Saturday, May 12, 2001
The Truman Show
Discourse on Sovereignty
Is Truman a sinner or a saint? Luther and Erasmus have a heated exchange over the sovereignty of Christof.
Comments
2
Nice piece.
It’s possible and I believe desirable to view the film through a Gnostic perspective, but not with Sylvia as Sophia. Sylvia is a false Sophia, as Luther describes “the day after” at the end of the dialogue. Through a Gnostic perspective, Truman has been misguided toward a life-threatening solipsism and is so alienated from his creator (or, his Self) that there is no recognition.
It’s not Gnostic to claim that The Matrix is Gnostic! The Matrix, and much of the hooplah generating & surrounding The Matrix, is more like the nightmare at the boundary on the wrong side of wisdom (NOT knowing what is POSITIVE, only detecting what is negative and trying to wish around it). Another hell of non-recognition and alienation.
Thanks for the thought-provoking and amusing commentary.
Posted by on 10 Feb 08 at 01:29 AM
If you follow a typical Christian point of view, Sylvia is evil. If you see it from a Gnostic Christian point of view, Syvlia is Sophia (the wisdom that comes from beyond the fake director-god of the world). Christian Gnostics believe the snake was good and the god of the OT evil, hence all roles are reversed (except the one of Jesus as savior). Hence so would the points of this article be based on what kind of Christian view one has of it.
But Gnostics would argue that, like in the Matrix, facing reality as ugly as it may be, wether it is filled with papparazis or rusty metal walls and shit-soup, it’s better than being the puppet-master’s puppet.