“I didn’t say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.” The genius of “The Matrix” is
it proved that movies can make us care about dry,
philosophical ideas. In the Wachowskis’ 1999 film
about a programmer who realizes he’s living
in a computer simulation, the deepest intrigue doesn't lie
in what happens -- but in why it happens
and what it means. “Remember…all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more.” At the heart of this story are questions like:
What’s real? Do we actually want the truth? And can human beings be free? Such abstract inquiries become tangible,
personal, urgent, as Neo progresses from nihilism
to enlightenment and becomes "The One" -- the only person with the potential
to free human beings from their machine overlords. This tightly structured Hero's journey is
the Philosopher’s Journey, [Solemnly] “There is no spoon.” packaged as a gripping,
action-packed Hollywood flick. 20 years later, here’s our Take
on the deep meaning of “The Matrix” and why it's a guide
to freeing your mind, which can help us uncode
the modern “Matrix” of our times. “Free your mind.” This video is brought to you by MUBI – a curated streaming service showing
exceptional films from around the globe. It’s like your own personal
film festival – streaming anytime, anywhere. [Exhales deeply] “Okey-doke…
free my mind…” The first Matrix movie has
an age-old message: the truth shall set you free. “It was he who freed the first of us…
taught us the truth.” Let's take a look at Neo's steps
on the road to Freeing the Mind. On closer inspection,
we can identify seven major phases: Dreaming, Destruction, Reconstruction,
Self-Knowledge, Doubt, Belief and Love. Step 1: Dreaming of The Question “Have you ever had a dream, Neo,
that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake
from that dream?” Neo’s quest for truth begins
in his dreams. When we first meet him,
he’s asleep, while his computer runs a search
for a mysterious figure named Morpheus – fittingly named
after the Greek God of Dreams. Someone in Neo’s computer
(who we later learn is Trinity) tells him to
“Wake up.” Neo’s not quite ready to do this yet, and the two sequences following this
lead back to him waking up in bed, unsure if he’s just had
some strange nightmare. Neo complains of an inability
to tell waking life from dreaming. “You ever have that feeling
where you’re not sure if you’re awake
or still dreaming?” And when he finally meets
the God of Dreams himself, Morpheus speaks
to Neo’s feeling of surreality. “You have the look of a man
who accepts what he sees... because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far
from the truth.” The twist is that
it’s Neo’s so-called “real” life up until now
that’s been the dream-world. “You've been
living in a dream world, Neo.” Neo’s mentor Morpheus
represents intuition and faith in the unseen forces of the world, in direct opposition
to the machine projections that use the eyes and
rational arguments to enslave. His ship is called
“the Nebuchadnezzar,” a nod to an ancient Babylonian King,
who (in the Biblical Book Daniel) gave the wise men of his kingdom
the impossible task of not just interpreting his dream, but also telling him
what the dream was. So, “The Matrix” tells us that
trusting our intuition and dreams is the beginning of the path
toward truth and mind-freeing. “You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life.” This mysterious inner compass
points us in the right direction before our rational minds
can catch up. “Such shaping fantasies that apprehend
more than cool reason ever comprehends.” Neo’s intuition and dreams
lead him to form a question. Interestingly, we gather
that Trinity and the others began their journeys
with the same question: “You know the question,
just as I did.” “What is the Matrix…” So, what starts all these rebels-to-be
on the path to freedom is a growing awareness of this invisible thing
that surrounds them – “the Matrix.” “There’s something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind.” “The Matrix?” The ability to sense the Matrix,
even though nothing about it can be perceived by the senses, “A prison that you cannot smell
or taste or touch.” might remind us of the story
about the fish who don’t know they’re surrounded by water. “How's the water? And the two
young fish swim on for a bit, and then, eventually, one of them
looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"” To have the initial capacity
to free your mind, you have to question the obvious --
what’s right in front of your eyes. “The point of the fish story is
merely that the most obvious, important realities
