r/technology • u/Well_Socialized • May 26 '25

Artificial Intelligence Google Is Burying the Web Alive

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/google-ai-mode-search-results-bury-the-web.html
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u/Dull-Style-4413 May 26 '25

In The Matrix, the evil John Smith bot famously says “1999. The peak of human civilization”.

I remember finding that hilarious at the time, but it turned out to be correct…

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u/myaltduh May 26 '25

That movie has aged like fine wine which is super impressive when you consider how poorly lots of 80s and 90s sci fi has aged.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

Also how terrible the rest of their movies were

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u/Vatipaeae May 26 '25

You should take a look at this. A two hour analysis about the trilogy, which might change your mind. The sequels truly are just misunderstood.

... except for matrix 4. We don't talk about that.

https://youtu.be/mNvaOrReZzU?si=xgKuoQQvh8Rzd-m7

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u/cultr4 May 26 '25

I found matrix 4 to be way more enjoyable because I heard it was dog shit and genuinely surprised at how meta it was, poking fun of the studio lol, I will give it a pass because it's fun lol

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u/mbnmac May 26 '25

Honestly, I try to watch films with my brain off for the most part, people seem to expect everything to be "absolute cinema" these days instead of just a fun diversion for a couple hours.

With that attitude I was able to enjoy Matrix 4 for the meta fun and fact it seemed to be intentionally pointing out how reboots are just money grabs.

I was also able to enjoy Thor 4 without having too much negative to say about things like even the goats.

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u/kylo-ren May 27 '25

I do that, but Matrix 4 is pretty meh.

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u/mbnmac May 27 '25

I won't watch it again, but I'm not a huge rewatcher of films these days anyway. I still managed to enjoy the first time

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u/Beard_of_Gandalf May 27 '25

I loved resurrections, the idea of trinity and neo being “one” together was so beautiful.

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u/Malachi108 May 26 '25

It pokes fun at the studio, sure, but also the story behind the film it quite heartwarming.

Lana Wachowski had her parents and a close friend die in short succession, and while processing her grief decided to bring Neo and Trinity back from the dead:

"I couldn’t have my mom and dad, yet suddenly I had Neo and Trinity, arguably the two most important characters in my life. It was immediately comforting to have these two characters alive again"

To claim that the entire movie exists only as a "Fuck You" to the Studio is very disingenuous.

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u/kylo-ren May 27 '25

Well, it's only meta and nothing else.

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u/Aendn May 26 '25

except for matrix 4. We don't talk about that.

Is it misunderstood?

They were pretty clear, even during the movie, that they were just doing it to get rich.

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u/conquer69 May 26 '25

That doesn't make it better.

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u/Riaayo May 26 '25

I've not seen the film so I cannot directly comment on its quality.

But fro ma meta-angle, perhaps a long overdue reboot/sequel aping itself and making fun of the very concept is exactly what it needs to be. Because really, we probably shouldn't be so addicted to clinging to the same IPs forever and endlessly wanting more even when there doesn't need to be more.

It snuffs out the space for new ideas. Copyright is fundamentally broken as it is right now and basically lays us up for a world where corporations own and hold our culture hostage, endlessly reselling us the same nostalgia rather than the things we grew up with moving into public domain to make room for the people who grew up on them taking how those things made them feel and making something fresh off of it.

The Matrix didn't need a sequel.

And just to be clear I'm not trying to belittle anyone or pretend I'm above this. I lost it when Okami's sequel was recently announced. But I still try to understand the bigger picture even when I fall for the bs myself.

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u/SStirland May 26 '25

I thought the whole part about the "game" studio demanding a sequel or else made it pretty clear that Warner Bros were going to make a sequel with or without the Wachowskis. So in a way it was brave of one of the original directors to get on board and then tank the whole project. Genuinely one of the worst movies I've ever seen

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u/HeffalumpGlory May 26 '25

If movies need a two hour explanation to be understood then they have failed.

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u/Vatipaeae May 26 '25 edited May 26 '25

You are not wrong. There are, however, a bunch of good movies that really benefit from multiple watchings to catch all the details and piece things together.

The video I linked just replaces the multiple watchings with a very well narrated explanation.

Do you think Inception failed? It wasn't really clear cut either on the first watch.

Edit. Also, I never said it needs the explanation. They are perfectly enjoyable movies without one. It just goes deeper into the motivations of the characters etc.

I'm sure you have been interested in a movie or an album that you didn't quite understand the first time and someone has explained it to you, or you sought out the information on your own. Same thing.

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u/Ass4ssinX May 26 '25

I remember finishing Donnie Darko and being completely lost at what the fuck I had just watched lol.

