Matrix Control

The Matrix is a film from 1999 directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. The film features Keanu Reeves who is formally known as Thomas Anderson, but more commonly called Neo. Neo has been searching for Morpheus and when he finds him, Neo choses to question his world and see a system that has controlled and taken advantage of him.
    Once removed from the system called the Matrix, it is explained to Neo that his view of reality has been created to hold his mind as prisoner and turn his body into a battery for machines with artificial intelligence that have taken control of the world.  The Matrix represents the evil of a system that controls the mind because the subjects do not usually question its control just as people today do not typically question the way of life into which they are born. However, there is a redeeming factor seen in the longing of characters who wish to look at the boundaries of the system. Those, like Neo who chose the “red pill” and challenge what is presented to them as truth are in the processes of redeeming themselves because they are attempting to change the system. This is not to say that redemption is entirely individual because just as the crew of the “Nebuchadnezzar” brings people out of the Matrix, so are we tasked to encourage others to test their way of life.
    The Matrix shows that the search for redemption, the search for truth, both for yourself as well as for the encouragement of others, is the purpose of humanity. Neo was not taken out of the Matrix and held prisoner in the new reality, but was prepared to re-enter and spread the knowledge he had received. The deception of the Matrix and the truth of the real world can be associated with the nature of the empire and the kingdom of God. Where the deception of the Matrix and the empire is meant to enslave, the truth of the kingdom is meant to make people free.

What are some examples of systems that control us?

How can we challenge these systems?

artifact1 - Andrew Koneman

Last Friday night, I attended the showing of the 1999 film The Matrix directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski.  The story is based around the experiences of a seemingly normal software designer named Mr. Anderson who works on the weekends doing some kind of morally questionable business under the alias Neo.  Mr. Anderson is contacted by a mysterious character, Morpheus, who vaguely tells him that there is more to life than he might believe.  Mr. Anderson is skeptical until he takes "the red pill", a catalyst that launches him into the truth.  He awakes in a post-apocalyptic world where machines rule the world and humans are contained by a program known as "the matrix", an illusion of the time period just before the world ended projected onto the very mind of every person.  In this movie, humans are not born, they are grown to be harvested for their body heat to fuel the robotic infestation that has completely covered the earth.  This movie is a wake up call to the modern everyman to make him think about how he thinks.  It forces one to question their very existence by creating the story of an entire civilization that was simultaneously duped.  Some might say that this artifact preaches a conspiracy theory that nothing is actually real but I believe that it's actually just a thought exercise to break the status quo of the typical american lifestyle.  It encourages the viewer to be creative; to base his actions on his own creativity rather than trying to serve a greater system.  One might even say this movie goes as far as to cry out for the kingdom of heaven: If we, the human race, don't figure out how to live in harmony with the world we've been given then we will inevitably be farmed by robots for our body heat.

A few questions I'd like to raise about this film are:

Was the creation of the matrix unethical if it were meant to protect the human race from the harsh reality that is the future?

If you took the red pill but you were given the opportunity to go back to the matrix world with no real world consequences, would you?

January Series | Jenny Yang

Because I am a graphic designer for Calvin and helped coordinate the artwork of the January Series, I’ve been attending the lectures daily. One speaker that really stuck out to me was Jenny Yang, the co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate. Yang asserted the imperativeness of refugee and immigration rights of both legal and illegal citizens becoming the new civil rights movement, encompassing immigration as a biblical, church, and missional issue that most white American Christians are torn with showing consideration to aliens who are breaking the law.

The social artifact of her message involving immigration oppression stressed that the human purpose is to move, travel, and immigrate, because that is how God spreads his love, message and determination. Spite is prevalent inside the people that show domination over immigrants; they judge because they may not know English, or whether or not they pay their taxes (which they do, and there would be no Social Security if they did not pay their IRS dues). Because it is a growing but hushed issue within the church (only 10% of churches have evaluated this concern), it makes me hope for more churches to bring along the message that the artifact reveals about life in the Kingdom: immigrants are God’s treasured, cherished people who he yearns for just as much as he does for us. Yang specified Zechariah 7:9-10, saying, “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’” 
Yang introduced concrete ways of improvising homeland security, like making it easier for immigrants to get through the security and immigration process, meanwhile running more safekeeping to our borders.

1. Would it be un-Christian to eject illegal immigrants who have fostered their lives in the United States?
2. Why do you think Christians are so separated on the illegal immigration dispute?