are often the ones that are hardest
to see and talk about.” “You think that’s air
you’re breathing now?” The next phase of Neo’s enlightenment
is Destructive Truth – “It is the world
that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” shattering the illusions
that blind and enslave us. “You are a slave, Neo.” What’s untrue must die. This phase begins with the *choice*
Morpheus offers Neo – to remain in his comfortable,
pre-enlightened state, “The story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever
you want to believe.” or to “wake up.” “You stay in wonderland and I show you
how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Until this point,
Morpheus’ team and Neo are just meeting each other
inside the Matrix, but the red pill allows Morpheus’ team
to locate where Neo’s actual body is in the field where machines grow
living humans to use them for energy. As Neo’s false conceptions of reality
are torn down, “This can’t be…” “Be what? Be real?” the disruption to his mind is
so violent that he almost dies. “He’s going into arrest.” This is the first death and rebirth
Neo goes through in the film. [Hoarsely] “Am I dead?” “Far from it.” Like a baby,
he must learn to use his own body, “Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them.” and to begin thinking for himself – as symbolized
by seeing through his own eyes . [Hoarsely] “Why do my eyes hurt?” “You've never used them before.” Neo’s training is
a process of unlearning. Morpheus tells Neo, “Don’t think you are. KNOW you are.” Because the thinking that’s him back
is an obedience to the rules of the machines and their agents. “Like gravity. What you must learn
is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system.” This is something
we can all learn from, Even if we’re not yet ready
to reject the laws of physics– are we not also unnecessarily restricted
by what we think we must do or can’t do what we deem possible? At the beginning of the movie, the power of the Agents seems
unbelievably giant. They are manifestations
of the system itself “Yet their strength
and their speed are still based in a world
that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be
as strong or as fast as you can be.” And the implication is that we,
too, have unlocked power waiting for us if we unlearn our limitations. Once we start to un-believe. “Do you believe that…
my being stronger or faster has anything to do
with my muscles in this place?” After this period of destruction,
comes the third step: Reconstructing a new reality from scratch. This is visualized
in Neo’s training sessions with Morpheus against a blank white background, where they have the ability
to summon anything they can think of. “This is the construct. It’s our…
loading program. We can load anything
from clothing to equipment.” For the first time,
he is discovering agency. This phase has a lot in common
with the philosophical stance of Existentialism, which grapples with the idea
that human beings really are free. At first humans tend to despair
when they realize their freedom, as they find themselves in a world
without given meaning. But, Existentialists don’t see this
as depressing. They view freedom as
an empowering value – because we get to
create our own meaning. One of the fathers of Existentialism,
Friedrich Nietzsche, conceived of a grand hero
he called the Ubermensch (or Over-man), who would create
new life-affirming values to give higher meaning
to our human existence. Sound familiar? “There was a man born inside…
who had the ability to change whatever he wanted…
to remake the Matrix as he saw fit.” “The Matrix” is essentially about
Neo becoming the Ubermensch, or the One. [Through telephone] “You are THE ONE, Neo.” This question of whether he’s the One brings him to the fourth phase
of his Truth journey: Self-Knowledge. “It's Latin… Means "Know thyself." Morpheus brings Neo
to visit the Oracle, whose name alludes
to the Greek Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle seems to tell Neo
that he’s not the One. “But you already know
what I'm going to tell you.” “I’m not the one.” “Sorry, kid.” In fact, though,
what she really tells him is that the answers
are within him. “Being the One is
just like being in love. No one can tell you you're in love,
you just know it.” We can't arrive
at self-knowledge through others. Neo can't know he's the One
because anyone else says so, and that’s why the Oracle strategically
shuts down the grand narrative others have been building
about Neo's specialness. “If you are…
it’s a very exciting time!” “No one’s ever made the first jump.” “Yeah, I know. But, what if he does?” Instead, she prepares Neo
