http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/1912866
There's nothing like a good resurrection story on an Easter Sunday, especially for a Baptist preacher.
But in 1999, as the Rev. Chris Seay relaxed into a theater seat for a late movie after a long day on Christianity's central holiday, he was just looking for a smarter than average sci-fi flick. Quickly he realized that The Matrix was about to offer him a version of the very story he had been trying all day to bring alive for his congregation.
The first hint of deeper meaning came from a leather-clad club boy paying befuddled hacker geek Neo a pretty price for computer contraband.
"You are my savior," club boy Troy says. "My own personal Jesus Christ."
It's true Seay may be more likely to spot a Christ figure on the big screen than the average kung-fu enthusiast. But by the time the end credits were rolling, Seay was convinced that he had watched a well-crafted story with themes of death, resurrection and faith that spoke to him as a Christian.
"I was blown away," said Seay, pastor of Ecclesia and West End Baptist Church, both in Houston. "I felt like my life had changed. It was pretty transforming for me."
Religious epiphany in the multiplex was probably not the goal of brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski, who wrote, directed and produced The Matrix and the just-released sequel, The Matrix Reloaded.
But believers of many stripes say they see familiar symbols and references encoded in the films. There's no singular message, they say. But the Wachowski brothers offer a menu of spiritual ideas from varied sources -- Gnostic Christianity, Eastern thought, Greek mythology, mainstream Christianity and the Hebrew Bible -- for those who want to sort through the stylized destruction for signs of intelligence.
And they did it with sleek costumes, cool shades, athletic bodies and some mind-boggling fight scenes.
"I think that is a marvelous achievement," said the Rev. Henry Straw, an ordained Methodist minister and Jungian analyst in Houston. "We are talking about access. How many people read philosophy or theology? How many people hang out with professors who talk about deconstruction? Millions of people around the world watch these films. I'm going to be in line" for the sequel.
In a general sense, the films follow the script of a standard hero story. A regular Joe realizes that things are not what they appear to be and sets off on a journey. In his search for a deeper reality, he is transformed into someone more than human and, in turn, sets out to transform the world.
"Those are very perennial questions in any spiritual life, so that intended or not, they certainly resonate with people who have those concerns," said Harvey Aronson, director of Dawn Mountain Tibetan Temple in Houston.
The specifics of this hero story revolve around Neo, also called Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves). With the help of Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), this hacker geek learns that his mind has been hijacked by a machine-made computer program -- the matrix. The illusion was designed to occupy the mind so the human body could be tapped of its energy, providing fuel for the machines that rule the world.
In the "real world," a band of freedom fighters resides near the core of the Earth in Zion (a reference to both the site where the Temple in Jerusalem was built and to a heavenly city). Some of them, under leaders such as Morpheus, venture into the matrix in an attempt to unplug it. Morpheus believes Neo is "the One" who will save humans from their enslavement.
The Matrix Reloaded offers a first glimpse into life in Zion and propels the story of Neo as he accepts the responsibilities of his savior role and delves deeper into truth, love and the matrix.
The religious traditions sampled by the film are many, but some of the primary tunes are Christianity, Gnostic Christianity and Eastern thought.
Christian themes
Like Seay, the Rev. William Vanderbloemen of Houston's First Presbyterian Church sees Christian themes, enough to inspire a four-part sermon series that ends with the 11:05 a.m. service Sunday.
In the beginning of the first movie, Vanderbloemen sees Neo as a "doubting Thomas," he said. As the story progresses, Neo hears a call from a voice outside his world, quite literally a phone call, and becomes reborn into a new reality. In the final scenes of the movie, Neo is resurrected from death to spread the truth.
Vanderbloemen would not call The Matrix a Christian film, but when he first saw it, the Christian themes had him reaching for popcorn boxes to scribble on, he said.
"It sets off the echoes of the true reality of what we (Christians at the church) are trying to learn about," he said.
Gnostic nods
"In my view (there) is a Gnostic Christian message," said Straw, who teaches a course on the subject at the Jung Center.
Gnosticism is a mystical branch of Christianity with roots in the first centuries of the church, he said. The texts from the movement include works such as the Gospel of Thomas -- Thomas is a hero of sorts for gnostics, Straw said.
The teachings differ, often greatly, from orthodox Christianity. Gnosticism emphasizes knowledge as a goal and often equates self-knowledge with divine knowledge, Straw said. The Gospel of Thomas also says that direct knowledge comes to one who seeks, disturbing him and then astonishing him -- not unlike Neo's reaction to leaving the life of a virtual hacker and becoming reality's savior.
Some Gnostic writers refer to a creator who is not the ultimate God, but an oppressor of humanity who developed an illusionary world, Straw said.
Buddhist leanings
As academics Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner point out in an article available on the film's official Web site, http://www.whatisthematrix.com, Neo learns from Morpheus that his senses and even his image of himself are based on an illusion.
The matrix is "a prison" for Neo's mind. This problem of perceived reality can be found in elements of Buddhist thought, which sees humans trapped in an illusion often of their own making, they write in "Wake Up! Gnosticism and Buddhism in the Matrix."As Neo accepts that "there is no spoon," as he is told by a child, he is able to overcome the mental confines of the computer program and gains almost superhuman powers.
"The issue of how much of reality is related to our mind and influenced by our mind is certainly omnipresent in Hinduism and Buddhism," Aronson said.
Or is it the action?
Buddhist teaching is not what will lure Aronson into the air-conditioned temple of make-believe for The Matrix Reloaded.
It is the action, said Aronson, who considers himself a classicist when it comes to kung fu.
Seay and Vanderbloemen argue that the spiritual themes of quest and transformation separate the Matrix films from the average blockbuster.
"I think in many ways the theaters have become the new temples," said Seay, who co-authored a book due out in June called The Gospel Reloaded: Exploring Spirituality and Faith in the Matrix. "I think for some people it has become the main influence (on their) spirituality."
But Rabbi Eve Ben-Ora, for one, doubts if moviegoers are really seeking the divine or more of a story of earthly empowerment -- super geek turns to cool cat with leather-wearing girlfriend.
Not that the fantasy isn't also a universal theme for anyone who has ever tried to subdue his or her inner nerd. And not that Ben-Ora, a devoted Trekkie and fan of The Matrix, doesn't find herself drawn to the spiritual questions asked in many science-fiction films.
But spiritual enlightenment as the secret ingredient of success for The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded?
"I doubt it would have the same audience and following that it has, because it is Keanu Reeves and kung-fu fighting," said Ben-Ora, director of Jewish education at the Jewish Community Center in Houston.
"If that were the case, synagogues and churches would be packed and overflowing."
