Minute 24: “Lift up your shirt.”

Transcript

Transcribed automatically from the audio, and imperfect for it — names and punchlines suffer worst. Useful for finding a moment, not for quoting one.

0:00The Matrix Minute, a podcast where we discuss the first film one minute at a time. Because The Matrix is a beautiful thing. I'm Phil, and The Matrix was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry and Library of Congress. Took mine again. What? That was my next one. Ugh! But when, Philip, when? When was it? 2005? Nope, 2012. Oh, whoops. And listen to this, I can tell you more things about it. So, the U.S. Library of Congress. Hi, guys. The National Film Registry, it selects 25 films each year, showcasing the range and diversity of American film heritage to increase awareness for its preservation. So, 25 films a year are selected in The Matrix of 2012.

0:44Well done! Magical. I'm glad. Quite magical. It means so much to me. Oh, hi, Tim. The Matrix was released in 1999. Oh! That's a good one. Heavy hitters. Heavy hitter. The big ones. Okay. The big trivia is... Alright, well... This is Minute 24. Welcome to Minute 24. In this minute, Neo decides to take the highway. But he's persuaded to stay in the car with Trinity. Switch and Apoc. Trinity lifts up a gigantic anti-bugging device and proceeds to take out the bug in Neo's stomach. That is Minute 24.

1:24Thank you very much for that description. You're welcome. Yes, Philip. Thank you. So, yeah. Minute 24 is, um... It's sort of split into half and half. One half is talking. One half is exploring. Interesting idea. And the second half goes straight to the unexpected... Bug-sapping. ...debugging situation. Well, let's get the first thing out of the way. The first thing happens is Neo decides to leave and quits. He's just a wimpy quitter. No. Well, the question is... No. It's like, fine. I'm leaving. Wait a second. Wait a second. I think he's being reasonable. Yeah, because Neo is scared. He doesn't... He wasn't expecting a gun to be pointed at him. And he wasn't expecting this to be a sort of... You know, uncertain...

2:05...situation. Yeah. He was expecting friendly people. Yeah. Like, hey, Neo. Join our gang. Hey, you want a cigarette? Stuff like that, but... Yeah, he's like, well, we're cool. You know. Got some Rob Zombie. You were talking about some great stuff. Great tracks. At the Rob Zombie place. And now you're pulling a gun on me. Yeah. You know, that's what the Asians did as well. Yeah. You are like them. Exactly. You are sucky. And so Neo goes... They give him a choice, right? Like, it doesn't just say it's either our way or the highway. It's just at the last minute. Mm-hmm. And so now he's faced with a choice again. Yeah, she's like, please, Neo, you have to trust me. Now, what she says is, you've been down there, Neo. Well, he opens the door.

2:45He opens the door and he looks at the road in front of you. I'm going to have to... I have a bunch of questions. Okay, he looks at the road. I have 20 questions. And she goes, Neo, continue. Because you've been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be. So let's talk about this. What is with the crypticisms? Why is it crypticism? Okay, is it cryptic? It's not crypticism. Because I always thought... No. Tell us what you always thought. And we'll tell you what we always thought. Okay. Strange language you have there. I do not speak chuk-a-chuk-a-chuk. Well, it's like she doesn't... Chuk-a-chuk. She just like... What is it? Like is it... I always thought it was a literal road she's pointing at.

3:25Or he's looking at. A literal road down some actual place. When I was a kid. You know, that we never get to see. And I never knew what it was. Because the way the camera was looking at it. You know, you spend a whole cut. And you're looking at this empty road that Neo's looking at. Yeah, exactly. And... But then again, of course it is metaphorical. Yes, it is. Where she's like, you've been down that road. The road of just wandering emptiness. Yes. Darkness. Yeah. I mean, I don't know my literal forms. And I don't know if this counts as a classic metaphor. But because we are literally seeing the literal and the metaphorical. Because this could be a street he walks down to his work.

