What "The Matrix Reloaded" Is REALLY About | A Christian Analysis

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We are days away from the Matrix Resurrection's premiere. Doors on your right.

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Set and setting, right? Oh, and if you're like me, you realize that movies are still a primary way of participating in a shared culture.

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In other words, in the age of more and more individualized subcultures where you could have two people on the same block, but they're not even aware of the same songs, the same television shows, the same news stories, or even the same values due to the way our technology pushes us further and further into these little pockets of isolated subcultures.

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You know, movies still seem to be that thing that you can count on to be consumed by vast amounts of folks in our society.

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And because that is the case, we Christians have a way to communicate the truth using illustrations from movies.

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And that's why the Matrix is such an important tool for Christians in the 21st century. But because it's an important tool, we need to truly understand what the movies are about, and that's where I come in.

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So let's get right into it. In a previous video,

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I explained the underlying allegory of the Matrix. That is, it is a sociological commentary on the control of the masses via imagery.

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Now I say more on that in the previous video. So if you haven't seen that one yet, definitely check that out first and then pop back into this one.

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I also said that the Matrix contains specific religious motifs that are purposely sprinkled throughout the film.

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Now, I initially postponed analysis on those elements while claiming that the Wachowskis appropriated them in order to tell a different story.

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Well, in this video, I'd like to explain how I came to that conclusion. I also want to strain out the issues of free will and determinism discussed in the film and investigate what

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Christianity has to say about all of that. But first, the story. It's unclear exactly how much time has elapsed between Neo's Christ -like ascension into the sky at the end of the

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Matrix and the beginning of the Matrix Reloaded, but things are quickly spiraling. The machines are digging and will reach

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Zion in 36 hours. The Nebuchadnezzar is desperately trying to contact the Oracle who has disappeared.

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Morpheus is clashing with Commander Locke, who is this surly, pragmatist, unsympathetic to Morpheus' belief in prophecy.

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Neo is suffering from recurring nightmares of Trinity falling to her death. And this reveals an internal struggle in Neo.

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That is, despite his new status as Matrix demigod, he still doesn't quite understand the Telos, or the ultimate end to his powers.

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Trinity is the bedrock of strength for Neo, as well as the resident martial arts master.

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But even she can tell that something is wrong when he looks at her. Of particular note is the new anomaly,

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Agent Smith, who no longer follows his programming and can replicate after performing what looks like the old

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Molo -Rom hat trick from Temple of Doom. Filmed four years after the first installment,

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Reloaded is a welcome return to the familiar green -complexioned world of the Matrix with its 1940s -era architecture and iconic black leather fashion.

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Along with improvements to bullet time are new computer -generated effects for more complex fight choreography.

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And this means entirely simulated action sequences are now spliced between live shooting, allowing the

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Wachowskis to sometimes pull off a number of amazing stunts. Much respect goes out to them for constructing action choreography with due attention to more realistic group fighting.

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That is, when Neo faces off against a group of agents, particularly in the bully brawl sequence, he doesn't vanquish each one at a time, the way it was done in older action films.

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He must deal with an overwhelming dogpile of enemies all at once. The Wachowskis would have been better off had they not insisted on so much

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CG, especially with the combination of CG and slow motion at the same time.

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That combination reveals a rather cartoonish veneer with a lot of the action. I mean, probably the best and worst examples of these are during the highway sequence where Morpheus, Trinity, and the

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Keymaker are being chased by other agents. When an agent leapfrogs in slow motion on top of cars, the

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CG looks so ridiculously fake, it takes you out of the experience. This is an example of utter

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CG failure, in my opinion. But on the other hand, when Trinity and the Keymaker must dodge

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CG traffic on a motorcycle, it succeeds since the traffic is not on screen long enough to be scrutinized.

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While the more over -the -top CG sequences are fun, the best action is still the wire stunts, which look almost balletic in slow motion.

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A great example of this is Neo versus the Merovingian's henchmen at the grand staircase. Now for those fans of the first films that didn't care much for the sequels,

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I'd like to offer a possible diagnosis for why that is the case. The Wachowskis made a decision to focus on the conceptual features of the plot while almost totally ignoring character development.

