In a movie season filled with blockbusters-in-waiting, there will surely be more major successes driven by special effects. So far, there are already two -- X2 and Matrix Reloaded. And the themes of these twin cinematic record-breakers are telling.
"X2: X-Men United" is about a group of outcasts who have been defending a world that hates and fears them. For their trouble, they are attacked by a radical government operation that is presented to the president and the people as a perfectly acceptable option. Even cold killer Mystique is taken aback by the idea of Special Forces teams attacking a school full of children. The situation is so dire that both the X-Men and their greatest mutant foe, Magneto, are willing to set aside their differences. They join forces to stop the operation's sick leader, General Stryker. Stryker truly believes that mutants are a disease upon humanity, and is willing to do anything to protect normal people from the infection. Anything.
"The Matrix Reloaded" has an even more radical metaphor, as anyone reading this blog already knows. The rebellion cranks their battle against the machines up a notch, and the machines respond in kind. There's a sort of desperate "now or never" feeling throughout the movie, and the heroes are willing to tear down everything for freedom. We must destroy the Matrix, or we will never be free. The machines, meanwhile, are ready for the resistance in virtually every way imaginable, making the thought of fighting back even more frightening for those of us in the audience. I've even seen one depressing commentary where the writer was willing to submit to the Matrix for some nice juicy steak, real or not. The theme of Reloaded, however, is choice, and the idea that we have to make the hard choices if we want real freedom. When the system gives us the choice of A or B, the movie essentially tells us, sometimes the right answer is C.
In the current national climate, such messages are "dangerous" and frightening to all the right people, and yet audiences have flocked to these action thrillers that are revolutionary in the literal sense. True, there are many who actively resist thinking while in the theater, watching the movies for the (genuinely impressive) eye-candy and ignoring the message. Even they are exposed to the ideas within, however, and as Karl "Lex Luthor" Rove has proven, just because people aren't paying attention doesn't mean they aren't getting your message. And of course, there are the millions who are going because of the message rather than in spite of it.
There is a powerful undercurrent of frustration in our society today, waiting for a real-life Professor X or Morpheus to take the lead. Since I have hair, I don't think I qualify. ;) Nevertheless, the subtitle of this blog is "outrage overload" in homage to a comic strip by the superb Tom Tomorrow of This Modern World. If the wild success of these movies is any indication, a lot of Americans are approaching Outrage Overload. What happens then cannot be predicted, except perhaps by Hollywood.
(/) Roland X
Desperately Seeking Morpheus
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