4:06And she's also being metaphorical. You know, like, whatever your life is, you've experienced that over and over again. This is something new. Make your choice. You know, this is what she's saying. Exactly. And so, yeah, like I said, it represents both a real road, but also his previous life. I always thought that's where the office of the agents were. Which was spent in mundanities. Not finding a purpose. But to be honest, I think Neo made his decision not about thinking at all about the... Because I don't think Neo is the philosophical type. I don't think he thinks anything that Morpheus told him. He's a pretty literal kind of guy. And if Trinity says, Neo, please stay. He's like, you know what, Trinity? Yeah, I think you're probably right, actually. He does...

4:46He never strikes... He never talks about anything. Even when things go south. He's never thinking philosophically. In this movie, at least. He's a man of action. He's like, you know what? I decide I'm going to do this. And I do this. You know what I mean? He's a man who deals with his choices that he's confronted with immediately. Yes. He doesn't really go like, hmm, how does this relate to that? And does this make sense? I'll have to think about this. About your metaphor. You're just like, give me... One or two. One. One. It's for the audience. He never answers in a metaphor. He didn't go like... That's true. But what if the familiar road is the most safest road, Trinity?

5:28He never says anything like that. Later, when we go with them to the Oracle, he'll be talking about literal noodles. I mean, you know. So, I don't know. By the way, Switch's... He's an average Joe. Switch's gun is a Browning High Power. Thank you. There you go. Browning High Power. Yep. Nine millimeter caliber. Do they all come in silver? Are there black ones or no? Jacob, I'm not a gunsman. Okay. Well, I used to be a long time ago. Oh, yeah. You did. You have like a little boy. Yeah. When you were a little boy, you actually... You brought a little toy, BB gun, and a holster. And you had that holster under your leather jacket when you went to our cousin's wedding. No. That's good. You brought your holster with you. Holster, but no gun.

6:08Yes. At least. You didn't bring the gun. You brought your holster with you with the leather jacket. No. Seriously? Yes. No way. Yes. Yes. The holster that sounded like the... That's right. Yep. On the side. You were a gun nut. I was, yeah. Yeah. I can beat you that with a story, with a gun story, though. Okay. Did we say about the pod? We did. No, it was the other podcast. Yeah. Remember the time when I brought the gun to the airport? Oh, yes. Do you want to mention that story? Well, I just wanted to say that this is an excerpt. No, it's not really. But it's like, it's a story that was previously told on another podcast that we do called Phil and Jake in Conversation. And you should go and check it out. Phil and Jake. What is it? Notpodcast.phildragish.com. That's the one. You know what? Um, if we ever get my brother on this podcast, I'm going to let him tell that story.

6:50Okay. Because he's part of that as well. We will. We will. The man who introduced us to the Matrix. I remember when I was a little boy, I remember for Christmas or during Christmas time, I actually asked if I could get a gun encyclopedia book. Like, that's how much I was. I was like, ooh, isn't this? Different kinds of guns. Yeah. Different kinds of guns. Okay. So. Short ones. Long ones. What else can we say? Yeah. This is basically just his choice. So Neo chooses to stay. Again. Neo goes with one. They didn't force him. They're just asking him to go with them. It's not like the machines that don't give him any choice. Or the Matrix itself doesn't give you a choice. Right. Neo gets to choose. And he chooses to stay in the car.

7:31And then the anti-bug machine appears. Hey, Pac, lights! And then. Yeah, I always forget about this. Every time I watch the movie, I always forget they're going to do this bug. And the music sounds like. Like, Tim, what'd you say? Galloping horses. Yep. Like crazy galloping horses. And yeah, so these machines never really show up in the sequels. And then she finally tells Neo what's going on. She says, we think you're bugged. So at least we are in confirmation that it was real. And it wasn't a dream. But what is this? This also confirms that they tucked him into bed.

