Foreword
I’ve seen The Matrix many times and many times over. I know what I’m talking about when I say that it is one of the most fascinating, thought provoking, and thrilling movies ever made. Now, I understand that many other people have Watched The Matrix play across a screen. These people I have heard criticizing the movie for its flaws, most usually cited as having “too much talk”, being “too hard to understand” or having poor acting. As far as acting and understanding, I will admit that I agree to both. These aren’t the best actors in the world, and not even I caught everything the first time through. As to the “excess dialogue”, I say if you’re too shallow to value the discussion of ideas through verbal exchange, then eff you. Don’t talk to me about this movie, because you missed most of it. For the rest of you who may not see the depth of this fantastic film, by the end of this discourse, I hope to get you to See the power and profundity beneath the surface.
To make this easier, I’m going to break down the movie’s most prominent aspects. I think the best thing with which to start should be the central idea of the dichotomized equality of Smith and Neo, and of the machines and the humans. From there, we’ll consider the characters and their symbolic significance. We’ll follow that up with various philosophies offered throughout the trilogy, which is, by the way, what I mean when I say “The Matrix.” If I come up with anything else after that, I’ll edit it in.
Part I
The fundamental idea behind the matrix as a program is the ironic dependence of the machines on the humans and visa versa. The program requires a number of minds to escape the falsehood of the matrix for it to maintain its function of containing all th...
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...st exaggerate some of these aspects, but in essence, the relationships, the struggles, and, the truths are real enough. I very much suggest to everyone that reads this that they find some time and watch each of the movies again. They don’t have to show one right after the other, but whenever you can, watch one of them, and think back to what you’ve read. Hopefully, I’ve piqued a curiosity and an interest that will persuade you to take on a new respect for this trilogy that you may have dismissed as a mere Sci-Fi geek movie. Only ten percent of an iceberg is what rests on top of the water. There is more to these movies beneath the surface, and I have by no means mentioned it all. Look for the subtleties. Find your own truths. Enjoy them to their fullest. There is inspiration in the recognition of greatness, which is why I was inspired to write this in the first place.
Let me briefly explain a simplified plot of The Matrix. The story centers around a computer-generated world that has been created to hide the truth from humans. In this world people are kept in slavery without their knowledge. This world is designed to simulate the peak of human civilization which had been destroyed by nuclear war. The majority of the world's population is oblivious to the fact that their world is digital rather than real, and they continue living out their daily lives without questioning their reality. The main character, Neo, is a matrix-bound human who knows that something is not right with the world he lives in, and is eager to learn the truth. He is offered the truth from a character named Morpheus, who proclaims that Neo is “the One” (chosen one) who will eventually destroy the Matrix, thereby setting the humans “free.” For this to happen, Neo must first overcome the Sentient Program agents who can jump into anyone's digital body. They are the Gate Keepers and hold the keys to The Matrix.
A race of ancient beings hold the only weapon capable of destroying an interstellar force of pure evil that emerges every 5000 years. This weapon happens to be a young woman named LeeLoo, the career launching point for indie actress Mila Jovovich, who was recently genetically re-built with a 3D printer (how eerily relevant) and proceeds to crash into the hover-taxi of special forces veteran Korben Dallas played by exploding movie star Bruce Willis. With the comedy relief of Chris Tucker playing out-of-control radio DJ Ruby Rohd and a mish-mash of influences from 1970's and '80's graphic magazine Heavy Metal, the cult hit Blade Runner, and of course Star Wars is laden throughout The Fifth Element but the story itself is holy original and a wonderful experience.The Matrix changed cinema forever and it's influence can be seen in almost any action movie made today. A Star Wars for the digital age, The Matrix launched Keanu Reeves to super-stardom for his portrayal of Neo, an ordinary computer hacker who learns that he may be the savior of mankind. With the old wizard mentor Morpheus played by Laurence Fishborne guiding Neo through "The desert of the Real" this movie truly captures the imagination during the beginning of the Digital Age, introduces many interesting philosophical questions, and remains a cinematic classic to this
This student of Philosophy now sees the movie The Matrix in a whole new way after gaining an understanding of some of the underlying philosophical concepts that the writers of the movie used to develop an intriguing and well thought out plot. Some of the philosophical concepts were clear, while others were only hinted at and most likely overlooked by those unfamiliar with those concepts, as was this student when the movie first came out in theaters all those many years ago. In this part of the essay we will take a look at the obvious and not so obvious concepts of: what exactly is the Matrix and how does it related to both Descartes and Plato, can we trust our own senses once we understand what the Matrix is, and how Neo taking the Red Pill is symbolic of the beginning of the journey out of Pl...
As individuals overcome the inevitable process of change, they begin to realize their full potential. In the set text, the 1999 Wachowski Brother’s film, The Matrix, the concept of change is significantly explored. In the related texts “Plato’s Allegory of the cave” and “The Door” clearly represents and reinforces this concept of change; that it is inevitable and experiences from this process leads to wisdom. In each text, the individual composers explore certain themes such as “the illusion of reality”, “choices and the endless outcomes of change” and “the fear and danger of knowing”. All the texts mentioned visible represents that “It is the process of transformation that ultimately allows potential to be realized”.
entertainment, and countless others. All of these matrices are related with each other and with specific operations of individuals. The book and the movie demonstrate the interaction of multiple matrices, from single to multi-dimesional. It shows the destruction and the development of systems and the impact of one individual on the largest matrix, the human race.
