"Matrix" movie

Rakesh Bhandari bhandari at phoenix.Princeton.EDU
Wed Apr 7 21:13:45 PDT 1999


Peter,

I do appreciate your bringing out the manifestly subservise sides to Matrix--you may be right as most of my friends would agree with you; but the agents don't look like Wall Street guys, they look like FBI agents. The masses are stupid and trapped in false consciousness; they never have that special intuition of the One that something is unreal. Just plain old simple aristocratic epistemology.

A select few can see through it all, and only The One really has the power to defy the hold of virtual reality (of course the power is only developed after a deep kiss by leather chick). I would imagine this all appeals to you because you have spent some time in a Leninist or Trotyskist vanguard. Moreover, does The One really want to be out of the matrix? Or just have fewer illusions about its reality so he will be able to manipulate the world in which everyone else is falsely ensconsed more easily towards his own advantage? The masses are considered too stupid for us to believe that they would want out; indeed they are considered to be dupes who are really enemies. Well there's a good reason to manipulate and fuck with them towards your own cyber warrior goals. It really seems to have the same attitude towards others that is encouraged by the video games that countless anti social teenage boys play.

And please don't try to tell me a movie the suspence of which is centered on whether some supernatural Oracle's predictions will come true is subversive.

yours, rakesh



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