The Matrix

What I would like to discuss here with you is the storyline of The Matrix, and how it is seemingly based on tales from the Bible. You may think that this is all a bit tenuous and reading too much into things, but have a look for yourself at the 'evidence' for my case:

• We are told that one came before, and that one will come again to save mankind. These are the Christ and the Second Coming. Neo is the Messiah, the Chosen One.
• "Neo" means "new" - he is the new saviour of mankind - and is also an anagram of "one" (is this pushing it a bit too far?).
• Morpheus is John the Baptist. The scene in which Neo first wakes from his pod, his mundane mortal existence, is his baptism. As he is released from the mainframe, he is plunged into the waters, and the Nebuchadnezzar hovers above him like the dove of God. It is when Morpheus as the baptist pulls Neo from the water, that his new existence begins.
• Trinity (the holy trinity...) is a representation of God, unconditionaly loving Neo. Through her love, Neo arises to live again. All the way through the film she knows that she is destined to love Neo and that he will save mankind.
• The other characters in the film that we see on the Nebuchadnezzar are Neo's disciples. Most obviously we have our traitor figure Judas Iscariot (who explicitly states that a miracle is required to save them) through whose betrayal to the authoritorial state does the death and resurrection of our hero occur. Note also that two of the disciples are brothers, Dozer and Tank.
• As the Christ figure of the film, Neo must die and resurrect himself to come into his full powers and go on to save mankind. It is only after the resurrection that Neo becomes the Chosen One. His mortal self must die first - hence why the oracle told him that he was not (yet) the Chosen One.
• The Agent's desire for the capture of Morpheus mirrors Herod's (or Salome's) order for the head of John the Baptist. John accepts his fate because he knows that Christ will save his soul.
• In some Gnostic texts we read that after Christ's crucifiction, because He had taken all of the sins of mankind upon Himself, He went straight to Hell, and from there He defeated the Devil and burst out of Hell ascending into Heaven. Witness Neo's first act upon his death and resurrection - he fights the Agent, then plunges into him before bursting out of him, defeating him. Only then does he leave the Hell of the Matrix and join his loving Trinity on the Nebuchadnezzar. (Many thanks to Adam Howie for initially pointing this one out to me.)
• The city of mankind that remains is called Zion. Zion is the name of one of the two hills upon which Jerusalem, Christianity's holy city, is built. The name came to signify Jerusalem itself (Is. 1:27) and, allegorically, the heavenly city or kingdom of Heaven (Heb. 12:22). It is here, in the film, that mankind's hope and future remains intact.
• Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon from 605 to 562 BC, who rebuilt the city with massive fortification walls, a huge temple, and a ziggurat, and extended his rule over ancient Palestine and neighbouring countries. In 586 BC he captured and destroyed Jerusalem and deported its leaders. This doesn't tie too closely into the film as it stands. Maybe this will be more significant in the second film? It seems in The Matrix that they would rather sacrifice the Nebuchadnezzar and its passengers (the leaders?) rather than risk endangering Zion. Certainly, though, it's a biblical name.

Well that's my argument. Some of the details are a bit grasping, but you can see that the basic structure of my argument is in fact very sound. I think that this is why the story works so well: it is one that is known and mostly accepted throughout nearly all of Western society (at whom this film is aimed). It is a tale of hope for mankind and love conquering all, but with kickass fighting, gun fights, and a thumping soundtrack. Could this be the best of all worlds?