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But character development is crucial, and so what we have as a result is we hardly know anything about Thomas Anderson's life or his background before he begins his hero's journey.

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Helpful facts about Morpheus and Trinity, like their real names or who they were before the story, are never offered either.

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Then Reloaded abruptly introduces new characters in an entire city that we've never seen before.

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So perhaps the sequels feel cumbersome because there are supposed to be some necessary scenes where the characters are better and more well -developed, like in between the action, so that we as an audience can be propelled toward each plot point, but they do not exist in Reloaded or Revolutions.

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They're just not there. So consequently, we watch events unfold in the lives of people that we were never fully emotionally invested in.

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While I personally enjoy the conceptual slash philosophical devices carrying the trilogy, I am sympathetic to those who consider the sequels a disappointment.

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As I mentioned previously, the Wachowskis have appropriated religious imagery to tell a different story.

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Remember last time I talked about Baudrillard's theory of simulation, or third order of simulacra, as a bad copy that can no longer represent its original.

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I utilize the Kardashian reality show as an example of this concept. That is, when we watch the show, we only see a skewed or incomplete version of the real

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Kardashians. And since the show is so skewed, Baudrillard would say that it cannot represent the real family.

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The show can only represent the show. Once this disconnect is introduced between the image and the original, then an image's meaning can change.

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In other words, as Jim Revira says, the post -postmodern period has seen the destruction of appearances and meaning turned upside down.

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This characterization of reality is depressing to say the least. For if Baudrillard is correct, we are helpless victims of sociological manipulation, incapable of escaping the simulation of images.

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In Simulacra and Simulation, he describes images as no longer resembling anything except the empty figure of resemblance, the empty form of representation.

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It follows that since images are empty, according to Baudrillard, they can be filled with new representation.

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And this is what I think the Wachowskis have done with religious motifs in the films. They have appropriated religious images to represent an escape out of the realm of manipulation.

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Knowledge is the key to this transcendence. That is, knowledge leads to enlightenment, which leads to one's own ability to manipulate the simulation, kind of like the impossible jump over rooftops, which also leads to an escape from the simulation altogether.

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Remember Neo, who according to one character in the first Matrix is described as his own personal

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Jesus Christ. He dies, and he resurrects with the new ability to see behind the matrix, as it were, to the code of the simulation.

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And once he achieves a deeper knowledge of his self, he is able to manipulate the simulation such that he can stop bullets.

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Even his ascension into the sky at the end of the first film is reminiscent of Jesus' ascension in front of the crowd of witnesses in Acts 1, verse 9.

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But these are only some examples of Christian references being re -represented to further the idea of escaping sociological control.

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Also present in the trilogy are references to Eastern religion. Consider the axiom given to Neo by the bald -headed monk child in the

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Oracle's apartment, there is no spoon. The Hindu conception of Maya has been re -represented to mean there is no referent to the simulation.

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Or consider the common usage of mirrors and reflective lenses in the films. After Neo swallows the red pill, the mirror attaches itself to him and engulfs his entire body.

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The Buddhist conception of a mirror reflecting enlightenment is re -represented to signify, again, liberation from the chains of control.

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As I mentioned in the previous video, utilizing the movie to further our particular theological message should not be considered out of bounds.

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But we must be aware that when we do so, we use the movie in spite of its intended allegory, not because of it.

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The mechanisms of control run deeper than previously imagined in the original film. Neo not only realizes that the

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Oracle is a program from the machine world, but his own enlightenment and rebellion is also part of an anomaly foreseen by the architect.

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This leads to some critical questions like, is everything, including the controlled by the

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Matrix? Are the Oracle's prophecies really meant to aid Neo and gang, or are they meant to ensure greater control?

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On a more fundamental level, Neo wonders whether he can trust the Oracle at all. While we discover the answers to these particular questions in The Matrix Revolutions, the philosophies espoused by the

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Oracle and the Merovingian are helpful in discussing the biblical view of free will for knowledge and determinism.