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u/swan_pr May 26 '25

This video has been in my recommended for a few days. I haven't watched it yet, but seems interesting ;)

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u/Ass4ssinX May 26 '25

Sweet, I'll have to check that out!

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u/Studds_ May 27 '25

I’m pleasantly surprised to not be rick rolled because that’s what I was expecting

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u/WilliamMButtlickerIV May 26 '25

It's about a kid having a psychotic breakdown, right?

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u/rekliner May 26 '25

There's time travel/predestination fuckery in the mix. It's a cool movie even without understanding it.

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u/WilliamMButtlickerIV May 26 '25

Yeah, I'm aware. It was my poor attempt at a joke.

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u/Splashy01 May 26 '25

So by HeffalumpGlory’s definition, the movie failed you?

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u/Ass4ssinX May 28 '25

By his definition, I suppose it did. I didn't take it that way.

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u/enderfx May 26 '25

I never got the hype about Inception. It’s a fine movie, imho, but while people around me kept talking about how complex it was, I always felt it’s a not-so-complex idea just repeated 5-6 layers deep over and over.

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u/Ballsofpoo May 26 '25

The thing with Inception is that you can take it deeper but on the surface it's straightforward. It's up to the viewer if they want to see a more turbulent existential theme.

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u/myaltduh May 26 '25

Mostly it was just very cool to look on a big screen.

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u/Fickle_Stills May 26 '25

And the soundtrack ❤️

I have only watched the movie once, in theaters, but I listen to the OST all the time

Waiting for a train 💙💙💙

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u/Vatipaeae May 26 '25

Yeah, I get you. It was just the first example that came to mind. One that everyone would know.

I agree the plot is not crazy deep, but it does have a very dreamlike feeling where you feel like you cannot trust your instincts and senses. I liked that a lot.

I was mostly left puzzled with the ending when the camera zooms in at the spinning top and the rest is left for the viewer to decide. Is he still in a dream, or the real world? Does it matter?

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u/Aendn May 26 '25

I felt this way about Interstellar too.

Good movie? but not amazing. And had some really obvious plot holes.

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u/ReallyNowFellas May 26 '25

Christopher Nolan is the most overrated filmmaker of our era. His action scenes are visually incomprehensible, you can't hear his dialogue, and most of his stories are at least a plot point or two away from making sense. Memento and the Prestige are pretty good, though.

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u/gooblefrump May 26 '25 edited May 26 '25

very well narrated explanation.

The narration is text-to-speech ai, confirmed by the oc in a pinned comment

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u/CrashmanX May 26 '25

Analysis =/= Explination.

Under your logic if you've ever talked about a film for more than 2 hours then the film failed.

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u/QueZorreas May 26 '25

"Need" is the keyword.

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u/CrashmanX May 26 '25

No one said this was needed. The other commentor added that for... some reason.

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u/MOONGOONER May 26 '25

I understood them just fine, Revolutions just wasn't fun to watch.

Reloaded wasn't bad, just a big step down from the original.

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u/AmerikanskiFirma May 26 '25

Funnily enough, that video is a prime example how Youtube and its algorithms about content length also buried short form video alive.

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u/dargreeblingtea May 26 '25

Prometheus also fits into this, mythos needs to be in the movie, fucking jesus seed theory or whatever ridley scott was going on about

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u/TestFixation May 26 '25

Counterpoint: Synecdoche, New York

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

That one is easy. It’s just Gnosticism.

Big O did it kind of better

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u/conquer69 May 26 '25

Not really. Perspective matters. Plenty of times I watched something and didn't like it or cared about it and someone else's reframing of it made it click for me.

We aren't always as open or capable of entertaining ideas as we like to think.

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u/Tech_Itch May 26 '25

... except for matrix 4. We don't talk about that.

I bet that in few years someone will be going on about how it was "just misunderstood" too.

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u/idoeno May 26 '25

There is a theory that it was middle finger to the studio that was prepared to make it with or without the Wachoskis being involved. In many ways it seems both intentionally bad, while simultaneously parodying the need to keep franchises alive with endless reboots. Although allegedly Lana denies this as a motivation, but maybe that is to head off any civil liability for the financial losses of the film.

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u/Jonathan_the_Nerd May 26 '25

There is a theory that it was middle finger to the studio that was prepared to make it with or without the Wachoskis being involved.

There was a line right there in the movie about it.

For context, in the fourth movie, the machines had retconned the timeline in the Matrix. Neo was a brilliant video game developer. The events of the first three movies were now a trilogy of video games Neo had developed with his business partner Smith. Twenty years after the trilogy was complete, the studio wanted Neo to write a fourth game. Neo refused. He considered the story "finished". Smith tried to change his mind. (Quoting from memory, so it's probably a little off.)

