponed his own escape from reincarnation in order to show others the exit, first. Thus is the contradiction is explained away.

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