03 DEC 2025 by ideonexus
The System of Oppression is Still in Place at the End of ...
o, directly opposing Rebekah Simpkins’ assertion that “By removing the control, Neo sets the prisoners free,” the first film ends with those controls still in place.45 At the end of The Matrix, after all, Neo does not awaken everyone to “the real,” but instead exploits the continued functioning of the Matrix, leaving the illusion intact so that he can fly. As Žižek writes, “all these ‘miracles’ are possible only if we remain WITHIN the VR sustained by the Matrix …: our ‘...Folksonomies: science fiction critical theory
Folksonomies: science fiction critical theory
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notesThe Matrix makes many, very clear references to Black oppression. All of the antagonists are white men wearing business suits. Morphius tells one, "You all look the same to me." Later, Morphius is bound and gagged in a historically-evocative fashion.
At the same time, Neo is a white savior. In the end of each film, the oppressors remain in power. The Matrix is never dissolved and its victims remain trapped. The system of oppression remains in place.
25 OCT 2017 by ideonexus
The Web Enslaves Us With Convenience
In The Matrix, Neo learns that humanity is enslaved by machines. The populace “lives” in a virtual world, unaware that their body heat is being used as an energy source. I see a sort of low-fi parallel of this in our relationship with Facebook. Every member operates in that “free” forum, largely unaware that they’re powering the thing by relinquishing their user data.
This scenario is in stark contrast to what we once hoped the web to be. We imagined it as a means of liberating peo... 1 notes
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