Although I have watched The Matrix (1999) multiple times, as with any good movie (in my opinion) there is always more to be seen or analyzed with each viewing. One characteristic of the film that I found very interesting was the concept of the red and blue pill and the perspective the film took on heroism. For those who are unaware of the red and blue pill, taking the red pill will bring you out of the matrix, while the blue pill will sedate you and bring everything back to “normal”. The film paints the heroic option as choosing to fight for the real, to bring oneself out of the matrix, and fight the evil army of machines enslaving humanity.

Yet, the ultimate question starts to discuss the difference between the world of the matrix, and the world as it really was in 1999. Most people can agree that in order to live in society, in the real world, we are required to work. Our basic necessities are fulfilled by helping the machine of society operate, through a multitude of different jobs and responsibilities. But, even in a first world country like the United States, a vast majority of people are forced to worked for small amounts while the few in power reap the profits. Is working 10-12 hours everyday, without vacation days, without health insurance, without other benefits or retirement plans freedom? Is the system that our country operates upon that different from the world of the matrix?

Of course, the main difference is not how the world operates, but how machines are taking advantage of all human lifeforms and using their body heat for energy (which by the way wouldn’t work, but who cares). It seems that even though the world and the experience of living in the matrix is mostly the same, and probably even safer in the Matrix (there’s no chance of world destruction, nuclear war, pandemics, or giant asteroids), simply the idea that the world isn’t real makes people want to escape.

Therefore the choice of the red pill is something more than simply escaping the matrix, it is a comment on the human disposition to want to have control of one’s destiny. People seem to rather live in a cruel world where they know their decisions can inflict real outcomes than live in a false reality where they know their actions cause no consequence. Ultimately, we as a species want to mean something, it isn’t just about our comfort and happiness, but our consequence.