Happy holidays, everyone! We thought we’d try and give you listeners a present by getting this week’s episode out early. Hopefully Santa didn’t damage it on his way down the interwebz chimney.
So, tis the holiday season, and with that comes the close of yet another year, so we thought it would be a good idea to end things with endings. So, gather ’round the fire, sip on some hot chocolate, and snuggle in as we get to The End.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
9 Responses
I’ve found that an easy way of judging the quality of a podcast is the level of my engagement. If I spend the entire episode thinking (or even saying out loud), “Hey, that’s not right,” or, “Dead on, I coudn’t agree more,” or, “Wait a minute, don’t forget to mention…” This was one of those podcasts. Excellent, well done, several thumbs up.
Thanks, David. I just hope it was more of the “Dead on, couldn’t agree more,” than the “Hey, that’s not right” kind of thoughts. 🙂
Well, to be honest, I learn more from those “hey, that’s not right” moments, if only because the positions I disagree with are argued well and passionately, and demand from me a willingness to reconsider my thinking. Nothing wrong with that. And anyway, it’s usually Terry I disagree with 🙂
Oh, well, that’s okay then. Disagreeing with Terry is a sure sign of sanity and proper thinking.
Hey guys- just getting caught up on the show and listened to this episode this afternoon.
I wanted to bring up one point. I agree that Neo had to die at the end of the Matrix trilogy.
Where I think the mistake was made was in killing off Trinity.
Neo goes in to that final battle with NOTHING to live for. You can argue till you’re blue in the face that Neo was still fighting for the rest of the world but the movies don’t really support that. He was not connected with the rest of that community in any real, solid way- at least not in the way that he was connected to Trinity. I read all of his actions as things done to protect HER, to be close to HER, to be with HER and keep HER safe.
Once she was gone, he had nothing left to live for. If you compare Neo to figures like Jesus Christ, you see that it doesn’t hold up all that well. When Jesus died, he left people he loved behind. He was giving something up to (hopefully) get to something greater. It was a SACRAFICE.
Neo’s death really wasn’t. He had already lost all that he really cared about and loved. I read the ending as suicide by machine. So, yes, I agree. Neo had to die. But I think Trinity should have still been kicking around because then it would have felt like the sacrifice that I know they wanted us to see it as.
If that makes any sense.
Anyway, great show, you guys! Really engaging and thought provoking. I’m really looking forward to getting caught up with the rest of the episodes.
Alison, I think what Neo had left to fight for was an ideal, an ideal that Trinity helped personify. Neo’s entire reason for existing was to bring humanity and the machines together, but through his love for Trinity he went much further than any other “One” in the past. Those previous Ones had their love for humanity as a whole, but Neo had a specific love, which drove him more. That was why he wanted to go to the Machine City. Her death didn’t change his love, nor did it erase the ideal, the dream. He had to fight, not only to save humanity, but to preserve what they had fought so hard for.
Like you, I hope that made sense. Great post, though!
Justin, you make an interesting point that I had not considered bfore. I think I had kept my thoughts on that one particular track becuase of all of the talk about Christ symbolism that the writers and directors had made outside of the film.
However, looking at the film through the point you made does change my opinion somewhat. To make sure that I understand what you are saying, let me re-phrase here: Trinity herself has died but Neo has the chance to protect and save the ideal that they believed in, even if he could not save the physical body of the woman he loved. Did I read that correctly from your comment?
That does make me like the film a little bit more. Thanks!
That is what I meant, and I’m glad it makes you like the film more. I think the Matrix trilogy is an amazingly solid and deep story, but too many people get caught up in the mass bashing to actually look at it.