THEOCRATS AT HEART?

Why are democratic fairy tales populated by theocrats and military rulers? This is the question that bothers me about the Matrix as well as the whole Star Wars franchise. I mean, in the Matrix II, there's this religious ceremony scene that depicts the deeply hierarchical, neo-pagan society of Zion. "Everyone" is at the religious ceremony qua town meeting (and you know that everyone is there because Neo and Trinity find a quiet place to do the naked pretzel, and apparently no one else thought of sneaking off for the same thing). And the ceremony seems to be run by the elites, who enjoy a calm cocktail hour as the masses undulate to primal music. There is no discussion of who the elites are or why they are elites, except hints that they are supposed to posses some sort of wisdom (witness Cornel West's performance, and his only memorable line is something about not needing to understand in order to obey, if memory serves) as well as religious sensitivity (witness their faith in "the prophecy" and the Neo / Christ figure); then there's a second tier of elites, clearly subordinate to the council, who make up the ranks of the military leadership, and who show almost sheepish deference to the council.

My impression is that the cramped portrayal of politics in the Matrix is due to a characteristic blindness induced by a focus on the theological problem of free will (with undercurrents of Christian doctrine) that serves as the driving theme of the movie. A focus on the question of creating the political conditions necessary for common commitment to reflection on the problem of free will would produce a different portrayal of politics.

That's not to say that I didn't like the movie. It was pretty cool, even though I agree with Maria Farrell that it's a bit choppy.