Bush Equated with Hitler in 'Matrix' Sequel?

worldnetdaily.com ^ | 5/22/03 | Joe Kovacs

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

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HOLLYWOOD VS. AMERICA
Bush equated with Hitler
in 'Matrix' sequel?
Image of president shown with dictator
in discussion of evil

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Posted: May 22, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Joe Kovacs

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© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Is President Bush equated with Adolf Hitler in the science-fiction flick "The Matrix Reloaded"?

The question is being asked in connection with a scene in the new movie where images of Bush and the German dictator are displayed during a discussion of evil in the world.

Adolf Hitler

"If they're saying our president is in the same league as Adolf Hitler, then I don't want to see this movie," says Mark Szorady of Rome, Ohio.

The 44-year-old cartoonist tells WorldNetDaily he has no idea if that's the intent of the filmmaker, but his curiosity has been piqued by reviews and online discussions of the blockbuster.

"The Matrix Reloaded" continues the story of mankind's struggle against machines which use artificial intelligence to enslave the human race in a dream world.

TV screens behind Keanu Reeves in 'The Matrix Reloaded' (Warner Bros.)

During the scene in question, actor Keanu Reeves – who portrays the hero "Neo" – is standing in front of a large bank of video screens as he discusses mankind's history with the designer of the computer-simulated world which is called "the Matrix."

Images of wickedness begin to rapidly flash on the monitors, including photos of nuclear warfare and notorious killers.

"When the architect of the Matrix describes the folly of man," Scott Bowles of USA Today says, "look at the screens behind Neo, which show images of a historical monster and a contemporary president."

The historical monster to whom he refers is Hitler, and the president is George W. Bush, as well as his father for a brief moment.

President Bush

"Discussion of evil in the world and flashing the picture of our president. Why?" asks Szorady. "Are they saying he's evil? ... I'd like to see this thing frame-by-frame."

The scene is also sparking chatter on the Internet about possible intended messages.

"If the Matrix films, the most philosophically challenging movies to be produced in a generation, reveal any obvious signs of the politics of its makers, then this subliminal equation (Hitler=Bush?) is it," writes the Today newspaper of the Philippines in an editorial about "Reloaded."

Messageboard threads on Yahoo and Free Republic.com include a host of reactions which span the political spectrum:

• "[Bush is] appropriately just to the right of Hitler."

• "This flick is off my list! I'm not even interested anymore!

• "Although it was not up long, it was safe to say that over half the audience recognized the dig at the president as well as the context that it was in – that President Bush was a negative part of human history."

• "I saw it. The TV monitors show Nazis, Hitler, and an atomic explosion, and somewhere in the midst of all that the face of George W. Bush can be seen for a second or so. Why would such a peace-loving president so emotionally engaged with the struggle of the common man ever be included alongside such dark images? What could the filmmakers have been thinking? Is it too late to start a boycott of this film? ... Maybe if enough pressure can be exerted, they can have the offensive image removed before they press the DVD!"

Contributors to Free Republic have even posted the images of Hitler and the Bushes from the movie in at least one discussion thread.

A spokesperson for the Warner Bros. studio told WorldNetDaily the company was reviewing the sequence in question to be "accurate" for any comment regarding the alleged Bush-Hitler connection.

Placing presidents in works of pop culture is certainly nothing new for the entertainment industry, as productions have featured both footage of elected leaders and actors portraying real-life officials.

Some have obvious comedic value, like in 1978's "The Pink Panther Strikes Again," where then-President Gerald Ford was lampooned as a stumbling buffoon more concerned with a college-football score than saving the world from a doomsday scenario.

President George H.W. Bush was cast in a less than flattering light during the Irish rock band U2's 1990 "Zoo TV" tour, as fans viewed a host of political images on giant video screens culminating with a caption telling the audience, "It's your world, you can change it."

Meantime, "The Matrix Reloaded" is already among the biggest financial smashes in movie history, grossing $134.3 million during its first four days, nearly matching the entire amount the first "Matrix" collected in its first five weeks.

It's expected to become the most successful R-rated film ever released, needing at least $234.8 million to match the current No. 1, "Beverly Hills Cop."

