Matrix Madness!

My own geekness sometimes overwhelms even me at times. Times like right now, when, after enjoying a wonderfully exhausting essay on THE MATRIX RELOADED, I fired off the following email to its creator.

Beware: if you couldn't give a rat's ass about THE MATRIX and walk around wondering loudly what all the fuss is about, don't even bother reading any further. When I dive into a subject, I dive DEEP...

From: Eric Kurzenberger
Date: Wed Jun 11, 2003 10:13:01 PM America/New_York
To: btakle@charter.net
Subject: The Trinity function

Hey Brian,

I read and thoroughly enjoyed your essay, and I had a couple thoughts of my own that I just wanted to throw at you.

In the film, the Architect references Neo's "function" as a sort of reset device for the Matrix: random bugs build up in the system, and when they get to a certain point, Neo comes along and resets the whole thing to its beginning base setting. Neo's a human being who exists in the real world, but he ALSO fulfills a function in the Matrix: a program, in essence. And like any program, if he "crashes" (dies), he can be restarted. Agent Smith's infiltration of a human being (though we have yet to see how deep this infiltration is), is evidence that the connection between man and Matrix is much deeper than any of the humans in the film suspect, and how elements of the Matrix (and the mind) can override much of the base biological functions, especially in someone like Neo who is part man, part program.

Which brings me to Trinity. See, I think she is, unbeknownst to her, also part program, and that her creator may be the "Mother" to which the Architect is referring (because I don't believe it's the Oracle). My logic is this:

- Trinity fulfills a function, in that she aids Neo in his function of resetting the function, even going to far as to reset HIM (bringing him back to life in the first film). Her presence and assistance is what enables Neo to function ("They need you." "I need YOU.")

- Trinity provides her creator with direct, unfiltered information about the functioning and status of the Matrix. Any operating system worth its salt needs a program to monitor it, and Trinity, unlike the Oracle or the Agents, provides up-to-date feedback on the current operation of the Matrix, and how close it is to resetting.

- Trinity, like Neo, has died (crashed) and been reset. I don't believe that any of the other humans of Zion (even Morpheus) would be able to be revived from death, and I certainly have to believe the Wachowskis have a better explanation for the phenomenon than some kind of "love conquers all" puppy crap.

- Trinity gives her creator knowledge that is clearly desired by the machines: what it's like to love. Persephone's key role in the film seems to be to demonstrate that the machines are extremely interested in what love is, and how love drives human beings, and comments by the Architect only reinforce this. Trinity provides this information.

Thinking back on the the "sex scene" (which I don't believe was just an excuse to show some flesh), one of the things I remember standing out most was the focus on the sockets in Neo's and Trinity's skin: evidence of the machine in the man, the presence of the Matrix in their love.

Whew. Okay, I'm done. Sorry to unload on you, but I thought you might be interested. Again, great job with the essay.

Cheers,

Eric Kurzenberger
www.theforeignembassy.com