for a choice he’ll soon face. “In the one hand,
you’ll have Morpheus’ life, and in the other hand
you’ll have your own.” Her words might strike us as off-topic. Why is she focusing on this, instead of talking more
about what we all came for -- a declaration of
Neo’s important identity? But the information the Oracle gives him
isn’t an answer at all – it’s a test,
through which he can define himself. “She told you exactly
what you needed to hear. That’s all.” While it’s tempting to know
how things are going to turn out, we’re not supposed to rationally
comprehend the facts of our future before it comes to pass. Prophecy is only valuable insofar
as it provides useful information we can draw on, as we form self-knowledge from within,
through walking the walk. “Sooner or later
you’re going to realize, just as I did,
there’s a difference between knowing the path
and walking the path.” In fact, we get a subtle hint
that the Oracle does believe Neo will develop into the One —
she alludes to Trinity’s feelings for him: “I can see why she likes you.” “Who?” And we later learn that
she predicted the man Trinity loved
would be the One. “The Oracle told me that… I would fall in love with that man. The man that I love would be the One.” It’s pretty clear from early on that
Neo is going to end up being the One. The real question is why he is. Is this the story of Neo discovering
he’s the One – or deciding that he is? Are we free to decide our own fates? “Do you believe in fate, Neo?” “No.” “Why not?” “Because I don't like the idea
that I'm not in control of my life.” When the Oracle anticipates
Neo knocking over the vase, “…And don’t worry about the vase.” “What vase?” She raises this unknowable issue of
whether the future is decided or chosen. “What’s really going to
bake your noodle later on is… would you still have broken it
if I hadn’t said anything.” The Oracle’s role in the story isn’t to
resolve this duality, but to reframe it. She disproves our assumption
that fate and freedom are an either/or. “And she’s never wrong.” [Sighing] “Try not to think of it
in terms of right and wrong. She is a guide, Neo.” She predicts patterns
while leaving room for the randomness
that stems from choice. Her vision of destiny,
an ever-shifting ink blot test. “Do you think you are the one?” When she meets Neo,
her ink-blot test of him reflects that he doesn’t believe in himself. So, he’s not there yet. The necessary elements
are present, but Neo will also have to decide
his destiny. “You got the gift, but it looks
like you’re waiting for something.” The fifth step of the Philosopher’s journey
is overcoming doubt. “You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief.” Neo’s doubt is symbolized
by his fear of falling. This is seen already
when he’s still in the Matrix. “There are two ways out of this building
– one is that scaffolding, the other is in their custody.” And pre-liberated Neo
caves to his fear. During his training,
Neo faces another great height. This time he makes the choice to jump,
but he doesn’t make it. So, the fall demonstrates that
he doesn’t truly believe in his own capabilities just yet. “Everybody falls the first time.” The problem of doubt is embodied
in the character of Cypher, who whispers in
the Resistance’s ear, tempting them to submit
to the inevitable victory of machines. “Tired of this war, tired of fighting... I'm tired of the ship, being cold, of eating the same
goddamn goop everyday...” Cypher rejects The Truth, “I know this steak doesn't exist.” choosing instead to descend back
into hedonism and ignorance. “Ignorance is bliss.” Through Cypher, “The Matrix”
challenges its own thesis that mankind truly wants
liberation and enlightenment. “I choose the Matrix.” The character forces us to consider,
which would we really choose: a difficult but free life,
or blissful subjugation? “I know what you’re thinking—
Why oh why didn’t I take the blue pill?” Many of us secretly prefer the lie
and will even fight to preserve it, if that illusion maintains
our materialist comforts and protects us from suffering. “Most of these people are not ready
to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert…
so hopelessly dependent on the system… that they will fight to protect it.” “The Matrix” suggests that most of us
already are choosing the blue pill. As we learn in “The Matrix Reloaded,” only 1% of people have minds
that reject the Matrix. “99 percent of all
test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were
given a choice – even if they were only aware
of the choice at a near unconscious level.” Cypher wants badly for Neo to fail. “You never did answer me before...
