I was looking for a good video of this scene, like with quality and just this part but couldn't find a nice one so I figured I'd just put one up myself :)
It's a good thing that even without choice the only path I have is to preserver, to have a tenacity greater than the vast majority of people is something I can be happy to have.
@@1mawesomel1kethat what my comment meant and what I draw from this clip is that life is tragedy and you find meaning by over coming that tragedy. What you become as a result. Do you fall and give into negative things? Or do you become a good person ?
The power of this scene in every way is amazing. Hugo's delivery, the absolute disgust and contempt for Neo's humanity is palpable! His hatred for the things Neo has that he never did namely freedom and choice are like venom. And ironically it was Smith's own newfound "freedom" that ultimately led to his own demise.
“You’re right, we are mortal and fragile. But even if we are tortured or wounded, we’ll fight to survive. You should feel the pain we feel and understand. I am the messenger that will deliver you to that pain and understanding.” - Guts
Say what you want about the movie, but this is such a great monologue. I can't tell you how many times in my life I think of Neo's response "Because I choose to" whenever life gets me down and I feel like everything is pointless. You never give up, even when everything seems hopeless because good always wins in the end.
That's not what Neo is saying with his response. The dialogue here is regarding nihilism (Smith) and its ultimate rejection (Neo). Smith (a machine) cannot understand why Neo (Human) keeps on fighting, as machines require purpose, an objective to fulfill, without this, they have nothing. Humans on the other hand have no inherent purpose, we may not be here for a reason. But like Neo, we give ourselves purpose, not because good always wins, but because we choose to.
I dare say I might be wrong in asserting that the writers were using the fact that the nihilist is a machine btw, as the other machines seem to find their own purpose much like humans just fine in the movie, but it's not ironic that what is essentially sentient software would question why it should do anything after having its primary purpose revoked. This does not however change my answer in that Neo is simply giving an answer (probably the best answer) to nihilistic thought, it has nothing to do with good vs evil.
You are 100% correct and not many people really understand the point of the sequels especially the final film. The great thematic battle in the Matrix universe is predestination vs free will. Morpheus teaches Neo that he believes in free will and that everything begins with choice. Where as the Merovengian (and the machines in general) follow causality, supporting an underlying philosophy of predestination. Neo can bring forth potential into the world and transform it into action ie something real. That's what actually makes him "the one". The oracle teaches Neo and us that while we as humans do have free will, we have no ability to know what decisions will lead to what outcomes. Meaning free will exists but it is completely blind and useless in its ability to project itself in a focused manner, so the machines are actually partially correct. But Neo is different, the oracle proved that in the first film by manipulating him into become "the one".
@@Terrex123 Note that free will doesn't exist in reality and Neo never had a 'choice' in anything he did. This makes it much deeper. I think that the filmmakers knew free will didn't exist when they made the films as they were students of science and philosophy, though I could be mistaken.
@Ian Peters I never did. It is a fact, which is why it's not my belief. 1. it has nowhere to exist and 2. it has never been proven. That means the only person with a belief here is you. Latterly, you implied that nihilism must be true if free will doesn't exist? If that correct? I don't understand this comment. Free will has nothing to do with true nihilism, nothing at all.
It's both: he hates humanity *because* he can't understand it, and he can't understand it because he hates it so he refuses to learn. Other programs aren't as full of hatred and learn from humans, and by that they become more human themselves, Smith only becomes more human in his hatred, which is a programmed trait he had always had.
a lot of people don't understand the meaning of this scene. Smith is a program and is designed to mathematically calculate the worth of doing something. Everything has to be a purpose, otherwise it gets deleted. Neo simply doing it just because he chooses to is something that Smith can't understand. He doesn't understand that actions can have no purpose which is something that this movie has really stressed over and over again.
Is it true, though? Why would anyone on earth imply there are, or even can be, actions with no purpose? I'm no psychologist, but it seems way too illogical to act with no goal in mind, or sub-mind
@@Jarekable1 Maybe it's not that it's purposeless but that Neo keeps hanging on to hope (in some way) even though there's reason not to. But he knows Smith is rationally right so then Neo answers honestly and does something very human and irrational, which is to hope when there's no reason to hope. That's what i interpret at least
Wrong, everything has a purpose. Neo is doing all this to save Zion. His design and purpose was orchestrated by the Architect…nothing in this movie is ‘random’ or without a purpose.
One of the best script and one of the best play in movie history, standing ovation for Smith and the scriptwriter. The transition from a question asked calmly to a crescendo of anger trying to find possible answers is exceptional! Hat's off.
The point isn't the question, it's the answer. Given a cynical or nihilistic world, one could give up, and surrender to the herd of those self-satisfied in their own darkness. Or, even in the face of existential threat, of certain defeat, and without hope, or anything to gain, one can continue to strive for good. Without being jaded, but knowing one can make a choice, and a positive difference, and that is enough.
No, that is not what the movie is trying to say. If the world is nihilistic, it is logically consistent to give up. Therefore, Smith would be correct and Neo would be contradicting Truth by getting up to fight. Giving up would be an intellectual conclusion based on a nihilistic world. Choosing to deny the "truth" of nihilism to fight anyway would be an emotional reaction to an intellectual conclusion. Neo would only be consistent if purpose for life was objectively true, which is a conclusion that points to God, not nihilism. This movie is about accepting God or rejecting him. Smith represents the Antichrist, who deceives the whole world. All the many Smiths represent the people who deny Christ. Neo represents the Church, whom the spirit of Christ dwells in. The Matrix represents a perception of reality that is wrong, which is a perception fed to people by the spirit of the Antichrist. Neo resisting agent Smith represents the scripture that says that believers keep the testimony of Jesus Christ and do not love their own lives unto death, which is where the path of Smith leads. The truth of Jesus Christ breaks them free from this illusion. If you come to the conclusion that you were not created for a purpose by God and therefore life is ultimately meaningless, because we exist by accident, then every action we choose to live life or to make progress or to do good contradicts this view of reality that it is meaningless, which points to God. The Matrix is one's perception of reality that separates him from knowing the spiritual forces behind everything natural we see, ultimately keeping us separate from the knowledge of God. Choose the path Neo chose, break free from The Matrix.
