jensen/matrix

The message within Derrick Jensen's The Culture of Make Believe critiques the current state of humanity and says that it is time for people to speak up on it. "If we are to do that, [return to our humanity] the first thing we must do is to see the inhumanity of our current system for what it is, and we must speak about it" (page 602). Jensen wants to reveal to his readers how destructive we as a society have become.
This message is very similar to a revelation explained by Agent Smith in the Matrix. As Agent Smith sits and speaks to Morpheus as he keeps Morpheus chained up and connected to painful machines, he begins to describe a revelation he has had about humans. "Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure". Agent Smith is describing how destructive humans are, just s Derrick Jensen is. They share a very similar message, that being that humans have become wasteful and take advantage of the world we live in. We live greedily, and as Jensen discussed, almost no longer what makes a human, a human. We are supposed to be mammals, and yet, as Agent Smith describes, we act nothing like other mammals on the planet. We do not treat our world and environment the way other species do. Jensen and Agent Smith have a very similar message they are attempting to share, however they are coming from two very opposite positions. Jensen is viewed as one of the prophets, one of the "good guys" who is trying to make our world a better place. When people hear what Jensen has to say, they agree and want to act upon it as well. Yet, Agent Smith, who is depicted as the "bad guy" in the Matrix, has an almost identical message, however no one would be willing to act on his message, for how he has been presented in the revelation trope. He is the bad guy, therefore what he says should not be taken into account.
It appears that in the revelation trope, there is a point in which the bad guy/villain gives a reason behind their "badness". It is then that they suddenly appear as if they may have a good point. There comes a time in which the villain seems to be wise, yet no one is willing enough to side with them. Jensen is a prophet, therefore his word is good. Agent Smith is a villain, and his message is almost identical, but he has been presented to the audience as the villain, so no matter how much truth his words may hold, we will never side with him.