The Movie The Matrix - Essay Example

The Matrix INTRODUCTION The movie ‘The Matrix’ that buzzed the theatre in 1999 is an Australia-American movie. The movie is a science fiction and action thrilling film, under the shadow of religious concepts. The movie is directed by the Wachowski siblings. The movie revolves round the character of a computer hacker who finds out the true reason for his existence in the world. He learns this from some of the strange rebels and hence, fights for the benefit of the mankind. Contextually, the essay presents the way religious concepts has been used in the movie. Moreover, it also inquires the ways through which the religion concept has contributed to the message of the movie. DISCUSSION Question No. 1: Why Do The Wachowski Siblings Use So Much Religion In The Movie? How Does It Contribute To The Movies Message? The directors of the movie ‘The Matrix’ are the two Wachowski siblings; they are Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. The two brothers were very enthusiastic about the movie even before the making of it. It was a very ambitious project for them. They have portrayed the religious belief and the conception that they possess in well documented manner in the movie. The religious inclination of the siblings came from their mother. Their mother was originally a catholic, so the directors have got some sort of inclination towards the religious beliefs and conceptions. Moreover, their mother was also a Shamanist, i.e. she believed in reaching to an alternate state of mind. She also used to develop an energy that helped her to communicate with the various spirits. Furthermore, she also used to have the power to enter into the benevolent and malevolent spirits of the universe and can highly influence them. These environments of religion and spiritual beliefs have highly influenced siblings to have a strong inclination towards it. Hence, they were influenced to make the movie. The movie, ‘The Matrix’, has also shown a suffice presence of the religious and spiritual concepts. Moreover, the two siblings had immensely struggled in their early life of childhood. They also believe that they were able to survive in those struggling days only because of the blessings of the God and the holy spirits (Gerrold 1-257). Literally speaking, ‘The Matrix’ is the development of an object that is influenced by the political, cultural and social environment. There are various religions practiced in this world that believe the concept portrayed in the movie, ‘The Matrix’. Moreover, the religious beliefs conveyed in Christianity and Buddhism shows strong similarity in their doctrines to the message that is being portrayed in the movie. Many people in this world believe that the message behind the movie ‘The Matrix’ is a reflection of their religious principle, stating that each and every object in this world is influenced by the presence of the environment. The main character in the movie is ‘Neo’ who for the sake of saving the world sacrifices his own life, and then after his death he rises again and becomes more powerful. Later, he enters into the heaven after saving the earth from the evil shadow. The concept is very similar to that of believes presented in various religions where the actual life starts after a fall or a temporary death. The one rises up becomes more powerful and hence, save the mankind and goes to the heaven. However, the movie also shows the concept of a real world beside the matrix, which is also strongly believed by several of the religious heads. Moreover, the movie ‘The Matrix also shows the concept of body, brain and mind are to be interrelated and this makes life existence. If one of them does not exist, the concept of life does not hold for the individual. If an individual have the body and so also the brain, but if he/she lacks the mind to think, then he/she could not be considered as a living individual. This concept is also very similar to that of the several the religious beliefs. The movie also portrayed the presence of an illusion in the world and the lead character Neo was presented in the movie to break that illusion through his computer generated simulation. After coming out of the illusive world he realized the actual reason for his presence. This is nothing but the duty of saving the mankind from the hands of the evil means. The enlightenment that has taken place through breaking the illusion by Neo is also in parallel to the religious beliefs of the Buddhism. Moreover, throughout the movie there has been a prominent use of various sizes of mirrors. These mirrors showed multiple reflections and hence, created a magnificence art direction, depicting the reflective nature of the holy spirits. These reflections are well connected with the Buddhist ideology. In the Buddhism the world that we say is actually believed to be the reflection of ourselves. Conceptually, the things that we perceive is actually being the reflection of our mind that it wants to receive. The movie depicts the lead character Neo as the Savior of the world who strives to free the world from evil power. In the movie, there is dialogue from Chio on of the very important character in the movie. Choi, says to Neo "Hallelujah. Youre my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ." In the movie, Neo has been represented as the Jesus Christ of the modern world who too saves the mankind from the influence of the evil spirits (Lyden 1-289). CONCLUSION The movie ‘The Matrix’ has been a very ambitious project for the two sibling director Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. The two of them had a mother who was highly influenced by the holy spirits and the religious concepts. She was also a catholic. Moreover, the struggling childhood of both them and believe that they had been able to overcome from that is prominently because of the holy spirits, made them more inclined towards religious beliefs. This had influenced them to make a movie which has a suffice inclusion of religious concepts. Moreover, the spiritual belief portrayed in the movie contributed significantly to the success of the movie. The movie suggests several of the messages that are based on the religious concepts. The lead character Neo in the movie is portrayed as the Jesus for the mankind in this movie. He struggles for the benefit of the mankind save the world. Moreover, the movie shows the reflections of the Holy Spirit through the mirrors that has been used. This concept is in parallel to the beliefs of Buddhism. Thus, it is very clear that depicting the religious concepts through the movie, it has expressed a good message to the viewers. Hence, it has become one of the most successful movies in the recent time. Works Cited Gerrold, David. Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and the Religion in the Matrix. The United States: BenBella Books Inc, 2003. Print. Lyden, John. Film as Religion: Myths, Morals, and Rituals. The United States: NYU Press, 2003. Print. Read More