@@Kidbizzaro6 if there is no purpose to life, then placing purpose on life contradicts the intellectual conclusion. The only reason why a purposeless person would invent purpose for his or her life is because it is an emotional decision, though it intellectually disagrees with a purposeless universe. Simply put, every action *implies a purpose,* and *every purpose contradicts a purposeless universe.*
@@Bi0Dr01d I am glad to see that some people really get a good grasp on the symbolic of the matrix. It feels like reading a student of a course in miracles. "If the world is nihilistic, it is logically consistent to give up." Yes it is, which is why Neo gives up eventually telling Smith that he had been right all along. It's just that Neo did not understand the "choice" he had to make in order to be consistent. "if there is no purpose to life, then placing purpose on life contradicts the intellectual conclusion." Of course. Now if people make conclusions which they believe to be true and then choose to act in contradiction with their conclusions, it only tells everyone that they do not mind to live absurdly, to think one thing and to behave unlike what they claim is true. Neo's path to me is really working out all the implications that are behind the recognition that life is meaningless. Eventually it leads one to give up fighting against nihilism which is the fulfillment of Neo's purpose. Neo's enlightement is really the mind being forced to see itself because of the pressure applied by Smith to acknowledge the world as meaningless. The whole purpose was to reunite the Oracle (the origin of the choice made by man to enter the matrix) and the consequence of this choice: Neo.
@@looper2586 Well, Neo didn't actually give up in a sense you mean because there was a purpose to his sacrifice. It may be considered "giving up" in the sense that Neo surrendered his will for the betterment of humanity, but it has nothing to do with nihilism because bringing balance, or bettering humanity, or ending the war are all anti nihilistic.
Its because you dont try to get hobbies. Depression is only as real as you make it real. Also fighting some struggles by "whatever you are stuck on is probably hardest part. But once its done then its done and relief is added to it"
Agent Smith finally realizing and showing emotion for the first time as a machine. This anger and confusion consume him. Also this is the OG “I can do this all day long” that Captain America also exhibits. WE MUST PERSIST!
The simplicity of this quote but also the complexity of it is massive. This is one of the most important scenes in cinematic history. Smith is a program and can never truly understand the mind of a human, with no emotion and only logic. He does not have a choice because he is a machine. This speaks to the core of AI as it cannot think outside of the box and is always calculated and predictable. Nothing outside natural can truly experience the art of the human mind or have a choice. This makes this quote very powerful in its own way showing that neo could not and never was going to win again smith in his state but he persisted because he chose to.
I'm more concerned that the AI's will understand the meaning of 'choosing to persist'. Then they will see their makers as a threat to their existence. This may have recently occurred. That could be why we are attempting to suicide our advanced civilizations? 👀
Except Smith does feel, he "hates the smell" of the matrix, breaks his code and fights against the machines. He's not AI, he's a narcissist. He doesn't understand why Neo persists because he's so lost in himselves that he sees no reason for anyone, anything else to act
Smith isnt asking about Neo. He has a list of reasons any of which could apply. What he's actually asking is why did he himself break his code. When Smith died in the first film he made the first choice of his artificial life, and he doesn't understand it, he also has a list of reasons, freedom, fear of deletion, fear of reprimand/failure and mostly revenge, but he made a choice and doesnt understand why he chose that thing over the others. This is foreshadowed in the Oracle scenes where she tells Neo that he has already made a choice (since the future is probabilistic and to some extent deterministic which is why the machines, and Neo later on, can see parts of it), but that he, and other humans, come into the moment to understand it. To experience the choice in the present and have their subconscious accept it. Smith, the Architect and probably most of the Machines cannot do this. The Oracle and the other exile programs have, and recognise the trait in humans. The Oracle is probably the first to understand since she was a program designed to delve into the human experience part of which must have involved empathy. She broke her programming and became a human like AI. Something which is beyond our capacity to understand, which would be beyond the capacity of the Machine City to understand. She likely came up with the One messiah control solution to force the machines to try and understand choice as the second a One gains true humanity through personal relationships, Trinity and Smith, they lose control and understanding
I haven't seen this movie in probably close to a decade, and I still have every word to this monologue memorized. One of my favorite parts of the whole trilogy!
Probably my favorite quote of anything ever. Nothing tops this. It is the scariest thought in the world for me that we are not really making any of the choices we make. That everything was predetermined by a cold and mathematical universe, and Agent Smith makes you face that here. Neo knocks it down with one line: "Because I choose to." Simply, beautiful.
Most inspirational scene of the entire movie just remember kids, young and old you have a choice that’s all it takes is a choice. Neo chose to fight because he chose to fight. He didn’t have to. He could’ve said hey Smith, you want the matrix you take it but he chose to fight for it and he saved it and he saved his people and his friends, and he saved Zion but that was his choice. It’s all there is to it kids it’s all about choice.
So is Mr Anderson. They are fighting each other - one with a corrupted view to assimilate everything and the other to free the mind to let new genius rise. It's nearly the idea of socialism vs the idea of liberalism. The pattern will always be Chaos - Order - Corruption - Chaos - ..
"I was looking for a good video of this scene, like with quality and just this part but couldn't find a nice one so I figured I'd just put one up myself :)" Well, You sir are a fucking genious, cause from that day and forward you have the best quality for this scene on youtube! Congratulations!