Cultural Artifact #1-"The Matrix"

            The movie “Matrix” was released back in 1999 telling the story of a rebel group’s fight against an artificial intelligence(AI) that took control over the human population. Humans are plugged into a system that turns a dream into real life inside their minds. Morpheus, the leader of the rebels, makes it his destiny to find the “one” who would bring humans back into the light of the real world.

            Matrix is the system used by the AI to blind the humans to the systemic growing of humans as an energy source powering the AI. Morpheus successfully finds Neo(the “one”) who is prophesized to save the human race from the matrix. Neo goes through a process of figuring out what he believes is real and what the real truth is.

Morpheus uses training to shift Neo’s eyes towards the frame that had been constructing his reality. Once Neo discovers the painful truth of his past, he starts constructing the path of his fate. Circumstances are put in Neo’s way to develop his fate.  The oracle is used to test what Neo chooses to believe. Neo discovers he is the “one” when he saves Morpheus from the agents. Breaking the Oracle’s prediction taught him to believe. By believing he created his fate that would eventually fulfill the prophecy. Neo becomes the redemption meanwhile evil is represented as the artificial intelligence in the movie.

The ending of Matrix is a happy one, yet it makes me wonder what’s next in the series? Neo ends with a promising dialogue for the future. Neo is a great example of redemption against a reality pulled over societies eyes. What other symbolism(possibly biblical) might be present throughout the tales of the Matrix?

Dorm Film Post: America the Beautiful

The documentary, America the Beautiful, will be viewed tomorrow (Wednesday, January 8) at 6:30 in  2^nd Heyns, Room 258. However, we will meet in the lobby of BHT for simplicity sake. Snacks and a lively discussion will be provided.

This film follows the story of a young girl, age 12, who is discovered by the fashion industry and thrust briefly into the world of modeling. Using the rise and fall of this young fashion sensation, Director Darryl Roberts identifies the way humans are conditioned to try and live up to impossible standards of physical perfection, and the harmful behavior that can result from this mindset.

Robert Ebert, a movie critic for the Chicago Sun-Times , gives the film a positive review, finding  this film to accurately portray a severely distorted mindset in today’s culture regarding the female body. He came away feeling enraged at the ruthless methods and motives of the fashion industry. The powerful message is one that Ebert values, but he does mention the presence of some unnecessary footage.

A much more critical review was posted in the New York Times , calling the director “naïve” and “ignorant” of the real issues regarding body image in teen girls. The author feels much of the footage was unnecessary and that the message was too shallow.

To watch the trailer for this film, visit this YouTube site. Note the shocking comments made by both men and women alike. Most people don’t even realize where their expectations of beauty are coming from or why we have them. This film attempts to bring to light the devastating effects of the current beauty industry and initiate a change in the way we view beauty. 

Analysis of "The Truman Show"

The Truman Show is a satirical piece of art that mocks the media-consumed growing generation. Set in a man made city within a closed dome, the movie is about a man whose entire life has been the world’s source of entertainment without him even knowing and how he searches for the truth.

Christof, the director of the Truman show wants Truman to live a normal, happy, and fear-free life, unfortunately without Truman knowing his entire life is being projected onto a few pixels around the world. However, when truth decides to visit Truman one day, personified as Sylvia, his entire world shatters and his search for the truth begins.

            This artifact seems to cry out for the kingdom in the sense that all men and women should seek the truth, whatever it takes. Truman conquers his greatest fears and risks his life in pursuit for the truth, Sylvia. This movie seems to be saying that the truth is worth dying for when Truman ties himself onto the Santa Maria.

            According to Christof, evil is everywhere in the world except the world he created. If any kind of evil were to be discovered in the small city of Seahaven Christof would probably say that it originated from the “outside world”. The irony of that is that Seahaven was built on lies and deceit.  Anything built on lies and deceit, no matter how well it was crafted, will in the end fail. The look on Christof’s face as he increased the wind strength in hopes of stopping Truman looked like that of a criminal trying so desperately to cover up all the evidence. The devil will try hard to stop people from finding the Truth, but that shouldn’t stop them. For at the end of such a journey, there is always a reward, in Truman’s case, a beautiful girl; in real life, Jesus!

1)   What are certain hindrances in your life that are holding you back from discovering the truth?

2)   Are you more like a Sylvia, trying desperately to show others the truth or like Christof, concealing the truth?