There's a quick shot where Neo, the one, the christ figure who sees the world in it's true shape and delivers the people from capitalism/the demiurge, has a pair of doves, a traditional symbol of peace, liberation, and the catholic holy spirit, framed above his head. And opposing him is Agent Elrond, holding a gigantic Israeli designed Desert Eagle Pistol, and directly above that pistol flies the red, white, and blue flag of the united states. In a scene where every single person except the lady in red is wearing black and white that flag is the only other thing with bright colors.
Placed over a gun pointed at the savior.
This movie is so fucking incredible. If you weren't their in the twilight hours of the end of history, the last days of the century of atomic bombs and digital computers and slinkies, I don't think you'll ever really understand.
Also notice how a cop writing traffic tickets is clearly, unambiguously, and explicitly framed as the enemy. They shot so many fucking cops in this movie it was glorious. In the Matrix the terrorists were wise, enlightened, principled, and absolutely correct. They shot cops, blew up buildings, hacked computers, and they were unquestionably the good guys. Their cause was righteous and their means were justified.
Also, compared to Keanu's role in Cyberpunk 77 decades later; a dreary, vapid story where revolution is unthinkable, liberation impossible, and there's only empty violence and fancy graphics. And you work for the cops.
I took this philosophy elective in high school and we watched the matrix. The teacher paused the movie at one point to analyze the woman in the red dress and this one dude who sat next to me who never came to class (and was sort of a dumbass) kept making a big deal about how hot she was. Then he skipped every other class and on the last day we watched the movie he walked in like twenty minutes late to see the very last scenes of the movie. We started discussing the movie and at one point this dude raises his hand and goes "what happened to the girl in the red dress?" My teacher then kept having to explain to him that she wasn't real and this dude just did not understand because he had missed the entire plot of the movie. At one point he accepts that she wasn't real and just goes "well she was pretty hot." I think of that everytime I think about the matrix.
That dude is currently stuck in the Matrix.
Dudes rock
That young man's name? Ralph Cyphereto.