I was pretty disappointed in the “Matrix” and I don’t think it deserves the hype it gets. I remember people raving about this movie when I was in middle school, so I expected a lot out of this film. All I knew about this movie before I watched it was that Neo (main character) had to choose either the blue or the red pill. The blue pill allows Neo to live in his current situation, an illusion of the real world. However, Neo decides to take the red pill, which allows him to discover the truth behind the “utopia” he lives in. He learns that the actual world is a computer simulation that is being threatened by Agents (machines) that want to destroy the rebels (humans).

After watching the movie, I realized the pills could be a symbolism to how we approach problems in society. Do we let it stay hidden and fester? Or do we open our eyes and do something about it? Some people choose to stay ignorant by ignoring the issues going on in the world because it doesn’t affect them, or because they would rather turn to reality shows and the kardashians. In some way, I think the message in the movie is to inform us that we should stay vigilant about how people in charge are running our country. We should question and take action instead of staying silent. Although I did not particularly enjoy the movie, it did bring up a serious issue in our society today.

The Matrix has always been one of those classic movies that I tell myself I plan to see, yet never actually find the time to sit down and watch. And now that I finally have seen the Matrix, it made me think about the contrast between fantasy and reality. We all fantasize about living the perfect life, where everything goes right in the world, everything is good. The movie is based on this idea that the mass population lives inside a virtual reality, in a dream world where life is good. These few humans decide to fight back against the artificial intelligence running this program, and the main character Neo is given the choice to leave the Matrix and fight or stay and live in a fantasy.

When presented with this idea, we assume we would all make the heroic choice and follow Neo’s path. But honestly, when I really think about how life has unfolded I wonder how willing I would be to give up an artificial reality where things were normal again. I imagine with the buzz in VR technology these days, we aren’t too far away from full immersion in a virtual world. I don’t think it would get to the level of the matrix, but I can see people wanting to escape their reality and live in a virtual world. I look forward to seeing just how far our technology will take us, but I am confident it will never elevate to the level of the Matrix.

The Matrix has been on my “movies to watch” list for a long time. This movie has been hyped up for me for a long time and I must say, I fininshed this movie feeling disappointed. The message of this movie seemed to be “rebel just because you can.” It seemed as the main character, Neo, wanted to live in a world without rules and things just happened because they could. He was so quick to escape the Matrix to be free from the rule of the machines in order to be “free” in the “real” world. However, I did not understand what was so bad about the Matrix. If Neo wanted to choose to live in the “real” world, that is good for him but what is so bad about wanting to stay in the Matrix? In the “real” world Neo would be fighting a pointless fight. Personally, I feel that the machines are just like Neo and his whole gang. They want people to live in the world they deem as acceptable. Neo and his people are trying to convince people that the “real world” is great and that they should break free from their chains in the matrix and become a different type of slave in the “real world.” Sure you’ll know that you are living a lie if you go into the real world but knowing that does not really change the fact that no matter which reality you choose, you can shape it to what you want it to be. I think that the fight between the machines and Neo is pointless because at they end of the day I think that they are just trying to take the power for themselves and convince people that their choice of life is the best. If I had a choice, I would choose the Matrix simply because it has better food.

After my second time watching The Matrix during this Scholars event, I must say the action sequences were just as captivating as they were during my first viewing of the film. Fortunately, I was able to divert some of my efforts from amazement into dissecting the film. And now I question if Neo truly a hero

A cursory study of Neo’s character will reveal he seems to fall within the archetype of The Chosen One seen more commonly in literature; Rand al’Thor and Katniss Everdeen are two such examples. The archetype starts with the Chosen One being whisked away from a simpler life into a grand quest to save the world from a shadowy evil. The individual is guided by an older, wiser teacher more knowledgable in the ways of the world (Morpheus, the god of dreams, guides Neo into the real world. The reason for this selection is some incredible power or potential ability that the Chosen One possesses (Neo’s unparalleled control of the Matrix). During this screening of the movie, I’ve concluded that Neo actually isn’t a Chosen One. Yes, by the end of the film Neo pulls a Gandalf, undergoing a resurrection that changes him from someone special to one possessing God-like abilities over reality as perceived by the rest of the world. But what is his quest?

