The Matrix

The Matrix was always a movie that I heard of, but I have never watched it. I had no idea that The Matrix was about people living in dreams and are actually slaves for computer generated machines. When the movie began I didn’t know what to think about it. As I kept watching it, I became very frightened when he took the pill and woke up from a dream which he thought was his real life. Once he woke up I wanted to get up and leave because it got me thinking and it really scared me. I didn’t leave though, and as I sat and continued watching the movie I was less scared. I followed the movie closely and by the end of the movie I would have to say it was a good story outline, but it still gave me the creeps. The directors did a very good job at making the movie, because they really got me thinking so I am sure that they got other young adults to think just as I did.
When I read the article “Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth Making in Contemporary Cinema,” it made a lot of sense. The movie really did portray lots of religions throughout the movie. I never even noticed any of it until I read the article and then it all clicked. I was so into understanding the movie that I didn’t pay attention to all the details. I would really have to watch in a couple more times to probably understand everything. The article talked about how Neo portrayed “Jesus” I thought that was really neat because he really did portray him. Neo was reborn and sent to save them from the matrix, just like Jesus was sent to save us from our sins. The article didn’t only talk about the Christianity aspects of the movie; it also talked about many other religions. I liked how the movie incorporated the religion Yogacara Buddhist, which uses your mind. When they were in the chairs connected to the wires in a different world, they were “sleeping” using their minds to control what they were doing.
The article also talks about myths. The Matrix is considered a myth according to the article. I totally think that it is a myth also and anyone else who watches the movie should also think that, but it gets me thinking into why people make up some types of myth or where they even get the idea. I believe that the directors of this movie obviously made up their myth by combining parallels of religions together. That is what the article talks about, but I just think that it is fascinating how people even come up with these ideas in the first place. The directors did a magnificent job at putting the myth together.
I have to talk about the costumes in the movie because they made me think. I really thought it was neat how the people that were not in the “dream” wore sleek black outfits, or the one girl wore all white. I believe that only that one girl wore white because she was always protecting and watching out for the group, like an angel, and even though she died she protected them while she was alive. The others that wore black were daring and sleek with their movements. Their costumes were not like the other people in the movie and that is because they were different themselves, they knew they were living in the matrix. Neo never really wore anything sleek until the end of the movie when he knew that he could save Morpheus. When his costume changed it was a big symbol that he changed and he was ready to kick some butt.
The Matrix was an unusual movie that was thrilling, creepy, and mysterious. I know that there are sequels and I would actually like to see them to see how the story ends. I have myself thinking about what Neo is going to do in the other movies and if he saves everyone.