Great Greetings to each of You.
Thought this might be of interest.....wouldn't you know it had to come from a Black Woman.
This is but an introduction, or rather, an example to a larger series of articles I'm working on at the moment. This was originally suppose to be part one, but the subject matter makes this an urgent, serious piece that needs to stand off on its own as an introduction into the larger works. I'm trying my best to bring light and attention to the case of Sophia Stewart and her battle against the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. It seems after all the talk of an illusionary-Matrix, Hollywood is in the middle of a real life battle between The Mother of The Matrix and The Architect(s). And just as in the movies themselves The Mother of The Matrix is a BLACK WOMAN! In an online article found at
www.949zht.com/matrix/ it has been stated and reported that as of April 24th, a woman by the name of Sophia Stewart of Salt Lake City, Utah, has filed a federal lawsuit against Andy and Larry Wachowski, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers alleging copyright infringement of the movie "Matrix", and "all subsequent releases, and racketeering". Very little has been known about this case but it was finally made public, however, low under the radar, on October 17th of 2003.
Ms. Stewart, in her own words, expresses that she has been trying to file a suit since 1999 but it has only recently come to court. The ideas of The Matrix, Sophia claims, have been hijacked from her copyrighted ('81-83, 84) manuscript named "The 3rd Eye". She had submitted her script through Hollywood lines and connections and it is very much possible that Hollywood saw a good idea and snatched it; this happens all the time. Skeptics note that she submitted her ideas through an ad in a national magazine publication looking for new sci-fi works to turn into comic books back in the mid 80s. Skeptics say if this is true, why didn't the studios come out with the movies earlier? Well, the Special FX (that are mostly the highlight of the trilogy, and not the plot) are for one a clear and easy answer. Time. Money. And possibly not the full knowledge of what they had in front of them, how to manipulate it into something else, and how to extract the spirituality without being too far over the heads of the audience. Hollywood, simply put, may not have been ready for such a venture. Afterall, George Lucas had to wait 20 years for technology to catch up with his ideas for the Star Wars Prequels. And the mythology of what Sophia created, had to be explored to an extreme extent. As a side note, many videogames (and some movies) credit a lot of Mythology Consultants in their closing credit sequences. The Wachowski Brothers could've been brought in for their "comic book" expertise.
A good amount of information on the case is presented (with links to other sites) at
www.spitboxers.com owned and run by Scott Williams, President/C.E.O. of SPITBOXERS Incorporated (2004) Salt Lake City, Utah. Scott is in close contact with Sophia. From his site you will be lead to links of pictures and documentation of the entire case. Sophia, at the moment, is making her case known through radio broadcasts and underground outlets such as Da Ghetto Tymz. Scott Williams has said that he and Sophia have tried reaching out to BET, Ebony, Essence, but none of them had returned Scott's calls (as reported in an email on December 9th). You can hear the most extensive interview (to date) as Sophia Stewart appears as a guest on Kemet Nu Dimensions (
www.LIBRadio.com) to explain her charges of copyright infringement and racketeering against the film makers of the Matrix. Go to:
www.brotherjamaal.com to find out more about this interview. Or a 16 minute interview on WBAI-NY at
www.generalpublic.org/wbai/ The Wachowski Brothers behavior was always suspect when it came to the conclusions of the essence and meaning to their movie conundrums. With Joel Silver helping them, his words were always that the movies were whatever the audience wanted them to be, mean, and conclude. In the behind the scenes Matrix: Revisited, when questioned about the background of information used to influence the first movie, both of the Wachowski Brothers become very uneasy when explaining their influences and inspirations to their script.
The two Brothers were reduced to recluse status, with the stars of the films providing more information than the filmmakers themselves. And in an even more strange move, Warner Brothers studios had the Wachowski Brothers sign a confidentiality statement for their own movies, Reloaded and Revolution. That's unheard of, when it comes to the writers and directors of a movie. It's known that George Lucas has everyone who is working on the Star Wars films to sign a waiver of confidentiality so that plot secrets are either kept completely secret, or the terms of allowing some information to be released. But George, the writer, director, and co-producer of the films does not have to sign a waiver. Neither did Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson while making the Scream trilogies, though the actors did. So why would the studios then make the Wachowski Brothers sign confidentiality on their own films? Clearly, even if interviewed, they would never give up secrets to the films. Unless they were being kept from speaking about the films to keep the origins of the scripts quiet. Joel "Your Soul for 30 pieces of" Silver was then ordained to speak on the Brothers' behalf. In a statement by Sophia Stewart, provided by Strife of
www.Matrix-explained.com, she states that:
"...[Nowhere] do you see the brothers on any main stream talk shows explaining to people what they have written! If they were to come on Jay Leno they would need a lawyer, because any thing they say would incriminate them, Joel Silver, & Warner Brothers... The public figures you being the writer should explain the plot, that is if you wrote it. Right??
