Ascertain the fate of The One
(Thread heading compliment of Burlyman).
So: What really DID happen to Neo? Just as the question of just what DID happen to the Matrix is open for debate, so is the fate of Neo.
At the very end, when Neo is being carried off by the Machines, we see a shot of his body glowing brightly in the shape of a lotus-blossom.
The symbolism of the lotus in Buddhism is that it represents the ordinary person, who is born and raised in an environment which may contain a lot of questionable ways, morals and principles, but has the potential to learn and creatively rise above its environment. If it rises high enough, then it reaches the surface and can fully realise the potential of life.
According to Hinduism, within each human inhabiting the earth is the spirit of the sacred lotus. It represents eternity, purity and divinity and is widely used as a symbol of life, fertility, and ever-renewing youth.
The cynic could say, that the glow was an “after-effect” of the energy, the machines shot through Neo’s body (just like when you heat up a pot of hot water, and remove it from the plate, the pot and water will still be warm for some time).
So, did neo transcend to a “higher state” of being? And what does THAT mean within the Matrix Universe? Because we’re not dealing with a move ON Hinduism and Buddhism, but a film that borrows from… everything (even the Trainman kept looking at his watches and ran like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland).
So what does it mean? If anything?
Also: Is THIS a coincidence (From M1)