Neo ends the film with a promise to show the rest of the world that they have been living in a horrifyingly real version of Plato’s cave, that reality as they know is a lie. But what’s his plan after he has freed the oppressed? Humans have razed the Earth, and it would be impossible for this final refuge, Zion, to host all of the freed captives. The much-maligned sequels to The Matrix complicate the hero narrative of the first film with the revelation that Neo is a construct of the system he seeks to free the populace from, a counterpart to restore the balance disrupted by Agent Smith. Is Neo a hero if the future he promises to lead his followers into is worse than the blissful reality they know? Is Neo a hero if he is not the arbiter of free will that he makes himself out to be?

An ingenious way of introducing possibly life-changing perceptions of reality, The Matrix pushes one to explore philosophical questions challenging ideas of fate and the “self” all the while entertaining the viewer with crazy action sequences and visual effects. I believe this is one of the reasons The Matrix stands as a movie favorite. Without being a complete esoteric arthouse snooze-fest, The Matrix tackles the whole “Is this the real life… Is this just fantasy?” with some snazzy characters and exciting narrative following the storied “chosen one.” As for what to particularly think or focus on while performing the mental gymnastics of grappling with the film’s philosophical side I can’t say as I believe one benefits the most from these types of experiences when they develop their own thoughts and understanding of how ideas they encounter impact their own life.

So ignoring all metaphysical ramblings that bringing up the phrase “the matrix” inevitably invites, let’s talk about the awesome experience of the other eighty percent of the film that even put this thing on the radar in the first place. Assuming you can get past Keanu Reeves’ signature acting style, The Matrix is beyond exciting as it’s first and foremost an escapist film for viewers. Any engaged viewer would take pleasure imagining themselves in the position of the hero who fights against the system in a world with no consequences and infinite possibility. No really—imagine that. You can fly, dodge bullets, resurrect yourself, and actually rock tight leather. Dream world if a movie could ever capture one. The movie creates a sandbox world that only the exceptional “free-willed” individual can fully enjoy, where all is permissible and nothing impossible. The ability to live outside certain physical and social confines delineated by the world we live in strongly appeals to the idea of independence and self-determination. A sort of rebellion against the dreaded status-quo, the film allows one to celebrate their eccentricities as identity defining and declares it our individual “superpower.” Even a programmer in his cubicle has a special, even empowering, uniqueness to him.

The Matrix is the type of movie where anyone can enjoy the cinematic mass marketing points as well as the underlying implications of the plot. You’re told being different is good and to resist against assimilating is to achieve some higher form of existence. At the same time you can enjoy the film that popularized “bullet-time,” featured, creative combat choreography, and displayed some high quality visual effects all to a pretty sick soundtrack. The plot and cinematography allow the film to stand on its own, and with the complexity introduced by the film’s invitation to more serious introspection The Matrix becomes a complete film that deserves to be called a classic.

Whenever my friends would ask me if I’d ever seen The Matrix-and I responded no- they’d react as if I had sinned! To be honest I hadn’t even heard of this movie until 8th grade. So when I heard they were going to play the movie, I just had to go and see what all the fuss was about. I really expected more. I could understand why the film was so successful and why its legacy still continues, however, it really didn’t impress me as much as I’d expected it to (I guess a major reason why is because I’m watching the film 18 years later).

Here’s why:

The graphics seemed tacky and outdated (again, mostly attributed to the fact that I’m watching this 18 years later). The slow motion scenes with the ‘futuristic’ music playing in the background and the overdramatic pauses and lines just didn’t sell it to me. I think the most laughable scene was when Trinity and Neo had their major battle against ‘the bad guys’, in which of course, not a single shot hit them, despite their overexposure. Considering the movie started with a complex idea, I kind of expected it to end with a more complex scene. . . not just a fight scene. I also didn’t appreciate Trinity’s role in the movie. Yes, she seemed like a badass and a woman in control of her own destiny, but throughout the film she was a very static character with short lines throughout different scenes. Her only purpose was to ‘save’ Neo and confirm that he was the one.

Perhaps some of you may argue that I lack taste or appreciation for what this film represents, but here are some things I did like:

I appreciated what this film could symbolize. We are all so consumed within this ‘matrix’ living our lives day to day without stopping to question why and what could be beyond. What is our role within this capitalistic society? Are we just machines to meant to produce and maintain larger corporations and entities? If it came down to it, would we be willing to choose the pill that exposes an ugly truth or the pill that allows us to live blissfully ignorant? As constantly emphasized within sociological teachings, societies create their own social constructs which we perceive to be reality. But what would be of us if we were able to bend the spoon? What if we were able to recognize that the spoon is just a product of our imaginary creation and the only reason we can’t bend the spoon is because our social construct tells us we cannot. Now this, this was interesting.

