Never in my adulthood has any science fiction action film fascinated me as much as The Matrix by the Wachowski Brothers. I was in the movie theater on the day of its release because I was intrigued by the trailer which I had already seen in the very same theater on a previous visit to see another film. I particularly remember the short scene in the trailer when Keanu Reeves’ character Neo says, “What are you trying to tell me, that I can dodge bullets?” and Laurence Fishburne’s character Morpheus replies, “No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.” Promptly there afterward it was followed by heavily edited action scenes typically seen in movie trailers and I was hooked—I needed to see this film. I have since lost count as to how many times I have watched this film and have been watching it a few times a year for almost 20 years now. I have studied it thoroughly, read the actual shooting script and every documentary on its production, concept, sources of inspiration as well as books on its philosophical and religious leanings. I have owned this film in every format available from VHS video tape, DVD, Blu-Ray and digital and remains one of my favorite films of all time. The story has inspired me in many small ways and encouraged me, if not helped ignite, my desire to think more deeply and “see the code” behind all that I observe visually and ‘free my mind” as Morpheus was encouraging Neo to do. Of course, this film was not the only thing to drive me to think and expand my mind, but it was, without any doubt, in the top five critical moments in my life that eventually lead me to want to learn more about and study philosophy and embark on a spiritual and intellectual journey from which I have never looked back.
The story behind this futuristic epic action drama is about a gifted computer hacker that goes by the alias, Neo, who discovers that his whole world has been a lie—a computer-generated virtual dream world, called the Matrix, to which his body was connected his entire existence. Neo was freed, that is, disconnected from the Matrix, by a legendary fellow cyber pirate by the name of Morpheus who then enlightened Neo with some very disturbing news about the reality of his world and the desperate state of mankind. So, not only does Neo have to absorb the fact he is a machine-manufactured, or “grown” human and that his entire life never physically happened except only in his mind, but also learns that he’s the chosen “One” to save humanity! As fellow shipmate, Cypher, so eloquently put it, “Jee-zus! What a mind job. So, you’re here to save the world. What do you say to something like that?!”
Once Neo’s body is rehabilitated to overcome complete muscle atrophy, as he’d never used his muscles before, his training begins and he is taught, not only combat training, but also to understand the nature of how he, as well as everyone else, was so convincingly deceived by the machine world. At this stage Neo is still very confused and not quite sure of what it is that he is to believe. So, he and Morpheus both “jack in” and connect into a very small sample of another virtual reality, referred to as a construct program, with which they train to prepare for missions within the actual Matrix. It is here in this total white space that Morpheus attempts to help Neo understand and discern between reality and the world inside the Matrix. Neo, clearly distraught, is having difficulty grasping all that has transpired since taking the “Red Pill”.
Neo asks, “Right now…. we’re inside a computer program?” to which Morpheus replies, “Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. The plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair has changed. […] Your appearance now is what we call residual self-image. It is the mental projection of your digital self.” Neo then asks, “This… this isn’t real?” and, a la René Descartes, Morpheus continues, “What is real? How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” Quite the fascinating premise at this point of the film which, not then but today, reminds me of Descartes’ Dualism in which he argues the distinction between the mind and body in a human. David Cunning explains that, “He argued that the great differences between body (an extended thing) and mind (an un-extended, immaterial thing) make the two ontologically distinct. But that the mind was utterly indivisible: because “when I consider the mind, or myself in so far as I am merely a thinking thing, I am unable to distinguish any part within myself; I understand myself to be something quite single and complete.” (Cunning – CC)
Morpheus proceeds to show Neo the devastation of the planet and the enslavement of all humans solely for the purpose of extracting bio-electricity to sustain their machine city; a survival measure taken by the machines as a result of humans “scorching the sky” and blocking out the sun, preventing the machines from using solar energy. My own shock must have very nearly matched that of Neo’s as I watched him go into outright panic, but for different reasons than our protagonist. The difficulty I experienced was adhering to Morpheus’s explanation to the question, “What is reality?”. His breakdown of reality being nothing more than electrical impulses interpreted by the brain leaves too many openings for debate and speculation and yet no room for any empirical evidence as proof of reality. His explanation to Neo only verifies the difference between the Matrix and the world in which he now finds himself but not ultimate reality because Neo is still relying on his senses—and Morpheus for that matter.
So, based on that argument there can never really be any reality except our consciousness; our self-awareness, existence, etc. My argument is that our senses are far more intricately robust than so many people give them credit for and therefore incredibly difficult to mimic, copy or replace; a system of infinitely subdivided details of feeling, smelling, tasting, touching—many of which we’re not even consciously aware but do notice when they go missing. We can’t always define what it is and make that connection to identify what our subconscious mind is trying to tell us, but we always know when something is either wrong or just not quite right. Neo had this feeling for a long time, as Morpheus pointed out: “I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth.”
Given this scenario, in my view, Morpheus (or the Wachowski’s for that matter) almost contradicts himself later when he basically oversimplifies our senses as nothing more than electrical impulses and therefore not in themselves proof of reality. I have disagreed with Descartes on many things, particularly on the topic of reality and our senses, BUT I still cannot dismiss the one thing that has always triggered intense thinking and analysis for me: “I think therefore, I am.” If you can imagine for just a moment and visualize your place and time spatially, perhaps in a sphere as your ultimate center of perspective in thought, consciousness and existence. This is where YOU are and no one else can occupy that very place and time but you. This unique metaphysical place consists of coordinates in the map of your reality; not much unlike Neo’s physical location in the fields where the rest of humanity is jacked into the Matrix, which I believe was intentional on the part of the Wachowski’s; meant either metaphorically and/or allegorically. It is here that I applaud Descartes, and although I could not accept his level of skepticism, I cannot deny that he could not have arrived at his, in my opinion, indisputable conclusion of reality without it.
The Matrix, though merely a film for entertainment, is also a philosophical conundrum that rides on the freeway of creative license—and that is perfectly fine. You can find just about find every branch of philosophy intertwined within its plot. Every other scene either mixes or distinctly illustrates elements of the metaphysical, epistemological and ethical areas of analytical thought. There is also a thinly-laid layer of theology spread throughout the film as well, or should I say religion, as one can’t deny the Christian leanings of a savior who has come to save or redeem humanity from ultimate doom or damnation in the form of Neo; though a very flawed, more human, version of the biblical Jesus of Nazareth. One can also argue the film as being a retelling of Socrates as well, “[…] an intellectual hero who continued on his quest despite opposition and ultimately paid for his noble defiance with his life.”(Irwin) Or what of the story of Moses in the book of Exodus, who freed his people, the Israelites, from bondage? If you look for it, I am sure it’s in there.
With regards to reality, Neo’s awakening is the pivotal moment in the entire film, but his conviction isn’t realized until the very end when he is shot dead in the Matrix by Agent Smith and, within moments, stands up, reanimated, to see the Matrix in its true form—computer code. The realization of the falsity of the Matrix and the freedom his awakening now represents empowers him and unlocks abilities in him previously impossible nor available to any other freed mind ever before. And who cannot be inspired by this one critical moment in such an exciting story? Who hasn’t felt trapped in their respective world waiting for an epiphany of some sort so that the world can make sense again? The message is very clear: WAKE UP!
Works Cited
- David Cunning (2014). The Cambridge Companion to Descartes’ Meditations. Cambridge University Press. p. 280. ISBN 9781107729148
- William Irving (2002). The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real Open Court; 1st edition. ISBN-13: 978-0812695021