Trinity is really “The One”

 Neo may have been destined to be "The One", but it is Trinity who is the true hero of the film. Trinity's importance can be easily over looked when the focus is clearly on Neo’s “God like” status. However, from beginning to end she plays a key role in Neo’s realization of his destiny. Trinity is not your average heroine or female character in this film. It’s ironic how The Matrix seems to be a “manly mans” type of movie, but holds a lot of hidden “female narratives”. The plot of The Matrix is all to familiar especially in a story book sense as well, It would appear that the creators of the matrix aimed to illustrate the concept of simulacrum. Once analyzed the movie may seem to be a bit backwards from the norm.

      

Firstly, it is trinity who starts the movie off escaping from agents in The Matrix. While attempting to capture her, one officer says arrogantly, "I think we can handle one little girl." When the film cuts back to trinity she is killing officers with little effort and no sign of remorse. With that said we are forced to reevaluate the status of a “girl” or “woman” in this case. In today’s films we see a lot more women that can hold their own as Theresa L.Geller mentions, “The current dominance of the action genre has given a rise to female characters who challenge conventional femininity through their narrative and aesthetic roles”. With that said, we are introduced to Trinity with her short-slicked back hair, all black cat suit and dare devil stunts. At first she exemplifies the standards of a "tough chick", but not of the basic love interest in a movie. Trinity is far from the damsel in distress; in her own right she is just as tough as Neo. Her very name comes from “a God most decidedly masculine” says Williams. The film clearly acknowledges the irony when Neo states upon first meeting her, “I just thought you were a guy” and she replies “Most guys do”.  Trinity is what Geller labels as a “tough chick” in that she deviates from normal “gender expectations”. One might find themselves labeling Trinity as lesbian on first impression. Gill Valentine argues, “women are identified as lesbian because they fail to dress and behave according to their gender identity” (qtd. in Geller 14). Although it can seem like it, she is in noways homosexual in that she later develops an interest for Neo. As Christopher G. Williams states, “This narrative, which will ultimately show Trinity to be the more powerful figure, also relegates the masculine character to feminine roles and characterizations” (8). Trinity’s role may be secondary in the film, but Neo’s weaknesses only highlights her strengths.

 One of the more important “oppositions” in the film are the status of the male and female. Ironically, The Matrix is film that seems to be a “manly mans” type of movie,

but contains a lot of feminine narratives. Neo can obviously be compared to female protagonist like Alice of Alice in Wonderland. These narratives are a few of many unexpected inversions in this film. Inversion is known as a deviation from the normal, basically a change or “flip in the script” so to speak. Neo at first is not the “rebellious hero” we assume him to be, but more like Alice (a female). Early in the film he is instructed to “follow the white rabbit” which lead him to his first encounter with Trinity. Williams argues that “Neo is feminized both in terms of his figuration as a female and also through his hapless, almost virginal innocence so similar to the female protagonists of fairy tales” (8). This theory is quiet funny, but true in the sense that Neo acts as a scared little girl would, not as “The One” would. Another clear connections with wonderland is Morpheus’s line “take the blue pill and the story ends or take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes”. Neo enters the “rabbit hole” to discover a new reality, but at the same time believes nothing and no one. It is only through the constant belief of others especially Trinity's that's he is able to become “The One”.

 Simulacrum is used to describe a representation. Another association would be

an image lacking the qualities of the original. Simulacrum has been an interest of many philosophers. One philosopher in particular, Plato, speaks of two different kinds of “image-making”. The first is a “faithful reproduction”, or an attempt to copy the original precisely. The second type of image making is to distort intentionally to make the copy seem correct to the viewers. Clearly the directors intended to portray the matrix as nothing more than simulation. And In the case of Baudrillard, it would seem that The Matrix aimed to illustrate this concept. Simulacrum is basically the concept of simulation and reality. the the film Neo acquires the ability to master simulation, Trinity on the other hand has the ability to control both reality and simulation. One of the main focuses in the film is controlling and knowing the “real”. This concept has very much to do with Baudrillard’s concept of the purpose of simulacra. Douglas Kellner argues that Baudrillard is suggesting “the inherent goal of the order of simulacra is to produce a flexible and controllable universal system of order and power” (78). I will argue that the intended expectation of the film is obvious at first but then deviates from the plan. An example pf this twist would be when Neo dies in the matrix. Trinity, not ready to let go and believing it’s not the end whispers to Neo’s dead body, “Neo, I'm not afraid anymore. The Oracle told me that I would fall in love and that that man... the man that I loved would be The One. So you see, you can't be dead. You can't be... because I love you. You hear me? I love you.” It is only through trinity’s realization and belief that Neo is revived. Without these words from Trinity Neo would have never believed in his destiny. This in it self is another example of an inversion, the main character, “the hero” needed to be saved by a woman non-the less. It is also another sign of the strength Trinity holds in The Matrix as well as in the “real world”. Williams states “This “heroism” is based upon Trinity’s position as a master not simply of simulacra but ultimately of reality itself--control derived from her own perceptions and beliefs about what the world should be.” The blending of both real and simulation ultimately makes Trinity the film’s true hero.

