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anti fishstick · 11-07-2003, 12:30 AM

yes it's a little negative. but i wouldn't say downright pessimistic. just a bit realist. i always like to think, i'm not pessimistic, i'm just a realist :-D

but anyway, i found an error w/ smith's rant.
"you can't win, it's pointless to keep fighting"

isn't he fighting with neo as well? they're trying to defeat eachother.

"why do you persist!?"
the fact that neo has so much faith in this free will, this choice, this belief that love exists and is worth fighting for, angers mr. smith SO much that he lets himself get defeated by it.

i think this is a perfect metaphor for life and how people really do need to feel like they have the power to change things and be in control. a person that knows this is going to be happier than the person who thinks change comes from external sources (religion, family, close friends, whatever)

don't get me wrong, i see a lot of truth in smith's speech. but it's all about what you make out of it. life is pointless and futile, i agree. but the least i can do is make the best out of it. and if i want to do that, i have to find happiness. and the way to happiness is in personal growth. relationships with other people. making goals for myself and accomplishing them, etc. i have to MAKE something of my life in order to feel like i've lived the best i could. and to dwell on smith's perception is not the way to happiness, IMO.

as for love, [as in earlier in the movie] love IS just a word. only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love? i don't agree with that either. love is a word, first and foremost, meant to describe a feeling. yes, it may exist only in our minds (or as some might say, hearts) but that's where a lot of things come from. feelings are a result of thoughts. to form thoughts to form feelings such as 'love' is a wonderful thing.

to form thoughts to form feelings such as rage is not.

11-07-2003, 12:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
anti fishstick Post-modernism meets Individualism AKA the Clash Location: oregon	yes it's a little negative. but i wouldn't say downright pessimistic. just a bit realist. i always like to think, i'm not pessimistic, i'm just a realist :-D but anyway, i found an error w/ smith's rant. "you can't win, it's pointless to keep fighting" isn't he fighting with neo as well? they're trying to defeat eachother. "why do you persist!?" the fact that neo has so much faith in this free will, this choice, this belief that love exists and is worth fighting for, angers mr. smith SO much that he lets himself get defeated by it. i think this is a perfect metaphor for life and how people really do need to feel like they have the power to change things and be in control. a person that knows this is going to be happier than the person who thinks change comes from external sources (religion, family, close friends, whatever) don't get me wrong, i see a lot of truth in smith's speech. but it's all about what you make out of it. life is pointless and futile, i agree. but the least i can do is make the best out of it. and if i want to do that, i have to find happiness. and the way to happiness is in personal growth. relationships with other people. making goals for myself and accomplishing them, etc. i have to MAKE something of my life in order to feel like i've lived the best i could. and to dwell on smith's perception is not the way to happiness, IMO. as for love, [as in earlier in the movie] love IS just a word. only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love? i don't agree with that either. love is a word, first and foremost, meant to describe a feeling. yes, it may exist only in our minds (or as some might say, hearts) but that's where a lot of things come from. feelings are a result of thoughts. to form thoughts to form feelings such as 'love' is a wonderful thing. to form thoughts to form feelings such as rage is not. __________________ And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~Anais Nin Last edited by anti fishstick; 11-07-2003 at 12:34 AM..