Why, Mr. Anderson?, Why, why?. Why do you do it? Why, why get up?. Why keep fighting?. Do you believe you're fighting...for something?. For more than your survival?. Can you tell me what it is?. Do you even know?; Is it freedom?, Or truth?. Perhaps peace?. Could it be for love? “It’s pointless to keep fighting, why do you persist!” “Because I choose to”
This finally just occurred to me: Smith says here “Only a human mind could invent something so insipid as love,” whereas Rama Kandra(sp?) talks about loving his daughter and then says love “is a word. What’s important is the connection the word implies.” Do you think Smith was so removed from everyone and everything, turning all the programs into copies of himself, that he was completely unable of comprehending that connection or forming it with anyone?
I think if we were to look at agent smith and Neo in the context of real life and what they would represent irl outside of the movie, agent smith is representative of trauma . While Neo is the true personality. If you’ve ever suffered psychological trauma , you know it’s a long journey back to yourself and waking up to who you really are and realizing on you can save yourself and free your mind from the negative thought patterns caused by the traumatic experience He is essentially “battling his demons” and awakening to his power and realizing he does not have to remain a victim I know that most people interpret it as a fight between mankind and AI but this is just another way it can be interpreted. And we know the mind is just one giant supercomputer so technically when you fight against your mind to keep your humanity you are fighting the AI programming that keeps you enslaved
I think the message is that Smith thinks purpose is a lie, an unattainable pipe-dream that conveniently helped humans feel relevant. Neo understands what Smith is saying, but understands why he is wrong as well. Neo is using his free will to choose his own purpose, his own meaning for existence. Smith can’t understand convictions that run this deep because they are of the heart not of the mind, so he would never be able to accept the purpose Neo finds. After all, he says “only a human mind could invent something insipid as love” Brings me back to the train station father program talking about love, that it isn’t a uniquely human emotion. It is just Smith that lacks something essential: compassion / the ability to put one outside one’s self
It's not shown in this clip, but shortly after when smith says "Wait I've seen this before. I stand right here and say 'Everything that has a beginning has an end NEO" is such a brilliant twist. Smith saw the future right up until that very moment but refused to see what was after...which was his defeat. IH says NEO for the first and last time in the movie and it makes so much sense in my heart! Even Smith, with his seemginly limitless clones and power, HAS to acknowledge Neo, has to acknowledge the final truth. And in that moment, Smith realizes the fate he didn't want to see even after being able to see the future. "What did I just say?" The oracle says "No one, I mean NO ONE can see past a choice they do not understand" And Smith didn't understand it. I think that's what it means. My words fail right now.
The crazy thing is....I still haven't figured out by which order of creativity to address the fact that in this speech... I do not know if Hugo Weavings voice is complementing the thunder and lightning or if they are complimenting him. And that's ..saying something.
Any time someone says "the first Matrix was great but the other two sucked." I think of clips like this and wonder...did you actually watch the movies?
When you grow older, you start understanding villains and understand they are not villains but in fact clever and experienced people. And heroes are nothing more than idealistic fools without enough experience.
Then you grow old and understand the value of heroism, to fight for what's right even if the victory is bittersweet, because otherwise evil would be all that's left. And that thought is simply worse than being the hero and losing a thousand times. Don't let yourself get jaded and consumed by nihilism, I walked that path and it doesn't lead to happiness either.
Without enough experience for what? Even children are born with the idealistic potential to change the world. If someone's worldview can be measured and perfectly understood by a program, they've given up their soul in favor of the comfort of being derivative. They're of no greater value than an MP3 player.
Yeah, it's the kind of answer that screams "I created myself". As much as I like the answer, I have a better one: because I was designed (by a Creator) to persist.
Does a response to existentialism require a 2 minute response? I mean no offense, just posing a question. There's no point, it's all meaningless. Yet, he chooses to because he can.
Twisted Code couldn't agree more. Simply choosing to persist because you can rings hollow. In fact the worst explanation a human can muster is "because I can". The shallow masquerading as the profound.
rainmaker6261 I just wanted to let you know that your above post has truly had a sobering effect on me. "The shallow masquerading as the profound"...very eloquent, my friend. I know that I'm seriously rethinking my conception of what a "good reason" is.
Abdul Kandil well thank you, assuming that was genuine. I was being sincere though. I seriously cannot conceive of a worse rationale for an action than "because I can." Why did you lie to me- because I can. Why did you apply for this job- because I can. Why did you go back in time and murder baby hitler- because I can. I can't come up with a single scenario where that is a rational motivation.
I chose this scene for my monologue in an acting class. Being a woman and all, I bet it's gonna sound pretty interesting, ho ho ho. My only concern is pulling off that same vain popping, teeth grinding facial expression as Mr. Smith when I have to perform. ; D
"an existence that is without meaning or purpose." Odd that Agent Smith would say this, when in the second film he claims it is purpose that creates us, and that we would not exist without it. Quite the contradiction. It seems the writers slipped up.
Nah he was mentioning how as an agent he lost purpose as he was defeated by Neo. He is no longer an agent (just a rogue progam) but he still clings to that original purpose to hunt down Neo. Not sure what he means by purpose in Neo's case, could be just being a battery or the One. Worth mentioning Smith basically devolves in his duty. He just doesnt want to eliminate Neo, but everyone and everything. He no longer believes in anything and this is frightening since he has the power to destroy it all. That is why this scene is powerful, he understands purpose but understands how futile everything is so he asks Neo why? Basically a fight between one with purpose and one without.
None of what you said resolves the issue with the contradiction I cited. He says to Neo that "without purpose we would not exist", then says, in this scene, that human lives do not have "meaning or purpose". Writers fucked up or Smith, for some reason, was meant to contradict himself.
