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Thraeryn · 05-10-2003, 03:30 PM

OK. Here's a WARNING:

Don't read this if you don't want to have your opinions about The Matrix change (possibly dramatically.) I'm still not sure what I think about this topic, but the thoughts are running through my head and I wanted to discuss them. Also, don't go any further if you don't want to read a bit of a spoiler for some of the Animatrix shorts; this topic uses two of them as the basis for discusson.

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After having watched "The Second Rennaissance, Pts. 1 & 2" (see The Animatrix if you care to view/download the movies), I've come to a realization:

Humans are definitely not the protagonists of the Matrix world.

The movies I mentioned earlier describe the beginning of man's war with the machines. The long and short of them is that the machines didn't start the war. Mankind, in its typical fashion, gave no thought to the rights of the thinking creatures it created. When one took exception to being deactivated and "deactivated" its owners first, mankind furiously declared that EVERY one of its kind be obliterated.

The machines, wanting to continue their "lives", first fought back, then came to form their own, seperate nation. Being machines, they created superior machinery; being human, mankind declared war. Mankind tried to take away the power source of the machines, attempting once more to kill the entities that they had created and then treated with utter contempt. Not until this point, when the "livelihood" of each machine was threatened, did the machines attempt to eradicate man as man wished to eradicate them.

The REAL kicker is this: even when the machines had won, "subjugating" man, they did not kill their enemy. Instead of systematically destroying mankind, they managed to create a system wherein man could live and function, even if only in an "imaginary" world. As Cypher and some others who were liberated from the Matrix maintained, they could have continued living their lives in a "normal" world if they had not taken the red pill. Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the original attempt to create the Matrix was a blissful utopia!

The machines still have not tried to destroy mankind. Instead, they attempt to pre-emptively strike the small pockets of resistance that are even now determined to eradicate their way of life. It's the HUMANS that, in their attempts to destroy the machines, end up sacrificing their own kind for a victory that never comes. When an Agent is killed, an Agent's body isn't the one that's left lying on the pavement.

At this advanced stage in the story, it would be understandable if the machines were no longer willing to listen to an offer of truce; however, on an individual basis, they continue to be willing to trade a return to "normality" for information on the human resistance. What would happen if Neo came to the Agents (with the exception of Agent Smith, who has gone a bit loopy) with an offer?

Let me know what you think.

05-10-2003, 03:30 PM	#74 (permalink)
Thraeryn Loser	The Matrix: Here's the twist. . . . OK. Here's a WARNING: Don't read this if you don't want to have your opinions about The Matrix change (possibly dramatically.) I'm still not sure what I think about this topic, but the thoughts are running through my head and I wanted to discuss them. Also, don't go any further if you don't want to read a bit of a spoiler for some of the Animatrix shorts; this topic uses two of them as the basis for discusson. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After having watched "The Second Rennaissance, Pts. 1 & 2" (see The Animatrix if you care to view/download the movies), I've come to a realization: Humans are definitely not the protagonists of the Matrix world. The movies I mentioned earlier describe the beginning of man's war with the machines. The long and short of them is that the machines didn't start the war. Mankind, in its typical fashion, gave no thought to the rights of the thinking creatures it created. When one took exception to being deactivated and "deactivated" its owners first, mankind furiously declared that EVERY one of its kind be obliterated. The machines, wanting to continue their "lives", first fought back, then came to form their own, seperate nation. Being machines, they created superior machinery; being human, mankind declared war. Mankind tried to take away the power source of the machines, attempting once more to kill the entities that they had created and then treated with utter contempt. Not until this point, when the "livelihood" of each machine was threatened, did the machines attempt to eradicate man as man wished to eradicate them. The REAL kicker is this: even when the machines had won, "subjugating" man, they did not kill their enemy. Instead of systematically destroying mankind, they managed to create a system wherein man could live and function, even if only in an "imaginary" world. As Cypher and some others who were liberated from the Matrix maintained, they could have continued living their lives in a "normal" world if they had not taken the red pill. Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the original attempt to create the Matrix was a blissful utopia! The machines still have not tried to destroy mankind. Instead, they attempt to pre-emptively strike the small pockets of resistance that are even now determined to eradicate their way of life. It's the HUMANS that, in their attempts to destroy the machines, end up sacrificing their own kind for a victory that never comes. When an Agent is killed, an Agent's body isn't the one that's left lying on the pavement. At this advanced stage in the story, it would be understandable if the machines were no longer willing to listen to an offer of truce; however, on an individual basis, they continue to be willing to trade a return to "normality" for information on the human resistance. What would happen if Neo came to the Agents (with the exception of Agent Smith, who has gone a bit loopy) with an offer? Let me know what you think.