One could easily pass it off as The Matrix is too complex for a simple explanation. But what's too complex? The Wachowski's could easily say, "It's a metaphor for some of the illusions in society we all serve; and what it comes down to is self discovery and freeing onself from bondage of what ever illusion served. That's why we always say, 'we leave it up to the audience'. We are each in bondage to some illusion, some big, some small. Some are personal, some we all go through. But it comes down to just what's above The Oracle's kitchen "Man Know Thyself" And that's what we see in the story of Christ, which is why there are so many parrallels, which can be found in many mythologies we covered." Wordy, yet... simple. Easy. There's no need to go into every little detail of the movie. Just give your audience some finality.
The case is pending, and it will be interesting to watch how it develops. Many people are asking why this hasn't been made public. Like it or love it, the Wachowski Brothers have created a great conversation piece called The Matrix Trilogy. So, why has this only been reduced to online matrix forums? Well, her being Black could be scarey. If White executives at Warner Brothers think the "race card" will come into effect, it would be best that the case stay lowkey. She would get a bunch of supporters (such as myself, to at least bring the case to light), and it could be turned into a "racial" injustice as well. As well, though, Sophia makes a good statement when she replied on a spitboxers' Matrix forum surrounding her case:
"The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner... this GIANT owns 95% of the media... let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business... New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, people magazine, CNN news, Extras, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow... many, many more!... They are not going to report on themselves. They have been surpressing my case for years..."
The overall response to Sophia Stewart has been surprisingly supportive, mostly due to the poor conclusion of the trilogy and the failure of the middle chapter to even spark interest and hold up to the introduction to the trilogy. This has caused a few hardcore fans to raise a suspiscious eyebrow, even higher in the wake of Ms. Stewart's claims. However, most of the die hard fans have given Ms. Stewart a cold shoulder, claiming her a fraud trying to take credit of a multi-million dollar franchise. But their claims are baseless. It's their blinding support that keeps them from even raising an unbiased eye to Ms. Stewart's allegations. I myself have my own biased against both The Matrix and The Wachowski Brothers (who I call the Washitty Brothers), and obviously, the woman is a Black Woman and if they have done anything to harm her, then it's the Black Warrior's job to help defend and get the word out. But the irony in all this? Aren't we suppose to rebel against THE MATRIX?
These idiots are supporting it. Isn't this the test of all tests to REBEL AGAINST THE MATRIX? I wonder how the fans feel about supporting the very thing that they are told to rebel against? What a bunch of hypocrites. But maybe they are. The word Matrix does mean mother, womb, nurturer. They are rebelling against the mother of the matrix...
Oh, well...
But the skeptics do bring up a valid point. The Matrix is based on a variety of myths that explore human consciousness. These myths are both ancient and modern. Christ, for one. As well as science fiction novels such as William Gibson's work Neuromancer. So what makes Sophia Stewart so special to claim copyright infringement? Well, the difference would simply be that if the Wachowski Brothers used Sophia's ideas not only without permission, but credit. If the initial spark was from viewing her material, taking what they saw and claiming as their own. If this is true, inspiration becomes theft. And if they wanted to understand more about what inspired Ms. Stewart's Third Eye, they would then consult the many books on the subject, and come then with a few of their own inspirations that are true. But it remains, if the foundation of The Matrix Trilogy comes from something viewed by the Wachowski Brothers or Warner Brother Executives, that was overall written by Ms. Stewart, her claims of theft are legitimate.
In a reply to an online forum, someone trying to mediate the problem said that they didn't believe the Wachowski Brothers ever wrote the script(s), but that it was Ghostwritten by someone for them, using a plethora of ideas including Sophia's. Another used the excuse that it was the action of the films that made them a success, not the plot. Apparently these people are too busy trying to calm Sophia's frustration that they have missed the point. Sophia is claiming her ideas were used without permission, credit, or financial compensation. She's not trying to claim the part of the movie(s) that was a success, she's tryin to claim the parts that were her ideas... no matter if they were liked or disliked. Simply put, even if people believe that Keanu Reeves may not have acted that well in the movie(s), and Hugo Weaving's Agent Smith character or Lawrence Fishburne were the bigger draws for the audience, Keanu still gets paid and credited for being apart of the Matrix.
The only existing article on the matter states:
"During an FBI investigation, key pieces of evidence were found establishing Sophia Stewart as writer/author of "Matrix". Credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers have come forward claiming company executives and lawyers had full knowledge the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski brothers. Witnesses also stated the original work of Stewart had been seen, and often used, during preparation of the motion picture."
At the very least, Sophia can claim that ideas of hers were used inside The Matrix, instead of the entire script itself. At the moment, she has teamed up with Dr. Phil Valentine who is helping get her story out through his lectures and radio appearances together. So... it's down to a conclusion in the case and this article. And of course, the superfluous matrix refernce. So... what will the conlcusion be called. The Matrix: Revelation or The Matrix: Resolution. Will the audience be let down again. In the movie, The Oracle seem to win out against the Architect. But that was in the illusionary world of The Matrix. What will happen in reality? Let's hope, at best, Sophia can release, in full, "The Third Eye" manuscript as a book (or as it was to be, a comicbook). Good luck, sista. Peace.
Support Sophia Stewart
p: 801.220.0588
e: sophiastewart10@yahoo.com
http://www.daghettotymz.com/matrix/motherofmatrix.html
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