I always thought that Matrix superpowers and Star Wars superpowers are very similar. Even "stop trying to hit me and HIT me" sounds a little like "Do or do not, there is no try". And so, Neo's training in the Matrix is very similar to Luke's training on Dagoba, and children's training by the Oracle might be very similar to the Jedi kids' training in the Jedi Temple.
Also, to me romance between Trinity and Neo was always the most underdeveloped part of the movie. It seemed that she fell in love with him only because she thought that he was the One, and not because of other, more natural causes.
I'd argue that the romance is sold but mostly from Trinity's perspective. Like, there are these little moments where Trinity seems to connect with Neo. She tucks him in when he's asleep, she brings him food, etc.
It works for the fairy tale type love story they go for in the end.
Thanks! It's also part of a larger project that I will hopefully do more off before the year ends. Had to set up a lot of pieces before going for the payoff.
Really excellent essay! I love this comparison to superpowers. I've always felt that the scene with the Potentials was like something out of the X-Men.
I'm particularly struck by the idea of the way self-belief is informed by what others believe about you - I'm thinking about it as a dynamic interaction. As you explain, Neo is ultimately moved to completely unshackle himself from the (un)reality of The Matrix and defy death because of how Trinity's love confirms everything Neo slowly starts to believe (and how it all fits into The Oracle's predictions). Her belief in him is the tipping point. Similarly, Morpheus' unwavering belief in the idea that Neo is The One seems to inform the training sequence; Neo starts winning as he unshackles himself, but also because Morpheus believes Neo will start to beat him - and every step in that direction solidifies Morpheus' belief (and perhaps in part causes him to lose) and diminishes Neo's skepticism.
You make a good point about the collective belief part and I kinda wish I had gotten more into that in the post. In fact, I do wonder if at one point the underlying idea was that The Oracle created a self fulfilling prophecy. As in she convinced enough redpills that The One would be reborn and in searching for him and in believing in him collectively the redpills ended up creating him.
Sounds like there's room for another piece in there then ;). Self-belief and superpowers vs. collective belief and self-fulfilling prophecies! I was definitely wondering if The Oracle provides insight to anyone who could become The One (and the folks around them) that could, at some point, lead to what happened to Neo. Maybe The Oracle has done this many times with many Potentials and Redpills (*sidebar, one of the absolute worst ways The Matrix has been taken up in the world is how Redpill is used by the manosphere and far-right).
I think you're onto something. Oracle is a guide. That's her whole thing. Perhaps the Predecessors could've been moulded into Ones as well but made the wrong choices that led to their deaths.
There is actually another article I'm planning about the Oracle and Potentials, how these concepts evolved over the drafts and were retconned by the sequels, so maybe I'll try to incorporate that in there.
I do like the "maybe the next life, kid" line which is also proven true. But like a lot of creative things the W's became increasingly more concerned with what the story meant to them than to anyone else and so muddled it in the sequels and public comments to force it into that mold
I'd say they weren't concerned so much with what the story meant to them. They were concerned with franchising and extending the story after bringing it to a definitive conclusion in the first one.
WB initially had little to no interest in a sequel when the first film was being made then sent a dump truck full of money to their house to get them to make more after it became an unexpected hit. And the Wachowskis obviously wanted to get their other projects like Speed Racer off the ground. So... anyway that's something I hope to talk about in my Reloaded article.
Great essay!
I always thought that Matrix superpowers and Star Wars superpowers are very similar. Even "stop trying to hit me and HIT me" sounds a little like "Do or do not, there is no try". And so, Neo's training in the Matrix is very similar to Luke's training on Dagoba, and children's training by the Oracle might be very similar to the Jedi kids' training in the Jedi Temple.
Also, to me romance between Trinity and Neo was always the most underdeveloped part of the movie. It seemed that she fell in love with him only because she thought that he was the One, and not because of other, more natural causes.
Def-ly agree with you on the superpowers part.
I'd argue that the romance is sold but mostly from Trinity's perspective. Like, there are these little moments where Trinity seems to connect with Neo. She tucks him in when he's asleep, she brings him food, etc.
It works for the fairy tale type love story they go for in the end.
I would also say it works in the movie's aesthetics, which is deliberately cold and detatched.
Best film ever. This is a massive, impressive, and poignant essay detailing all that.
Thanks! It's also part of a larger project that I will hopefully do more off before the year ends. Had to set up a lot of pieces before going for the payoff.
I'm excited for more! I imagine it's a lot of hard work and research.
Really excellent essay! I love this comparison to superpowers. I've always felt that the scene with the Potentials was like something out of the X-Men.
I'm particularly struck by the idea of the way self-belief is informed by what others believe about you - I'm thinking about it as a dynamic interaction. As you explain, Neo is ultimately moved to completely unshackle himself from the (un)reality of The Matrix and defy death because of how Trinity's love confirms everything Neo slowly starts to believe (and how it all fits into The Oracle's predictions). Her belief in him is the tipping point. Similarly, Morpheus' unwavering belief in the idea that Neo is The One seems to inform the training sequence; Neo starts winning as he unshackles himself, but also because Morpheus believes Neo will start to beat him - and every step in that direction solidifies Morpheus' belief (and perhaps in part causes him to lose) and diminishes Neo's skepticism.
You make a good point about the collective belief part and I kinda wish I had gotten more into that in the post. In fact, I do wonder if at one point the underlying idea was that The Oracle created a self fulfilling prophecy. As in she convinced enough redpills that The One would be reborn and in searching for him and in believing in him collectively the redpills ended up creating him.
Sounds like there's room for another piece in there then ;). Self-belief and superpowers vs. collective belief and self-fulfilling prophecies! I was definitely wondering if The Oracle provides insight to anyone who could become The One (and the folks around them) that could, at some point, lead to what happened to Neo. Maybe The Oracle has done this many times with many Potentials and Redpills (*sidebar, one of the absolute worst ways The Matrix has been taken up in the world is how Redpill is used by the manosphere and far-right).
I think you're onto something. Oracle is a guide. That's her whole thing. Perhaps the Predecessors could've been moulded into Ones as well but made the wrong choices that led to their deaths.
There is actually another article I'm planning about the Oracle and Potentials, how these concepts evolved over the drafts and were retconned by the sequels, so maybe I'll try to incorporate that in there.
I do like the "maybe the next life, kid" line which is also proven true. But like a lot of creative things the W's became increasingly more concerned with what the story meant to them than to anyone else and so muddled it in the sequels and public comments to force it into that mold
I'd say they weren't concerned so much with what the story meant to them. They were concerned with franchising and extending the story after bringing it to a definitive conclusion in the first one.
WB initially had little to no interest in a sequel when the first film was being made then sent a dump truck full of money to their house to get them to make more after it became an unexpected hit. And the Wachowskis obviously wanted to get their other projects like Speed Racer off the ground. So... anyway that's something I hope to talk about in my Reloaded article.