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One of the fundamental necessities of any propaganda organ is that its message be understandable at least on some level by those whom it targets. In the case of The Matrix trilogy, the vast majority of those who attempted any deeper analysis of the films than "That was cool!" seemed to find strong Manichean and Valentinian overtones. I noted some of these as well, but the whole charade fell apart with the introduction of so much Eastern mysticism and elements of the Priory of Sion. In short, about fifteen minutes into the second film, it was obvious the writers were going to subject us to the muddled stew of new-age mystical synthesis so favored in usenet groups and fringe websites. Once it became obvious that these ideas were nothing more than plausible deniability for the Wachowski brothers, it was easy to just sit back and enjoy the effects and the marshal arts. Plausible deniability, you ask? Of course. It wouldn't do for these boys to get nailed at the latest Hollywood cocktail party with the accusation that they just made a special effects bonanza targeted at teenage boys, now would it? That's exactly what they did, because that's where the money is, but that just doesn't play well in the self-important atmosphere so crucial to the film industry's social life.

And if ascribing anything deep to The Matrix was a mistake, doing the same for Constantine is a blunder of colossal proportions. This is nothing more than the latest adaptation of whatever underground or quasi-underground comic book writers and producers could find that easily lent itself to film. The only thing Constantine had in common with The Matrix was Keanu Reeves. Far from calling up references to Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the gang, I was more reminded of The Prophecy, with Christopher Walken playing a far better fallen Gabriel, and Hellboy, with its cynical, morally ambiguous hero. But mostly I was struck by a movie that could have been a lot better. I fail to understand why anyone would ever put Keanu Reeves in their movie. Not only is he one of the worst actors of this generation, but parts for a non-animated Butthead (or was that Beavis?), which is the only part he seems to be able to play, don't exactly show up in every script.

The biggest problem with trying to ascribe any propagandist motives to anything coming out of Hollywood is that it gives way too much credit for intelligence and character depth to these people. These are people who understand spirituality and philosophy on a Cliffs Notes level. Besides, it just tickles them to no end to hear that someone has found meaning in their work that is obviously so much deeper than they intended or were capable of. If for no other reason than that, articles like this one are pretty pointless.