The Matrix series is much more than an action-packed sci-fi thriller. After one view of this film for the second and third time, we start to notice a great deal of symbolism. This symbolism starts to paint a completely different picture than the images of humans battling machines. It is a religious story, with symbols deeply set in the Christian faith. The Matrix contains religious symbolism through its four main characters, Morpheus, Neo, Trinity and Cypher. In that each character personifies the “Father,” the “Son,” “Satan,” and the “Holy Spirit” of the Christian beliefs only shown through the amazing performances of the actors. A critic by the name of Shawn Levy said "The Matrix slams you back in your chair, pops open your eyes and leaves your jaw hanging slack in amazement."(metacritic.com)
The movie "Matrix" is drawn from an image created almost twenty-four hundred years ago by the greek philosopher, Plato in his work, ''Allegory of the Cave''.The Matrix is a 1999 American-Australian film written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. Plato, the creator of the Allegory of the Cave was a famous philosopher who was taught by the father of philosophy Socrates. Plato was explaining the perciption of reality from others views to his disciple Aristotle. The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave share a simmilar relationship where both views the perciption of reality, but the Matrix is a revised modern perciption of the cave. In this comparison essay I am going to explain the similarities and deifferences that the Matrix and The Allegory of the Cave shares.In the Matrix, the main character,Neo,is trapped in a false reality created by AI (artificial intelligence), where as in Plato's Allegory of the Cave a prisoner is able to grasp the reality of the cave and the real life. One can see many similarities and differences in the film and the allegory. The most important similarity was between the film and the Allegory is the perception of reality.Another simmilarity that the movie Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave shares is that both Neo and the Freed man are prisoners to a system. The most important difference was that Neo never actually lived and experienced anything, but the freed man actually lived and experinced life.
The movie, "The Matrix," parallels Platos's Allegory Of The Cave in a number of ways. Similar to the prisoners of the cave, the humans trapped in the matrix (the cave) only see what the machines (the modern day puppet-handlers) want them to see. They are tricked into believing that what they hear in the cave and see before them is the true reality that exists. Furthermore, they accept what their senses are telling them and they believe that what they are experiencing is all that really exists--nothing more.
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. It tells a story of a future in which reality to most humans is actually a computer program called "the Matrix”. In "the Matrix” humans are really sleep while their bodies are fed on my machines. The movie while directed to entertain audiences but also gave us many insights into philosophy. Many scenes in this movie reflect Descartes, and his many writings explaining them in a visual manner. In this paper I will show various examples of philosophy within the scenes and give commentary explaining each scene.
The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski sisters, is a film that discusses free will, artificial intelligence and poses a question: ‘How do we know that our world is real?’ This question is covered in the philosophical branch of epistemology. Epistemology is a component of philosophy that is concerned with the theory of knowledge. The exploration of reality is referenced in the film when Neo discovers he has been living in an artificial world called ‘The Matrix’. He is shocked to learn that the world in which he grew up is a computer program that simulates reality. The questioning of knowledge and its irreversibility provoked by The Matrix invites the audience to wonder whether their own world is an imitation of true reality, thus making it a
...The Matrix” and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” almost gives the idea that the movies writers may have had a lot of influence from Plato’s allegory. The creation of this movie gives and futuristic prospective of “The Allegory of the Cave” letting the people who have seen the movie think about reality and the truth. In conclusion, Plato’s story of the cave brings up many philosophical points and most significantly, addresses the topic of society’s role in our lives. On some level, we are all influenced by the thoughts and actions of everyone else, but at the same time, we as humans have the ability to question, make our own conclusions, and finally make our own choices.
In the film The Matrix (1999) in the scene “The Two Pills” help characters and relationships are developed and continuation of the films narrative through various components of cinematography and mise-en-scène. Most notable in The Matrix is the use of costuming, sound effects, props, setting and camera movement. Through the use of these techniques the audience becomes more involved in the narrative as Neo meets Morpheus for the first time and is given the opportunity to learn the secrets of the matrix.
In the movie The Matrix we find a character by the name of Neo and his struggle adapting to the truth...to reality. This story is closely similar to an ancient Greek text written by Plato called "The Allegory of the Cave." Now both stories are different but the ideas are basically the same. Both Stories have key points that can be analyzed and related to one another almost exactly. There is no doubt that The Matrix was based off Greek philosophy. The idea of freeing your mind or soul as even stated in "The Allegory of the Cave" is a well known idea connecting to Greek philosophy. The Matrix is more futuristic and scientific than "The Cave" but it's the same Idea. Neo is trapped in a false reality created by a computer program that was created by machines that took over the planet. Now the story of course has many themes such as Man vs. Machine, Good vs. Evil, and our favorite Reality vs. Illusion. Neo is unplugged from the matrix and learns the truth and becomes "the one" who is to save the humans from their machine oppressors. "The Cave" is similar in that it has humans trapped in a cave and chained up to only face one direction. The "puppeteers" then make shadows against the wall the humans face using the fire from the outside as a light source. One big difference is that "The Cave" is about two philosophers conversing about the cave as one explains what needs to happen and that the prisoners must free their souls to find truth. The Matrix is the actions of what the philosopher describes actually happening. The comparing of the two stories will show how things said in "The Cave" are the same as in The Matrix, of course with the exception that one is futuristic ...
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
The Matrix is a sci-fi action film about a computer hacker named Neo that has been brought into another world deemed “the matrix.” The Matrix is a prime example of cinematography. The film uses many different types of cinematography such as mise-en-scene, special effects, and camera shots to make it interesting and entertaining to the audience guiding their attention to the important aspects of the film.