© 2001 by Daniel du Prie
Ours is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but it is not where our bodies live. (Barlow, 1996)
You’ve been living in a dream world Neo. This, is the world, as it exists today: Welcome to the desert – of the real. (Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix)
From Plato’s "Charmides" to the Wachowski brothers’ "The Matrix" (1999), there is a tradition of writing in Western literature, which thinks about and imagines the city as either a utopia or a dystopia, or both. I believe that what such imagining allows us is to do is locate ourselves within a type of dialectic of the best possible or worst possible outcomes that our own historical conditions may lead us to. By imagining utopian and dystopic cities we are alerted to the ethical and moral implications that constantly changing social structures, always under continual sway by developments in technology, hold for communities in cities. Visions of dystopia and utopia function as allegories of contemporary society – of the particular historical moment of society in which a particular utopian or dystopic vision is produced. They historicise given moments by alerting us to and imagining the possible implications caused by technological change. Most of all, they historicise by reminding us of the fact that ours is just a given moment – things do not stay the same.
Jameson (1992: 11) notes that, “If everything means something else, then so does technology.” Particularly in an era where technological change is so very rapid, and where traditionally accepted notions about the position and function of the subject in a community or society have come under sustained attack, visions of dystopia and utopia ask just what technology might come to mean for us, in an age where living in diverse city communities challenges the dominance of any single meaning.
"The Matrix", like a number of contemporary science-fiction films (eg "Bladerunner", "The Terminator") deals with themes of conspiracy, paranoia, the loss of privacy and the dissolution of human society in favour of a technology that has become supreme in its own right. Their space of action is within the city. In both "The Terminator" and "The Matrix" humans have lost out to artificial intelligence, which, soon after having been invented, quickly becomes malevolent and takes control of itself at the expense of human society. The implication seems to be that two different sentient, intelligent types of beings cannot possibly share this world together – one has to go, and it is inevitably the carbon-based humans which end up as the inferior life form.
This story observes human relations with technology and warns us of the potential consequences of allowing technology to supplement our self-sufficiency. Varshavsky shows us that we will become indistinguishable from technology, that this technology will eventually demand equality, and that this technology will steal our self-sufficiency while also becoming self-reliant. There are hints at Varshavsky’s imagined human-technology relations in current day. Society’s requirement of computers to function in the economy as laborers and consumers is one example. Another instance of society’s reliance on technology is the use of cameras and security systems to ensure safety. Another different type of technology humans rely on is pesticide to grow food for consumption. None of these examples point to technology as a negative aspect of society. On the contrary, technology has allowed human societies to expand and flourish. However, the most poignant example of Varshavsky’s envisioned human-technology relationship is human reliance on the cellphone. To name a few benefits, cellphones allow people to remember things they would otherwise forget, share their ideas with each other, and communicate with people they would normally have trouble maintaining a relationship. Cellphones are becoming a vital part of consumer culture and human existence. Without them society will digress back to a slower social, cultural, and economic existence. Human reliance on cellphones could be the first steps toward Ilya Varshavsky’s “Perpetual Motion” becoming
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.
The topic of technology and our society has become a very controversial subject today. Many people believe that technology is an essential component of our modern world, helping us to improve communication from farther distances as well as giving us easy access to important information. On the other hand, there is the opinion that too much technology is affecting social interactions and our basic development. “Technology…is a queer thing, it brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other.” (Carrie Snow.) The CBC Documentary “Are We Digital Dummies” displayed the pros and cons when it comes to modern technology that we use in the western world everyday.
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...
The purpose of this paper is to expose some of the stereotypes present in the film The Matrix, directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. In order to accomplish this we shall see that although The Matrix is considered to be a film about rebellion, it contains several stereotypical portrayals, which actually make it a film that supports the status quo. We shall also see that the African American characters in The Matrix (the Oracle, Tank, Dozer, and Morpheus) are all depicted in the stereotypical servant roles. Furthermore, the women (Trinity and Switch) in this film are portrayed stereotypically; that is, they are either reduced to a caring/nurturing role or they simply help make up the background (they do not have a voice). Finally, Morpheus’ initial power and leadership is stripped away leaving him to play the stereotypical supporting and buddy role.
The 1999 film, The Matrix, shows many philosophical instances. Comparing this film to Plato’s The Republic: The Allegory of the Cave, and Descartes’ First Meditation on Philosophy allows one to gain a deeper understanding of the work. Reality is a concept that may be vague to many people due to their given circumstances. The environment and the mind a person is in allows for different perceptions of reality. The power of reality falls in the eyes of the beholder. As shown in The Matrix, Neo was not the One until he believed he was, which can percept into everyday life; how someone thinks can affect how someone is.
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 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.
de la Garza, Alejandro. "From utopia to dystopia: technology, society and what we can do about
...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.
The Matrix is a movie showing the main concepts of reality and truth and a basic aspect is Plato’s theory on reality which states that reality changes depending on something. In this movie this theory is implied to how Neo’s reality changes based on how he escaped from the matrix and noticed that the reality and perspective changed from a normal society to an apocalyptical world. This is a mixed aspect of truth and reality due to how the reality changes, based on Plato’s Theory, but also his perspective also changes on how he doubts if anything is actually true and real. Thi...
In summary, both the article and the novel critique the public’s reliance on technology. This topic is relevant today because Feed because it may be how frightening the future society may look like.
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
The identity and reality that Neo faces all begins with the famous choice given upon his encounter with Morpheus, “the red pill or the blue pill?” This question poses a very difficult decision for Neo. Should he take the blue pill and live without knowing the truth and who he actually is, or should he take the red pill and discover the truth and figure out what his life is really all about. The film as a whole and especially this particular scene is deeply compelling. On one hand you have everyone you love and everything that you have built your life upon, though being fed with false sensory information by a giant virtual reality computer called the Matrix. On the other, you are promised only truth. Is it better to live in a harsh reality or a comfortable fantasy? How could a choice possibly be made? In essence, the choice is one that is between truth and happiness, and Neo hungered for the truth. Neither living as a hacker nor working for a company would suffice. Neo wanted to find his “true” identity, and he does so through...