Post: #1

Background: I am Christian (Lutheran by trade), however I find a lot of useful knowledge can be gleaned from Gnostic texts. Not to mention I've noticed some striking similarities with Buddhism. With that in mind, the following is influenced from what I said previously.

I find it ironic that we, a mostly secular group of men, use the term "Red Pill" to describe our way of thinking.

That term "Red Pill" comes from the film The Matrix which in case anyone has noticed is an elaborate bible story about Neo (Jesus) saving mankind from the clutches of a fake world (The Computerized Matrix). Trinity is Mary Magdalene, Morpheus is John the Baptist, and Zion well you get the point.

If you're familiar with Gnostic texts, Jesus came to provide knowledge (gnosis) to a fallen world which forgot where it came from.

And here we all are, in our special corner of the web once again trying to slowly spread lost "knowledge" (gnosis) about masculinity in an effort to save others from hedonistic culture of America.

History rhymes, whoda thought.

Post: #2

You're so fucking right it is ridicolous. The foundation of Buddhism is to break out of this false reality and to disregard our hedonistic desires.

Post: #3

If you want irony, google the creators of The Matrix. One of the Watchowski brothers...is now a sister.

I assume the Biblical structure is more of a narrative device to provide plot structure and provide relatability than promote Christian ideology.

Post: #4

(06-20-2015 09:44 PM)h3ltrsk3ltr Wrote:  I assume the Biblical structure is more of a narrative device to provide plot structure and provide relatability than promote Christian ideology.

I also think this is the case.

I'm not sure it would have been so widely loved if it was purposefully pushing a Christian ideology though the parallels are definitely there.

Post: #5

Probably not Sooth.

I guess my reply was kind of a digression though. In regard to what Beast said, the biblical parallels are really not even subtle. In Reloaded, a bunch of people in Zion come up to Neo with gifts asking him to "watch over" loved ones. They're essentially praying to him.

The most well-known "hero's journey" (a term I really hate) is the Jesus story. More people are familiar with it than any other. Add some Woo-Ping martial arts, cutting edge Maya CGI and you got yourself a movie.

Other aspects I have been wondering about lately are the different philosophies that come from various players in the story...
Each major group has a separate "Truth" philosophy.
Morpheus - Choice
Smith - Purpose
Merovingian - Causality
Neo's boss (in the matrix) - Rules
The Architect - Probability
The Oracle - Personally I'd say balance

Specifically, the Oracle's statement that you can't see past the choices you don't understand is something I find fascinating. Any thoughts? Hmmm...seems like every time I write I go into a digression, I'm sorry for that, I truly am

If there are more parallels to be found between Gnostics, the Matrix and Neomasculinity/TRP I'd like to understand more.

Also, I realize there's probably little substance to be found in the movie itself.

Post: #6

You're close H3lter. Not trying to discredit your post, but here's a good comparison of religious figures and matrix characters:

http://awesomehouse.com/parallels.html

I'd focus less on the Matrix and more on the fact that we're using terms derived from Jesus' ministry. which I find more fascinating. This "hero's journey" has been done before. Thinking back to what I know about Rome and its hedonistic culture I get the impression similar forces at play then are at play once again and have been for a millennia.

Post: #7

Hey, thanks for that link.

Post: #8

(06-20-2015 03:40 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  Background: I am Christian (Lutheran by trade), however I find a lot of useful knowledge can be gleaned from Gnostic texts. Not to mention I've noticed some striking similarities with Buddhism. With that in mind, the following is influenced from what I said previously.

I find it ironic that we, a mostly secular group of men, use the term "Red Pill" to describe our way of thinking.

That term "Red Pill" comes from the film The Matrix which in case anyone has noticed is an elaborate bible story about Neo (Jesus) saving mankind from the clutches of a fake world (The Computerized Matrix). Trinity is Mary Magdalene, Morpheus is John the Baptist, and Zion well you get the point.

If you're familiar with Gnostic texts, Jesus came to provide knowledge (gnosis) to a fallen world which forgot where it came from.

And here we all are, in our special corner of the web once again trying to slowly spread lost "knowledge" (gnosis) about masculinity in an effort to save others from hedonistic culture of America.

History rhymes, whoda thought.

It's not even the Gnostic texts, really. Just look at John, from whom the Gnostics probably copied.

John 1:11 "He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him." The Bible certainly has great commentary about human nature that many atheists (and theists, for that matter) throw out for no good reason.

The hero's story (a term I hate as well) and Jesus are actually fairly different, according to scholarship over the last 40 or so years. It's like the so-called "parallels" between Jesus and pagan deities. They're only there if you ignore a lot of the differences.

Post: #9

(06-20-2015 10:24 PM)h3ltrsk3ltr Wrote:  Specifically, the Oracle's statement that you can't see past the choices you don't understand is something I find fascinating. Any thoughts?

I think that statement represents the entire meaning of the movie.

To say it another way, you only have a choice when you see how you don't.

Once you see your program. The set of instructions you've been carrying out since birth then you can finally have a chance to be free of them. To truly have a choice between doing your usual thing or something else entirely.

Post: #10

The Matrix is a great movie - people can read all kinds of symbols into it. Even the Wachowski's may have had other ideas. But we have to keep in mind that they got the makeup of the movie from Japanese anime and SF.

The movie struck a cord with so many people not because of some alleged symbolism, but because it was a sign that we all live indeed in a big matrix and this world is transient. That is why only the first movie was so inspiring. We could have lived without the next 2 movies in the franchise. The spiritual continuation of the first Matrix movie would have been to let Neo start bending the real reality. Instead they went into some bullshit, but it's still one of the best movies of all time to me.