          

The self-assurance and confidence in Trinity’s character is evident from the start.

She not only kicks butt in the matrix but she also exudes the same strength and confidence in reality. The fact that Trinity holds power in both simulation and real world makes her a true master of herself and surroundings. It is mainly Neo’s budding romance with Trinity that holds great significance to his realization of his destiny. Without her and her reassuring belief in him there would be no Neo “The One”.

                           

Works Cited






Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulation.” University of Michigan Press,1994.    
               Google Books. [Web]. May 20, 2011.

Geller, Theresa L. "Queering Hollywood's Tough Chick." A Journal of Women Studies.
               Volume 25. Issue 3 (2004): Pages 8-34. Print.

Kellner, Douglas. Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond.  
              Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1989. Print.

The Matrix. Dir & Prod. Andrew and Lawrence Wachowski. Warner Bros. 1999. DVD

Williams, Christopher G.  "Mastering the Real: Trinity as the "Real" Hero of The Matrix."
               Film Criticism. Volume 27. Issue 3 (Spring2003): Pages 2-17. Print.

Imagination.

In class we watched two episodes of the twilight zone. The first episode, The Lonely was actually my favorite. A man (corey)sentence to another planet for murder (self defense) becomes desperate to get off the planet.Astronauts visit every three months to supply him with food and necessities. One of the head astronauts brings him a box with a robot to act as a female companion. As time goes by the he falls in love with the robot and treats her as his partner. When the astronauts come back to release him of his sentencing, he will not leave without the woman (robot). The astronauts are convinced he has lost it because they know she is just a robot and she cannot come along. The astronaut ends up shooting her in the face to show Corey she was not real.

In the second episode Walking Distance Martin is grown business man who ends up returning to his old neighborhood. He feels as though nothing has changed since he left. At one point he runs into himself as a child. He also finds his parents who think he is crazy because the son they know is old about 10 years old.
After running arounf town like a mad man, his father comes to Martin and tells him that he must go back to where he came from or he'll mess everytyhing up for the younger martin. Martin ends up returning to his time but learning that he must enjoy his life.

With both episodes imagination is clear in that Corey thinks the robot is a real woman and Martin thinks hes back in time. Corey only feels that she was real out of desperation for a companion. It is only when the man shot her that he was brought back to reality and saw that she was not he thought. Martin on the other hand, one could argue that it was all his memory and mind playing tricks on him.

RESEARCH REQUIRMENTS.

When writing a research paper I learned the importance of different citation methods. For example I never really knew about  MLA or APA formats. I learned that the process is very annoying but a necessary requirement. When researching I learned the many steps that must be taken to carry out a research paper. The most important would be searching for the right material that is beneficial to your argument. Through writing a research paper you learn new facts and information on a topic that you though you knew enough about. The main idea of writing a  research paper is to prove or disprove something, mainly your thesis statement. The importance of having enough references and detail to support your argument. It couldn't be stressed enough to use sources that are legitimate. Another more helpful resource was the online LaGuardia library. It was very useful for looking up scholarly articles and legitimate resources. Personally, without that resource it would have made my papers more difficult to write. I honestly wasn't prepared on the level of requirements for a research paper. These papers are far from an high school essay or little book report. I actually enjoyed the experience I definitely learned some valuable information. All the requirements for a research paper only make you and your work that much stronger. Once you get that grade it makes the process all worth it

Trinity as the real hero.