if you bought into Morpheus' bullshit.” We get the sense he may know to some
degree about the Oracle’s prophecy that Trinity would love the One, because he keeps asking her
if she thinks Neo’s the real deal. “You don’t? Do ya?” “All I want is a little ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” Even though he believes in nothing,
he craves certainty in this belief. “If Morpheus was right,
then there's no way I can pull this plug. I mean, if Neo is the One,
then there'd have to be some kind of a miracle to stop me…” In pursuit of this certainty, he murders several of his fellow rebels
and nearly sabotages their whole operation, before he’s killed. Yet, Cipher’s own death here is redundant. He was already about to
essentially kill himself by erasing his agency
and consciousness to become mindless fodder
for a machine network. “I go back to sleep. And when I wake up, I won 't remember
a goddamned thing.” Cypher’s desperate need for proof
that humankind’s situation is truly hopeless stems from his knowledge deep down
that what he’s done is evil. Choosing ignorance
is enabling oppression. Anyone who’s plugged into the Matrix
can be taken over by an Agent at any moment, making them a tool
for this system of slavery. “The very minds of the people
we are trying to save. But until we do,
these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy.” No amount of rational knowledge can
overcome doubt – it can only be defeated
by Neo’s next stage: belief. “I know that's what it looks like,
but it's not. I can’t explain to you why it’s not.” The moment when Neo discovers belief is
the point when we feel the plot start to turn in his favor. “That's why I have to go.” “Why?” “Because I believe in something.” After Morpheus is captured and tortured for the access codes to Zion
(the one remaining free human city) the Resistance considers
pulling Morpheus’ plug. No one has ever beaten an Agent, so, they’re certain
it’s impossible to do so. Neo then decides to do the impossible –
save Morpheus. “I believe I can bring him back.” It’s no accident that this is the choice
the Oracle signposts for Neo – it’s the crucible in which his true nature
will be forged, determined, revealed. He still doubts he’s the One. “I’m not the one, Trinity.” Neo doesn’t have the ego
to abstractly believe he’s the savior
of all humankind, but when the mentor he loves and admires
more than anything is in danger, he unconsciously and irrationally
believes in his ability to save him – showing that he does know
he has the One’s power; he just doesn’t know he knows it yet. “So, what do you need
besides a miracle?” “Guns. Lots of guns.” The three main characters --
Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo -- are all driven by beliefs. “Morpheus believed something. And he was ready to give his life
for what he believed. I understand that now.” Meanwhile, Cipher’s weakness comes
from the fact that he lacks belief. The very last thing he says is:
“I don’t believe it.” As Stephen Faller observes
in “Beyond the Matrix,” just as Neo’s name is
an anagram for One, Cypher’s name is an alternate spelling
of Cipher, which means Zero. It’s fitting that these two opposite
characters correspond to 1 and 0, the two digits of the binary system,
which computers operate in. This suggests that, ultimately,
what seems to be an array of choices boils down to just two – believe in something,
or believe in nothing. [Angrily] “Believe it or not,
you piece of shit, you're still going to burn!” “The Matrix” posits that faith is
much stronger than mere knowledge. It’s something no one
can take from you— “Let me tell you what I believe— Morpheus means more to me
than he does to you. I believe if you are serious
about saving him, you are going to need my help.” that no one can argue you out of. “…if you don’t like it,
I believe you can go to hell.” Steadfast belief in his mission makes Neo able to dodge bullets
like an agent can. “How did you do that?” “Do what?” “You moved like they do.” Yet, Neo’s still hit by a bullet,
symbolizing that his self-doubt lingers. “I wasn’t fast enough.” Trinity comes to his rescue, “Dodge this.” foreshadowing how she will provide
the secret weapon to complete his philosophical journey
soon after this. When Agent Smith takes over
a homeless man’s body in the subway tunnel just after
Trinity and Morpheus have exited, due to his growing faith,
Neo does the unthinkable – he stands his ground against an agent. At this point, you might say that Neo’s belief makes him
an even match for Agent Smith. But he’s not yet surpassed the Agents. After all, they wholly believe, too – as software programs they have
this belief written into their code (the equivalent of their DNA). Smith keeps calling him
Mr. Anderson, which pushes Neo to cast off his slave name
and claim his true identity. [Grunting] “My name is Neo.” He is, at last,
