The Matrix could very well be a construct designed to save humanity. It could be that “The Machines” were originally created to nurture and help humanity. Humans, paranoid as ever, were the ones to first open fire upon the Machines. They rendered Earth uninhabitable, blackening the skies and salting the earth with radiation. Realizing that humanity’s greatest threat was humanity itself, The Machines encapsulated all of Humanity within its digital confines. The Machines knew that human mind would deteriorate if it didn’t have the illusion of Free Will, so The Machines created the original Matrix.
The original Matrix, as Agent Smith noted, was a paradise. It was also a disaster. Skeptics began to doubt the reality they lived in. Their world seemed too perfect, and to some people, too much of a good thing without any sort of bad thing as a consequence is wholly suspect. The Machines realized that humans needed struggle and adversity in the Matrix in order to make it more believable.
“But hold on just a second, David. Did you miss the half of the movie where, you know, they’re in the ‘real world,’ and the Machines are pretty clearly trying their darnedest to murder the living crap out of Morpheus and company?”
Then comes the question: How would you know if the “real world” was, in fact, “real?” One of the goals of the movie is to make people question everything. However, when faced with visual evidence on the screen and verbal evidence from Morpheus and company, most people would assume that the Hellscape known as the “real world” was the true reality.
Could it be that the “real world” is simply another Matrix, designed for the skeptics? Those who continue to doubt The Matrix are shown the truth… or so they think. It could very well be that the Machines had created another world, just for the cynics. If this were the case, then The Machines hit the mark: not a single Rebel ever questions the reality of the “real world.” It certainly looks hostile, and humans are definitely on the back foot. If strange things happen in the “real world,” then hey, maybe life outside of the Matrix is just supposed to be like that.
The real world is a Matrix. The “real world” is another Matrix.
Some people might agree and some people might disagree with my view. But the beauty isn’t in the agreement or disagreement.
The Matrix is an exploration into the concepts of Solipsism: nothing is certain but one’s self. The Matrix encourages anarchist thought, a discourse on the insular, docile mindset of the complacent citizen. The Matrix demands that you question everything. The Matrix insists that you are paranoid, and this is all an escapist dream. The reason why The Matrix is such a work of art is because one’s interpretation of the movie gives insight into one’s psyche. The reason why The Matrix is a masterwork is because it’s a positive feedback loop which takes in questions and outputs more questions.
There are no right answers. Only more questions.
Great points. It is interesting how, despite the first portion of the movie works hard to place doubt in the original reality, but many viewers take the “real” world at face value. My take on the Matrix is that one can choose his reality. If you believe in the original world, then that is your reality. If you do not, then the world of the rebels is your reality. When you think about it, each reality is as valid as the next. The rebel who betrayed the others mentioned in one scene that the steak that he was eating looked and tasted like steak, even though he knew that it wasn’t “real”. One can see, smell, taste, hear, and feel in both the primary and secondary world. If one’s senses are stimulated, how can one know if something is real or not? That is why I think that the red pill merely extends one’s reality, rather than placing them in the “true” world.