The Matrix Has You...

A few months ago, my daughter sat down to watch Inception. It was the second viewing for me (watching movies several times over is nothing new in our household) and I enjoyed it from the different aspect that I knew what was going on. I understood the very beginning of the movie when Cobb washed up on the beach. In the end, she loved it. She even wanted to watch it again so she could watch it from a different perspective.

Now that's movie love.

Because she loved Inception, I knew she would love The Matrix. Only problem there is the movie is R-rated. My kid is on the cusp of 15, she'll be a sophomore in the fall. I'm a firm believer R-rated movies are for more mature audiences. Nothing get my blood pumping more than sitting in a theater and seeing a parent bring their young children. Yeah, that actually happened. Hubs and I were waiting for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans to start and in walks this woman with two small children. Not babies. I'm talking 7 or 8 years old. There's some pretty gory stuff in that movie and it made me uncomfortable for them. But I digress.

The Matrix.

Fabulous movie. I still remember sitting in the theater opening weekend watching it, then walking out with my mind just blown to pieces. Given the fact my daughter is very much into computers and computer games, I knew she'd love it. But there was that pesky rating thing. So I broke out my disc one night and watched it with my husband. After it was over, I asked why it was R-rated again. I mean, sure there's foul language, but it's no worse than shit or goddamn. Words I'm pretty sure she hears on a daily basis at school. Hell, I know she's hear shit from me more than once because that's my swear word of choice. The f-bomb was nowhere to be seen. Okay, gun violence. I get that. No worse than a video game really, the blood was scarce in The Matrix. And I like to think I've raised a pretty level-headed kid. She knows the difference between reality and books/movies/video game violence.

So I thew caution to the wind and sat down to watch it with her. Afterward, I was glad I did. She loved it. It was a perfect movie for a geeky teenager who loves all the variations of sci-fi that are cropping up (The Matrix being cyberpunk). And I have to confess, I love sharing movies with her where there's a strong female lead character. Trinity in The Matrix is a wonderful example of just that.

Psssttt, Hollywood, we need more of them.