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June 06, 2003

Matrix Actors

Just like Glenn, I had noticed that a lot of the residents of Zion were melanin-enhanced but I was unsure about the correct way of raising the topic without being offensive. Then I saw in the comments that Graham suggested that it was a natural result of the Matrix Universe because "because minorities of all sorts are much more likely to question that this reality is real. If the world treats you unjustly, and your belief in something different is strong enough, you're more likely to pop out of the Matrix."

Well that solved that problem. It answers the question without giving the wrong impression or starting a fight ....

I have found it very interesting to read Glenn's site (and some of the links). As someone who is also melanin-impaired I had assumed that overt racism against melanin-endowed individuals was a thing of the past. I admit running into anti-asian racism in Australia (when I was at university with a lot of oriental friends) but I was not aware of a similar attitude to other racial groups. Is that because of who I am or because the problem is different in the US?

[I do remember being warned when I went to California that I should not order a 'long black' (Australian for coffee without 'cream') although I had not previously connected that phrase with any alternate meanings....]

Posted by Ozguru at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

Comments

actually, the citizens are melanin-ENHANCED. And you linked to the wrong article :-)

Posted by: Glenn at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

also, the "proper" term is "Asian," not Oriental :-) At least it's the PC term here in the US :-) We just call my girlfriend's blog that to make fun of stereo types...

Posted by: Glenn at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

Thanks Glenn. Fixed the typo (the quote read '... Zion were melanin-impaired but ...' and it now reads correctly.

Posted by: Ozguru at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

Not so sure about the bad link though. The first one ('Glenn') goes to an article 'Your Daily Dose' where I saw the story. Second one goes to 'The Glorious Urban Circus' which is where I saw the phrase 'melanin-impaired' (which I wanted to use as a politically correct term) and the third link was to the dude who suggested why Zion had so many melanin-enhanced individuals. I didn't link directly to the review of the Matrix because I figured they could get there from reading the main article on Glenn's site.

Posted by: Ozguru at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

cool beans.

Posted by: Glenn at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM

I don't quite agree with the reasoning that the Matrix was constructed as a more minority-friendly place so human beings would have no compulsion to leave. Remember, the task for the machines was to come up with a Matrix which was as near a perfect replica of the "real world" as possible. Including it's flaws. Hence, when version 1.0 of the Matrix started out, if it was "minority-balanced", so to speak, then the initial crop that was plugged in would start wondering how come the world is such a better place all of a sudden? And if version 1.0 didn't have "minority-balanced" features to prevent dissonance in the minds of the first crop, then there is no reason why they would want to introduce it in later versions. After all, they weren't interested in being "politically correct". P.S. I know that "unfortunately the first version didn't come out as it should have..." and "many crops were lost" so don't no one remind me of that ;-)

Posted by: jivha at June 6, 2003 09:06 AM