8:11Yes. That Agent Brown tucked him into bed. But I just want to say, like, what is this anti-bug machine? Like, it runs on regular voltage, so you can actually put it into the car. But where do they get this? And how does Tank actually make these things show up in the Matrix? The Construct. Yeah, but how can you bring... You have to take, like, different parts. And you have to build it into Construct. You have to build it in the Construct, right? Yes. Yes. Or maybe that's why it's looking so crappy. It's like they just build it in code. And, like, we don't really know how this is going to look. We never get to see these crazy devices in the next movies, of course. There's nothing like that anymore. It's pretty strict. I mean, they've been debugging people for a long time. Maybe this is something they, you know, got on a MIDI disc from Zion.

8:53Oh! But, here's the question. Maybe the bugs are new. What? Maybe the bugs are new. Maybe before they didn't use bugs. Maybe before they used, like... Well, that's... I don't know. Oh, that is true. We maybe never had anyone bugged. Yeah, maybe before it was, like, I don't know. Like, you're blinded. We have to de-blind you. So, late night trying to program this damn thing. As we put tape on your face. I can see again. I can see. Did you guys know that back in the day, I think this, you know, they plug in the power into the little cigarette thing, which also in cars works as a power thing. But back in the day before cell phones, when this came out, my dad didn't have a cell phone, so I never saw anyone use a little cigarette thing for power.

9:33Oh, yeah? So, I didn't know it was an actual power outlet. No way. Really? You can use. I thought it was... But I knew what it was. You know, it was a cigarette thing, and when you press it in, it generates the heat. I thought that somehow this generating heat, and they're using that, I didn't understand when I watched The Matrix for the first time that it was actual power in the car. You were like, what is this cigarette heater magic? I was actually thinking about that, like, just sitting there, like, how does it, like, a machine? But you know, that cigarette heater, that was really dangerous, if you think about it. That just pops out. It was so hot, the spiral in there, and then imagine if that falls on the carpet or something, that's... Burn. It's not like a lighter. I think there's a bunch of movies that have that kind of thing happen.

10:14So weird. Yeah. Let's go back to the bug machine. That thing, so she's holding it, like, with a handle. I don't know, man. My opinion on this bug machine is just, again, we're back to the question of, like, why did they pick this aesthetic? And here, I think they're just doing some wacky, weird, like, steampunk stuff. I don't know. Steampunk? Yeah. I don't know. I categorize it as something like... I think you're more in cyberpunk. There you go. Cyberpunk. That's what I meant. Yeah. The steam machine. Just pour in the hot water. The hot water needs to be poured on Leo. Come on, APAC. No, no. They have, like, a British... Come on, APAC.

10:54Start up the machine. Come on, love. Let's put this here. Hey, but you know what's cool, though? In the Matrix, you know what exists? You know that self-perpetuating water machine? Oh, the weird heating thing? No, the thing that... Remember, like, the thing that, like, if you pour water in, it always pours water back. Where Anthony Zerbe is like, it shows something to do with... I have to look it up. I have no idea. I forgot what the term is. It's something you learn in science class. Like in Waterworld? Demonstrate the law that energy is not infinite. Okay. In the same way that, you know, you can't point a light to a calculator and the light will just always... Feed the... Yeah. Yeah. So it's not self-sustaining. Yes. I have to look it up.

11:35Oh, okay. Like, yeah. I see what you mean. Anyway, she's using this device and just locking onto Neo's little stomach there. I don't know what else to say about this. What I'm talking about is a perpetual motion machine, which is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an energy source. But this kind of machine is impossible as it will violate the first and second law of thermodynamics. Curse those laws! And what I'm thinking of specifically is called the capillary bowl, which is a self-filling bowl of peanut butter crunch. Of water. Capillary bowl. Look, look, look.

12:15I spelled that like a... Here, here. I said... I hate those laws of thermodynamics. But Google... But Google... But you can hack it in the matrix. Look, I sent you the thing. So see, there's a bowl and it keeps filling itself with water. That wouldn't be able to... That would work in the matrix. It would if you can hack it. I'm saying like, theoretically. Yeah. Yeah. What a great story. What a great and useful story. Things that you learn on this podcast. It's fantastic. Caterpillar bowls. People who can't remember what perpetual motion is. Second law of thermodynamics. Just all the good stuff. Thermodynamics. They're so fast. Thermodynamics. Thermodynamics. Beautiful. I get all my science information from... What's that show called? Everything...

