11-28-2010

This violent translation of world religious traditions within the Matrix franchise has serious implications for our own violent culture with which it resonates. Already there have been a troubling number of copy-cat murderers who, legitimately or not, have cited the films as inspiration for their crimes. Studio executives strenuously deny any link between the films and real acts of violence.⁶ However, they appear to have recognized some of the public criticism that might stem from the release of the Animatrix “Kid's Story,” which ends with a positive portrayal of teenager's suicide in the matrix, since plans to make the segment available on the Warner Brothers' website were abandoned. The direct association of violence with religion in the films can result in some troubling simplifications by those interpreting the films. In an article detailing some of the most prominent Hindu elements in the first two films, Julien Fielding argues that “even if the movie audience feels uncomfortable at how quickly and without remorse Trinity and Neo blow away the policemen,” this choice must be understood as a product of Hindu ideas about dharma, and should not concern us further.

Flannery-Dailey, Frances and Rachel Wagner. "Stopping Bullets: Constructions of Bliss and Problems of Violence" Jacking In to the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation. 2004.

In this passage, Wagner and Flanner-Dailey discuss how copy-cat muderers have been executed in a style startlingly similar to that of the Matrix's. Although Warner Bros. seeks to deny it, the authors hint that they too acknowledge the disturbing violence of their work by refusing to put clips of it online. However, the authors go on to cite that was is truly disturbing about the portrayal of violence is not the violence itself, but its gross over simplification. Just as Morgan argued a religion must use simple, plain symbols to convey an idea to its viewers, so too must movies rely on simple violence with a simple solution to make it seem acceptable.