Similar to works of literature and art, I could see how this film might have inspired other films and stories that follow this narrative (i.e. I thought a lot about Inception). I understand why this might be such a staple film.

Regardless, it’s satisfying to finally be able to say I watched the movie (and be able to understand all the memes related to this film).

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.

Last Friday, I watched The Matrix for the second time at the Flora’s Films event. After finishing the movie, the GRF, Magdala, asked us whether we would’ve taken the blue pill or the red pill. This is referring to the scene where the protagonist, Neo, is offered two options: the blue pill, which allows him to forget everything about the Matrix and go about his ordinary life blissfully unaware of the real world, or take the red pill, learn about the truth behind the Matrix, and lead a life filled with struggle against the sentient AI focused on imprisoning the humans.

I voted to take the blue pill, and I was surprised to see that very few of the audience raised their hands to signal they would do the same. There was a much larger response to take the red pill instead. I wonder how many people who voted for the red pill would actually be willing to leave behind their friends, their dream of graduating from college, their life at Cornell. Personally, my life seems real enough for me, so if this is indeed just a computer simulation, it’s a pretty good one. I enjoy living my current life, so I’m frankly not interested in leaving it behind to join a struggle that it appears I will be on the losing side of. Maybe this is selfish, but I bet there’s a good chance that the AI is right about this one. Perhaps humans are indeed viruses and it would be better to have the computers take over. Just take a look at what we’re doing to our planet.

Last week, we watched The Matrix, a movie that talked about a simulated world for humans as their physical bodies were harvested for their body heat. Considered as science fiction, it showcased the advancement of artificial intelligence, which eventually overpowered the humans. And while the point of the movie is to address life in a simulated world, I have more interest in the technical side of things, specifically the artificial intelligence.

Having studied computer science myself, I always hear about advancements in the AI field, whether it’s AlphaGo beating a world champion at the game Go, the development of self-driving cars, or technologies that learn to recognize animals in an image. And in the movie, a character named Mr. Smith is a program designed to remove defective programs as well as maintain the stability of the matrix. However, after being eliminated by the main character, Mr. Smith becomes a virus and ends up wanting to challenge the matrix itself. I think that this was an interesting point because scientists like Stephen Hawking have expressed concerns about AI eventually becoming smarter than humans and possibly taking over. Could developed AI potentially take a turn for the worse and be like Mr. Smith?

And coupled with the uprising of virtual reality, which helps simulate digital environments through a combination of hardware and software, are humans not becoming capable of building their own matrix? With these new technologies, I think it’s clear that we’re not living in a virtual world, but this movie has certainly served as a gateway for many people to relate to on a daily basis. Since life seems so normal, is everything being simulated? Would we ever know? Who would be the first to find out?

I find it interesting that years ago, no-one would have thought that humans could be this close to creating virtual worlds like the matrix. And while I personally don’t believe that we’re living in a matrix, this movie has certainly left me entertained from the start.

In the movie the Matrix, Morpheus explained to Neo that the Matrix is a world where humans are unknown to external influence on them. He then gave Neo an option to pick one out of two pills: a red pill and a blue pill. The blue pill makes you believe whatever you want in the Matrix world.  The red pill brings you back into reality. If I had to choose between the two, I would perhaps choose the blue pill. I want to see how life would play out in the Matrix world, the world where I can live a happy life. I would rather be happy in a fake world than be unsatisfied in the real world. As we realize that there are external influences affecting our daily lives, we wish to take control of them. However, that is very hard to do. But in the Matrix world, you are unknown to the external influences on you, therefore you lead a happy life.

Last Friday, I watched the movie The Matrix which is a science fiction film produced in 1999. This movie was based on the early philosophical thoughts of Rene Descartes. He created a thesis on the ability to think for oneself. He felt that some experiences-especially sensory ones- did not always match reality.

The Matrix is about the main character, Neo, and his realization that he was living in a computer-generated dream world. His reality is not reality at all, but a dream world. During the film, Neo meets Morpheus who is the leader of a resistance group that is trying to combat the machines and break the matrix. Per the movie, machines put all human beings into a matrix as they are farming humans for energy.

