THE MATRIX - Why Cypher Did It

it's been over 15 years since the release of the matrix and even though there's been a lot of philosophical analysis film edits equals there's something I don't hear brought up an awful lot something interesting I noticed more and more as I watched the film as a kid where certain details with the character cipher who if you've watched the film you'll know is the crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar who betrays the other crew in order to be reinserted into the matrix now this won't be a life changing perspective on the film but it's very likely these observations have been made before and this is somewhere right there already being said but it's something I don't hear that often and this is just my thoughts in the character cipher in the matrix and why he does what he does in the film even though cipher dies in the film a little over halfway into its runtime he is a very present character up to that point certainly more so than characters like Switzer Apoc and probably more than the other members of the crew in fact the actor Joe Pantoliano who plays cypher appeared in one of the more popular posters of the film along with the movies three main characters neo Trinity and Morpheus played by Keanu Reeves carry on mass and Laurence Fishburne so I think it's safe to say he's a supporting character also he's the first character you hear speak in the beginning of the film the start is a conversation between cypher and Trinity as they talk about their pursuit of neo who's believed to be the one the savior to free humankind from the matrix yeah is everything in place you weren't supposed to relieve me I know but I felt like taking a shift no I come don't you I like watching we're gonna kill him I understand that Morpheus believes he is the one right away you can pick up on ciphers perhaps sleazy nature as he teases Trinity's romantic interest in neo as well as his casual cynicism for the mission something he mentions to neo later when he is freed throughout the film he plays the part of a comic relief until he's revealed to be the mustache twirling villain in cahoots with the agents with oddly enough a mustache to match yeah I think it was your sinister mustache there's an obvious subtext that he's jealous of Trinity's feelings for neo before he confesses his own feelings for while eerily crawling over her body there's even a reference to him supposedly observing women while hacking into the matrix further showing his sexual interests something he possibly doesn't get to pursue while on the Nebuchadnezzar all I see is blonde brunette redhead and on top of that there's a certain sense of decadence implied about cipher when we see him first revealed to be talking to agent Smith as they sit in a fancy restaurant and he talks about wanting to be reprogrammed into the matrix as a rich celebrity all these reasons could be enough to explain why he would betray his crew for his own shallow personal interests showing that he simply did it for a better quality of life even if that life is a lie and his arc in the film is the main focus to the story and his actions are mainly a catalyst for the plot so anything beyond that probably doesn't really matter but that said there were always things I noticed that I think give more sympathetic reasons for why he did what he did but make him just a little bit more than a mustache twirling villain first of all like I said he provides a bit of comic relief early in the film it means buckle your seat belt Dorothy is going bye-bye something that a lot of the other crew members do they're actually often quite quiet and a bit stiff including Trinity and Morpheus in contrast this makes cypher seem a little laid-back and perhaps not serious about everything but at times he seems more human than the rest of the crew and Simon hi there's a scene about an hour into the film when neo comes across cypher sitting at the computer and the two of them talk this is right before we find a that cypher is a traitor in fact at the very beginning of the scene cypher is alarmed at Neos presence becomes den when he notices there's no one else around right away he turns off all monitors not showing code which it's revealed neo can't yet read so it's most likely that at that moment he was gearing up to enter the matrix and talk to Smith while everyone was asleep as the two talk cypher shares a drink with neo and admits he regrets not taking the blue pill which would have left him in the matrix unaware of its existence seemingly sort of joking I know what you think is right now I'm thinking the same thing actually I haven't thinking that ever since I got here while why didn't I take the blue pill when he says this there's a really nice civil reaction that neo gives the first he laughs but then he pauses it's like he appreciates that someone finally said it to him that for all the noble reasons to rebell against the machines it's a relief to just admit how difficult today's and joke the banished the scene then gets a little more serious as cypher shows a cynicism of neo being the one so you're here to save the world what do you say to something like that and advises he should just run whenever he sees an agent leading us into the next scene and setting the tone of ciphers interest for survival and showing his deal with Smith a nice contrast after the setting of the decadent restaurant is the dinner scene right afterwards as the crew sarcastically comment on the gruel like substance that they have to eat if you close your eyes it almost feels like you're eating many aids you know bowls not during that scene the character maze talks first about what food tastes like back when he was in the matrix but then moves on to talk about the woman in the red dress a program of a beautiful woman he designed in the construct the sort of sandbox program they use outside the matrix he enthusiastically offers to allow neo to meet with her personally in the construct implying a sexual encounter as switch refers to mazes in digital pimp if you like to meet her I can arrange much more personalized believe the digital pimp hearted work the conversation is soon interrupted however as Morpheus enters and the crew enter the matrix and ciphers plan comes into play leading to the death of many of the crew and ciphers death himself so just looking back over all these moments before hand what if ciphers motive was a little more complicated than a mere shallow interest in himself what if maybe he did it because he kind of just didn't get along with any of the crew spending all that time living in danger and cooped up in a cold post-apocalyptic hovercraft it's got to be tough but if you were to do it with no affectionate companionship it would just make you want to cop out as cabin fever would inevitably kick in before I noted that there are scenes where cypher gives off a bit of a creepy vibe and does things that seem somewhat uncomfortably perverse and that perhaps his sexual interests aren't met but then as we saw mash the character who is far more comfortable with expressing his sexual interests and even offers to share his methods of fantasy in a way he's kind of offering to share his futuristic blow-up doll with neo as we know he has a sexual interest in the woman in the red dress himself I'm sure he gets told to shut up at the dinner table but there's a sort of sibling like familiarity in the way switching a pop T's Mex so I understand that you've run through the agent training program you know I am I wrote that program here it