There is no existence without the Matrix

The meaning of the Matrix in the “real world” would be defined as the “real world”. Therefore, the matrix existence cannot be disproved. Virtual reality has taken places that not too long ago we could only imagine. Now those places are literally at our fingertips. I must admit that when the Matrix first came out I was not a part of the so-called “matrix craze”. My first time viewing it was earlier this year and now I am hooked. I recalled being so caught up in the movie that I didn’t realize that two hours had passed by so quickly. After viewing the movie, my impression was that this movie had many different themes that commented on our reality as we see it. The chief theme, however, focused on the scriptures of the bible about Jesus Christ; however, the directors also commented on technology in the postmodern world and how the reality of presence can be manipulated.

A close look at the movie reveals how the character, Neo, life is parallel to that of Jesus Christ. In addition, each of the characters seem to parallel that of a person from biblical times. The most obvious parallelism, the similarities between the life of Jesus Christ and Neo, is alluded to early in the movie when the guy comes to Neo’s door to get the computer disk from Neo. He says “You’re my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ.” Additionally, all of the characters seem to think Morpheus was so much like a savior, himself, but Morpheus told them that there would be someone who would come and be greater than him. According to Morpheus, that person would save everyone, and Morpheus believed in that person even when no one else believed in him. Morpheus seemed to be modeled after John the Baptist. John the Baptist was considered great by many. He was thought to be the savior. However, he told everyone that someone would come who would be greater than him – whose shoes he wasn’t fit to tie. Just as John the Baptist spoke of Jesus, Morpheus spoke similarly about Neo. Additionally, Morpheus and eventually Neo, had a group of men and women who followed them and believed in everything they did and said. Likewise, Jesus had the twelve disciples. One of those disciples betrayed Jesus by selling him out for thirty pieces of silver. In Neo’s case, one of his disciples, Cypher, sold him out for a chance to live in the pseudo-reality that he had chosen to leave behind. Judus had chosen leave behind the ways of the world and follow Jesus. However, Judas grew weary of following Jesus and suffering the consequences of being a follower of Jesus Christ. Cypher, likewise, suffered the consequences of following Morpheus by being trapped in the reality that wasn’t as pleasant as the old one, that required him to eat food that was only good for nutrition and required him to stay permanently away from the world that he had left behind. Niether Judas nor Cypher were strong enough to continue to walk and believe in the men who would be their saviors. .Although I am not sure where trinity fits into the biblical aspect of the movie, I am not sure the Wachowski brothers know either. However, trinity is mentioned in the bible. It is Jesus, God – his father, and the Holy Spirit. They are the Holy Trinity.

While he walked the earth, Jesus spoke of two worlds. The two worlds included the spiritual and the carnal realm. In the case of the matrix, the two realms center around the unreal world that most of the people lived in, which was in actuality the Matrix, and the reality that Neo and his crew lives in. Also, Neo’s character had supernatural abilities like that of Jesus Christ. Neo could change his presence from one place to another. For instance, Neo used presence as transportation by plugging in to the matrix . The writer’s of this movie used the conceptual definition of presence by involving the idea of transportation from one realm to the next. Matthew Lombard and Theresa Ditton stated that there were three different types of transportation that can be identified. They include the “you are there,” in which the user is transported to another place, the “it is here” in which another place and the objects within it are transported to the user; and “we are together,” in which two (or more) communicators are transported together to a place that they share. Examples of when the authors use the “you are there” definition of presence is when Trinity is transported in and out of the matrix at the beginning of the movie and again when cipher is transferred back to the ship by himself. Additionally the authors illustrated the “we are there” theory in many cases when more than one of the group members traveled together to enter the matrix. For instance, when Neo and Trinity went back into the matrix to save Morpheus and when they all went into the matrix to see the oracle. Also, “it is here” was illustrated by when the guns were brought to Neo and when the table, chairs, and television were brought to Morpheus at the beginning of Neo’s teaching about the reality of the matrix.

The matrix also exemplifies a world in which our advancements and technology can become the very things that oppresses us as human beings. Tim Jackson stated, “While our technologies of new media offer new possibilities for uses which can serve to rupture oppressive conditions, they can also impose new forms of oppression.” This is evident in the story when Morpheus tells Neo about what became of the human population. Morpheus tells Neo that after we created AI “artificial intelligence,” we ended up going to war against the machines and losing. That war marked the end of our existence as we, as human beings, knew it and began the reign of the machines. This is a prime example of how technology oppressed the humans in the matrix.

Mark Poster states that “ on the eve of twenty-first century, there have been two innovative discussions about the general conditions of life. One concerns a possible post-modern culture and even society. The other concerns broad, massive changes of communication systems. Arguably, the post-modern culture is thriving and continuing to grow. In this post-modern culture, the introduction of cyberspace as an alternate reality has created the possibility of a world much like the matrix coming into existence. According to Gretchen Barbatsis and Michael Fegan, “We generally know space to be a concrete, physical, three-dimensional reality created by forms that can be touched and have a clearly defined mass.” However, they define the difference between cyberspace and concrete realities. Cyberspace “gives an object-like form to an abstraction known otherwise as only “something behind the screen.” The possibility of the world behind the screen becoming the only reality that human beings are aware of becomes more distinct as traveling into cyberspace becomes a more common occurrence.

In conclusion, the authors of the Matrix attempted to allow the movie-watcher an opportunity to get a glimpse of reality, as it could be if the world allows cyberspace and our connection to it to get out of control. With the introduction of the postmodern culture and cyberspace, the possibility of this happening is very real. The author explores many different themes while making this point including exploring the life of Jesus Christ by illustrating his life through Neo, the main character. By doing this, the authors gave the viewers a basis from which they can draw upon as they watched the very complicated story of the end of the human race unfold as a lesson about the dangers of technology in this postmodern world.