Scribd
Upload
24 views

Scribd Matrix

The document discusses the philosophical themes explored in the movie The Matrix. It examines how the matrix construct allows the characters to question what is real by providing perfect illusions that destabilize the relationship between the mind and senses. One character, Cipher, determines that the only flaw of the matrix is that he can no longer believe the illusions. By choosing to remain willfully ignorant, he is simply opting to live in the more preferable of two dreams. The document contrasts the phones used in the matrix to communicate between worlds, which only emulate one sense and do not raise questions about experience versus reality, with the matrix itself, which uses the human body to fully subvert what is real.

Uploaded by

geoffreyliu
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
24 views

Scribd Matrix

The document discusses the philosophical themes explored in the movie The Matrix. It examines how the matrix construct allows the characters to question what is real by providing perfect illusions that destabilize the relationship between the mind and senses. One character, Cipher, determines that the only flaw of the matrix is that he can no longer believe the illusions. By choosing to remain willfully ignorant, he is simply opting to live in the more preferable of two dreams. The document contrasts the phones used in the matrix to communicate between worlds, which only emulate one sense and do not raise questions about experience versus reality, with the matrix itself, which uses the human body to fully subvert what is real.

Uploaded by

geoffreyliu
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

The Matrix

Towards the beginning of the movie, The Matrix, the protagonist Neo poses a question,

“You ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or still dreaming?” This query

forms the philosophical core of The Matrix: the thought that, if all experiences are somehow

mediated by the human senses, then reality itself is never absolute, and therefore that reality may

not be inherently more valuable than the illusions that supplant it. The matrix construct is what

allows for this exploration, as it destabilizes the trust between the mind and its senses by

providing perfect illusions. With this trust gone, the impeachability of all sensory experiences is

open, and thus characters like Cipher develop, who determine that the only fault of the matrix’s

world is not its falsehood, but that he can no longer believe the illusions. His choice of willful

ignorance may seem selfish, but since all human experience is fallible, the consideration that his

experiences in the “real” world could also be false grants him some credence. Perhaps he was

simply choosing to live in the more preferable of two dreams. This intermediary use of

mind/body separation contrasts with other media in the film, which exist entirely within either

the matrix or the real world, and are consequently less volatile. Throughout the movie, characters

within the matrix use phones to communicate with their real operator, Tank. These phones

function as a bridge between two worlds but are treated as little more than a medium of

communication. Compared to the verisimilitude of the matrix, these phones are rather

uninteresting, as they only emulate one sense, sound, and fail to raise those critical questions

concerning the gap between experience and veracity. Since The Matrix ponders those very same

themes, only a medium as subversive the human body itself would suffice.

You might also like