Anger in the Ranks

Before blogging off, my apologies for not getting anything written last week - I was ready to go on the train of thought below when floored by a viral bug (real, not digital). And I mean floored - lying on the floor (or couch) shivering and wondering if I had one of the plagues of Egypt. Very nasty. But here I am, almost hale and hearty, wandering again...

So anyway, on with the blog. As some of you may know, I teach digital art classes for the Ohio State University. Traditionally I give my students a paper to write - keeps them honest to have to put their thoughts down on paper, even if we're trying to make visual art 99 percent of the time. So this quarter I asked them to sound off on the current state of copyright and Digital Media. Very open-ended; the papers could range from DVDs to MP3s to Internet Images to whatever. What was interesting was what I got back

What I expected to read was that a few students support copyright issues, a few admit to downloading music and know it's wrong, and a few railed against the RIAA machine. What I got was near 100 percent agreement that while they (the students) had been breaking the law by either downloading images or music for personal use, they were justified in stealing from "the man." I had never guessed that personal opinion against corporate copyright holders in general, and music companies in particular, was so vehement. The nicest reactions were that they had it coming, and the harshest was, "hey, I bought my concert T-Shirt, so get off my back!" Out of a class of 13, I had one (yep, one) student that supported the law as it stands - everyone else saw it merely as a tool for corporate America.

This leads me to wonder why, why, why the RIAA and other companies think that suing students will eradicate file sharing and increase CD sales. Here's my news flash for them, based on my small sampling: no one wants to give you money! They don't want to buy your CDs, see your concerts, or support your artists so long as they see the money they're spending going to you. The students seemed sympathetic to the plight of individual artists, regardless of media. I mean, they would like the protection copyright laws afford once they leave school and make things requiring protection. But the overriding opinion is that the laws were the tools of the corporation, not the artists. They saw the artists as getting screwed over, as screwed over as they feel every time they buy a $15 disc. So anything that they can do to screw "the man" back is justified, be it legal or not. So my conclusion is this - while the DO like getting things free (music, software, etc.), greed is not the only motivation. They are also motivated by a man vs. machine, Robin Hood vs. King John myth where every man is entitled to subvert the system and get a little back in return. If I were in the music, movie, or DVD business, I'd be worried - my customers are pissed

The Need for Choice

Let us hope that this is my last, last posting ever on the Matrix series - I mean, you'd think I was obsessed or something! The problem is that for all the disappointment felt for the last two movies, the franchise still asks more interesting philosophical questions than most films. Oh well, what can you do?

Anyways, I was pondering the end of the franchise, specifically why Neo had to be infected with Smith before becoming "one" with the Machine Mainframe. I mean, if all you needed to do to reset the Matrix was to link into the Source, why have the fight with Smith at all? I mean, would Smith come back in the new Matrix? Was the danger to the Machine World so great that they would make a deal with Neo? Or what if the Machine World (and Matrix) needed something from Smith...?

Here's my thinking - what if the Machine World needed to understand what it was to make a choice? I mean, through much of the second film all the machine entities were saying, "We're all here to do what we're all here to do" like some kind of automaton. What if they need a listen in "choice," that human trait which is harped on throughout the franchise? Certainly, having Smith compile whtat it means to make choices and then absorb his knowledge through Neo seems simple (and sly) enough.

Now I know, there were already machines that seemed able to make choices - the Oracle, renegade programs, etc. I mean, all a renegade program is is a program that chose to flee and not be deleted. But that means that most, if not all, of the programs that can make choices are hiding in the Matrix, doesn't it? So what if the whole point of the Oracle's risk is not only to save Humanity, but to save the Machines by giving them all the power of choice and control over their environment?

Now I'm not entirely sold on this idea myself, but I find it interesting for two reasons. First, I like it because it gives the whole Smith sub-plot a reason to exist - he may be evil, but it's a necessary evil - like a bite from the fruit of Knowledge. Second, it helps explain the end to me - the little girl/program who is under the Oracle's care suddenly has the power to modify the Matrix (by creating a specatcular sunrise). Since when did she get that power? What if it's a by-product of the choice that Neo/Smith gave her?