trusting in his individual power. “What is he doing?” “He’s beginning to believe.” Even though Neo wins this fight, the agent can just stop the train
and take over another body. Thus, Neo runs again. but just before
he’s about to exit the Matrix, he’s taken by surprise. He flatlines. In this moment,
the Oracle’s prophecy, that either Morpheus or he would die,
comes true. But, we’re about to find out her words’ deeper meaning was obscured
by technicalities. Neo wasn’t yet the One because he had
to “die” in this current form and be reborn as someone new. (In fact, his name “Neo”
is a prefix meaning “new.”) “But it looks like
you’re waiting for something.” “What?” “Your next life, maybe.” The last and most crucial step of
Neo’s transition into the One is love. [Whispering] “You can't be dead. You can't be... because I love you.” Another “fact”
that holds true until this point is that death in the Matrix
kills a person in real life. “The body cannot live
without the mind.” However, the physical sensations
in the Matrix are an illusion. So, Trinity’s love in the real world,
coupled with Neo’s exceptional ability to separate his real mind
from his Matrix body, leads to his resurrection. “Now get up.” Belief made him
as powerful as an agent, but belief powered by love is
what makes Neo unstoppable. “No.” Now, he fulfills Morpheus’
earlier prediction: “…that I can dodge bullets?” “I’m trying to tell you
that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.” Armed with agency,
self-belief, and love, Neo sees through the Agents’
illusory forms to the pure code
they really are. This is a visualization of
seeing the truth in full – seeing into the very essence of things. Now that he can glimpse this total truth,
he can bend the code to his will. And after he goes inside an Agent
to destroy it from within, finally, the Agents run from him. During this sequence,
we hear holy music – [Screaming] underlining that this infinite
level of insight is godlike. “How?” “He is THE ONE.” We’ve seen hints throughout that
Neo’s story can be interpreted as the Christ narrative. “Jesus Christ-- he’s fast!” He dies and is resurrected,
thanks to the love of Trinity. Or – “THE trinity?” You can also associate
the three central characters loosely with the three figures of the trinity—
the father, “Morpheus, you’re more than
a leader to us. You’re a father.” the son, “Hallelujah. You’re my savior, man. My own personal Jesus Christ.” and the holy spirit. The name plate of the Resistance’s ship
alludes to the Bible verse Mark 3:11-- "And whenever unclean spirits
beheld him, they fell down before him
and cried, 'You are the Son of God.’” Neo is betrayed by a Judas figure
And most fundamentally, he’s a radical, who comes to spread a world-altering
truth in the hearts of people. Neo’s defeat of the agents signifies
the triumph of human values, culminating in love, the most irrational value of all. At the very end,
Rage Against the Machine plays. The significance of this isn’t just
fighting the machines in this story -- it’s telling us to rage against
what seems certain, impossible, set in stone. And in the last shot,
when Neo flies upwards, this imagery is reminiscent
of the Buddha, who could ascend to heaven
after reaching enlightenment. The image is a visualization of how
accepting truth allows us to fly free. “A world without rules and controls,
without borders or boundaries.” Neo is not on the surface
the most exceptional person. “Not too bright, though.” So, it might strike us as jarring
that Morpheus and others are so immediately convinced
of his special nature. Why this guy? “The door on your left. No, your other left!” But there’s hidden significance
in the fact that Neo is an everyman. The point isn’t that he’s the only One
-- it’s that we all have a “One” within. Transcendental poet
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “God dwells in thee… Clouded and shrouded there doth sit The Infinite Embosomed
in a man.” If we walk these steps
toward Enlightenment, we can begin to access
the power of seeing infinite Truth. “Do not try and bend the spoon. Only try to realize the truth.” And we can learn from Neo that
thinking deeply is the secret to waking up
and really being alive. “There is no spoon?” “Then, you'll see that
it is not the spoon that bends. It is only yourself.” God, Truth, The One –
whatever you call it – “The Matrix” sends this
profound, deeply inspirational message: within yourself is untold power,
waiting to be unlocked. “A world where anything is possible…” Watch out for our next video unpacking
this movie’s hidden references and how they explain The Matrix
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Great analysis. Welp looks like I have 3 movies to watch again...
Thank you deeply for this.
The matrix has you
Yeah I gotta say, you took my favorite movie and made it a gazillion times better. Thank you !
Love The Take! Great video.