Jesus and the Matrix

In case you need another excuse to watch the Matrix again here are some clues to see the film as a cyber-punk spiritual parable. The sinister, karate-filled, action-packed world of the Matrix may seem an unlikely place to find spiritual insight but beneath the film's leather exterior lie some important questions.

The basic plotline of the film is that machines develop artificial intelligence and decide to turn on their human masters. The machines imprison human beings and using neural implants keep humanity's minds distracted in a simulation of the 1990s (the Matrix), while in the real world their bodies are being used as the batteries that power the machines. Spot the connections to our own world. Through constant advertising we are sold a view of success in life that revolves around designer labels, fast cars and large houses. (Ironically the Matrix films pander to this through rife product placement.) We work ourselves to death in order to buy the things we are being programmed t...