"I think it will easily do over $300 million," box-office analyst Robert Bucksbaum of ReelSource Inc. told the Los Angeles Daily News.

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Related story:

'Matrix' makers blast charge of albino bias

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Joe Kovacs is executive news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.

[Michael Barnes]

I missed the part about the decision between the two doors when Neo was with the architect...what was the deal there? One door lead back to the Matrix..where did the other door lead?

[ClearCase_guy]

It went by pretty quick. I think this was the deal:

One door would lead to the Source and allow Neo to smash the matrix, and save Zion (although Trinity would die). The other door would allow Neo to get back into the Matrix, and (perhaps) save Trinity. But if he chose that door, Zion would be destroyed and Humanity would become extinct.

If the architect was telling the truth, Neo had to choose between love of a woman and love of humanity. Two different types of love. Did Neo make the right choice? Was the architect steering Neo in a particular direction? Was it a good direction, or bad? Did Neo behave in the way the architect wanted?

Noen of this is clear until the third movie. Which I hope is better than the second.

[Michael Barnes]

thanks...

[Michael2001]

There were multiple images of which Hitler and Bush were two. They have said since the beginning that the AI explosion happened just after the turn of the century which would leave who as the president?

Well in their defense on that one, these movies were written before Bush was elected. The first one was released in 1999.

[Prodigal Son]

Went to see it last night. My wife and I loved it. I saw the tv screens. I didn't come away thinking the film had equated Bush with Hitler. Not at all. My wife didn't either- although she's an evil German.

To tell the truth, I was too busy trying to figure out what the architect was talking about to pay much attention to the screens. It'll take a frame by frame analysis and many more veiwings. There's some other details I'm interested in as well: when they're showing Neo's memories (from childhood for example), do they also show memories he had after he was unplugged (in the first film)?

We're going to see it a few more times though so we'll pay attention to that scene every time and note if it makes us stop liking President Bush. I'll give it a bit more study too when I buy the DVD.

Also, does anybody else make a connection between Agent Smith and the Greek God Cronus (which means "crow")? In mythology, Gaia gave her son Cronus a sickle to castrate Uranus in the underworld Tartarus (which is also where Persephone was held by Hades). In the movie, when Neo and Agent Smith meet (after the Oracle scene), Smith walks up as crows fly slowly away. When Smith "hacks" into Zion in the form of Bane he is seen with a sickle shaped knife with which he cuts his hand twice (for some reason). Anybody got any ideas?

[Prodigal Son]

I don't really understand the FR/Conservative cottage industry obsessed with finding things to be offended over. It's pretty clear that people ENJOY being outraged and offended, though.

I don't understand it either and I agree, some seem to enjoy it.

[TheAngryClam]

I hate to break it to you, but Cronus (Kronos in Greek) doesn't mean crow. The name Cronus is derived from the verb "kraino" which, like all Greek words, has several meanings. The primary one is "to accomplish, fulfill, bring to pass." This was later adoped to mean "to exercise sway over, to rule."

Kronos, then, means "he who brings this to pass" or, more likely "he who rules."

The closest word that relates to crows in Greek is Krozdo, with an omega for the first "o" (compared to the omicron in Kronos and Kraino), which means "to caw." The various words for crow are "korone" (second o Omega, = sea-crow) and korax (carrion-crow).

The association of Kronos to crows is actually a reverse adoption from the identification of him to the Roman god Saturn, a god of sowing and crops (and thus, the seasons and time, which, coupled with the linguistic weakening of the Chi sound from an aspirate to a simple kappa in Western Greek, made Kronos sound identical to khronos (time)).

[Prodigal Son]

Actually, I should have said Cronus derives (possibly) from the Greek word for Crow.

From http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/myth.html:

CRONUS m Greek Mythology (Latinized) Pronounced: KRO-nus Latinized form of the Greek Kronos, possibly derived from korone meaning "crow".

At any rate... Any ideas about this? Why does this character cut his hand twice?

[Belial]

You could not POSSIBLY make a movie which so blatantly painted People of Color as an evil scourge and threat to humanity, with White people as the only hope of saving human civilization. NO WAY.

Are you kidding? Look at the history of film, genius.

