transmission 024 - the matrix as story concept
The 24th transmission from Starship Commander Miquiel Banks.
Quote
In one life, you’re Thomas A. Anderson, program writer for a respectable software company. You have a social security number, you pay your taxes, and you help your landlady carry out her garbage.
Agent Smith
#1 - The Matrix Franchise (60)
TOTAL SCORE: 60 out of 40
Precursor: Not Applicable
Platform: 1999 - Feature Film (Action, Sci-Fi)
Is it Groundbreaking?
Score: 15
As always, certain conditions pave the way for Groundbreaking Ideas.
We are currently in the Era of Trump in the White House, Mysterious Drones, P Diddy-ism, Pedophilia, Planets in Retrograde, and the Hopi Prophecy.
All of these factors pave the way for those eerie ideas we call prophecies, which always hint at some tragic event or the “end of the world.”
It seems the Matrix looks to be more positive and once the Matrix 4 hits theaters, the World will certainly understand what a “Blockbuster” Film looks like for the next era.
The Golden Age
Score: 10
The Matrix as a Concept is beyond description, belief, summary, and most certainly, categories.
John Truby often speaks about the Golden Age of Cinema as not happening yet, but it’s certainly acceptable to consider The Matrix as the foundation and ground-breaking work to usher in this “Golden Age” of not only Cinema, but of Storytelling itself.
Global Myth
Score: 15
With decades of War, unfair ethics, and devastating catastrophes, the United States is ripe for being the hub of Government Cover-Ups and Conspiracies.
Ranging from the Roswell Incident to the White House Incident to underground Egyptian Cities to Crystal Caverns and other baffling legends, the United States has a proverbial history of incredible and inexplicable events.
The 50s and 60s sci-fi writers often depicted the future with dim and negative connotations and the 70s attempted to patch up these depressing outlooks.
The 80s sought to rectify this and the smash success of E.T. Hints that the American Public was ready for a more positive outlook for our Future.
With the advent of the Matrix, this “Savior” in Film has come into being at the right time and at the right place - Planet Earth.
Succinctly, the Matrix captures conspiracies, slavery, suffering, and allows the audience to follow Neo’s journey into Enlightenment - everything that Joseph Campbell and John Truby have preached about has been elevated to a Global Level and expressed in the most beautiful Story Concept of all time.
Is it Graphic?
Score: 20
This section is two-fold, I’m asking if the concept has value as a Metaphor and as a Unifying Principle.
As a Metaphor, The Matrix has no peer because it addresses the greatest question every human being has ever asked, “What is the Truth (Matrix)?”
How can anyone argue with that?
We normally don’t think of concepts or principles as being Visual, but in this instance, I’m referencing the deeper meanings of the word Graphic.
It is defined as many things, but I’ve latched on to its definitions as expressive, realistic, distinct, vivid, precise, and obvious.
Of all story concepts, The Matrix is the highest of the high, pushing itself out of the category from being a Concept into “something else entirely.”
Before you watch the movie, the concept is foreign and doesn’t make sense and you go into the movie with the same question that burns a hole in Neo’s brain - What is the Matrix?
It is this question that drives each person to not only identify and quantify the Matrix as a great film, but for those few who really “got it,” you should instantly recognize this wasn’t SIMPLY a movie, it was “The Truth” revealed through film - a totally different concept.
All of us have read the Screenwriting books and magazines urging us to Unify all of our principles and concepts into ONE THING.
Somehow, this “golden rule” hasn’t been put into practice very often.
We can go through many films and realize how often they fall short in this category.
The title of the film is Star Wars, not The Force.
It’s obvious this film could’ve gone in a different direction, but they chose to package this concept in the Western Genre and we all agree - War is NOT a GOOD THING for Humanity and must be “terminated” from Humanity quickly as possible.
Titanic is an event and this film captures a moment in time, it’s not a Story Concept per se, it’s more in the realm of Cinematic Journalism.
Avatar is a powerful spiritual concept that has existed in the Esoteric realm for years, but this film didn’t research the subject; it’s almost as if the filmmakers liked the word and used it as a title.
This film is essentially the Hero’s Journey told in an incredible arena and its title doesn’t capture what the word “actually” means in its Spiritual Foundation.
The Dr. Strange film comes closer to capturing the essence of an Avatar than this film does.
Lord of the Rings is another series steeped in an old “program,” that sterile and nefarious concept of slave vs master.
Without a slave, how could we have a master, much less a Lord?
For those who argue that Lord has multiple meanings, then I urge those folks to look at the montages of war, war, and more war.
You must understand a concept has different angles and many of these concepts were treated through the lens of conquer and destroy, not explore and understand.
It’s a different thing altogether between having conflict than justifying war.
And to end this discussion, a concept is really powerful when you can use its “theory” to rank the other films, thus highlighting the power of the Matrix and its greatness that goes beyond and above our written language and current thought processes.
And not great in the sense of Vertical thinking, but in the sense of Divine and ONE with the Higher Spheres of Reality.
This is why Neo is not simply something new, he is one in a long line of Savior-Figures, but for us - THE NOW - he is The One.
