I just finished writing my 3rd assignment blog to be posted and the song from the beginning of that youtube video of Allegory Of The Cave was all stuck in my head, so I decided to post the linky for a video made for the song. I love this band, The Postal Service. This song is haunting. Watch if you want :]
Monday, March 24, 2008
Gnosticism In The Matrix's Cave.
Wikipedia describes modern Gnosticism as a system of belief which exists through knowledge or Gnosis. The general idea which surrounds this movement is that humans are divine souls confined to a material world which was created by an imperfect spirit or the "Demiurge." The Demiurge is either created by or a similar form of God which exists on a supreme level. Under Gnostic principals we should strive to free ourselves of this material world by gaining spiritual knowledge through direct experience or knowledge of God.
This approach to our existence is a very interesting theory for our time. Especially now with the government attempting to excite us with visual and verbal tactics of confusion. It’s important to seek the truth rather be fed false facts for their own purpose.
The concept of being trapped in a world that limits our growth can be related to Plato’s Allegory Of The Cave. The story describes a human existence where people have been chained in a cave with their only source of light being a grand fire blazing behind them. What has been given to them and their circumstance is their only source of knowledge. Their life experience has been stunted by their surroundings, their material knowledge being all they know. If they would just push past their material comforts or, discomforts in this case, they would gain great knowledge in a world unseen.
Yet material knowledge overrides many factors in our everyday life. People tend to be comfortable trusting a familiar sight. What Gnostic principals urge is for us to be aware of our spiritual existence rather than what is blatantly in front of our eyes. The Matrix symbolizes and supports this theory with a modern overtone. The world that Neo feels around him actualizes to be a simulated reality created to keep his spirit dormant while his body is used as an energy source. Neo’s ascendancy into the actual world and use of his mind to avert the agents is his procurement of Gnosis while the Matrix is our Demiurge. I don't know where God factors into this allegory but then again, who ever does? (If you do, I'm forever open to enlightenment) :]
This approach to our existence is a very interesting theory for our time. Especially now with the government attempting to excite us with visual and verbal tactics of confusion. It’s important to seek the truth rather be fed false facts for their own purpose.
The concept of being trapped in a world that limits our growth can be related to Plato’s Allegory Of The Cave. The story describes a human existence where people have been chained in a cave with their only source of light being a grand fire blazing behind them. What has been given to them and their circumstance is their only source of knowledge. Their life experience has been stunted by their surroundings, their material knowledge being all they know. If they would just push past their material comforts or, discomforts in this case, they would gain great knowledge in a world unseen.
Yet material knowledge overrides many factors in our everyday life. People tend to be comfortable trusting a familiar sight. What Gnostic principals urge is for us to be aware of our spiritual existence rather than what is blatantly in front of our eyes. The Matrix symbolizes and supports this theory with a modern overtone. The world that Neo feels around him actualizes to be a simulated reality created to keep his spirit dormant while his body is used as an energy source. Neo’s ascendancy into the actual world and use of his mind to avert the agents is his procurement of Gnosis while the Matrix is our Demiurge. I don't know where God factors into this allegory but then again, who ever does? (If you do, I'm forever open to enlightenment) :]
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Disguising Insight
Our knowledge of the world is sometimes stunted by the traditional values we hold fast to guide a new life. We are comfortable learning from our parents in the road to adulthood but what happens when our parents, like an old science that’s been improved upon, are no longer giving us what we need to lead a progressive life? The Allegory Of The Cave ascends concepts of evolution with a story which survives time to be relative even today. An assessment of the word allegory to me, is insight disguised with symbolism. Of which this story is full of.
The idea that surrounds the story is simple, if we limit ourselves to the comfort of what we are used to, growth is difficult to achieve. This is my synopsis aside from the incredible amount of symbolism encompassing the story. I’m sure that throughout history, adaptations of meaning for The Allegory Of The Cave have changed. Yet with the birth of technology constantly changing and underlying our activities, the allegory for our time is that we shouldn’t keep our eyes focused on a farce reality (media propaganda) that blinds us to the world we can experience for ourselves.
