(no subject)

[threeplusfire]

Well, once again the Simpsons was a weird, weird ride. Principal Skinner loudly proclaimed his status as a veteran of America's only losing war, and Homer added "To date!" Alan and I just looked at each other. I don't think we could really say anything about it.

I think I'll disturb myself and watch The Matrix.. I've been writing all weekend and I am no closer to a coherent paragraph.

Comments

[patchwolf.livejournal.com]

Here's a crazy thought that I pose to all my friends who are Matrix-watchers...

What if the Oracle were responsible for selecting The One?

Now before you go ballistic and say "That's bullshit! What are you talking about?" hear me out. I have supporting arguments (though they won't make any sense unless you've seen at least The Matrix Reloaded.

Evidence: The Merovingian is a program, and has already established that programs can write other programs, or writing code. After all, he wrote the code for an orgasm into a cake for that woman in his restaurant. The Oracle is also a program, and thus, is capable of writing code to imprint onto a person.

Now, who is to say that the Oracle isn't responsible for selecting The One, and then writing the unique code that distinguishes The One into say, a cookie, and under the guise of giving them a cookie, imprinting the code of The One onto that person (in this case, Neo)?

The big question here is why. I say, "Why not?" The Oracle has been around since the first Matrix. She's seen all the previous incarnations of The One, and thus knows what characteristics The One must have for his purpose to be fulfilled. As stated in Reloaded, the purpose of The One is to return to the Source, where (according to the Architect) the unique code he carries is reinserted into the Matrix.

The Oracle, as the person to whom all newly freed minds are taken, is in prime position to select the apporpriate One on whom to imprint the code. This is not to say that the Oracle is a Zion-sympathiser. In fact, I believe she wasn't until Neo came along ("For what it's worth, you've made a believer out of me."). Note also that Neo was invited to wait with the other potentials. Potential what? I think they were potentials to be The One. Note also that the Oracle prophesied that Morpheus would be the one to find The One. If she selects The One, then it's child's play to fulfill that prophesy.

All that's evidence for the oracle selecting The One. The whole reason this came about is because I simply refused to believe that Neo was destined to be The One. This is primarily because once you introduce Destiny into the storyline, you have to take away Free Will, which happens to be one of the major themes of the movie. If Neo were destined to be The One, and happened to die before returning to the Source, then the Matrix would experience a cataclysmic system failure. Therefore, if Neo were destined to be The One, then the Matrix would have to ensure that he did not die prior to fulfilling his purpose. This involves orchestrating events to ensure that he did not die, making certain thigns impossible, and thus takign away Free Will. If Neo was not destined to be The One, and my theory holds water, then the Oracle could simply select the next most appropriate Free Mind upon which to imprint the code of The One. By this point in time, that person would already have been Freed, and thus eminently capable of surviving long enough to return to the Source.

Ultimately, I'm not saying my theory is right, but I am saying that it fits the events of the movies and that it is logical. I'd be interested in your own thoughts on this...

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting idea... it makes a lot of sense given the Oracle is part of the machine world. It makes a lot more sense than the mystical great Destiny idea, which has been my beef with the trilogy on the whole.

Now why the hell was the first one so good, and the next two not quite as cool? Though I admit there were parts in Reloaded that were superbly fun. It was hard to drive to work after that freeway scene. Damn.

Cooler than cool? Not possible.

[patchwolf.livejournal.com]

Because the first movie was all about discovery, which the second two could patently not be about.

A lot of it is also based on the marketing used to promote the movies. Recall the marketing for the first movie... TV spots which were simply a black screen and the green letters typing out "The matrix has you..." and "What is the matrix?" So everything in the first movie was mind-blowing and new, because we'd never seen anything like it.

Marketing for the second (and third) movie(s)? Just like any other movie -- collages of scenes from the film, played faster and faster. The first movie attracted us by piquing our curiosity, so we went in not knowing what to expect; the second and third attracted us by showing us what to expect, and then delivering just that.

As for Destiny vs Oracle-intervention, I choose to believe the Oracle-intervention theory (as I would). It fits the movie, it makes sense, and I haven't found anything or anyone who could convince me (with evidence) that it was wrong.

Of course, I'm also a proponent of a radically alternate theory to how the Matrix world worked out. I prefer the Matrix-within-a-Matrix theory to explain the events in The Matrix Reloaded, and if I even run a Matrix play by email game, I'll probably use both the Oracle theory (which fits) and the Matrix-within-a-Matrix ending instead of the ending put forward by The Matrix Revolutions.

Don't get me wrong; I loved all three movies as they were. I just think there are other explanations.

Re: Cooler than cool? Not possible.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I don't remember the early marketing, as the movie came out at a time in my life when I wasn't paying so much attention to the outside world. I do remember a friend taking me to see it a couple weeks after it was released, and a very long conversation in the pool about it.

Gödel, Neo, Bach?

[geoectomy.livejournal.com]

There's something her ethat segues with my current reading... But I suspect it's gonna take a little bit to come together for me.

Something to do with self-identity coming from recursive introspection. Take that and compare it ot the idea of programs writing programs, and Neo's existence and consciousness both inside and outside of the matrix...

The first movie is very much about Neo's awakening--even if he's not the one yet. And you theory doesn't seem too far out there to me. In fact, it seems pretty much dead on.

But I think that Neo's participation in Hofstadter's "Strange Loops" (TV-tunnel-vision) from destroying an agent of the matrix inside the matrix to destroying Sentinels outside the matrix... it touches on a similarity.

Gödel's postulation that any system of axioms must contain inherently unprovable (cannot be proven as either truth or falsehood) statements also bears some relation.

Sometime, it'll gel for me. I'll let you know when I get there.