Do you mean the Marquis de Sade? Talk about old school! The scene where Neo and Trinity first meet was shot in a fetish club in Australia. Everyone you see in the background was from the club and in their own outfits. Many nights out at the local fetish club night I've looked down from the balcony and had the strange feeling of being in the Matrix, of feeling what the W. brothers must have felt as the ideas for the story first took hold in their minds as they enjoyed a night among the freaks.
Want to see some pictures?......From the club! Dang...
There is a lot of Gnostic symbology in the trilogy as well. Gnosticism was an early interpretation of Christianity that was deemed as heretical and pretty much wiped out by 500AD or so. I have an audio lecture by Stephan Hoeller called "Gnostic Cinema: The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded" which I'll upload at some point.
The Gnostic angle is another aspect of the Trilogy that is very often overlooked.
None of these sites take into account the symbolism in the Matrix properties from the Bible, the Quran and the Upanishads. They aren't even mentioned. It's impossible to get the full meaning of Revolutions without at least some knowledge of the Vedas. None of the sites expound upon the spiritual traditions which provided the whole "philosophy of the Matrix" for the Wachowskis. None of them even touch on the hidden references to world religions scattered in all three movies and some of the other media. While I understand that it is possible to enjoy the Matrix stories and even get something of a "deeper understanding" of the mysteries they present without these connotations, I can not help but think that without them, it's just a sci-fi kung-fu flick and the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater (and the sponge, and the towels, and the soap, and the TUB.) For me, these sites are completely useless except as examples of how poorly the movies can be interpreted without the spiritual context. After the first viewing of Revolutions, I had no questions of how or why or what; it made perfect sense to me because of the preparation three degrees in the esoteric arts and sciences gave. If there are sites which go into the depths of symbolic and scriptural content, please post links. There are two books, "The Philosophy of the Matrix" and "The Gospel Reloaded" which seem interesting enough to look for at a used book store, but I was seriously put-off commentary books by one called "Matrix Warrior: Being the One" which was, to be very generous, crap. All these extra added on theories are not needed. The movies (along with all related media) explain everything in depth if the viewer already holds the keys of the symbolism of world religions. Like the man said, let he who has eyes, see; let he who has ears, hear. None of these sites take into account the symbolism in the Matrix properties from sadomasochism, bondage and discipline, fetish and other "deviant" sexual practices. They aren't even mentioned. It's impossible to get the full meaning of any Matrix movie without at least some knowledge of the underground sex scene. None of the sites expound upon the kinky traditions which provided the whole "philosophy of the Matrix" for the Wachowskis. None of them even touch on the hidden references to fetish subculture scattered in all three movies and some of the other media. While I understand that it is possible to enjoy the Matrix stories and even get something of a "hellatious thrill" from the stimulation they present without these connotations, I can not help but think that without them, it's just a sci-fi kung-fu flick and the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater (and the sponge, and the towels, and the soap, and the TUB.) For me, these sites are completely useless except as examples of how poorly the movies can be interpreted without the fetish subculture context. After the first viewing of the trilogy, I had no questions of how or why or what; it made perfect sense to me because of the preparation that years of study of and practice in alternative clubs gave. If there are sites which go into the depths of The Matrix' sexual fetish content, please don't post links, that's against the TOS! There might be some books about the Wachowski brothers experiences which influenced this part of the films, and I'd like to find them. All these extra added on theories are not needed. The movies (along with all related media) explain everything in depth if the viewer already holds the keys to at least one pair of handcuffs. Like some man said, let he who has ... eh, better not go there.
Personly I find most theories that I come up with to be more inetersting then some of the things you read off of sites like these because more often then not they leave out a tiny detail that becomes the theories downfall. However some are interesting even if they are clearly wrong.
QFT
The entire Matrix phenomenom is a holistic experience. Theories, meanings, storylines, variegated media outlets, these are all mere pieces of the whole and should be treated as such.
Just like I would pick up a dictionary when reading heavy text if I needed to, I also like reading sites like M101. With the caveat that it is someone's, or a group's, interpretation and opinion. Then if I want to research that interpretation, I'll do so. I also liked going through the reviews at Amazon etc. to see what other viewers thought. I think it's good that there are so many layers to the movies, so if someone chooses to dig deeper for the authors' intentions, they'd find them out.
But you can certainly enjoy all the movies without being a scholar in world religious mythologies! It's a beautiful multilevel love story at its core, and most anyone can appreciate that. I always thought the Oracle was the heart of the films, but Neo seems to get most of the scrutiny at times. So the M101 site really caught my eye because of their perspective on that too.
I also think there's no definitive interpretation except by the Wachowskis, and I believe I read they purposely did not state their meanings on everything just so people would discuss and debate the films (like MxO fans love to do)--brilliant move. What better way to keep things surrounding the movies alive.
