The Matrix, eucatastrophe and redemption.

[owl]

My housemates went to see Matrix Revolutions last night.
So there I am sitting doing (read trying to do) my Quantum assignment as they come back.
Me: Good film?
Lizzy: Yeah, better than the second one.
Gill: I found it unsatisfying.
Me(jokingly): So, did the good guys win?
Lizzy: No, they didn't.
Me: Guh...that could be kind of why you found it unsatisfying, then.

WHAT?! The machines won? It was all for nothing? Where's the eucatastrophe? I was brought up on Tolkien; all fantasies--all stories--should have one! This is what they hype over Star Wars? Give me the moment when Vader/Anakin looks from his son to his master, and then throws the OWB down the pit!

Note: eucatastrophe is not to be confused with EU-catastrophe, which is what happened to Star Wars when Zahn and co got hold of it. (Ironic that eu means good in Greek, isn't it?) Eucatastrophe is the 'turn' in the tale, when things are at their worst, but suddenly the glorious change happens and makes it all worthwhile. Luke is dying under the Emperor's lightning, but his father saves him; Frodo has succumbed to the ring at last, but Gollum destroys it through his own lust for it. Though I always regret poor Gollum. Tolkien was right though; if he had been redeemed it would have been his story and not Frodo's. Tolkien understood the value of redemption; that's why Star Wars is ultimately Anakin's story not Luke's (much as I love him). That's why the Jaded Wonder is so unsatisfying as a character; I can't see she was redeemed, all I can see is retconning to make it look like she wasn't so bad after all. Grrr.

If SW and LotR are modern myths, the the Matrix is a post-modern myth. We crave a happy ending, the eucatastrophe. I suppose it's because the story has its eucatastrophe: a flogged and tortured man, nailed naked and dying to a stake of wood, saying 'It is finished', and the barrier between us and the Holy Place torn from top to bottom.
I don't understand this scorn for happy endings. For example, why cannot Harry grow up to marry Ginny and form the family of his own he's always needed? Because it's 'a sappy happy ending'. Harry must fall for Hermione, causing a love triangle and estranging him from Ron, his brother, Ginny, his friend, and to some degree Molly and Arthur, his surrogate parents. Either that or he dies. Bleh. (No offense to any H/H shippers on my list, I just hate the Triangle of Doom.) 'It's too happy.' How can anything be 'too happy', considering what everyone has already suffered? There's been death and enough already to put bitter in the sweet.

Comments

[leetje.livejournal.com]

Whaaaaat they lose?! aaaaaaargh lol. No wonder my slash sis was all lip-locked and couldn't say anything besides: OMG HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP!, lmao ;) Can't wait to see it for myself this saturday.

Yes SW, I originally got hooked on it because of Luke's story in ANH, but when I learned more about Vader and him being Anakin Skywalker in ESB, I became hooked on that. So the prequels are my dream come true and I cannot wait for Ep3. Though I know it'll break my P/A lovin' heart. Besides, ever since they cast Hayden as Ani, I'm even more keen on the character, theehee :p

LOTR... *sigh* another awesome Trilogy that will end soon, I'm really dieing to see ROTK, more Aragorn, raaaaaawrr ;)

Hee your Harry theory cracked me up lol. Here's mine: He and Draco will eventually hook up and have wild passionate sex and shock the entire wizarding world, mwahaha. I'd choose this one anytime over the Sappy Ending, the Triangle of Doom or the Tragic Death ;)

[owl]

Hmm, I actually don't think the sappy ending is THAT sappy. I'd go for it, or else everyone is single and happy :D

Mmm Hayden...*drools*

[leetje.livejournal.com]

Maybe not sappy, but it certainly is cliché. Almost everyone thinks it'll be Harry/Ginny in the end. And cliché as in Guy falls in love and marries Best Friend's Sister after seeing her in a whole new light *g*

*points to icon* H/D is the only way. *evil laugh*

Oh and do stay away from Hayden dear, he's legally mine (http://valvigirl.net/marriage) ;)

[owl]

Well, H/D is chliche too--the whole falling for your enemy thing. Same with Boy Falls for Best Gal-pal (H/H) or Bickering is the Sign of Love (R/Hr).

