I just thot that Neo’s powers were simply expanding into the real world–that once he had learned to free his mind from the boundaries of the Matrix, he began to break through the limits of the physical world as well. I guess that didn’t go anywhere, either. But I like Chuck’s theory that he was simply able to tap into the programs controlling the Sentinels, even outside the Matrix, in the same way that Smith was able to tap into human minds even while outside the Matrix. It keeps up the symmetry of the two characters.
That’s how I always thought of it too… but it is still kind of weird.
If Neo is out of the Matrix, and he wants to control the programs controlling the Sentinels, shouldn’t Neo establish some kind of connection with the Sentinels? Instead he waved his hands and that was it. I never thought about that, but maybe it does make more sense if he was still in the Matrix.
I really like the theory that everything was still in the Matrix. That would have been wicked.
It’s very cool to find out that Persephone’s lipstick was a memory program!
Dude, that’s awesome. That would have been a great ending. Not for humanity of course, but for a thought provoking movie. Zion as computer program to pacify minds that are in danger of awakening. Freedom is an illusion.
I’m just a sucker for tragic endings.
It’s not unheard of to use silver against vampires. Blade comes to mind, which is particularly apt, considering the similarity in costumes and fight choreography…
You’re spot on about Lem being unappreciated. I loved Solaris (neither movie ever really did it justice) but haven’t read anything else yet. Add another one to the reading queue. 
So is plagiarism. 
They didn’t have to be. I mean, seriously, if you could have any weapon in the Matrix, why not a lightsaber?
The rave in and of itself isn’t gratuitous - but I definitely think that the gaze towards women’s bodies was. (and feet?). But I think the religious structure is spot on. I don’t want to say that Matrix Rave = Christianity, but in Christian religious services I’m familiar with, there is the first part of the service, which is the Word (read: speeches) and then there’s the Eucharist, which actually is another word for celebration. So in terms of the world of the Matrix, it makes sense that you have speeches and celebration as a form of religious devotion.
I do see that aspect of it, but the rave seemed to me more “primal”, as Audra said, in the sense of animal desires. The Matrix is a world of the mind; how better to differentiate it from the “real world” than making Zion a world of the flesh?
I also think it’s interesting that the humans who have been freed all choose their own names (though I don’t know if that is also true for the humans who are born rather than grown) - particularly because there’s a lot of work that has been done about the power relationships involved in the act of naming.
I also considered the idea of the real name and “slave name”, a la Roots. Part of declaring their freedom is setting aside the name that the Matrix assigned them. The concept of the online identity (the so-called hacker names alluded to in the first Matrix especially) being representative of one’s true self (something which everyone here can probably relate to) devoid of the constraint of the “real world” (or illusory world, in the case of the Matrix) also comes to mind.
Now there’s a great triple-header. 
Awesome. Sigged.
Considering the distance between here and there, what’s a few hundred miles? :rolleyes:
Thanks, that means a lot, I mean, a lot of time and practice went into that.
To be completely honest, the only “unAmerican” accent I heard at all was the way you pronounced “Stanislaw Lem”, you know, correctly. 
Maybe I could phone in an intro sometime with a really thick accent?
I was really expecting you to sound like Schwarzenegger. OK, admit it: you’re actually an American who just happens to live in Germany, aren’t you??? 
War Journal:
Week 5, maybe 4, without car stereo and, hence, no GWC. Really hard starting the day in silence. I can almost hear the GWC music if I think about it. It’s rough. When everyone says “IYKWIM,” I really feel like I don’t. I wanna go back in the Matrix.
Wouldn’t earphones be easier?
Ugh, their jelly tastes awful.
IYKWIM.
shh, don’t mention annexation in front of the German!
(kidding, kidding…)
and I apologize for knowing this craaap. Will wrote “Just the Two of Us” for Trey, the spawn of a prior marriage.
Agreed. Wasn’t it like 18 minutes or so? I remember watching it in the theater and getting bored. By something exciting. That’s just not right…
(Seraph - short for seraphim?
Seraph = singular. Seraphim = plural.
The seraphim are the highest level of angels in Judeo/Christian mythology, iirc. They sang to the Lord constantly with praise, and I think they burned eternally with fire - gah, I’m digging deep here, but I think it was the fire of their belief, or something like that. Was the character named after the angel?)
I wouldn’t be surprised. Seraphim are said to surround the Throne of God (which makes “the fire of their belief” pretty ironic, IMO). Since the Oracle was supposed to be one of the “gods” of the Matrix, it only makes sense that she have an “angelic” guardian…
Is a cage still a cage if you can’t see the bars? :rolleyes:
A good point. In a way, it brings to mind Smith’s comment about humanity being a “virus”. Both Smith and Neo were, in their own ways, computer viruses. Any system on their “network” was vulnerable.
That would have been great. The ending we got was so… meh.
and I apologize for knowing this craaap. Will wrote “Just the Two of Us” for Trey, the spawn of a prior marriage.
and they’re both scientologists
…why the hell do I know this??
Xenu told you? :rolleyes:
Everytime he speaks, I am locked in. Him and Obama
wtach it or I’ll get a gold 747 to come get you. HA
it’s probably because I work with a bunch of 20-something girls who rock the Perez Hilton or something.
not that I’m complaining mind you…just sayin’
I can’t say enough good things about Lem, it just hurts that most people who are seriously into SF know Asimov (who, by the way, was Russian by birth), Heinlein and Clarke, but nobody seems to know Lem. Reading Lem is like reaching a whole new level of SF sophistication, the things he did with Solaris, it’s more than amazing, it could change the way one looks at the genre forever!
If you like Futurological Congress and its protagonist Ijon Tichy, then I’m sure you’ll also love “The Star Diaries”, which is something like The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, only a bit earlier and more Soviet-ish. Very funny, though.
Speaking of Soviets, there’s no reason to look down upon Lem because he wrote under the Soviet system, the actual reason why he is so important in Eastern European literature is that he used SF to write against Soviet oppressionism.
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Poofy, if you read this: expecting a Bavarian to sound like an Austrian might get you in trouble
Wait, so are you an American who lives in Germany, or a German who speaks fluent English with American accent?
SF does tend to bring out the social commentary, doesn’t it?
Poofy, if you read this: expecting a Bavarian to sound like an Austrian might get you in trouble
I’m sorry. I meant to say I thought you’d sound like Heidi Klum.
(fwiw, you’re three hours from the border. How different could you sound?)
Or an Austrian who lives in Germany and speaks fluent English with an American accent?
If almost 30 years of Arnold living in the US has taught us anything, it’s that there’s no such thing as an Austrian who speaks fluent English with American accent.