Film Analysis Essay on The Matrix: Real and Reality

Introduction

When directors create movies and television series, their main intention is to provide entertainment to specific audiences interested in such kinds of genres. However, Wachowski Brothers created a movie titled "The Matrix" that did not only provide pleasure through entertainment but also intrigued many philosophers. The latter were interested in the ability of these producers to create a virtual reality in the world where human beings could not establish whether they were in a real or a fiction world. This is because their bodies were fixed inside the matrix and their minds left to wonder similarly to a real-life experience. Fortunately, the protagonist of this movie, Neo, managed to come out of the virtual reality into the real truth with the help of some of the othercharacters such as Morpheus and the Oracle (Palmquist, n.d). This essay will try to explore the real and reality of the film in the eyes of the protagonist and how he managed to overcome the urge of the virtual reality exhibited.

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According to Descartes, the basis of his theory on reality was that of "doubt" before empirical perception(Palmquist, n.d). He believed that doubting was a form of thinking since no sane person could claim they are doubtful without the perception of thoughts on the matter in question. Similarly, Neo, in the Matrix film began perceiving the world he was in by close evaluation of different cryptic phrases that kept repeating themselves hence caused a sense of doubt in him(Palmquist, n.d). This marked the beginning of his heroism acts to save humanity from total invasion by the computer technology and its collaborators such as Agent Smith. As Descartes states, what a person thinks of themselves is what they tend to become. Hence, people in the matrix thought that the world they lived in was the real world thus their perceptions became the reality making it hard for Neo to convince them of the alternative world(Palmquist, n.d). Descartes claims that our own minds may create a reality whereby it becomes impossible to differentiate between the real and the animated world. Similarly, in the Matrix film, producers used computer technology to symbolize the evil demon that has created a new virtual reality to confuse human beings into thinking they exist in the real world. Therefore, from such theories, a person can identify the difference between real and reality. First, "real" refers to the truth of a particular phenomenon that is hard to doubt or reject.

In the Matrix film, one real moment can be identified as the time when Neo realized that something wrong had happened to his world. A second scenario is when Neo woke up from his sleep inside the Matrix and realized that he had previously lived in a virtual reality. On the other hand, "reality" refers to a person's perception of a particular occurrence, which can either be true or false. For instance, in this film, the people of this world perceived the virtual world as their reality and could not be convinced otherwise. Similarly, after Neo came out of sleep, he perceived the new world as his own reality different from that of the other population.

After meeting with the Oracle and Morpheus, he was given a choice to either remain in the virtual reality or join the real world by taking the red pill(Palmquist, n.d). Fortunately, he chose correctly and woke up for the false world created by foreign beings. With that pill, he gained a clear view of what was real and false with the help of Morpheus and Oracle. Even before the pill, it was evident that Neo began realizing the bitter truth that the world he was in was only virtually created. According to Neo, a person is what they perceive to be. Therefore, when Neo was given a spoon in the film, he tried to bend it with no luck. But after believing that in truth there was no spoon, he realized that it was a creation of his mind to deceive him(Palmquist, n.d). The spoon and other people in the world were just an evil demon created by the computer to hijack his brain and create false imagery. Thus, in this scenario, he used to criteria of "doubt" to perceive what is real. If he had not doubted what Morpheus had said concerning the spoon, it would have become impossible to differentiate the real from the fake reality.

During an interaction between the Oracle and Neo, the former informed him that he was not the chosen one to rescue humanity. However, Trinity informed Neo that to become someone different, he must perceive the person prior to becoming him. Thus, he had to believe he was the one before carrying out activities that proved it. This activity proved that Neo had determined the real in the world and had chosen to become, as described by Descartes(Palmquist, n.d). According to Aristotle, realism implies that the human mind exists separates with reality. This explanation means that human beings not only need to believe of the existence of a particular object or phenomenon but also see and touch the objects. For instance, Kant claimed that a chalk can appear as white not because of the perception of individuals, but because it is the physical truth. Similarly, in the Matrix film, Neo utilized Aristotle's realism criteria to establish whether he was in a real or a virtual world(Palmquist, n.d). When he got hold of the spoon, his perception was that it was in existence. However, the truth was that the spoon did not exist physically hence he successfully determined that he was living in a virtual world. In addition, some of the soldiers in the film could walk through walls because,in reality, the walls did not exist but were a creation of the mind. Through this explanation, Morpheus informed Neo that he should forget all the physical features he saw around and focus on the real truth, which was a void world with nothing but mind creations.

Another criteria employed was that of dualism suggested by Descartes. In this case, the philosopher commented that human beings existed in a form of dualism between the physical body and the human body. Through this criteria, Neo was able to determine what is real and virtual. Since everything was a creation in the virtual world, the human body was also a creation. Thus, he managed to determine that his virtual body was also a creation of the mind and that he could become whomever he wanted. Moreover, since Descartes claimed a relation existed between the body and mind, Neo blocked the thought that he was holding a spoon and fortunately, the impulse transmitted from his mind into his hands(Palmquist, n.d). Therefore, it is clear that signals from the mind become transmitted to the rest of the body for a reflex to occur. Furthermore, Kant's transcendental perspective can also be applied to establish whether Neo managed to realize the reality around him. Kant mentioned that intuition and conception were the main forms of this theory. A person had to internalize a particular idea to obtain knowledge of a particular concept. In this case, Neo internalized and accepted that whatever he saw in the virtual world was not the real thing. Hence, he was able to accept the reality he was in and step out of the matrix. Without this ability to internalize and deduce from the surroundings, it becomes impossible to create a concept that can help learn the truth.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is crucial to note the impacts different philosophers have had in the Matrix film and particularly to the life of Neo. Some of the most prominent philosophers were Aristotle, Kant, and Descartes. Each philosopher proposed their own theories to differentiate between real and reality. The Matrix film has brought the concept of virtual reality in a form that provides both knowledge and entertainment to its audiences. Some of the main characters of the film were Morpheus, Trinity, and Oracle. Researchers use the theories of these philosophers to explain the concept of reality in the film. For instance, Descartes introduced the concept of doubt and dualism to explain how an individual can realize that they are in a real or a virtual world. On the other hand, Aristotle came up with the theory of realism that tries to separate the human mind from the real objects. Finally, Kant introduced empirical and transcendental perspectives while still refuted previous theorists.

Reference

Palmquist Stephen. (No Year). Lecture 7-9. Philosophy. Retrieved from http://staffweb.hkbu.edu.hk/ppp/tp4/top03.html