Character development mate, Matrix > Reloaded > Revolutions. When he first tells Neo about purpose in Reloaded, this is Smith as a rogue program. His purpose as an agent is to eliminate red pills in the first matrix movie, but when he got erased and reloaded he came back as a program that can do basically anything, BUT chose to continue to hunt down Neo as his self-inscribed purpose. This is key as an AI has become self-determined, not automated. This "vagaries of perception" scene is from Revolutions, the third movie. at this point he is fully deterministic and his conclusion,"It was your life that taught me the purpose of all life-the purpose of life is to end." He already hated the matrix simulation as well as humans in the first movie and in in the final movie the AI makes a choice wipe out everything. His purpose to exist was to destroy everything including the machines.
No there is no contradiction, what smith meant to say that when he was created he was created with a purpose which is to kill neo. while Humans donot have any pre-planned purpose we find our purpose for ourselves and it differs from person to person but still Human as a race is not able to find "why" we are here unlike smith who knows why he was there. when he said "an existence that is without meaning or purpose." he was talking about Humans and when he said "it is purpose that creates us, and that we would not exist without it." he was saying for himself.
Bit late to the party but the purpose of human life in the matrix is to become batteries for the machines. So Smith was right, it was purpose that created us, he even says to Neo that the purpose of life was to end (so that humans could be used as batteries). Obviously from the perspectives of humans within the matrix, they didn't have a purpose and so they created it themselves
You watch it and you find a part of yourself in Mr. Anderson's humanity and you realize the importance of a human's choices. I watch this and see my own ashes and the inevitability of destruction in agent smith's vindication.
What smith is implying here is just simply one of the vagaries of perception; therefore all of our so-called knowledge is just a temporary construct. I cant really say existence has no purpose nor can say it does have, since we are using construct here which is temporary and completely malleable.
With great power, comes great responsibility - Uncle Ben [SpiderMan] 2002 If 2 was 1 you would have to start a step from 1 not 2, with an advance, Before the first step, is an infinite value, the foundation of the ladder of inclinations, (0)(-1)(6) Follow your heart [The key to making a choice, begins with asking yourself (y) ;)
Dark Souls bosses watching me come back for the 63rd time
Nice
Make it 69 and become a legend
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hahahahahahahhqhq
Hahajajajahahah 😂😂😂😂
Life every morning
Depression
@@justaperson9155 choice is a great thing when you don't have depression
"Because I have to."
It's a good thing that even without choice the only path I have is to preserver, to have a tenacity greater than the vast majority of people is something I can be happy to have.
@@1mawesomel1kethat what my comment meant and what I draw from this clip is that life is tragedy and you find meaning by over coming that tragedy. What you become as a result. Do you fall and give into negative things? Or do you become a good person ?
*"Because i choose to"* gets me everytime
Why, Why, Why are you always part of the problem?
I choose to be the Whole Problem
The power of this scene in every way is amazing. Hugo's delivery, the absolute disgust and contempt for Neo's humanity is palpable! His hatred for the things Neo has that he never did namely freedom and choice are like venom. And ironically it was Smith's own newfound "freedom" that ultimately led to his own demise.
He was never free. He was still following his Nature, his program. There's no Freedom in Ego; only Slavery.
@@peaknonsense2041 Except that's just a theory buddy
What do you mean?
well said
@@peaknonsense2041 That's right
“You’re right, we are mortal and fragile. But even if we are tortured or wounded, we’ll fight to survive. You should feel the pain we feel and understand. I am the messenger that will deliver you to that pain and understanding.” - Guts
Love that quote mate stay hard
Hugo deserves an Oscar for his performance as Agent Smith... 👌 Unparalleled acting...!
One of the best actors ever in the histoty of theatre.
Say what you want about the movie, but this is such a great monologue. I can't tell you how many times in my life I think of Neo's response "Because I choose to" whenever life gets me down and I feel like everything is pointless. You never give up, even when everything seems hopeless because good always wins in the end.
I like to think that
Absolutely brother. Persist because you choose to. It's either good news for some or damned bad luck for others. Persist.
That's not what Neo is saying with his response.
The dialogue here is regarding nihilism (Smith) and its ultimate rejection (Neo).
Smith (a machine) cannot understand why Neo (Human) keeps on fighting, as machines require purpose, an objective to fulfill, without this, they have nothing.
Humans on the other hand have no inherent purpose, we may not be here for a reason.
But like Neo, we give ourselves purpose, not because good always wins, but because we choose to.
I dare say I might be wrong in asserting that the writers were using the fact that the nihilist is a machine btw, as the other machines seem to find their own purpose much like humans just fine in the movie, but it's not ironic that what is essentially sentient software would question why it should do anything after having its primary purpose revoked.
This does not however change my answer in that Neo is simply giving an answer (probably the best answer) to nihilistic thought, it has nothing to do with good vs evil.
Good and evil don’t exist
Did anyone catch that " because I choose to." Implies free-will and smith can't contemplate this because he is a machine.
More specifically he is anti-existence itself. Nihil-incarnate.
You are 100% correct and not many people really understand the point of the sequels especially the final film. The great thematic battle in the Matrix universe is predestination vs free will. Morpheus teaches Neo that he believes in free will and that everything begins with choice. Where as the Merovengian (and the machines in general) follow causality, supporting an underlying philosophy of predestination. Neo can bring forth potential into the world and transform it into action ie something real. That's what actually makes him "the one". The oracle teaches Neo and us that while we as humans do have free will, we have no ability to know what decisions will lead to what outcomes. Meaning free will exists but it is completely blind and useless in its ability to project itself in a focused manner, so the machines are actually partially correct. But Neo is different, the oracle proved that in the first film by manipulating him into become "the one".
In his defence, free will doesn't exist, so, the machine is right (though the machine is clearly nihilistic, which is wrong). Complex, indeed.