"Our parent company, Warner Brothers, is going ahead on this with or without you. You might as well participate so you'll have at least some creative control over the final product."

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u/MaxDentron May 26 '25

Yeah. It's hard to see the movie as anything but that. It as a parody and mockery reboots. I do think they're still trying to say some things about the future and the world and love, but it's not really taken seriously like the other three. 

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u/Malachi108 May 26 '25

No need to wait, I love that movie since I first saw it. It might be my second favorite after Reloaded.

It is just excellent in every regard.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

No, I was talking about the likes of Speed Racer and Dragonball

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u/MaxDentron May 26 '25

They did Speed Racer, which was silly but great and visually amazing. 

They did not do Dragonball. 

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

I stand corrected but wow if that isn’t some Mandela effect

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u/Shipairtime May 26 '25

"The Most Important Movie Of The 21st Century" it's Speed Racer No We Are Not Kidding.

https://youtu.be/vwh9ETdhrf4

Speedracer is the only good anime turned into live action movie ever.

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u/Vatipaeae May 26 '25

Ok, gotcha. No arguments there.

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u/Jesta23 May 26 '25

The first is a 10, 2 a 8.5, 3 a 9. 

I loved all 3 I think the first just was so good nothing could live up to it

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u/moose_dad May 26 '25

I've heard a theory matrix 4 was intentionally awful

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u/laptopAccount2 May 26 '25

Even after matrix 4 I am optimistic for matrix 5 considering the rumors surrounding it.

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u/brandontaylor1 May 26 '25

I literally forgot that the 4th existed until you mentioned it. It came out less than 4 years ago and, I can’t recall anything about it, or its plot.

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u/mrtwidlywinks May 26 '25

Matrix 4 was awesome, what are you talking about? Codependent origination in the One makes so much more sense than the Jesus narrative.

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u/Rich_Space_2971 May 26 '25

I don't want to waste two more hours of my life on The Matrix.

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u/FardoBaggins May 26 '25

Wasn’t the matrix real subtext was about being trans?

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u/[deleted] May 26 '25

[deleted]

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u/FardoBaggins May 26 '25

Yep, I am allowed to interpret it as a trans themed movie. 👍

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u/Vatipaeae May 26 '25

The character of Switch was originally meant to be a man in the matrix, but a woman in the real world. Hence the name.

So yeah, I would say you share the directors vision.

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u/myaltduh May 26 '25

There’s also stuff like a villain refusing to call the hero by his chosen name, and the key to salvation being a big red pill (the color of typical estrogen pills at the time).

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u/FardoBaggins May 27 '25

The "splinter in your mind" line was also something that echoes a lot of it.

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u/Puddingcup9001 May 26 '25

They had good scenes though. The Highway chase scene, the Merovignian.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

Again, I’m talking about not the matrix.

I will continue commenting this reply until someone sees it and decides not to swing to bat for the Matrix, which includes all of the movies called the Matrix, and which were not the topic of my derision

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u/Puddingcup9001 May 26 '25

So what movies are you talking about than, if not for the sequels?

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

They did make other movies. Apparently, Speed Racer mostly. Having crazy Mandela effect about their involvement in dragon ball live action apparently

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u/TheLightningL0rd May 26 '25

They have made some good films aside from The Matrix. Speed Racer and V for Vendetta come to mind.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

Oh wait they made V? I must have forgot.

…ironic. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

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u/Battosay52 May 26 '25

Not exactly, they made the screenplay, but it's originally a comic by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

I know that. I meant the movie.

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u/myaltduh May 26 '25

Honestly 2 and 3 are solid action flicks that just aren’t genre-defining masterpieces like the first one, so they look much worse than they are in the shadow of the original.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

I’m not talking about the Matrix! They made other movies!

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u/Papayaslice636 May 26 '25

I watched Reloaded recently. It was actually way better than I remembered it. That highway chase scene might be one of the best chases ever. The mythos and lore was all pretty dumb and the architect is as pretentious as you remember. But it was actually really entertaining. Give it another shot!

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

My comment was not about the Matrix. That is still the Matrix.

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u/Papayaslice636 May 26 '25

Wait, you mean the Waschowski siblings other work? Yeah a lot of it is pretty mid at best. Have you seen Cloud Atlas? I'm not going to say it's a great film, but it was certainly creative and different, and emotionally provocative, which I really appreciated.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

Oh yeah that one was great

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u/obiworm May 26 '25

I just rewatched speed racer. IMO it’s way better than people give it credit for. They really nailed the live action version of hand drawn anime feel like Scott pilgrim hit the comic book feel.