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The Merovingian represents causal determinism, and what I mean by causal determinism is more in line with what's known as fatalism in philosophy.

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Causality. Action, reaction, cause, and effect. Remember, he is asserting this in the context of sociological control.

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That is, under his view, which is a guise of Baudrillard's view, people react to simulation as objects being manipulated, not as free agents.

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Morpheus challenges the Merovingian's assertion, saying, Everything begins with choice. No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without.

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As was mentioned in the previous video, the Bible rejects Baudrillard's worldview. Here we can see that the

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Bible also rejects the Merovingian's view as well. Not only as it specifically pertains to sociological manipulation, but to people in general.

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The Bible treats individuals and nations as moral agents culpable for their decisions.

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In Deuteronomy, God repeatedly gives Israel the choice to obey or to reject him. If you obey the commandments of the

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Lord, you shall live. But if your heart turns away, you shall perish. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.

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If it were the case that causal determinism was true, then it seems we would not be morally responsible for our actions, nor would it make sense for God to challenge us to make good decisions in the first place.

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Granted, this presupposes that people are agents that cause events and not the other way around, but this is what makes the best sense out of our own personal experience as well as intuitive sense of justice.

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So I think the Merovingian would be hard -pressed to find many people that agree with him, although we all know a few out there.

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Interestingly, the oracle appears to be espousing a biblical view of free will and destiny. So it's really up to you.

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Just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I'm going to tell you or reject it.

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So she affirms the choices that individuals make while at the same time knowing what they will choose to do beforehand.

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We find something similar in the biblical characterization of God. For example, on the one hand, God foreknows who will be saved, while on the other hand, salvation is a result of an individual's faith.

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For many wrestling with the biblical record, it might appear that God's foreknowledge of our actions somehow determines what we will choose to do.

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Candy? Do you already know if I'm going to take it?

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Wouldn't be much of an oracle if I didn't. But if you already know, how can I make a choice?

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Even Neo asks the oracle, if you already know whether I'll accept your offer of candy, how can

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I make the choice? But his question appears to be predicated on a mistake equating foreknowledge with determinism.

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Just because the oracle knows that Neo will accept her offer of candy, it doesn't mean that she's forcing him to accept it.

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All it means is she knows beforehand what he will do. Likewise, just because God knows what people will do in the future doesn't mean he's necessarily forcing them to make their decisions.

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Reloaded lends itself to affirming both God's omniscience and the moral culpability of individual decision -making.

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And let's face it, a lot of people who take the Bible seriously, they go back and forth on this issue, including

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Christians. On the one hand, you see that God is sovereign, that he is in control, and there are a set of scriptures that support that.

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On the other hand, you see that human beings are free in their decision -making, and you see a bunch of verses that support that.

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And so we're trying to constantly find the way to resolve the apparent tension between these two sets of verses.

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This is why I think The Matrix Reloaded, besides being like a really cool chop -sake flick, is probably one of the best films

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I've ever seen to reveal the tension between these concepts of omniscience, of determinism, and free will.

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The dialogue between the Merovingian and others is worth the price of admission, in my opinion.

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At the end of the day, all of us must come to grips with the world that God has created, with God himself and his nature.

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This is a world where we ultimately choose to accept or reject God, and one where he already knows what we have decided, and where he is in control, depending on how you understand his control.

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I would ask those that reject the biblical message based on a perceived conflict between these concepts to go deeper and investigate the robust biblical responses formulated by Christians.

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Now for more on this, you need to do a deep dive into the teachings of, let's say, Molinism, Arminianism, and Calvinism.

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There's even a debate between a Calvinist and a Molinist that I hear is all the rage at the moment. As we continue to count down the days to resurrections, go back and look at The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded.

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Why? Because it's talking about things that we still care about even 20 years later, and I think it will absolutely help us to have better conversations with the people that God has placed around us.

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I got one more video to make, it's on The Matrix Revolutions, and in this last video, we're going to see that Neo's solution to the story is so biblical it'll make your head spin.

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As always, let me know what you thought of The Matrix Reloaded. Did you like it? Did you think it was awful? What were some of the religious motifs that you noticed in the film?