Does The Matrix Make Sense?

[RegularKarate]

I haven't seen it in a long time... do they answer this?:  "If the majority of human bodies are hooked up to the matrix all thier lives, how do they reproduce?  What happens when they're out of humans?  Are they artificially inseminated?  Do the robots deliver the babies?  Does being pregnant affect your experience inside the Matrix?"

[MacGuffin]

As far as The Matrix's "concrete rules"—isn't that what were arguing here?

You're the one "arguing". So if God wants to put a portal there, so it be done and you accept that. But if a certain line in the Matrix is specified as a way in and out, you have a problem with that. I don't get what you don't get.

[Mesh]

Now I getting frustrated with you. You need to watch it again and pay attention.

He's not messing around in the Matrix. Morpheus had just found Neo at that time. Remember, he was looking for the person he believed to be The One. In the opening, Trinity is at a computer trying to find Neo. The Agents find this out because after the truck crashes into the phone booth, they say "The informant is real." "The name is Neo." They get to Neo, they get to Morpheus, hence planting the "bug" on him.

Like I said, I've seen it only twice (and the first time, I was drunk).  Please feel free to correct me with a vengeance when I get something wrong.

[MacGuffin]

I haven't seen it in a long time... do they answer this?:  "If the majority of human bodies are hooked up to the matrix all thier lives, how do they reproduce?  What happens when they're out of humans?  Are they artificially inseminated?  Do the robots deliver the babies?  Does being pregnant affect your experience inside the Matrix?"

"There are fields, endless fields, where humans are no longer born. They are grown."

They liquify the dead to be feed intravenously to the living.

[Mesh]

I haven't seen it in a long time... do they answer this?:  "If the majority of human bodies are hooked up to the matrix all thier lives, how do they reproduce?  What happens when they're out of humans?  Are they artificially inseminated?  Do the robots deliver the babies?  Does being pregnant affect your experience inside the Matrix?"

I think the AI rulers of Earth "farm" humans, the way we farm corn.  We help along its reproductive cycle, just as they'd facilitate the creation of more humans (and, you'd assume, humans that produce the most heat).

On pregnancy:  I took that pink goop Neo was living in to be a sort of artificial amniotic fluid.  Human pregnancy as we know it might therefore be a thing of the past in The Matrix's "real world."

[MacGuffin]

If you want a beef with the Matrix, you should really concentrate on the "prophecy" aspects of it. That is, if the Oracle is all-knowing that trustworthy, why did she say Neo wasn't the One?

She knows at that point that Neo himself doesn't believe it (hell, he can barely understand the concept of "There is no the spoon" in the waiting area at that time), but she knows nonetheless. She wants him to believe and prove it to himself. Not to have someone say to him, "You are The One." And then he goes, "Whoa." She tells him, "Being The One is just like being in love. No one can tell you youire in love, you just know it."

[Mesh]

You're the one "arguing". So if God wants to put a portal there, so it be done and you accept that. But if a certain line in the Matrix is specified as a way in and out, you have a problem with that. I don't get what you don't get.

Arguing, discussing, mouthing off, whatever.

"...a certain line in the Matrix is specified as a way in and out..." and that fact may not make much sense within the internal logic of the film world.  That's one of our topics here.  You take it for granted; I don't, necessarily.

[Mesh]

She knows at that point that Neo himself doesn't believe it (hell, he can barely understand the concept of "There is no the spoon" in the waiting area at that time), but she knows nonetheless. She wants him to believe and prove it to himself. Not to have someone say to him, "You are The One." And then he goes, "Whoa."

That's a good theory.  She's wise enough to know that the best way to get him to accept that he's The One is to tell him he's not.  If he is The One, he's certain to find that out for himself anyway.

[Raikus]

They have a good write up about the Matrix (which specifically deals with the question I raised) in this month's Creative Screenwriting (Hugh Jackman cover). It also tells of the evolution the Matrix script took. Very interesting stuff. Look it up if you're interested in Matrix lore.

[i/o]

I think that this is just a bad topic to tread in. It's a fantasy movie, so if someone can bend a story and not explain everything, they can very well bend something else and make up an explanation. You just run around in circles. It also tends to become something of a bitter conversation on both sides.
With that said, anyone have any thoughts on why this movie has such a Christian following?

[Mesh]

I think that this is just a bad topic to tread in. It's a fantasy movie, so if someone can bend a story and not explain everything, they can very well bend something else and make up an explanation. You just run around in circles. It also tends to become something of a bitter conversation on both sides.

I'm not bitter, and I've had fun with this thread thusfar.  I don't understand your reluctance to talk about fantasy films, in general.  Of course you can't resolve every little issue—that's what makes film such a fascinating topic.  Everyone sees things a little differently.

With that said, anyone have any thoughts on why this movie has such a Christian following?

It's really, really New Testament.

1.  Neo is the Chosen One, the Savior, the Messiah, sent by fate to lead enslaved humanity out of bondage.

2.  Neo is called The One (his name's even an anagram of it).

3.  Trinity is named after, uh, the Holy Trinity.  The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit.

4.  Now this is Old Testament, but:  Nebuchadnezzar (the name of Morpheus's hovercraft) is the name of the man in the OT who lived to be the oldest, some 900 years, if memory serves.

5.  Rebirth is a major theme in The Matrix, as it is in Christian theology.

There's gotta be a lot more, too.  Anyone?

[Sleuth]

She knows at that point that Neo himself doesn't believe it (hell, he can barely understand the concept of "There is no the spoon" in the waiting area at that time), but she knows nonetheless. She wants him to believe and prove it to himself. Not to have someone say to him, "You are The One." And then he goes, "Whoa."

That's a good theory.  She's wise enough to know that the best way to get him to accept that he's The One is to tell him he's not.  If he is The One, he's certain to find that out for himself anyway.

It's no theory, it's how it works.  As Morpheus says, "She told you exactly what you needed to hear" or something to that effect anyway

[Stringstroker]

Ok.  How bout another hole that can be argued about.  When Cypher is negotiating with agent smith about being plugged back into the matrix, he has to be in the Matrix right?  And if he is in the Matrix, The "operator" or Tank has to be monitoring him to let him in and out of the Matrix and check his vitals.  If Tank is watching the whole conversation on his monitors, he should know about Cypher's plan and in turn stop it.  Right?  I mean SOMEONE had to have seen Cypher talk to Agent Smith.  You can't plug into the Matrix without someone helping you...I think.

[onoff]

GALVATRON solves the matrix.

(mega spoilers ahead)
http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=38092

[Alethia]

ive only seen it once, and havent yet seen reloaded.  from what i remember, it contradicts the shit out of itself for the sake of a cool action sequence.