What is real? The film The Matrix delves into this question as it is revealed that the protagonist, Neo, lives in a giant computer simulation. He is brought into the real world by Morpheus in order to fight against the machines which have subjugated humanity and forced everyone to live in the Matrix program. Neo struggles to accept that what was “reality” was in fact an illusion. In the end he defeats the machines by fully recognizing that the Matrix is merely a computer program. After this realization, he no longer sees the objects in the Matrix as things but rather as they really are, computer code. Humanity wins, reality is restored to its proper place. However, a different question is raised by the film which seems to be left unaddressed. Why was Neo’s fight to bring back reality so important?  Basically, we all assume that living in reality is better than a simulation. In the film, one of the villains is a human named Cypher who has been “unplugged” from the Matrix and now lives in reality. Nevertheless, he is willing to betray his friends and destroy the last human resistance against the machines just to be returned to the Matrix and have all of his previous memories erased. He doesn’t care whether or not the food he eats is real, he simply wants to be happy.

So why do we value reality over fantasy, why is Cypher such an evil villain and Neo the hero? Agent Smith tells Morpheus that the first version of the Matrix provided an idyllic life for humanity, without any wars, diseases, or problems. This sounds like a utopia but Agent Smith informs us that this original Matrix program was rejected by humanity as people couldn’t accept that it was real. The machines were forced to produce a “more real” version of the Matrix which included all the things which make life difficult. People gave up a perfect life for something that felt like reality. And Neo chose the red pill so that he could find out the truth and leave the Matrix. We constantly strive to find things that are genuine and natural. I think the reason for this is free will. In a fantasy world like the Matrix we are required to live under the whim of others. Our happiness in a simulation is not our own, it is given to us by the controller of our world. Reality, therefore, is synonymous with freedom and we shouldn’t give up our free will in order to be happy. Neo is the hero because he is fighting for our right to chose our own destiny, he is fighting for our freedom.