Unoriginal And Brilliant.

My dad and I were out at Burger King this afternoon when we (and by which I mean I) got talking about The Matrix. I've seen the movie a lot of times. I actually try and watch it at least once a month if I can. I don't know why, but I find it's kind of like a form of meditation. The familiarity with the movie helps wind me down and actually seems to help me sleep some nights.

Now as an introduction I could see how that one would make you think I find the movie boring, and this isn't the case. More than the actual plot and special effects of the movie, I find the references much more interesting to track. The Wachowski Brothers are no doubt brilliant, but I can hardly call them original. Much like the man who made millions selling the pet rock, the Wachowskis have taken the everyday and common and made it exceptional and new.

First and foremost is the special effects in the film. The famous "bullet time" sequences became one of the most talked about aspects of the movie. When you break it down into its components though this is hardly anything new. It's taking the concept of slow motion and pumping it up a bit. The concept had been accomplished in the past in other movies, often relying upon computer generated special effects to achieve this three dimensional slow motion. All the Wachowskis did was make it look a bit more realistic by utilizing cameras in series to achieve the same effect previously accomplished with computers.

Other than the bullet time, the other thing often mentioned by the casual fan is the acrobatics and marital arts incorporated into the film. Wire work like that had been used in Chinese and Japanese cinema for decades prior to this, but it had remained in a rather rudimentary form in Western cinema until they mimicked the Asian styles. And martial arts of that caliber have been a staple of chop socky films for ages. In Western cinema there is often a stunt double who would be brought in to perform the moves, or they would have the camera so zoomed in so as to make it impossible to see the moves being performed fully. Often this was because the actors weren't really doing any actual moves. For a great example of this, go back and watch the very first Star Wars movie in the new trilogy. Notice the wide angle shots of the lightsabre duels? Ok now watch the second and third one and you will notice a lot more close angle shots and computer generated characters viewed from very far away. Much easier (cheaper) to choreograph that I'm sure.

The final aspect is the story and setting in which the world of the Matrix exists. Concepts of what compose reality, and what is the nature of existence and consciousness have been discussed for as long as man has been able to argue. They even have a specific school of study for it, it's called Philosophy. The Wachowskis weren't coming up with new ideas of what made us human, they were basically giving us a Coles notes version of philosophy ideas, set it to a Prodigy soundtrack and added guns.

So despite all of this, why is the movie so damn successful and popular? Well that's where the discussion with my father went next. I mentioned to him that nerds like it when the subjects of their nerdom become popular. When anime made it huge in North America, those of us who had been importing DVDs and downloading content were suddenly presented with a marvelous opportunity. The series and movies that we loved were now being sold at Chapters and on Amazon.ca. Movies like the Matrix made things we already loved immediately more accessible to us. You will often find "purists" of anime, or other such sub cultures who feel that the commercialization of their passions is a way of the companies selling out. Suddenly they feel as though their individual worlds are being invaded with yuppies who don't adequately understand or appreciate something they've loved for years before them. I can understand this feeling, as I've been there before with certain topics. Fans (short for fanatics, after all) are very protective of the things they're fans of. When the Wachowskis introduced the mass society to a world previously only ventured in forums online, and between friends watching John Woo films in their basement, they made it possible for this world to be enjoyed by everyone.

When I was in high school I ran a film/anime club for the last few years I was there. While it attracted a lot of people who were just looking for a place to stay inside during lunch, it did have a few truly interested individuals who came for the media. I feel it is our duty as fans of something to educate and introduce others into our worlds. I've shown my parents all of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and while I'm fairly certain it wasn't their cup of tea they were open enough to give it a watch. I think that's all we can ask of anyone is the open mind to try something like that.

When you go back and watch the special features for the Matrix, and listen to how Andy and Larry Wachowski talk, it's evident that they are excited about the subject. They've seen some animes, and they've watched a bunch of old kung fu movies. They just happened to have the drive to turn this excitement into an actual film of marketable value. They're clearly not the biggest anime fans on the planet though, they refer to it as "Japanimation". This is about the same as calling a black person "coloured" or an asian person "oriental". It's outdated, and insulting. It was a pretty clear sign they saw Ghost in the Shell somewhere and thought, "Yeah we can do that".

There's no need to be original when you're creating art, so long as you're savvy enough to convince everyone it was your idea all along.