Reality and Perception & The Philosophy of The Matrix - Film Study / Analysis

can an action film explore complicated themes philosophies knowledge and ideas while remaining accessible to a wide range of audiences could such a film be a commercial success The Matrix is a chopsy sci-fi movie heavily influenced from particular works of cyber Punk fiction comic book Aesthetics evolutionary psychology and philosophical schools of thought the film Journeys into a wide range of topics from philosophy all the way to theistic ideas despite being a commercial success its reception has been polarizing on the one hand people complain of how complicated and dense the film gets for an action movie While others praise it for exploring complicated but fun to think about Concepts without impacting the enjoyment of the film it criticism has prompted audiences to debate whether action movies should have a level of complexity in them especially in light of the New York Times ambivalent review of the film stating that films like the Matrix should be dumbed down and be a lot more simpler to absorb both sides of the argument have their merits but unless one truly gets to see and examine and appreciate the depth in the plot you cannot help but feel that the Matrix ought to be the new standard for Sci-Fi Action films or at least that is what I'm going to argue action films should not shy away from touching on on complicated things in fear that they won't be a commercial success audiences love to ponder about immerse debate or inform themselves about the story or film that engages them or Sparks an Intrigue instead of action films that are merely a montage of grand action vaccines which people can readily forget about I would advocate for Action films to be more ambitious in this regard because they can still make an impact and just because a topic is complicated the true challenge lies in making that accessible The Matrix reimagined and presented a new way of doing Sci-Fi Action movies even giving rise to moments that would be recreated in other action films going forward like the iconic bullet time everything begins with a simulation all the computer simulation information is the basis of a timing uh sequence each camera has a specific moment in time to fire or frame a film all that is uh taking into account the net effect the total effect of the move that is a camera coming up to speed moving at a speed and coming uh uh office speed no doubt The Matrix film is a technological Marvel but the true beauty of the film was unveiled when we closely examine its substance you see at the core of the Matrix trilogy lies the disturbing notion that the world is nothing but perceptions controlled by malevolent forces es while the films repeatedly ask questions about nature of truth and reality the possibilities of choice and Free Will the meaning of life and love they offer no answers the philosophy explored in the film allude to the really exciting questions that philosophers have been grappling with for quite some time those that pick up on these influences in the movie end up having a completely different experience to those that just want to watch it for mere entertainment for the benefit of everyone let's go through some of my favorites reality and perception in the film we see Echoes of the views of Renee deart a French philosopher mathematician and scientist dubas the father of modern Western philosophy he wrote extensively on the unreliability of the senses stating that our senses can systematically mislead us and distort the truth we think we can sense and perceive how could we tell whether what we are sensing isn't a Grand Illusion or deception being caused by something else like an artificial intelligence that forces assimilation onto humans Etc hence the infamous quote I think therefore I am a saying confirming the existence of oneself as a thinking person capable of doubting the genuiness of reality if reality were a deception being caused by something else then we wouldn't be in a position to doubt it doubting reality is something that is visible in Neo though we can see that he is aware that something just isn't quite right our senses and perception can be stubbornly unbelievable when we dream we often exper experience Sensations that are indistinguishable from reality you ever have that feeling were you not sure if you're awake or still dreaming all the time the first third of the film was quite jarring and gives a sense of delirium on part of Neo we see Neo wake up in a scene and as it progresses it unveils itself to be another dream how many times did this happen well this happens three times waking up but still being in a dream was an example dayart used when writing about the unreliability of our senses so it was cool to see this used in The Matrix as a way of transitioning the plot this use of showing the audience pseudo forms of Awakening up until the real and epic Awakening conveyed a sense of unreliability in the senses exploring or exemplifying the spirit and discourse of Rene decart's philosophies reality and the idea of his genuiness is a Core theme in the trilogy of The Matrix to be is to be perceived George Barkley's work on immaterialism this quote illustrates Barkley's contentious philosophy that there is no such thing as matter all that exists in the world is our ideas sensory experiences and perceiving mind in fact what we see in the world according to Barkley is a collection of ideas matter that you can see is just a sensory experience as opposed to an objectively material object that exists beyond our sensory experience there are many intricacies and weakness to his argument but the idea to be is to be perceived is something that is firmly woven into the story of The Matrix hence why the mind is able to make death or injury in the matrix real your mind makes it real I thought it wasn't