This abstraction can also be analogous to The Matrix. In Neo’s world, people were cloaked with identities given to them by their fake perception. If they really wanted to seek the truth, their harsh reality was open to exposure but in all it’s perfection, the matrix had just become too hard to escape, well, except for Neo of course. In this way Neo is like the person who gets free from the cave and Cypher represents those of the cave who is comfortable in ignorance. It is important we take a certain knowledge of such warnings. Not as if to say that technology might succumb to the extreme circumstances of The Matrix but it just could be the television screen that blinds us.
The idea that surrounds the story is simple, if we limit ourselves to the comfort of what we are used to, growth is difficult to achieve. This is my synopsis aside from the incredible amount of symbolism encompassing the story. I’m sure that throughout history, adaptations of meaning for The Allegory Of The Cave have changed. Yet with the birth of technology constantly changing and underlying our activities, the allegory for our time is that we shouldn’t keep our eyes focused on a farce reality (media propaganda) that blinds us to the world we can experience for ourselves.
This abstraction can also be analogous to The Matrix. In Neo’s world, people were cloaked with identities given to them by their fake perception. If they really wanted to seek the truth, their harsh reality was open to exposure but in all it’s perfection, the matrix had just become too hard to escape, well, except for Neo of course. In this way Neo is like the person who gets free from the cave and Cypher represents those of the cave who is comfortable in ignorance. It is important we take a certain knowledge of such warnings. Not as if to say that technology might succumb to the extreme circumstances of The Matrix but it just could be the television screen that blinds us.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Screaming Irony.
At 11 years old, a movie like The Matrix is a little difficult to appreciate. I saw this movie in theaters opening day and was in awe of the precision in characters movements. Needless to say, a lot of other concepts were lost on me, I was never the sharpest needle in the haystack. I did manage to establish the movie was phenomenal in the innovative slow-motion effect of the bullet traveling but I had no idea what it took to produce those pivotal trademark effects.
Now, having read the outline of the movie on Wikipedia and seeing the movie for the second time, it felt like seeing each sequence with new eyes. Machines using us like we use them spurred my amusement. It's a really original paradoxical idea that I haven't seen in many other movies. I mean, you really think about it, with the advancements in new technology thinking for us, what else is there left for us to do but be it's slaves? This is why I'm not much of a technology consumer, except maybe your occasional video game.
The themes that plague interest to me throughout the movie were essentially the questions that Neo faced. I felt connected to the character in the sense that he was skeptical of his ability to be "The One." Having Morpheus believe in him with such conviction frightened him out of attaching himself the to idea. I myself, tend to stray from what is expected, for fear of disappointment, not only to myself but of other people.
Overall, I departed with my renewed vision of The Matrix in tact, we should try not to let the ease of technology bury our physical abilities. To sustain ourselves in a manner that befits what we can achieve on our own. Otherwise, we might just find that what we control becomes the one thing that takes away our freedom.
Now, having read the outline of the movie on Wikipedia and seeing the movie for the second time, it felt like seeing each sequence with new eyes. Machines using us like we use them spurred my amusement. It's a really original paradoxical idea that I haven't seen in many other movies. I mean, you really think about it, with the advancements in new technology thinking for us, what else is there left for us to do but be it's slaves? This is why I'm not much of a technology consumer, except maybe your occasional video game.
The themes that plague interest to me throughout the movie were essentially the questions that Neo faced. I felt connected to the character in the sense that he was skeptical of his ability to be "The One." Having Morpheus believe in him with such conviction frightened him out of attaching himself the to idea. I myself, tend to stray from what is expected, for fear of disappointment, not only to myself but of other people.
Overall, I departed with my renewed vision of The Matrix in tact, we should try not to let the ease of technology bury our physical abilities. To sustain ourselves in a manner that befits what we can achieve on our own. Otherwise, we might just find that what we control becomes the one thing that takes away our freedom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
