Re: Fwd: Re: Matrix

["Peter T. Chattaway" <petert at interchange_ubc.ca>]

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On Sun, 18 May 2003, J. Marie Hall wrote:
> the epistimology is almost as bad as the free will/fate thing!  but this
> time...the aspect of purpose.  that's rolling around in my brain.  is it
> an added complexity or a redefinition of sorts?!

The juxtaposition of "purpose" and the "free will" debate in this film is
certainly interesting.  On the one hand, this film undermines the very
notion of "purpose" by suggesting that life is nothing but a series of
causes and effects, and by suggesting that fate, the messianic narrative,
and all the things that gave Morpheus and Neo meaning were actually just a
lie constructed by the Matrix to keep them enslaved.  Of course, Neo, at
least, might not mind making this discovery -- remember how, in the first
film, he said he didn't like the idea of fate because it meant he wasn't
in control of his own life?  But without fate, without purpose, without
meaning, life can seem pretty empty -- indeed, Agent Smith seems to think
that, on the one hand, his freedom is a good thing, but, on the other
hand, he misses the sense of purpose he once had when he was hooked up to
the Matrix.  Agent Smith seems to think he can get a sense of purpose by
hijacking Neo -- but does *Neo* have any purpose worth hijacking now?  If
Neo's life, like all other lives, is just a series of impulses, causes,
and effects, then in what sense can Neo say he is "in control" of it?

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
Nothing tells memories from ordinary moments; only afterwards do they
   claim remembrance, on account of their scars. -- Chris Marker, La Jetee

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