real your mind makes it real or why certain objects can be manipulated once realizing that it's not matter but just our minds perceiving or having sensory experiences of something Barkley would contentiously state that our Consciousness and how we perceive the world gives rise to different ideas which then inform how the world is made or changed he gives the example of a chair stating that it's not really an object but a collection of ideas you see the world is formed by a set of ideas and ideas are formed by varying sensory and perceptive experiences Morpheus would always point out the artificiality of things when in The Matrix to help Neo learn that it's not so much what the rules are but how you perceive or what you believe what are you waiting for you're faster than this don't think you are know you are NE was able to further bend and break the rules the more he adopts this line of thinking hence this is why the Matrix increasingly becomes wieldly to him although the main reason behind this is explained towards the end of the second one because he is an anomaly but the point Barkley was getting at was that it is your mind perception and the senses that are of Paramount importance something that is taken up a notch in The Matrix how did I beat [Music] you you're too fast do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place you think that's air you're breathing now a simulation does not care about physiology and strength or skill as all of these are mutable or instantly learnable once jacked in we also see lots of Canan Inspirations in the film where Morpheus is questioning what is real is it something that exists beyond our sense and intuition of the world how do we know what we are seeing and sensing is reality and not the limits of our perception and senses it is the mental projection of your digital self this this isn't real what is real how do you define real if you're talking about what you can feel what you can smell what you can taste and see then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain you know what that means it's Latin means no thyself no know thyself is an ancient Greek aphorism inscribed in the four Court of the Temple of Apollo at Deli again another homage to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates and Plato the Temple of Apollo back then was considered to be the center of the world and revered for the wisdom of the Oracle who resided there starting to form links well good cuz it's a direct link there when Socrates visited the Oracle he claimed that he knew nothing and the Oracle replied that he was the wisest man on Earth Socrates would later know the true meaning of this by realizing that he is actually not pretending like many others to know more than he actually knows the saying know thyself was then inscribed on the walls of the temple constantly reminding visitors to be mindful of their own ignorance something which Neo was very much aware of in his first visit with the Oracle do you think you are the one honestly I don't know but you already know what I'm going to tell I'm not the one sorry kid you got the gift but it looks like you're waiting for something sat philosophical references aside one of the biggest influences to the wowski brother story was Jean borria simulation and simulakra Not only was this book manager reading for Kiana Reeves it was also subtly shown in the film where Neo goes to get his software from a Hol out copy of Jean's book simulation and similar is also referenced when morphus begins to tell Neo what the Matrix is by saying welcome to the desert of the real welcome to the desert of the real but before we get too far ahead of ourselves let's give you a quick crash course on simulation and simulakra simulation and simulakra is a 1981 philosophical treaties by Jean bodard in which he seeks to examine the relationship among reality symbols simulations and Society the rise of modern capitalism and Technology has given rise to a new societal similation which has become its own reality effectively getting us to disconnect with the actual reality that preceded it let's get into the book's terminology before I lose everyone at this stage simulakra are copies depicting things that either had no original to begin with or that it no longer has an original these copies of simulakra start blossoming into its own true reality what bord rard calls the hyper real something that supplants the real in a way to the point where we see these copies as indistinguishable from reality the copies become so indistinguishable that they in fact become real and entrenched in reality his best example of this is Disneyland illustrating how it has become a symbol of fantasm an imaginary world where people come to experience and indulge in their childishness Disneyland being its own world of simulation supplanting the pre-existing reality Bard states that Disneyland exists in LA in order to distra ract from the falsities of the real City of Angels We exit from a world inhabited by adults and enter a world of children figuratively Frozen in Time much like its creator Walt Disney these copies or representations morph and unquestioningly an unequivocally become the real it only then makes sense to look at capitalism and media to see F the examples we trade and attribute monetary value to things that are not inherently or really valuable to us but the simulakra has nevertheless establish it as valuable sneaker companies market and advertise the concept of a running shoe as if we never were able to run without boria's work contained an important message that we should always be wary of the social constructs that modern capitalism and the rise of Technology can make however borad said in an interview Pride to him passing away that the Matrix misunderstands his work as the artificiality of the simulation is distinguishable and made