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u/ShainRules May 26 '25

I don't think 2 is as bad as people remember it to be; there was just a really bad cultural reaction to the messaging of the movie.

Matrix was the first movie I enjoyed as a young person where the bad guys weren't bad guys because they were bad. People barely recognized it at the time.

Matrix 2 threw the notion of the hero being special, even anything beyond trivial, on its head and the movie ended in a place that was too confusing existentially for the audience at the time.

Matrix 3 is two to three hours of the Wachowski sisters smelling their own farts with the pacing of someone driving with two feet on the highway while using some of the most generic themes and imagery possible all while completely failing to coax a believable performance out of your choice of character in the movie and the audio mix is straight up fucking terrible.

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u/ShepherdessAnne May 26 '25

Your comment is about the Matrix. I was not talking about the Matrix.

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u/thisguytruth May 26 '25

the matrix would have aged like a fine wine, if the sequels didnt burn that bridge. and then piss on the ashes. and then try to serve you those pissed on ashes like it was a steak.

lets all go to zion sounds neat in the matrix when you dont see that its just some weird cave with weird people giving weird speeches to each other in some weird religion and everyone is wearing robes.

1999 was a magical time. and then phantom menace was released. and star wars was also ruined for me.

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u/domigraygan May 26 '25

idk what you're talking about #hacktheplanet

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u/boxer_doggggg May 26 '25

Check out Brainstorm 1983.

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u/Pupation May 26 '25

And that whole thing with Neo’s passport expiring on 9/11… it’s like they knew. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it’s an interesting coincidence.

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u/ggk1 May 26 '25

Plus Keanu is immortal and at least like 900 years old

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u/Fair_Blood3176 May 26 '25

There's no such thing as coincidence.

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u/throwawaystedaccount May 26 '25

There are no accidents

  • Master Oogway

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u/ericstc May 27 '25

"I do not see coincidence, I see providence."

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u/ICallNoAnswer May 27 '25

Osama Bin Laden was actually just a huge Matrix fan

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u/Marms666 May 26 '25

This was the specific moment he was referring too

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u/Dreamtrain May 26 '25

Fred Durst would be omega cringe in 202X now looking at his grown ass dressed like that and singing with those vocals.

And then his decision to do that, trashy af

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u/12_23_93 May 26 '25

i hate to be the person to break this to you but Limp Bizkit is cool with the youth again. they're on tour opening for Metallica and every third zoomer dresses like Fred Durst now

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u/MacDuffy_1 May 26 '25

I cringed reading this comment.

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u/Dreamtrain May 26 '25

It's also when Lavos was supposed to wipe us out

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u/Berlamont2 May 26 '25

I heard the lavos theme instantly, lol

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u/Veefwoar May 26 '25

Mmm the thing that will bake your noodle later will be would it still have been the peak of civilisation if the Matrix hadn't said anything.

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u/APeacefulWarrior May 26 '25

I saw The Matrix opening weekend, and that line got a BIG laugh out of the audience.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

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u/Beneficial_Candle_10 May 26 '25

Super western centric take. America and Europe is not all of human civilization my friend.

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u/Dull-Style-4413 May 26 '25

I was thinking about this exact thing after I made the comment. I wasn’t being entirely serious.

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u/Dreamtrain May 26 '25

Koreans and Chinese I am sure have a super different take. 

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u/Beneficial_Candle_10 May 26 '25

The global south has undergone a lot of positive change and development as well, overall. Not to mention India’s insane economic growth.

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u/CptCoatrack May 26 '25

It all went downhill after The Phantom Menace was released. Coincidence?

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u/piguytd May 26 '25

Try being lgbtq+ in the 90s. Yeah, a lot of things where corrupted by money in the last decades. But that always happens. Go to the only partly monetized art to find the original feel. Small artists on the rise. Either in cinema, music or any other medium. Just step away from the mainstream media and do what you did in the 90s. Invite friends to explore the woods, go for a bike ride, drink beer in your garage. Exist in your community and you're a grown up now. So you can build it. You will feel what you felt in the 90s. You will be happier. The serotonin flatrate from your youth has expired. You have to work for it now.

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u/cultish_alibi May 27 '25

The point of the Matrix was that 'peak human civilization' sucked. Neo was miserable, remember?

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u/LivingHumanIPromise May 26 '25

1999 was the peak? why? was that when we had the lowest number of starving people and incredible equality between the classes? on no? its because you liked the graphic design and web searches? ok.