  To be honest I was quiet dissapointed with this artical, Other than stateing some clear evidence it didnt really do much but state the obvious. 

and jump around alot..

  The artical begins with a summary and comparison of "The Truman Show" to "The Matrix" it then goes into referencesto Neo's God-like status as the savior of humankind. Also a Comparison between him andt 'Alice' of Lewis Carroll's stories. Finally, after about 8 pages he gets into a breif anaylisis of Trinity saying...

" In part it is the film's focus on feminine narratives that leads me to believe that Trinity, not Neo (whom most would identify as the hero of the Matrix), is the film's hero. Her very name suggests an inversion of basic cultural assumptions and expectations. 

Trinity takes her name from a God most decidedly masculine"

   It then jumps into Neo and his realization that he is "the one" discusses the sequence of actions that lead to this enlightenment. After about 3 pages of that he turns back to Trinity, how she is the true hero in that only through her kiss and HER realization that she was in love with "the one", Neo comes back to life. (as the oracle once told her)       

  The artical ends with a page about cypher which was totally random...

NIETZSCHE AND THE UBERMAN.

  Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher 19th century (1844-1900) whose theories have challenged the foundations of traditional Christianity. 

He once stated 'I call Christianity the one great curse, the one enormous and innermost perversion, the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are too venomous, too underhand, too underground and too petty — I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind. ... The only excuse for God is that he doesn't exist.'  

 He mainly wrote texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, including his theories on the Übermensch (German) or uberman, Overhuman, Superman; and “the will to power”. 

 His concept of 'uberman' or 'superman' is the concepts of being the Master of morality; one creates its own values and stands beyond good and evil. Having the strength and independence to be able to become liberated from all traditional values, and only follows in the views that he personally deems to be of importance. The uberman is obedient to himself and himself only. Therefore, the only authority is ones will power. Will to power is considered the power to set your own values and your own goals. The power is not a type of physical force, but a strong self-determination. Friedrich believed the will to power is what is necessary for creativity. 

 You can clearly see how this tso called "uberman" in that he goes against the machines (higher power) and heory might be offensive to someone of religious beliefs. If the uberman answers to none other than himself there is no need for a higher power such as a God of some sort. Neo, would be a perfct example of the "uberman" in that he goes against the machines (higher power) and his will power would be him gaining the ability to fly or dodge bullets because he believes he can.

http://www.ukapologetics.net/truthaboutnietzsche.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche

http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/80254/Nietzsche/W_P_3.html

THE MAD GENIUS.

   A Beautiful Mind was definitely and interesting movie, I had my doubts about it. The movie was about John Nash; he was a genius mathematician who suffers from schizophrenia. The movie mainly shows the trial and tribulations of living with a great mind but also an ill one.

    While at Princeton Nash meets his roommate Charles and they soon become best friends. We later find out that Charles is only a result of John’s schizophrenia. During his time at Princeton John hardly attended his classes but was required to write a thesis paper. He becomes totally fixated on trying to come up with a truly original idea for his paper. At times he is so consumed with trying to be brilliant he struggles and hurts himself. John later becomes a teacher at MIT where he meets and falls in love with a student, Alicia. The two eventually marry and have a son together.

    At this time John now has a total of three imaginary friends including Department of Defense agent, William Parcher. In his mind he works for Parcher as a spy and deciphers codes. He becomes fixated and his behavior becomes erratic, as he grows paranoid for his life. Witnessing her husband’s behavior Alicia calls a psychiatric hospital to take John.

    After many treatments John is able to live at home on medication. Alicia grows frustrated with most of the load at home working, the baby and John. He secretly stops taking his medication in hopes that it will help his home life. This only brings back the hallucinations and his "spy work" endangering his son and Alicia. As she tries to leave he realizes that he suffers from schizophrenia.

    Later on we see that John has returned to teaching and still sees his imaginary friends but ignores them. John was honored for his achievement in mathematics, and goes on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.

   The films representation of Genius is clear; John was one of the brightest students of his time and a great Mathematician. Insanity shortly follows in that John has been suffering from schizophrenia since college years and no one has ever really noticed. And Madness was John’s overall behavior, His fixations with his work and being brilliant. How at times he would hurt himself and those around him. Also how great of a mathematician he was could be considered unbelievably crazy. 

check out my peer review!

its in a comment under my alice draft. =)