abundantly clear in the film nevertheless the Matrix is heavily influenced from Bard even if it uses it in a slightly misunderstood way simulation then is the imitation of the operation of a real world process or system over time borad would go on to say that the existence and growth of simulakra further drifts us into this new reality and we end up being in a simulation divorced from the pre-existing reality but is nevertheless treated as the true reality the important point to take away here is that similar and simulation can take on a life life of its own in reality itself erodes to the point that it becomes a desert hence morpheus's welcome to the desert of the real quote from the book choice in the scene where Cipher is negotiating a deal with the Sentinal programs in exchange for them to reinsert him into the Matrix we get to see a character that is reflecting on the idea of being able to choose between an ucer world where one can live in Bliss or a reality where one must live with harsh truths we learned later on in the film that initially the Matrix was built to make humans happy and live without suffering but then the burden of Freedom was too much for us as we were fallible and untrustworthy creatures instead we prefer to have authority and some semblance of control echoing the point raised in the grand Inquisitor a tale told by the character in dov's novel The Brothers K marof the scene gets us to reflect on whether Life in The Matrix actually is in any way better than in the real Cipher's position is interesting and that his decision to want to return to Bliss and ignorance was made after he experienced both worlds after Neo has told what the Matrix is there is disgust incomprehension with what the reality of the situation is whereas Cipher saw being awoken as a deprivation of indulgences and Pleasures Cipher's character brings into question the morality behind being free to what extent should or would one want to be free under these circumstances Dogma in the first film Morpheus comes across as deeply mysterious and dogmatic about Neo being the one his dogmatism is strong and the film toys with this constantly subverting the audience's expectations one minute the film suggest that Neo May indeed be the one to only then cast further doubt on it later on you see the clever thing is that in the second half of the film we are pretty sure that Neil is or may indeed be the one we get scenes that deceptively suggest it Morpheus was right and there's no way I can pull this Blood I mean if Neo's the one then there'd have to be some kind of a miracle to stop me yes no I don't believe it believe it or not you piece of [ __ ] you're still going to burn of course fans were ready to assume that Neo was the Divine the one the awoken to only find later on in the second film that morpheus's dog ISM and belief was far from the truth and that Neo was just an anomaly in The Matrix hence his abilities to defy the rules but was morpheus's dogmatism bad had it not been for his dogmatism a great deal of events wouldn't have happened morpheus's dogmatism shows the risks and rewards behind such a mindset and warrants reflection on it for someone to be that dogmatic they would have to be at peace with their beliefs and push on visual style the matrix's visual style was strangely unique it draws on its Creator's love for the comic book and Japanese animation traditions and Aesthetics The Man Behind the artwork for hardboiled Jeff Darrow was brought on board to create Both Worlds Jeff would delate and juxtapose Both Worlds by showing how everything in the Matrix was decayed monolithic gridlike and green this idea would extend all the way down to the clothing of the cast whereas in the real world the world was not as styled people look more natural more color with a predominant blue palette Jeff wanted to bring out a more organic quality in the real world for it to look industrially jaggy and have plenty of cables and components like as if they were constantly maintaining it and putting things back together in fact in nearly all the scenes that take place in The Matrix you will find little quirks and hints to show the artificial ity of the role take the scene where Morpheus is showing near the ropes in The Matrix notice how there are doubles and twins walking among the crowd the ride to the Oracle was made to look artificial the backdrop being footage of the street to make the presence in the Matrix look fake The Matrix meshed East and Western philosophical influences and its insights to make a unique science fiction action movie that borrows Lots from cyberpunk culture chop flicks Japan anime and and comic book Aesthetics much like most of its thematic choices the film breaks many rules associated with that genre which caus the polarizing opinions but it nevertheless breathes a sense of hope into the genre of action films and serves as proof that action movies can be intellectually stimulating while at the same time delighting fun to watch a film that encourages self-thought Enlightenment and the idea of becoming awoken in the Buddha sense if film that has characters grappling with beliefs reality perception questions that once was debated and studied over in the academic Halls of a library bought to a film who would have known that would be possible like when Neo arises again after being killed saying no The Matrix is a film that says no to the typical mold of action movies and is a film that is imbued with the knowledge and enlightenments of its creators once Neo becomes enlightened and realizes how wieldly the Matrix can be he is even able to single-handedly beat a senal [Music] program how he is the one [Applause] where [Music] [Music] w [Music]

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Id: B70Hapf_okE

Length: 20min 2sec (1202 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 31 2017