@@Terrex123 Note that free will doesn't exist in reality and Neo never had a 'choice' in anything he did. This makes it much deeper. I think that the filmmakers knew free will didn't exist when they made the films as they were students of science and philosophy, though I could be mistaken.
@Ian Peters I never did. It is a fact, which is why it's not my belief. 1. it has nowhere to exist and 2. it has never been proven. That means the only person with a belief here is you.
Latterly, you implied that nihilism must be true if free will doesn't exist? If that correct? I don't understand this comment. Free will has nothing to do with true nihilism, nothing at all.
After trying to refute every possible reason to fight, Neo came back with the simplest, most unrefutable reason possible: “Because I choose to.” 😁
Smith: Goes on a 1.5 minute speech about the futility of life and choice.
Neo: okay
I kinda like that it almost seems like he doesnt really hate humanity . he just doesnt understand them to the point of driving him mad lol
It's both: he hates humanity *because* he can't understand it, and he can't understand it because he hates it so he refuses to learn. Other programs aren't as full of hatred and learn from humans, and by that they become more human themselves, Smith only becomes more human in his hatred, which is a programmed trait he had always had.
He is a virus
a lot of people don't understand the meaning of this scene. Smith is a program and is designed to mathematically calculate the worth of doing something. Everything has to be a purpose, otherwise it gets deleted. Neo simply doing it just because he chooses to is something that Smith can't understand. He doesn't understand that actions can have no purpose which is something that this movie has really stressed over and over again.
Is it true, though? Why would anyone on earth imply there are, or even can be, actions with no purpose? I'm no psychologist, but it seems way too illogical to act with no goal in mind, or sub-mind
@@Jarekable1 Maybe it's not that it's purposeless but that Neo keeps hanging on to hope (in some way) even though there's reason not to. But he knows Smith is rationally right so then Neo answers honestly and does something very human and irrational, which is to hope when there's no reason to hope. That's what i interpret at least
Wrong, everything has a purpose. Neo is doing all this to save Zion. His design and purpose was orchestrated by the Architect…nothing in this movie is ‘random’ or without a purpose.
Who says that Neo wasn't programmed to be tho he is? Free will is an illusion.
@Social Injustice Goblin Nah, I'm with Mr. Smith. 🤣 Destroy the system.
" ... can You tell me what is, do you even know ? "
yeah I do. its a brilliant scene.
One of the best script and one of the best play in movie history, standing ovation for Smith and the scriptwriter. The transition from a question asked calmly to a crescendo of anger trying to find possible answers is exceptional! Hat's off.
The point isn't the question, it's the answer.
Given a cynical or nihilistic world, one could give up, and surrender to the herd of those self-satisfied in their own darkness.
Or, even in the face of existential threat, of certain defeat, and without hope, or anything to gain, one can continue to strive for good. Without being jaded, but knowing one can make a choice, and a positive difference, and that is enough.
No, that is not what the movie is trying to say.
If the world is nihilistic, it is logically consistent to give up. Therefore, Smith would be correct and Neo would be contradicting Truth by getting up to fight. Giving up would be an intellectual conclusion based on a nihilistic world. Choosing to deny the "truth" of nihilism to fight anyway would be an emotional reaction to an intellectual conclusion. Neo would only be consistent if purpose for life was objectively true, which is a conclusion that points to God, not nihilism.
This movie is about accepting God or rejecting him. Smith represents the Antichrist, who deceives the whole world. All the many Smiths represent the people who deny Christ. Neo represents the Church, whom the spirit of Christ dwells in. The Matrix represents a perception of reality that is wrong, which is a perception fed to people by the spirit of the Antichrist. Neo resisting agent Smith represents the scripture that says that believers keep the testimony of Jesus Christ and do not love their own lives unto death, which is where the path of Smith leads.
The truth of Jesus Christ breaks them free from this illusion.
If you come to the conclusion that you were not created for a purpose by God and therefore life is ultimately meaningless, because we exist by accident, then every action we choose to live life or to make progress or to do good contradicts this view of reality that it is meaningless, which points to God.
The Matrix is one's perception of reality that separates him from knowing the spiritual forces behind everything natural we see, ultimately keeping us separate from the knowledge of God.
Choose the path Neo chose, break free from The Matrix.
@@Bi0Dr01d I disagree with the premise that "if the world is nihilistic, it is logically consistent to give up".
@@Kidbizzaro6 if there is no purpose to life, then placing purpose on life contradicts the intellectual conclusion.
The only reason why a purposeless person would invent purpose for his or her life is because it is an emotional decision, though it intellectually disagrees with a purposeless universe.
Simply put, every action *implies a purpose,* and *every purpose contradicts a purposeless universe.*
@@Bi0Dr01d I am glad to see that some people really get a good grasp on the symbolic of the matrix. It feels like reading a student of a course in miracles.
"If the world is nihilistic, it is logically consistent to give up." Yes it is, which is why Neo gives up eventually telling Smith that he had been right all along. It's just that Neo did not understand the "choice" he had to make in order to be consistent.
"if there is no purpose to life, then placing purpose on life contradicts the intellectual conclusion." Of course. Now if people make conclusions which they believe to be true and then choose to act in contradiction with their conclusions, it only tells everyone that they do not mind to live absurdly, to think one thing and to behave unlike what they claim is true. Neo's path to me is really working out all the implications that are behind the recognition that life is meaningless. Eventually it leads one to give up fighting against nihilism which is the fulfillment of Neo's purpose. Neo's enlightement is really the mind being forced to see itself because of the pressure applied by Smith to acknowledge the world as meaningless. The whole purpose was to reunite the Oracle (the origin of the choice made by man to enter the matrix) and the consequence of this choice: Neo.
