Introductions

by Stephen Faller

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Welcome to the “Matrix and Beyond.” This space has been afforded to me by Warcry, and together, we're going to use this space to explore various elements and themes of the Matrix experience. The Wachowski have created an elaborate world, and from time to time, we'll focus in on some of the exquisite details that they have provided us. This column will explore various elements of the Matrix trilogy, the Animatrix, and just about any of the media that make up the multimedia mythological realm of the Matrix.

But many times, our discussion will take us into the “real world.” No, I don't mean the underworld caverns of Zion, but rather, many of the discussions will take place in the world of the moviegoer. There are a lot of interesting things we can explore to get more out of the Matrix, and believe me, we will explore them. But one of the absolutely fascinating things the Matrix offers is what this tremendous metaphor says about our world. So expect both facets of the coin; we will look at aspects of the real world that help explain the Matrix, and we will look at aspects of the Matrix that help explain life as we know it.

Like you, I am here because I have an affinity for the Matrix. I enjoy writing about the Matrix, and I have several related articles on various sites around the web. I try to collect them at my site http://beyondthematrix.stephen-faller.com and you can find them there, and more information about who I am. The only thing you need to know about me is that I value all of my readers, and I'll do my best to make every article worth the time and effort you spend reading it.

Of particular interest to our journey of the Matrix and beyond will be the philosophical themes that weave together and create the intellectual backdrop for the Matrix world. One of the reasons why the Wachowskis were able to create such an incredible imaginary world was because they had a rich enough conceptual framework to support the massive weight of all the ideas presented.

Fans who love Matrix philosophy are feeling a little nervous about the Matrix Online. If the online game is going to be successful, it's going to have to do those philosophical themes justice. The Wachowskis have signed on to extend the storylines into this massive multiplayer game, and the fans are going to need the same depth that satisfied their minds as much as the spectacular special effects satisfied their eyes. Simply put, the game needs to have some philosophical legs or else it's not going to be able to run the distance. I believe the philosophical component will make or brake the game. We know it’s going to look cool and play cool. It needs to think cool. And Matrix fans have grounds for concern here, because the philosophical component of the online game is the most problematic and difficult.

It's time to introduce what I call the “sucker factor.” In no uncertain terms, the trilogy has impressed on us that being in the Matrix is not a good thing and that we need to be free. Now, Warner Brothers has created a real Matrix that we can pay and subscribe to plug ourselves into. Even Joel Silver was aware of this irony in an interview about the game on the Revolutions DVD. In the world of the fiction, the Matrix was a bad thing -- something endured by those who were unawakened. Now fans can pay to be plugged into the Matrix. Something doesn't add up. Nobody wants to be a Cypher.

Because of this irony -- the fact that players will be voluntarily plugging themselves into a Matrix -- this column will be consistently focus on analysis and sophisticated discussion of the Matrix experience. Game designers need to see how important the philosophy is to the fans.

In a purely philosophical fashion, we can describe this problem in terms of the essence of something bad or a flaw, and then we could describe it as the lack of something good. Let's consider the first case. There are two ways that the Matrix Online can exploit the “sucker factor.” One such way is if the game becomes a sinkhole of time. If the game becomes another action game, no matter how good the effects are, fans will feel betrayed. Fans don't want a simple shoot'em up. We really want to see how far the rabbit hole goes.

And relatedly, if the game drops all of the philosophical threads that have been picked up over the last four years, then this will be the absence of all of the good philosophy that we've been probing and analyzing. The game has to point to something larger than itself. The game can't forget about the “real world.” Maybe all of the gameplay takes place in the Matrix, but the player very much lives in the real world. The gameplayer is the one who is going to be sitting for hours at the computer. Is the philosophy going to help the player become more free, or just become a big battery for the Matrix incorporated?

We don't have to panic. The machines haven't taken over and we aren't enslaved. This isn't the same kind of “Matrix” we saw in the movies. We have a choice, and we can turn the machines off if we want to. Even though the mythical Matrix is portrayed as a bad thing, the Matrix Online has great potential to become a good thing. Players can join together in community and they can share that which inspires them the most from their interpretations of the trilogy. Community is a good thing. And hopefully, the game will stimulate new thought around the question of freedom and the themes from the movie. We know that the story picks up where Revolutions left off. Let's hope that the rabbit hole continues as well.

And until then, the Matrix has you.