99% of films have white heroes or heroines and people of color are traditionally the enemy, or the valet.

[Centurion2000]

I missed the part about the decision between the two doors when Neo was with the architect...what was the deal there? One door lead back to the Matrix..where did the other door lead?

The first door let him select 6 men and 7 women to make a NEW version of Zion and start all over again.

The door that led back to the matix (lower) would compound the errors in the Matrix that would result/risk the destruction of the entire human race.

Neo 6.0 took that door in order to save Trinity's life ... no other neo version ever took that route.

[ClearCase_guy]

Please be so kind to identify a movie, made within the last 20 years, in which People of Color (as a group) are seen as a threat to civilization, and the only way to save humanity is for white people (as a group) to take certain "necessary steps".

[Belial]

One door would lead to the Source and allow Neo to smash the matrix, and save Zion (although Trinity would die). The other door would allow Neo to get back into the Matrix, and (perhaps) save Trinity. But if he chose that door, Zion would be destroyed and Humanity would become extinct.

Not quite.

Neo had 5 predecessors. All 5 chose the same door (not the one Neo chose). Both doors result in the destruction of Zion (remember when the architect talked about how they were becoming "exceedingly good" at destroying it?).

If Neo chose one door, he would select 23 people (16 women, 7 men) to be removed from the Matrix, and restart Zion.

The door Neo chose will supposedly result in a catastrophic system failure of the Matrix and the extinction of humanity.

[Belial]

Please be so kind to identify a movie, made within the last 20 years, in which People of Color (as a group) are seen as a threat to civilization, and the only way to save humanity is for white people (as a group) to take certain "necessary steps".

There are so many things wrong with your statement I don't know where to begin.

In the first place, lumping all non-white people into a group reveals a lot about the way you perceive the world.

Second, my comment pointed out that most heroes and heroines have been white. You've injected a lot of the plot details from the Matrix into my argument. What you're essentially asking me is how many movies made in the past 20 years conform to the plot arc of the Matrix, except with the racial roles reversed. Not even close to my original argument, and it's a pretty asinine thing to consider, on top of that.

Third, you obviously didn't understand the film, so why am I bothering arguing with you about it?

[tmg]

No, you aren't the only Americans who didn't go see it. My husband and I are skipping it. We didn't understand the hype over the first one. The premise of the movie is a rip off of "The Terminator," and special effects don't make a movie.

[Ichneumon]

The orgy scene was especially sick.

Since there *wasn't* an "orgy scene", maybe the "sickness" is in the eye of the beholder...

Note for those who haven't seen the movie who might believe this nonsense: Zion, the only remaining city of the humans, gets the word that the computers are sending a quarter-million robot warriors to destroy Zion and everyone in it. The people are very fearful, but Morpheus gives a rousing pep-talk speech with a message similar to FDR's "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" speech, and convinces people that if they fight, they will prevail.

That night, the city has what's obviously an "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die" party. There's a lot of dancing. It's not an orgy. Men dance with their wives/lovers, and there's some (fully clothed) necking done while dancing, standing up, as everyone realizes that the men are about to go off and fight and many will surely die.

Neo and Trinity sneak off to a private room and have sex (just the two of them, no "orgy"), which is depicted with a lot of skin, but no "naught bits" are shown.

That's it. No "orgy".

[Ichneumon]

It's pretty clear that people ENJOY being outraged and offended, though. And now we've got an industry to serve those needs and scour the ends of the earth for things to get outraged over.

I agree. Too often it's like the woman who called the police and asked them to arrest a man for "whistling dirty songs".

[Chuckster]

Sorry, I just don't have the time to deconstruct a movie frame-by-frame. Saw Matrix2 Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[virgil]

I think the Hollywood "Bush is Evil" campaign is something to expect since an election is coming. I'm watching for the obligatory Oliver Stone paranoid conspiracy theory - evil Republican movie to come up. Com'on now where is it?

[zx2dragon]

Exactly my point. Couldn't say turn of the century and put Gore in there, it just wouldn't have been right. :)

Sowieso, that's all I think it is, trying to give people a sense of when this is supposed to have taken place.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

Studio denies 'Matrix' links Bush, Hitler