I just saw the first installment of the Animatrix and I'd think it would interesting to start an intelligent discussion on the piece and the Matrix in general. Being a Film Studies Major at a very liberal college, my narrative analysis will be based mainly on the Marxist view, for obvious reasons. Later, I would like to discuss some of the stylistic aspects of the Matrix and Animatrix as the installments come out.
Anyone with even a vague knowledge of Communism, Marxism, and the Russian Revolution will immediately see the "rise of the working class" theme in the short: robots, who do all the labor intensive work, rise up against their masters. Stuff we're all familiar with in Sci Fi, or at least recent Sci Fi. The idea of robots or artificial intelligence deserving moral consideration like human beings is also well-trodden ideas (the book "The Positronic Man" comes to mind). But then the narrative takes an interesting course which could only be described as "Jewish."
The Jewish community has always been a fringe minority in society since the rise of Christianity, perhaps before. And much like the robots in the Animatrix, they seek their own homeland. Hence, the story seems to rise towards a marxist victory but instead creates a separtist movement that eventually tries to move back towards peace (the UN conference). Now, as we know from the Matrix, the machines win and enslave humanity. Here are my predictions as to why the robots take on the role of their human oppressors:
1. Humanity launches some horrible catastrophe on the robots, thus creating an everlasting hatred and and vengeful attitude towards the humans.
2. Some subversive robot, probably akin to Hitler, will rise and convince the robot population to rise against humanity.
3. Some virus or widespread malfunction will cause the robots to become malignant.
Or any combination of the three. Again, please forgive the rambling aspect of this thread. I'm just writing down ideas as they come. I'd like to hear some your comments on the piece. Again, this is the first of the series so I don't know what's going to happen next.
BTW-- I'm not the biggest fan of the Matrix. I find the score to be annoying and the editing's not spot on. I've always thought the Wachowski Brothers had great concepts but poor execution (I'd think the storyboards for the Matrix would be more enjoyable than the movie itself). But over the years, I've come to respect the fact that they are trying to make something a little different from the rest of the fare, even if it isn't the best. And their generic approach to the subject makes it easy to analyze.
Anyone with even a vague knowledge of Communism, Marxism, and the Russian Revolution will immediately see the "rise of the working class" theme in the short: robots, who do all the labor intensive work, rise up against their masters. Stuff we're all familiar with in Sci Fi, or at least recent Sci Fi. The idea of robots or artificial intelligence deserving moral consideration like human beings is also well-trodden ideas (the book "The Positronic Man" comes to mind). But then the narrative takes an interesting course which could only be described as "Jewish."
The Jewish community has always been a fringe minority in society since the rise of Christianity, perhaps before. And much like the robots in the Animatrix, they seek their own homeland. Hence, the story seems to rise towards a marxist victory but instead creates a separtist movement that eventually tries to move back towards peace (the UN conference). Now, as we know from the Matrix, the machines win and enslave humanity. Here are my predictions as to why the robots take on the role of their human oppressors:
1. Humanity launches some horrible catastrophe on the robots, thus creating an everlasting hatred and and vengeful attitude towards the humans.
2. Some subversive robot, probably akin to Hitler, will rise and convince the robot population to rise against humanity.
3. Some virus or widespread malfunction will cause the robots to become malignant.
Or any combination of the three. Again, please forgive the rambling aspect of this thread. I'm just writing down ideas as they come. I'd like to hear some your comments on the piece. Again, this is the first of the series so I don't know what's going to happen next.
BTW-- I'm not the biggest fan of the Matrix. I find the score to be annoying and the editing's not spot on. I've always thought the Wachowski Brothers had great concepts but poor execution (I'd think the storyboards for the Matrix would be more enjoyable than the movie itself). But over the years, I've come to respect the fact that they are trying to make something a little different from the rest of the fare, even if it isn't the best. And their generic approach to the subject makes it easy to analyze.