Matriculated
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Matriculated is an animated short film set in the world of The Matrix and is the last of the nine films of The Animatrix, a collection released in 2003. Each of these films explore elements of the Matrix series, some directly figuring in the live-action trilogy of films (and related video games) and some unique to The Animatrix. The short film has a running time of 16 minutes.
The title of the film has a dual meaning, referring both to the insertion into a virtual reality matrix and to the literal matriculation which the film's main character, a sentient robot undergoes within the educational environment of that matrix. The film was written and directed by Korean American director Peter Chung, creator of the cartoon Æon Flux.
[edit] Plot synopsis
The film deals with a group of above-ground human rebels who lure hostile intelligent machines to their laboratory in order to capture them and insert them into a "matrix" of their own design. Within this matrix the humans attempt to teach the captured machines some of the positive traits of humanity, primarily compassion and empathy. The ultimate goal of this project is to help the intelligent machines develop free will in order to overcome their original search and destroy-style programming. The rebels' hope is that, once converted of its own volition (a key point discussed in the film), an "enlightened" machine will assist Zion in its struggle against the machine-controlled totalitarianism which currently dominates the Earth and keeps the "bluepills" enslaved in the dream reality of the Matrix. The animation follows the matriculation of one such machine, called a "runner," who is arguably the protagonist of the short. The primary human character in the film is listed in the credits as "Alexa," who resembles Chung's character of Aeon Flux.
Several of the philosophical motifs of the Matrix series are represented, specifically the argument of free will versus fate (in this case free will versus predetermined programming); and the question of how a being with apperception can determine if reality is truly "real," since dreams are as convincing as waking experience when one is in the dream state.
The first spoken words in the film are "Wake up," which would seem significant. The act of "Waking up" is a thematic element of the Matrix series, and the phrase has occurred frequently in the live-action films, being written on Neo's computer screen by Trinity in The Matrix (Neo's first contact with the Zionists), and is also the title of a Rage Against the Machine song which plays during that film's credits; besides being a reference to the plight of bluepills who can't "wake up" from the simulated dream of the Matrix.
This is the first incident in the Matrix storyline where a biological being besides a human is shown being "plugged in." This is a small primate; apparently a Tarsier, one of the smallest (and taxonomically most singular) members of the order of primates.
The runner's decision to attempt to save at least one of its human teachers by joining itself and Alexa within the rebels' matrix program raises the moral question of whether it is appropriate to keep a brain alive by artificial means when the physical body has been destroyed. (See Rautavaara's Case.)
[edit] Voice actors
- Melinda Clarke — Alexa
- Dwight Schultz — Nonaka
- Rodney Saulsberry — Chyron
- James Arnold Taylor — Raul
- Jack Fletcher — Sandro
- Olivia d'Abo — Rox
[edit] See also
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