I don’t know about you, but I love the Matrix movies.  I love pushing my brain to the limit to try to figure out what every detail in the original trilogy might symbolize.  When I was 21 years old, I rewatched The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and was even more blown away by it than when I first saw it in theaters.  There’s one scene in particular that I couldn’t get out of my head; when Neo meets The Architect, the designer of The Matrix. The Architect basically tells Neo that he’s a program designed to reboot The Matrix.

As Wikipedia’s plot summary puts it:  “Neo is meant to stop the Matrix’s fatal system crash that naturally recurs due to the concept of human choice within it. As with the five previous Ones, Neo has a choice: either return to the Source to reboot the Matrix and pick survivors to repopulate the soon-to-be-destroyed Zion, as his predecessors all did, or refuse, causing the Matrix to crash and killing everyone connected to it, which combined with the pending destruction of Zion would mean humanity’s extinction.”

There are two doors before him.  If he enters the first door, Neo will fulfill his intended purpose and the Matrix will reboot, but Trinity, the woman he loves will die.  If he chooses the second door, he can save Trinity, but he’ll then have to find another way to prevent the Matrix from crashing.  Against all odds and despite The Architect’s strong warning, Neo chooses to save Trinity and take the second door.

I found Neo’s conflict interesting.  Have you ever been told you’re supposed to do something with your life that doesn’t feel like you?  As a musician, this predicament resonated with me.  My angsty 21-year old self wondered, should I try to live a normal risk-averse life, or should I roll the dice and make my own way?

The concept of free will has always fascinated me.  Even though I have seen The Architect scene many times, it floors me every time.  After I finished watching the movie, I sat down immediately with my acoustic guitar to write a song.  My song The Architect is what came out.  It’s a bit raw and imperfect; it distorts in places.  I was still learning to record, but you can certainly hear my passion and energy.  This tune was a surprising fan favorite from my early album The Escape, which is currently not available but you can hear some of the songs from the album on Vandarth: The Essentials (available on most streaming platforms).

I have always loved movies and use them for inspiration when I feel stuck as a writer.  Recently I saw Matrix Resurrections and Spider-Man No Way Home in theaters.  I loved both films and found them to be full of all sorts of philosophical themes, particularly heavy on redemption.  I’m quite curious as to what others thought of the new Matrix movie so if you’ve seen it, drop me a line to let me know what you think of it!