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Re: escapism

On Thu, 28 Mar 2002, Don Smith wrote:
> But, as long as we're in it (in the immortal words of Marty DiBergi),
> let's boogie!

Bizarre.  I just saw _Spinal Tap_ again last weekend, and today another
e-pal mentioned she was about to watch it.  Interesting.

> However, it seems to me that the rest of the film is implying that the
> people *outside* the Matrix are more human than those inside.  Switch
> calls Neo "coppertop" (a reference to the duracell battery, I assume)
> while he's still plugged in.  Tank refers to himself as 100% human, born
> and raised in Zion.  All the outsiders seem to feel that they are more
> "human" than the people still trapped in the system.

And these are the people that Mouse calls "hypocrites" -- is it the *film*
that says these people are more "human", or the characters?  And is the
real problem the fact that people are plugged in, per se, or the fact that
most people have no *control* over the fact that they are plugged in?

Are we really supposed to identify with Switch, and accept the fact that
she addresses Neo with a term that suggests a form of prejudice or
contempt?  Or is the film asking us to question the moral superiority
which comes from Morpheus and his crew of religious fanatics?

(Yes, I'm using somewhat provocative language here.  But if anyone here
has seen David Cronenberg's _eXistenZ_, it's interesting to note how the
"realists" in his film, the characters who most resemble Morpheus and
company, are portrayed as outright villains or terrorists.)

> So I was saying Cypher seemed to undercut Mouse's statement because by
> following his impulses, he was trying to get put *back* in the Matrix,
> which would make him, in the context of the film, *less* human.

The problem there, though, is that Cypher wants to "enslave" everyone
again, and presumably "slavery" would mean stifling our impulses.

Then again, if one has an "impulse" to be a slave, and if Mouse says we
are to follow our impulses, then why *shouldn't* Cypher be a slave?

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 "I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
      Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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