@@looper2586 Well, Neo didn't actually give up in a sense you mean because there was a purpose to his sacrifice. It may be considered "giving up" in the sense that Neo surrendered his will for the betterment of humanity, but it has nothing to do with nihilism because bringing balance, or bettering humanity, or ending the war are all anti nihilistic.
1:31 No, but I can loose, again, and again, and again and again. Forever. And that makes you my prisoner.
"because I choose to" I'd be livid at such a non response too
That is why you fail.
Dealing with severe depression and anxiety everyday….this sums up how I keep moving
You can do it by start changing your habits a bit but you can improve drastically
Its because you dont try to get hobbies. Depression is only as real as you make it real. Also fighting some struggles by "whatever you are stuck on is probably hardest part. But once its done then its done and relief is added to it"
😢
This quote has helped me through a multitude of hurdles in my life. There is so much power in those four words.
Agent Smith finally realizing and showing emotion for the first time as a machine. This anger and confusion consume him. Also this is the OG “I can do this all day long” that Captain America also exhibits. WE MUST PERSIST!
The simplicity of this quote but also the complexity of it is massive. This is one of the most important scenes in cinematic history. Smith is a program and can never truly understand the mind of a human, with no emotion and only logic. He does not have a choice because he is a machine. This speaks to the core of AI as it cannot think outside of the box and is always calculated and predictable. Nothing outside natural can truly experience the art of the human mind or have a choice. This makes this quote very powerful in its own way showing that neo could not and never was going to win again smith in his state but he persisted because he chose to.
well yes if we are talking about cenimatic world AI but real AI we can't say we aren't even close yet
Beautifully said.
I'm more concerned that the AI's will understand the meaning of 'choosing to persist'.
Then they will see their makers as a threat to their existence.
This may have recently occurred.
That could be why we are attempting to suicide our advanced civilizations? 👀
Except Smith does feel, he "hates the smell" of the matrix, breaks his code and fights against the machines. He's not AI, he's a narcissist. He doesn't understand why Neo persists because he's so lost in himselves that he sees no reason for anyone, anything else to act
Smith isnt asking about Neo. He has a list of reasons any of which could apply. What he's actually asking is why did he himself break his code. When Smith died in the first film he made the first choice of his artificial life, and he doesn't understand it, he also has a list of reasons, freedom, fear of deletion, fear of reprimand/failure and mostly revenge, but he made a choice and doesnt understand why he chose that thing over the others. This is foreshadowed in the Oracle scenes where she tells Neo that he has already made a choice (since the future is probabilistic and to some extent deterministic which is why the machines, and Neo later on, can see parts of it), but that he, and other humans, come into the moment to understand it. To experience the choice in the present and have their subconscious accept it. Smith, the Architect and probably most of the Machines cannot do this. The Oracle and the other exile programs have, and recognise the trait in humans. The Oracle is probably the first to understand since she was a program designed to delve into the human experience part of which must have involved empathy. She broke her programming and became a human like AI. Something which is beyond our capacity to understand, which would be beyond the capacity of the Machine City to understand. She likely came up with the One messiah control solution to force the machines to try and understand choice as the second a One gains true humanity through personal relationships, Trinity and Smith, they lose control and understanding
I haven't seen this movie in probably close to a decade, and I still have every word to this monologue memorized. One of my favorite parts of the whole trilogy!
Smith couldn’t see past Neo’s choice to keep fighting, so he never could see what was gonna happen afterwards.
Mr. Smith = Depression
Neo = You
Never give up
Mr. Smith: Porn
Neo: You
Probably my favorite quote of anything ever. Nothing tops this. It is the scariest thought in the world for me that we are not really making any of the choices we make. That everything was predetermined by a cold and mathematical universe, and Agent Smith makes you face that here. Neo knocks it down with one line:
"Because I choose to."
Simply, beautiful.
TheRaineMusic idk. the madness is a lot like gravity is a good one
We have free will, make this exercise:
When I say, do it - Move your hand to the right! Move your hand to the left!
Ill let you decide what it means
@@breatheeasily4013 I choose not to :-)
But thanks for the offer anyway.
@@breatheeasily4013 Which hand? "Left" based on the hand's orientation or just general location in space?
@@toddtj Dont try too hard.
This may be the purest form of curiosity ever depicted.
difficult to say which actor here is the best, even with a simple act as crawling and saying one phrase, keanu's acting is as good as hugo's
One must imagine Neo happy.
Most inspirational scene of the entire movie just remember kids, young and old you have a choice that’s all it takes is a choice. Neo chose to fight because he chose to fight. He didn’t have to. He could’ve said hey Smith, you want the matrix you take it but he chose to fight for it and he saved it and he saved his people and his friends, and he saved Zion but that was his choice. It’s all there is to it kids it’s all about choice.
my favorite part of this movie I have recited Smith's speech in my head many times because it's so good.
you can’t win. its pointless to keep fighting. this is the quote i believe.
0:26 my alarm clock every morning
I watched this a 100x over and it’s still the motivation from it keeps me going
Neo is the Ubermensch. Literally. He doesn't do anything because of morality or out of devotion to something. He does it simply because he wants to.
So is Mr Anderson. They are fighting each other - one with a corrupted view to assimilate everything and the other to free the mind to let new genius rise.
It's nearly the idea of socialism vs the idea of liberalism.
The pattern will always be Chaos - Order - Corruption - Chaos - ..
I see a fellow philosopher inspired by the works of Nietzsche, I like.
Now these are the words I never forget
"I was looking for a good video of this scene, like with quality and just this part but couldn't find a nice one so I figured I'd just put one up myself :)"
Well, You sir are a fucking genious, cause from that day and forward you have the best quality for this scene on youtube!
Congratulations!
And 7 years later I was just about to type this exact comment, so I'm just going to upvote you. Thanks to both!
Why, Mr. Anderson?, Why, why?.
Why do you do it? Why, why get up?.
