I didn't hop on to the Matrix movie bandwagon until after the original film had been out for a while. Being out of the country, and almost penniless at the time of the original film's release, I didn't hear too much about it until friends started recommending it after my return to the U.S. Even so, it wasn't until one of them sprang for a video purchase, and then delivered it to my home to view, that I was able to plug in and take the red pill.

Even after watching it several times, and enjoying it quite a bit, I don't think I ever saw as much libertarian content in the film as others did. Sure, there are interesting philosophical questions in the Matrix films that are especially relevant to freedom-oriented individuals, but I never saw them as a kind of answer or guide for us. It was, to my mind, mostly entertainment that happened to delve a little deeper, and cover territory of greater importance to freedom lovers, than most modern movies. So it is no surprise to me that The Matrix Revolutions is a disappointment to most libertarians who've seen it (as well as, for similar reasons, to most viewers in general).

With that as background, I'll skip over the second movie, The Matrix Reloaded, since I've reviewed it already and mostly agree with that review still. I came to the third and final film, Revolutions, not really expecting many of the deep philosophical questions, both explicit and implicit in the films, to be answered. These are popular entertainment movies we're talking about, not libertarian-minded how-tos or documentaries. (I recall seeing recently that the Wachowski brothers are on someone's hit list as being enemies of freedom -- not for the Matrix movies, but something else. Unfortunately I don't remember the site and visit too many each day to try to retrace my steps.) Thus, it was not a disappointment to me, upon reflecting back over the movie, and the entire trilogy.

It's very hard for me to be disappointed in a series of films that was able to get me to care so much about the major characters that I openly cried -- and was nearer to sobs than I care to admit -- when one of them died toward the end of the film. I don't recall ever doing that in a movie theater before. While some decry the dispassionate tendencies Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity all displayed, I can relate to that very well -- as can almost any parent who's had to tell a child "No" when he or she has very much wanted to say "Yes". When one's at war, or facing any crisis, one takes care of business, and saves the emotional expression for a more appropriate time and setting -- a well-established pattern across the Matrix films.

In my mind, Reloaded set up the final battle between machines and humans as the focus of the final film, and on that Revolutions did not disappoint. Would I have liked more specific answers to the early philosophizing, particularly from the first movie? Of course. Am I let down that it didn't come about? Not at all. As I said, these are Hollywood products, and Hollywood has shown time and again that all the questions don't need to be answered in movies, or TV, for the powers-that-be there to be satisfied.

In keeping with the issue that bedeviled Neo and the Architect, I choose a different interpretation of the Matrix films. I see Revolutions as being about three themes: choice; purpose; and belief. I choose to look beyond the film's failure to wrap up certain questions and instead come away with a sense that it is, despite that failure, a powerful film for libertarians to see, if they will but take another red pill. Look past the disappointment over the lack of answers, look past the somewhat vacuous (but not, to my mind, as empty as Reloaded) dialogue, and see a message that is crucial for freedom fighters to grok.

We have choices. Freedom is nothing more than the ability to choose. We can choose to debate and argue endlessly over strategy, tactics, and philosophical minutiae. We can choose instead to act, to give purpose to our values, if they really are the values we hold. 9/11 showed that many we thought were our allies are at best "nerf libertarians", and in some cases flat-out statists. Even so, our actions can devastate those of our opponents -- if we will make the choice to act instead of argue.

We have a clear purpose. The goal is greater liberty for every person on this planet -- not for them per se, but so that we may enjoy the freedom we desire, and may create healthier social groups and institutions for free individuals. Our choices should reflect that purpose, and lead us ever toward it, rather than farther away.

There is reason to believe in ourselves. Yes, I see the bad news from around the world, day after dreary day. For those of you who've forgotten, or didn't know it, I help bring that news to many libertarians, in the form of Freedom News Daily (now defunct). Despite seeing all that bad news, I remain fundamentally optimistic about our prospects. Why? Because we are right -- humans require freedom in order to live their fullest and happiest. Because every brick that a gov tries to put up somewhere is a light that goes on in another person's head about how the state is not a necessary evil, but simply an evil. (I believe that in areas outside the U.S., especially in Africa and eastern Europe, individuals see this better than we "enlightened" Americans do. Not in pure philosophical terms, perhaps, but that's a relatively simple matter to correct.) Because with each bloody revolution that has come around, liberty has gained ground that is not yielded with the next revolution.

It seems to me that many libertarians, in rejecting religion, conflate faith and belief. To me, they're very different things. Faith calls for belief in absence of proof. Morpheus had faith in the Oracle's prophecies before he saw proof of The One. Belief is confidence based on proof. Link didn't have faith in the prophecy, or Morpheus, but he did come to believe in Neo's powers as The One. Belief is a combination of confidence and hope -- and can be a powerful force driving one's actions.

It may feel increasingly like we who value freedom and its consequences are plugged in to a horrible statist Matrix, from which we will never escape. Just as Morpheus persisted in his belief, past his hope that it was right, we too must maintain our hope; unlike his belief, ours is founded on truth. We must focus on our purpose, and on assisting those around us whose efforts may not mesh exactly with our own. Claire Wolfe, on her excellent forum, The Claire Files, wrote the following:

In my own case, I've staked out three areas I give a lot of energy to -- privacy, gun-rights, and animal rescue. I can handle about two of the three on any given day, and can handle all three over time. If I try to take on more -- to care vitally about more issues, more human tragedies, more parts of the world that need an injection of freedom or humanity -- I just become overwhelmed and useless.

Choice, purpose, belief. Find your purpose, choose a level and means of activism that work for you, and believe that you can make a difference. If we make our choices in this way, the battle will still be fierce and the casualties many, but we will win. That's "worth dying for". That's the message that I choose to take away from the Matrix movies.

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