For those who don't know (and if you don't know you shouldn't be reading this) The Matrix was a 1999 science fiction film written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and starring Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The film was a hit and managed to earn close to $500 million at the box office due to its extremely well choreographed action scenes, ingenious new camera techniques for filming said action scenes, and mind-bending story about mistrust and the internet that came out right as the internet was exploding. Today the film is fondly remembered and considered one of the best science fiction films ever made. The sequels to The Matrix are not as fondly remembered.
One of the key elements of The Matrix that helped it make it's lasting impression is just how well it predicted the future; not necessarily on the surface level but on a more symbolic one.
"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."
Within the movie this represents the computer system feeding your brain information so that you believe you are in a place you're not, doing something you're not. However, within a real-world context this is a reference to the media: nobody can be everywhere in the world at once, it isn't possible. So when we want to get our fix of news we turn to either the internet or the television and news stations that report what's happening in the world. But, what if everyone told you a lie, if every source you looked up told a story that never happened you would believe it was true, and why not? The news has never lied to you before, at least not to your knowledge, but that's the point: nobody can be everywhere, nobody can know everything, and if all your sources of information lied to you, you would have no way of knowing if it's true or not. But, The Matrix takes this one step further:
"It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. … That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind."
Morpheus is referring to how humans are being used as batteries for the machines, but in real life it is a representation of the way society is set up. News outlets constantly feed you lies, people with money make decisions, and you have no ability to impact the world. Morpheus says it blatantly: "You are a slave." Think about that. In the movie people aren't used for labor, they're used for energy. On just the surface plot he could have said "That you are a battery," but he didn't. The word slave was specifically chosen for its connotations and definition. Regular citizens in a society are slaves, we're simply here to keep the machine of progress running. We're the worker bees, and despite what we're led to believe, individually we have no influence over the world as long as we follow the path laid out before us. Movies entertain us, the media lies and keeps us scared, advertisers sell us things, and we work day in and day out. The system of our society is entirely set up to keep us blinded from the fact that we're just workers and will never be the queen bee. As evidence of this just look at the distribution of wealth in the United States. When the top one percent of the population controls forty percent of the wealth in the nation, do the individual workers have any ability to influence the world?
Within all of this a savior rises up among us: Neo, the one, the new man. The Jesus allegory is not subtle, in fact one of the other main characters is named Trinity, obviously representative of the holy trinity, and we even have a Judas to betray our savior. Look closely at the way the characters are portrayed outside of the Matrix: they wear ratty clothes, they eat gruel, they sleep in bunks, and generally live in poverty. But they are free, they may live in poverty but no longer do they have worries about who controls what. If there's a conflict in Africa the news would be all over it, people would watch it continuously, those who had "unplugged" themselves would say "that's in Africa, there's nothing I can do, so why worry about it?" The answer is to simply reject the Matrix, or ignore the news. Who cares if there's a conflict in Africa? Who cares if the president had sex with someone? Who cares about a man in another country doing something we think is wrong? When you start to notice all of the lies being fed by the news, the advertisers, and the government you realize the best way to fight it is to ignore it. Don't buy that new car, don't donate $200 to that shady "non-profit" organization, and don't waste your time worrying about the government because nothing you can do will affect it. By rejecting the influence of the system you become free in a sense.
Of course the system is still there, and you can take a look at all of the people who are still stuck in it:
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
Consider the kind of people who actively participate in this system: the idealists, the addicts, the people controlled by fear, even people who have strong opinions but don't choose a political party. We're given choices to vote on gun rights, abortion rights, gay marriage laws: all things that seem important and indeed are to those who fall into those categories, but consider how little it actually affects the government or society as a whole. We are so distracted by choosing on these small freedoms that we are blind to the fact that we are still slaves. The small choices in our everyday lives keep us stuck on the track of the good worker bee while the system tells us how we feel. The only way we can truly be happy and free is to live for ourselves and those we love. Completely disconnecting ourselves from the world and living a simple life free of all the lies and crap that we've been fed. Focus on what makes us happy, not what makes us feel superior, and live a simple, fulfilling life.
The Matrix is an intense visual and philosophical trip, even on its surface narrative that played on the fear and paranoia of the internet just as it was exploding. Then the Wachowski brothers made sequels. The sequels to The Matrix were both a big departure and a direct continuation of the original. Most people don't consider them as good as the original movie, and I agree, but they aren't as bad as some people claim either. The movies use a familiar framework and explore new ideas based around the world the Wachowski's created. And, I'll explore those ideas in Part 2.
Special notice should be made to Rob Ager (www.collativelearning.com) for his analysis of the symbols and themes in The Matrix.
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