Today, influential individuals such as Elon Musk feel as if we could be living in a matrix-like world. Some individuals feel that there is a very slim chance that we are not living in that type of world. The possibility that we are living in a matrix-like world is still being explored. Either way, the movie, The Matrix explores a controversial topic that we are living in a machine-controlled world. Overall, the movie was very interesting and fun to watch, though as I still do not completely understand it, I would recommend watching it again.

Last week I went to the Flora Friday Film night where we watched the 1999 action film The Matrix. The Matrix is one of my favorite movies; I’ve seen it maybe 10 times. While its priority is obviously things like gunfights, stunts, and car chases, The Matrix brings up many classical sci-fi and philosophical themes. Real life philosophers argue about some themes gently touched on in The Matrix, like the notion that the world we live in is merely a simulation by a more advanced race.

There are real theories and scientific efforts to test whether or not we live in a universe that’s simulated by humanity in the future as an experiment to learn more about their past. Even Elon Musk, a prominent figure in the technological world, believes these theories to be true. I also personally believe it to be true. If we are to assume that running in a simulated universe is possible, then there’s no reason to believe that a civilization would conduct only one of these simulations at a time. Instead, they could run 5 or 10 or millions of simulations concurrently, all experimenting on different things by tweaking different laws of nature or creating different situations in those universes. Given the sheer numbers of simulations available to a civilization, a disparity arises between the number of real universes and the number of simulated ones. Therefore, the probability of us being randomly placed in a simulated universe is higher than being placed in a real one, simply because there are more simulated universes than real universes. In the end though, the debate doesn’t matter. It is incredibly difficult to test whether are universe is simulated or not, though some are trying. If we were to discover whether it’s real or not, it would make little difference. Our lives would continue as they have so far, and the physical laws that our universe follows would not change.

In addition to the theme of what is reality, The Matrix excels at its core goal, action. This movie has become a classic in western culture, with references to things like Neo dodging bullets in slow motion or Morpheus jumping through rain on to a helicopter available all over over the internet and different media.

As someone who just watched this movie for the first time on Friday, I felt as though The Matrix posed more questions than it answered, in similar ways that Inception did. It all comes back to choosing what we believe is our reality, and what we have control over, versus what our dreams or fantasies are. Neo chose to believe that his reality should be the one where he had to fight in order to save the world, despite his doubts about why he was chosen and if he would be able to live up to the task. He chose to believe in something that was difficult for Cypher to cope with, which is why Cypher betrayed Morpheus and his crew. Cypher did not want to believe that there was little hope of survival and living under constant threats. In his confession scene with Mr. Smith, we learn that he would much rather have the “fantasy” word once again become his reality. He decided that ignorance is bliss and he could enjoy his life more freely without consciously knowing that other people were constantly influencing him in what he felt were acts of his own free-will. This seems a very relatable struggle for many of us on a day to day basis. What does our personal reality consist of? Do we choose to acknowledge the hardships we see others struggle or does the ability to compartmentalize allow us to keep our fantasy world existing despite the wrong doings we witness in the world?

On the other hand, an argument could be made that education and the pursuit of knowledge is the equivalent of our “red pill” in the real world. We try so hard to understand everything that happens around us, and keep going deeper into the rabbit hole, out of sheer curiosity to explore the world. We know that the steak we eat is not just delicious without reason, but the way our brain perceives olfactory chemicals being emitted by our food and taste chemicals binding to our taste buds. I think everything can keep its wonder, despite how harsh reality seems at times, if we allow ourselves to keep an open mind and be amazed by what we know rather than turning a blind eye and opting to feel disillusioned.

In The Matrix, the protagonist, Neo, lives in a world simulated by machines. At one point, he is asked to take one of two pills the blue pill or the red pill. To take the blue pill is to stay as he is, living in a simulated world. To take the red pill is to know that he lives in a simulation.

This is the second time I’ve seen the movie, but Magdala asked us all an interesting question: which would you have taken? Originally, I had thought that I wanted to take the red pill, because I, as curious humans do, generally want to know things. Also, I thought it’d be fun to try to save the world. But have you ever heard of the phrase “What you don’t know can’t hurt you”?

If I couldn’t do anything to save the world and it was simply a matter of choosing whether or not I knew, then I think the right decision is to choose the blue pill. If it was out of my control, then why bother? Why bother knowing the pointlessness of our lives? I’d rather just live it out as if it were real. Because for all we can know and do, it is real.