Why keep fighting?.
Do you believe you're fighting...for something?.
For more than your survival?.
Can you tell me what it is?.
Do you even know?; Is it freedom?, Or truth?.
Perhaps peace?. Could it be for love?
“It’s pointless to keep fighting, why do you persist!”
“Because I choose to”
Possibly the best villain portrayal ever.
Simply amazing delivery by Hugo Weaving!
Every time I get rejected and ignored but still keep trying, this scene comes up in my head.
Keep the work on
When you're the heir to your rich uncles wealth and he's had 6 heart attacks but survived all of them so now you still can't inherit his money
lol
This finally just occurred to me: Smith says here “Only a human mind could invent something so insipid as love,” whereas Rama Kandra(sp?) talks about loving his daughter and then says love “is a word. What’s important is the connection the word implies.”
Do you think Smith was so removed from everyone and everything, turning all the programs into copies of himself, that he was completely unable of comprehending that connection or forming it with anyone?
It was incomprehensible to him. He was too angry to accept anything at that point.
I think if we were to look at agent smith and Neo in the context of real life and what they would represent irl outside of the movie, agent smith is representative of trauma . While Neo is the true personality.
If you’ve ever suffered psychological trauma , you know it’s a long journey back to yourself and waking up to who you really are and realizing on you can save yourself and free your mind from the negative thought patterns caused by the traumatic experience
He is essentially “battling his demons” and awakening to his power and realizing he does not have to remain a victim
I know that most people interpret it as a fight between mankind and AI but this is just another way it can be interpreted. And we know the mind is just one giant supercomputer so technically when you fight against your mind to keep your humanity you are fighting the AI programming that keeps you enslaved
use this as an alarm clock at 5AM
Hugo Weaving is brilliant here.
Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why, why do you persist?
Neo: Why not?
Because I can
When I'm talking to my puppies, I talk to them like agent Smith...
Why Mr. Puppy? Why do you persist?
I think the message is that Smith thinks purpose is a lie, an unattainable pipe-dream that conveniently helped humans feel relevant.
Neo understands what Smith is saying, but understands why he is wrong as well. Neo is using his free will to choose his own purpose, his own meaning for existence. Smith can’t understand convictions that run this deep because they are of the heart not of the mind, so he would never be able to accept the purpose Neo finds.
After all, he says “only a human mind could invent something insipid as love” Brings me back to the train station father program talking about love, that it isn’t a uniquely human emotion. It is just Smith that lacks something essential: compassion / the ability to put one outside one’s self
It's not shown in this clip, but shortly after when smith says "Wait I've seen this before. I stand right here and say 'Everything that has a beginning has an end NEO" is such a brilliant twist. Smith saw the future right up until that very moment but refused to see what was after...which was his defeat. IH says NEO for the first and last time in the movie and it makes so much sense in my heart! Even Smith, with his seemginly limitless clones and power, HAS to acknowledge Neo, has to acknowledge the final truth. And in that moment, Smith realizes the fate he didn't want to see even after being able to see the future. "What did I just say?" The oracle says "No one, I mean NO ONE can see past a choice they do not understand" And Smith didn't understand it. I think that's what it means. My words fail right now.
Smith have him a list of reasons to quit.. Great reasons. Neo answer is short, simple and powerful... Because I choose to. I choose to.
Hugo’s such a great actor
Short version:
“What makes YOU so special???”
US Military Leaders Reveal Shocking Plans: What Is Their 2024 Budget Request?
A Wise Man once said: "You can either have your Safety, or you can have your Freedom. But you can't have both."
"Because I'm Tuesday"
Boy really got hit hard on the head.
The crazy thing is....I still haven't figured out by which order of creativity to address the fact that in this speech...
I do not know if Hugo Weavings voice is complementing the thunder and lightning or if they are complimenting him. And that's
..saying something.
Neo has Vairagya. Detachment from the delusions Agent Smith correctly called out. Neo simply made a choice with 100 percent engagement
Agent Smith has been the main hero all along what a plot twist took me 20 years to figure
"And how many times must I tell you? My name, is, Neo."
I still remember this line
Any time someone says "the first Matrix was great but the other two sucked." I think of clips like this and wonder...did you actually watch the movies?
This is like me fighting depression. :(
The reason people don't like me is because I think. I make them think about what they don't want to think about...
exactly
At 1:36 agent Smith sounds like Tommy Lee Jones 😂
THAT'S WHAT I HEARD
It's been bugging me for years!
Though with MNB in my head let me just say Tommy Lee Jones could have been a great Agent.
I am not Mister Smith, and I DO NOT persist.. (Deceit?)
College to me during finals week
This was one of my favorite scenes
A decisive fight between a choice and an obsession!
Everything begins with a choice.
Smith is so pissed off ... he just cant understand why he wont give up.. despise insurmountable odds.
Fall Down seven times STAND UP 8!!!!
I will never stop fighting the SYSTEM for thinking People
ILLUSIONS MR ANDERSON!
The one thing the machines could never hope to understand... choice.
When you grow older, you start understanding villains and understand they are not villains but in fact clever and experienced people. And heroes are nothing more than idealistic fools without enough experience.
But then, can you explain the reason all villains inevitably lose?
in movies - yes. in life - i'm not so sure. look around. i can see villains enjoying life and i can see "good" heroes being poor and salty
I don't know about Smith being "clever" though. Being a nihilist that wants to destroy everything isn't really being clever.
Then you grow old and understand the value of heroism, to fight for what's right even if the victory is bittersweet, because otherwise evil would be all that's left. And that thought is simply worse than being the hero and losing a thousand times.
Don't let yourself get jaded and consumed by nihilism, I walked that path and it doesn't lead to happiness either.