My point was, cliche is not necessarily bad, and that happy endings are not to be scorned. Isn't life depressing enough at times without having downer stories?

[sunshyndaisies.livejournal.com]

*bwahaha* I love your assessment of the EU :).

Although as a Luke fan, I must say that I was offended by George's decision to make the overall saga Anakin's story, instead of leaving it as a hero's journey cycle (Luke's hero's journey) as it had been in the Original Trilogy LOL.

[dreamsome.livejournal.com]

I actually heard the opposite (concering the matrix) though its not happy in EVERY sense of a happy ending...hrm :)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I've seen it. Your housemate lies :p

[owl]

So what does happen, then? I mean, I didn't ask 'Does Neo live and marry Trinity and have fluffy bunnies and babies?' I asked 'Did the good guys win?'

Bizarre.

[owl]

Well, I'm a massive Luke fan as you know, lol, but I think the OT, while being Luke's hero's journey, is something else as well. Because Luke's quest is to redeem his father. And then you look at the question 'If Vader is still redeemable--why? How did he get so evil and how did Luke bring him back?' Thus the PT.

But Luke still rocks and is the most amazing Hero ever.

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Exactly. All major pairings in HP follow some sort of cliche, so "cliche" really isn't an argument one can use to debunk a pairing. (Far as the Triangle of Doom, well, I've always refused to read an H/Hr fic that totally gives Ron the shaft. His feelings are a valid issue and having him be the happy-go-lucky for his friends is way out of character. It's also why I've consigned H/Hr almost solely to fanfic - I can't see JKR overtaking the books with some cheesy triangle plot. Of course, one might have said the same thing about 'Alias,' and look at it now... :P I've long seen the HP books as ending up largely like SW - hero alone, his two best friends together.)

But dude, that stinks on the Matrix. I suppose something can be said for not "falling" into the expected routine and having the good guys turn out victorious, but honestly, this makes me even more fine that I skipped out on the trilogy after the first movie. ;) I'll stick to my redeemed!Anakin and Destroyed!One Ring endings, thanks...

[owl]

doyle_sb4 says that my housemate was lying, so I really don't kno what I'm talking about :D

[snarkel.livejournal.com]

Guh. I find it impossible to care about the Matrix. I will prolly be dragged to see it soon enough.

That's why the Jaded Wonder is so unsatisfying as a character; I can't see she was redeemed, all I can see is retconning to make it look like she wasn't so bad after all. Grrr.

Totally agree. One of many reasons why I count VOTF as the book that made me bitter. Bitterer. I didn't necessarily want Mara to be all the way Perfect Jedi redeemed (I like her snarky and cynical) but I didn't want her to be the much-worshipped Jedi Master Mara Sue, either. But apparently she can't screw Luke unless she's 'perfect' and Was Never THAT Bad, Really! Whatever. Her fucked-upness was one of the reasons I WANTED her and Luke together, and naturally they throw that out the window first thing.

[owl]

VotF was the book that made me stop reading the EU. I had suffered my way through CoPL and Crystal Star etc, but that put the lid on it.

[snarkel.livejournal.com]

Aside from the crap Mara thing, VOTF wasn't all bad. (Not in COPL/CS league, anyway...) However, we were expecting him to come back and fix Mara, and instead we got a whole lot of retconning and really bad 'romance.' Ugh.

And people wonder why I perfer fanfic...

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Well, in any case, my previous points still stand. ;)

[owl]

I think it was an accumulation of horrors, actually. And I prefer fanfic too, except I ignore the EU totally. I think it's too messed up to fix without scrapping the whole thing, or at least the continEUity.

[owl]

Yes, as does most of my post :)

[snarkel.livejournal.com]

ContinEUity salad bar. Or just ignore lots of stuff. I'm in favor of just ignoring... One of my (minor) complaints about the NJO is they didn't simply ignore enough of the minor Bantam shit. The Yetheva? WTF? I READ those damn books and I couldn't remember who the Yetheva were, and there was NO REASON to reference them.

One of many reasons why my bunny is something like 20+ years after the NJO.

[owl]

I simply ignore the entire thing and write my own version. I use the EU for technical data, species names and stuff like that.

[owl]

This is the most comments I've ver had on an entry. Maybe I should do Matrix/LotR/SW/Potter rants more often. Hee.