This past Friday, my friends and I attended Rose’s showing of the classic sci-fi film The Matrix. I last saw this movie when I was in middle school. Therefore, this time around, I viewed it through the lens of a more mature, critically-thinking, experienced young adult. My new perspective resulted in different opinions on the characters and situations within the film.

First of all, my position on the “blue/red pill dilemma” has changed. For those of you who don’t know what I’m referring to: in the movie, our main character Neo has to choose between taking a red or blue pill. The red pill would allow him to escape the Matrix, which is a happy, but false and simulated reality created by robots for humans. On the other hand, the blue pill would return Neo to the Matrix. As a child, I thought the red pill was the clear choice, as I reasoned that I wouldn’t want to live a lie, no matter how much more blissful life would be in ignorance. But now, I see the blue pill as my obvious selection. I’d rather be happy in a simulated world than unhappy in the real world. Outside of the Matrix, what kind of quality of life would I be getting? I would be confined to a little hovercraft with only a few other “roommates” not of my choice, constantly in fear of attack by the ruling robots. This is not a happy existence. Who cares if it’s the reality? I’d rather live in the Matrix, where I’d be more content, with a greater variety of friends, career options, travel destinations, and so on and so forth. Furthermore, reality is such a relative term. What makes something real? The Matrix was real to the people living in it and would be real to me. Therefore, in this specific case, I’d prefer the blissful ignorance over the harsh reality. This choice is situational though, and were I given a different set of options not having to do with the Matrix, my choice between ignorance and reality may be different.

In addition to my transition from the red pill to the blue pill, as an older viewer, I found the female character Trinity to be frustrating. As a young kid I thought she was awesome: she’s a talented, aggressive, agile, and strong warrior, and thus breaks gender roles left and right. However, I now recognize that Trinity is quiet and reserved with barely any lines, and is only in the movie to serve as Neo’s love interest. She falls for Neo for no clear reason, as they barely exchange any words throughout the course of the movie. In this way, she’s seen as kind of a mindless/thoughtless/superficial being, as we are left to wonder, does she only love Neo for his strength? His masculinity? Therefore, as hard as she tries, Trinity is not the ideal role model for young girls, as she is quiet, not outspoken, mindless, and only present in the movie to offer the main male character love.

This was my first time watching the matrix and I could definitely tell that this was totally relevant to what the modern society is going to face. In the movie the Matrix, the main character Thomas Anderson(alias hacker name Neo) starts getting puzzled by the fact that he’s getting this cryptic messages from the Matrix. Trinity contacts Neo telling him there’s a man called Morpheus that can tell him the truth about the Matrix. When he meets with this man he is asked to make a choice between the red pill which will allow him to know the truth about the matrix or the blue pill that returns him to his normal life and Neo takes the red pill. Morphues explains to Neo that The Matrix was some kind of computer simulation that humans were living inside and he and his team are trying to save humankind from this simulation.

Before the movie our GRF Magdala brought up this quote from Descartes “I think therefore I am”to think about while watching the film. This statement is based on Descarte’s philosophy that  was built on the idea of radical doubt( in which nothing that is perceived or sensed is necessarily true. The only thing that remains true that there is a mind or consciousness doing the doubting and believing its perceptions). While watching this movie there were many moments that reminded me of this quote. The point that the main character doubts why is he getting messages from the matrix(the thought that he thinks in a real world does not necessarily mean that it’s the reality)  or the fact human thoughts have the power of creating of a computer simulation that raised to the existence of completely different world.

As a CS major I could definitely see that what the movie was picturing is what a lot people are fearing about at the moment: A rise of an artificial intelligence that will overtake humans and a war that in which the machines have a higher chance of winning since already they have exceeded humans in many skills. This is the complete opposite of what happened in the movie in which humans won the war at the end. However, the movie wasn’t trying to say this, it was trying to convey the message that human beings like living better in a free world that is free from computer manipulation.

First, I just want to begin by saying I really like this film! “The Matrix” is a like an older psychological thriller that gets more and more relevant as time passes. It focuses on the story of Neo, a hacker, and his insane experiences as he comes to realize his dual existence in the world around him and the world that “is”. When asked if I would take the red or blue pill in Neo’s situation, I honestly am not sure what I would choose. I think that my curiosity would drive me to take the red pill, but I am not sure how much I would do with the expose I would have received afterwards. Which leaves me to ponder about the message of the film and the greater general human desire for knowledge. So much of society’s driving force for creating knowledge comes from just “wanting to know”, but how much does this really matter?