Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2
The Matrix
Andy & Larry Wachowski, Directors
Warner Studios, 1999
2 hrs. 16 min.
Reviewed by Zoltan Horvath
I highly recommend this science fiction/action movie to adult Christians. It is suspenseful, and the special effects are superb. If you enjoy this movie genre, you will not be disappointed. Regardless of your tastes, however, I recommend The Matrix for the profound themes it explores. Truth, and how we perceive it, is at the core. Although the movie's approach to truth is flawed, it is not entirely false.
The main character, "Neo" (Keanu Reeves), is sought out to join a group who have discovered there is something profoundly wrong with the world around them. Their self-appointed role is to reveal this to others and resist the forces that hold mankind under their sway. Once they find Neo, he chooses to be enlightened and learns that the world around him is actually a grand deception manufactured by computers which have rebelled against their makers.
On the surface this may seem quite compatible with a Christian worldview, and in some ways it is. We are deceived if we believe that the reality perceived by the senses is the only knowable truth. Moreover, we are further deceived if we believe that the world around us is simply "okay," and that we should make the best of it. That is a grand deception wrought upon us by the world, Satan, and ourselves. The movie does well to explore this.
However, the movie fundamentally distorts these truths. Since the days of Adam, Satan has always presented man with half-truths, and such is the case in this movie. In fact, The Matrix goes one step further and even uses Christian imagery to convey some things which would actually increase its appeal. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters, Satan can only pervert what God has already made: he cannot be original.
Consider the way in which reality is distorted in this movie. Neo is presented with an opportunity to see the truth, but no good is promised once truth is revealed to him. This is a perverse gospel that is Eastern at its core; there is ultimately no personal God but rather an impersonal consciousness that we are all part of. Such an impersonal worldview can make no promises. In Eastern religions, one who has been enlightened realizes that what we perceive with our senses is an illusionas in the movie. They assert that suffering exists because we have desires that we cannot fulfill. The solution is to deny oneself and effectively reduce those desires to nil. Through this asceticism we have peace with our current state. This view of truth is bleak and contrasts sharply with the promise of our Lord to give us life and that more abundantly. God has given us these desires, and He wants us to find their fulfillment in Him.
Using a metaphor from the movie, the Bible teaches that God has made us to desire and enjoy steak, but because of sin we must now eat gruel. When we understand the gospel, we get a foretaste of the perfect steak God will give us in heaven, and we desire more, even if that means experiencing suffering on this earth for His sake. However, the Eastern views our desire for steak with scorn. We should rather accept that there is nothing but gruel on the menu. This is brought out in the movie. Once Neo has the truth revealed to him he ceases to be part of the world he once lived in but instead lives on a ship with meager living conditions including gruel for food.
The movie alludes to God but again is profoundly flawed in its approach. People in the group seek Neo out as God seeks us. In a sense he is elected. They have apparent omniscience, and Neo even asks, "How did you know that?" However, their knowledge is limited and he comes to realize this. This leaves an impression that the personal God who leads us into truth is Himself subordinate to a higher consciousness. It also suggests that if we enter into this enlightenment we effectively become like God ourselves.
The Matrix uses Christian terms but in a syncretistic way. For example, one of the characters goes by the name "Trinity". Her character is also ultimately subjugated to the reality around her. She is preceded by her reputation, and when Neo meets her he is surprised that she is a woman. He takes the Lord's Name in vain and her response is subtle, yet undeniable. She says, "Yes?" in a tone implying that she is answering to the Name that Neo uttered. He reveals that he always thought she was a guy to which she smiles condescendingly and says, "Most guys do."
Objectivity is also distorted in the movie. One character, Morpheus, believes that Neo is a deliverer. He takes Neo to an oracle to find out if this is "true." She tells Neo that he is not the deliverer. However, she tells him that she knows he does not believe in "fate." She also relates that though she has insisted to Morpheus that Neo was not the deliverer, he will not believe her. In the course of the movie Morpheus teaches Neo essentially that if he believes something strongly enough he will achieve it. In other words, the oracle can be wrong. Self-actualization, not truth, is the key, and once Neo finds it, he does the "impossible."
The Matrix is entertaining and explores some fundamental questions. It presents truths in a distorted form, which makes them harder to detect. Ultimately, it denies the power of our Triune God by acknowledging that there is something profoundly wrong with the world and denying that there will be a glorious and promised triumph at the consummation of all things.
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