Monday, March 26, 2012

The Matrix: Revisited

Joseph Campbell once stated that every tale is a different faction of a hero's journey. His influential studies in mythology unearthed a formula entitled the Hero monomyth, a series of steps that can be identified in almost every story in creation. It seems apparent to me that this monomyth can be directly applied to every romance story, and by doing so, helps the reader understand the importance of romance as a whole. Myth and romance have many overlapping factors, and further delving into the relationship between the two can help unearth ideas and forms of analysis that would not have been discovered otherwise.

Mythology and romance have both been condemned by multiple critics who find no use for their formulaic storylines and repeating motifs. But Campbell believed myths revealed important facts about the psychology of cultures, and taking into account the integration of romance in myth, one could use his tools of mythological study to identify important factors apparent in romance. By using Campbell's monomythic formula, one can peer through the lenses of mythological study and glean new understanding of romance as a whole. 

The Matrix was a movie directly influenced by Campbell's monomyth as well as Jung's theory of archetypes. This science-fiction, effects laden extravaganza is, at it's heart, a romance between a hero and a girl, and thus is a perfect film for Campbell's formula to be applied to. The following list outlines the main factions of Campbell's monomyth that the Matrix includes in its plot and an explanation how this analytical tool can be utilized to better understand its themes.



  1. Departure
    1. The Call to Adventure
      The call to adventure is the point in a person's life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change: In the beginning of the novel, Neo is contacted by a mysterious computer hacker that tells him to "follow the white rabbit," which is actualized in the form of a rabbit tattoo on a punkish looking girl's back. Following this sign leads him to Trinity, his savior and love interest.
    2. Supernatural Aid
      Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known: Neo responds to the call, and is introduced to Morpheus and his band of helpers that have seemingly superhuman abilities.
    3. The Crossing of the First Threshold
      This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known: Morpheus offers to answer Neo's most pivotal question; what is the Matrix? He offers him a pill that allows him to escape from this machine constructed world into "the real".
    4. The Belly of the Whale
      The hero often must venture through a dark and mysterious place to cross the threshold, ie the Belly of a Whale: Neo awakens in a dark, womb like enclosure, and is flushed out of this containment similar to a fetus being birthed, ultimately symbolizing him being reborn into the real world. 
  2. Inititation
    1. The Road of Trials
      The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests: In order to expand his mind and be able to break the rules of the machine-constructed Matrix, Neo must undergo rigorous training in machine generated constructs.
    2. The Meeting with the Goddess
      The meeting with the goddess is the hero's interaction with a powerful woman figure: Neo is re-entered into the Matrix in order to meet the Oracle, a powerful women who is able to prophecize and set him on the path to discover his destiny as the savior of humanity, or "the One".
    3. Atonement with the Father
      In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power: Morpheus ends up sacrificing himself to save Neo, an in order to save him, he must re-enter the Matrix and complete the impossible; the rescue of Morpheus from the clutches of the Matrix.
    4. Apotheosis
      To apotheosize is to deify. When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss: Neo dies an apparent death at the hands of Agent Smith, but is resurrected by Trinity's love. When he reawakens, he has fully realized his destiny as "the One" and has gained god-like powers over the Matrix construct.
  3. Return
    1. Rescue from Without
      Just as the hero may need guides and assistants to set out on the quest, often times he or she must have powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life: Back in the real world, Trinity and the crew are in danger and need Neo to return in order to unleash the EMP on the machines assaulting their ship. Trinity reaches across the worlds and alerts Neo to the danger with a call. He is successfully reintroduced to the real world.
    2. Master of the Two Worlds
      For a human hero, it means achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds: The conclusion of the film not only finds Neo with mastery over the Matrix, but fulfillment in the real world as well with his relationship with Trinity.
    3. Freedom to Live
      Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live: At the end of the film, Neo announces to the machines that he is going to show humans a world free from their control.
The Matrix seamlessly fits into the monomyth's steps, and thus one can gain a greater understanding of romance through the study of mythic analytical tools. The Matrix may clearly be a hero's journey, but it is romance that saves the hero and allows him to understand his destiny and deify. Joseph Campbell believes that every tale is truly a Hero's Tale, but with romance so pivotal to the hero, it would not be a leap to claim that every story is a romance as well.





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