12:56Mr. Wizard. No, Look Around You. Everything Around You. What was it called? With Peter Serafinowicz. What's that called? Look Around You, I think. Yes. Oh, that's where I get my information. Look Around You. Well, do you have anything else to say about this? No. Like the machine, there's something... Like this is another aspect that just disappears in the next films. It doesn't really... No one really talks about this anymore. I like the aspect. Why don't they make laser guns? Because they really look cool. It's very simple to answer these questions. Okay. Bullets take care of things. Yes. Well, we could still go to the 1996 script. Oh, yeah. We're back. No. Did we say that already? It was a little 1996. Yeah. Did we... Was it last episode we talked about the 1996?

13:36Yeah, we did. Okay. Yes. So let's revisit... We continue from the cliffhanger. The cliffhanger was... They were approaching a house in the van. Yeah. So when we left, Neo was taking the L train. Apok approaches him and the cops chase them in the train a little bit. Apok pushes him down. He falls off a bridge while the train is moving. He's moving off the train into a truck that just appears below him into a bunch of boxes. And there's a character called Cabby aiming a gun at him. And then Trinity's there and she's like, we have to put this tape on your... Yes, on your eyes. For protection. And yeah. So there we go. So then they go to exterior lower whacker. A featureless black van glides up to a staircase that curls down from the city's surface.

14:20Trinity guides the blind Neo down the steps. The back of the van slaps open, revealing a young skinny man who looks to be still in his teens. Wearing an outfit that is a cross between a surgeon and a telephone repairman. What? I can't even imagine that. His name is Gizmo. And he smiles lewdly at Trinity. Exposing his teeth that are wired with weird looking braces. And Gizmo says, va va voom! Still the hottest software around! Trinity goes, hello Gizmo. Neo hears the voices around him.

15:01Is this really the guy? The guy that Morpheus thinks? Yeah. But he's so old! Are you going to help us or aren't you? Trinity says. And Gizmo says, Hacksaw! Load up the copper top and let's get the hell out of here! Hacksaw is a huge man in a leather welder's apron. He shoulders Neo and hauls him into the van. A moment later, the green lights of lower Wacker curve over the third windshield as the van rushes through the underworld. Well, to be continued. Here he has another cliffhanger. Well, that was weird. That was strange. Imagine that. Gizmo. Is Gizmo mouse or is there some random other character?

15:43I don't know. I'm trying to still imagine. I think he's... They said between... They wrote between a surgeon, dressed between a surgeon and a... Phone repairman. Phone repairman. I'm trying to think what it was. Yeah. I think it's like surgeon, but for like tech. So he's like dressed like a surgeon, but it's not like to operate, but it's like tools. He has like little screwdrivers and... But he's like... I don't know. I'm thinking something like from Wolfenstein, like those Nazi... It's like evil... Yeah. Scientists... Yeah, they'll get to the chop shop. With blood-covered aprons. Why is that called a chop shop? That's where they chop them up. That's where they chop them up. Weird. All right. And on that note, the chop shop. We have to say goodbye. Let's all go to the chop shop.

16:25We'll be back for episode 25 with another minute in store. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Hit us up, please. Hope you enjoyed this. And we will catch you next time. Hit us up at the Matrix... Ask at thematrixminute.1. There's the email. And then you can go to thematrixminute.1, obviously. And the Matrix Minute on Facebook. And the Matrix Minute on Twitter. And finally, you can always rate us up on iTunes. Yes, please. I would love that. Woo-hoo. Billy loves you personally. He opens up a champagne bottle every time. It's a rating. Every time. Ball Maison. And the French... And pours a champagne on his ties.

17:07What? What? Goodbye. Goodbye. And you can get a copy of