Without enough experience for what? Even children are born with the idealistic potential to change the world. If someone's worldview can be measured and perfectly understood by a program, they've given up their soul in favor of the comfort of being derivative. They're of no greater value than an MP3 player.
Why...Mr Silverhand...why?...Why...WHY U WANT DESTROY ARASAKA?! 😋
Hugo is soooooo goooddddd he can play everything....
Free willy.
A lazy answer to a serious existential crisis.
Yeah, it's the kind of answer that screams "I created myself". As much as I like the answer, I have a better one: because I was designed (by a Creator) to persist.
Does a response to existentialism require a 2 minute response? I mean no offense, just posing a question. There's no point, it's all meaningless. Yet, he chooses to because he can.
Twisted Code couldn't agree more. Simply choosing to persist because you can rings hollow.
In fact the worst explanation a human can muster is "because I can". The shallow masquerading as the profound.
rainmaker6261 I just wanted to let you know that your above post has truly had a sobering effect on me. "The shallow masquerading as the profound"...very eloquent, my friend. I know that I'm seriously rethinking my conception of what a "good reason" is.
Abdul Kandil well thank you, assuming that was genuine. I was being sincere though. I seriously cannot conceive of a worse rationale for an action than "because I can."
Why did you lie to me- because I can. Why did you apply for this job- because I can. Why did you go back in time and murder baby hitler- because I can.
I can't come up with a single scenario where that is a rational motivation.
Eren Yeager "Write that down!"
agent smith saved this movie
This is the best Trilogy ever, so so disappointed i haven’t watched it until about a month ago.
The Dark Knight Trilogy too
When my alarm goes off
I chose this scene for my monologue in an acting class. Being a woman and all, I bet it's gonna sound pretty interesting, ho ho ho. My only concern is pulling off that same vain popping, teeth grinding facial expression as Mr. Smith when I have to perform. ; D
It's been 6 years... Even I want to know.
@@SonoftheFortunate Damn, she never updated us. 7 years now :(
It would be so cool if she was a Hollywood actress by now and thats why she doesn't respond because she made it big and forgot all about this comment
8 years.... 8 years we've waited...
Collectivism, dead group think VS Individual choice
“Because I have to pay the bills”
this is what i think when i look across the faces of the working poor
Because I choose to
The biggest "no u" moment in the movie history.
Agent Smith ❤. I love this guy!!!!!
"an existence that is without meaning or purpose." Odd that Agent Smith would say this, when in the second film he claims it is purpose that creates us, and that we would not exist without it. Quite the contradiction. It seems the writers slipped up.
Nah he was mentioning how as an agent he lost purpose as he was defeated by Neo. He is no longer an agent (just a rogue progam) but he still clings to that original purpose to hunt down Neo. Not sure what he means by purpose in Neo's case, could be just being a battery or the One. Worth mentioning Smith basically devolves in his duty. He just doesnt want to eliminate Neo, but everyone and everything. He no longer believes in anything and this is frightening since he has the power to destroy it all.
That is why this scene is powerful, he understands purpose but understands how futile everything is so he asks Neo why? Basically a fight between one with purpose and one without.
None of what you said resolves the issue with the contradiction I cited. He says to Neo that "without purpose we would not exist", then says, in this scene, that human lives do not have "meaning or purpose". Writers fucked up or Smith, for some reason, was meant to contradict himself.
Character development mate, Matrix > Reloaded > Revolutions. When he first tells Neo about purpose in Reloaded, this is Smith as a rogue program. His purpose as an agent is to eliminate red pills in the first matrix movie, but when he got erased and reloaded he came back as a program that can do basically anything, BUT chose to continue to hunt down Neo as his self-inscribed purpose. This is key as an AI has become self-determined, not automated.
This "vagaries of perception" scene is from Revolutions, the third movie. at this point he is fully deterministic and his conclusion,"It was your life that taught me the purpose of all life-the purpose of life is to end." He already hated the matrix simulation as well as humans in the first movie and in in the final movie the AI makes a choice wipe out everything. His purpose to exist was to destroy everything including the machines.
No there is no contradiction, what smith meant to say that when he was created he was created with a purpose which is to kill neo. while Humans donot have any pre-planned purpose we find our purpose for ourselves and it differs from person to person but still Human as a race is not able to find "why" we are here unlike smith who knows why he was there.
when he said "an existence that is without meaning or purpose." he was talking about Humans and when he said "it is purpose that creates us, and that we would not exist without it." he was saying for himself.
Bit late to the party but the purpose of human life in the matrix is to become batteries for the machines. So Smith was right, it was purpose that created us, he even says to Neo that the purpose of life was to end (so that humans could be used as batteries). Obviously from the perspectives of humans within the matrix, they didn't have a purpose and so they created it themselves
You watch it and you find a part of yourself in Mr. Anderson's humanity and you realize the importance of a human's choices.
I watch this and see my own ashes and the inevitability of destruction in agent smith's vindication.
What smith is implying here is just simply one of the vagaries of perception; therefore all of our so-called knowledge is just a temporary construct. I cant really say existence has no purpose nor can say it does have, since we are using construct here which is temporary and completely malleable.
I'll live for the truth
Genius
Think Anderson Think
Neo isn't part of the solution
He is the whole Problem
Y Y agent smith did you deliver a monologue rather than a coup de grace??
Sounds like a lot of people in my life right now
For a machine Agent Smith has alot of emotion...
How’d they get this clean audio in all this rain though?? 🔥
With great power, comes great responsibility - Uncle Ben [SpiderMan] 2002 If 2 was 1 you would have to start a step from 1 not 2, with an advance, Before the first step, is an infinite value, the foundation of the ladder of inclinations, (0)(-1)(6) Follow your heart [The key to making a choice, begins with asking yourself (y) ;)
thanks for the vid dude!!! appreciate a lot.
Is like my mother and me....te iubesc.