comes meanwhile cipher doesn't even sit at the table also that moment which cypher talked about looking at blondes brunettes and redheads is most likely a lie as whatever he was modeling is probably to do with arranging his meeting with Smith a lot of cyphers interactions are with Trinity and I think a certain kinship between the two is implied a cypher mentions he's been out of the matrix for nine years after nine years you know what I realized and perhaps in that time he and Trinity had possibly become close as they do have something of a comfortable shorthand in conversation but Trinity often behaves coldly around him maybe they were close and maybe in their past he expressed his feelings for her or made an advance that change things but that might just be me reading far too much into it but there is a coldness that cipher is trying to break which you can see in this scene for example when cypher catches Trinity leaving Neos and food surely after neo has had his first training session I don't remember you ever bringing me dinner there is something about it isn't there don't tell me here believe I know I just keep wondering if Morpheus is so sure why isn't he taking this he the Oracle Morpheus we'll take him when he's ready like the more I think about it the way he emphasizes the word me I don't remember you ever bringing me dinner could it be an indicator that they were once an item at some point but then drifted apart although it's far more likely a reference to when cypher was first removed from the matrix and being trained which would imply that he was freed after Trinity was which implies also that Trinity and Morpheus would have a longer standing bond than cypher would have a Trinity as Morpheus was seemingly freed very early on in the resistance she's been with us since the beginning the beginning of the resistance on that subject it's interesting to note how little cipher and Morpheus interact Morpheus is very open and honest with his crew especially Trinity in neo and is even described by tank as a father figure I wish you were more than a leader to us my father cipher later expresses his disdain and frustrations with Morpheus to Trinity again this could be reading into it too much but what if something happened between sorry for and Morpheus maybe they had an argument that was never resolved and since the rest of the crew hold Morpheus in such a high regard the blow out left side for in an awkward place on the Nebuchadnezzar maybe from defying Morpheus Authority or just getting amorphous his nerve with his laid-back sense of humor gonna pop and safe but like I said that might be looking into it too much it's possible that cypher simply got sick of hanging around the same people for nine years especially didn't get along with them it seems his demeanor throughout the film is off-putting to people and his means of joking and being laid-back about his situation might have been distracting or frustrating to the more focused members of the crew on the Nebuchadnezzar even though it probably was just his way of coping with being removed from the matrix the process of which does seem like a pretty traumatic experience as Morpheus states the older person is when removed from the matrix the harder it is for them to let go we have a rule we never free of mind once it's reached a certain age it's dangerous the mind has trouble letting go I've seen it before and I'm sorry going on the ages the actor's alone you could assume that cypher is older than neo and therefore has struggled more with his removal and like I said copes by approaching the situation with a cynical sense of humor the character tank is an equally humorous character but he's very upbeat and doesn't have to dry cynicism that cipher has and also wasn't born inside the matrix you don't you don't have any holes nope me and my brother dozer were both 100% pure old-fashioned homegrown human gone free right here in the real world and therefore wouldn't know the true horror of being torn from this another reason cipher gives for wanting to leave is that he's sick of the food on the ship I'm tired of this war tired of fighting tired this ship being cold leading the same god damned every day but as you can see everyone has their complaints are battered and neo shows no enthusiasm when introduced to the substance himself oddly enough the only two who show any appreciation are tank and dozer you go buddy breakfast of champions it's a single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos vitamins and minerals everything the body needs the only two to not have experienced anything superior tasting having never been in the matrix themselves but back to ciphers complaints perhaps is disdain for the food is actually his disdain for the experience of having to share a meal with the same people every day feeling more and more alienated by them as I noted before he doesn't even sit at the table with them this slight meal you but he stated the conditions of the food cold that have driven him to want to return to living in the matrix so he's possibly unaware that his motives come from a feeling of alienation perhaps that same feeling of alienation is what initially drove him to pursue Morpheus and leave the matrix in the first place similar to neo who in the beginning of the film we see to be kind of a shut-in reluctant to be social and also doesn't get along in his day job so given all these reasons as to why cypher might feel alienated on the Nebuchadnezzar it would seem you tried to fill a void by having his life rewritten interested in better tasting food and drink and believing the companionship and being a rich celebrity would be better this also implies had dissatisfactory his life probably was inside the matrix before being removed as he doesn't just want to be back inside the matrix but wants his life to be better inside it to note how he doesn't even care what kind of celebrity he would be he just wants to feel important and I want to be rich know someone important like an actor what's also interesting is had compliance Smith is with his demands regardless of how vagues of them are contrasting with Morpheus whose cipher possibly feels isn't listening to him Smith tells cypher everything he wants to hear all I do is what he tells me to do whatever you want mr. Regan it's also highly probable that Smith had no intention of reinserting cipher into the matrix as he makes no reference to the fact after cypher is killed unless I'm mistaken neo Trinity Morpheus and tank never say his name afterwards either so it would appear cypher was taken advantage of by the machines through his weakness which was a desire for a better life and companionship and these motives I think make the character cipher more human and sympathetic somebody up there still likes me and it's kind of brilliant that the machines exploited the crew by going after the most humanly vulnerable of the group an emotional weakness that they would consider something that makes humans intrinsically inferior only now don't get me wrong well I think there's a more sympathetic motive behind ciphers actions it doesn't redeem them considering he causes the death of most of his crew personally murdering most of them himself in cold blood too late and there are some bits where he is just plain creepy in the end though I think it is interesting how there is a subtle consistent subtext of ciphers distance with the rest of the crew and ultimately I think it's simply a testament to the level of detail of the film and how well written a lot of it is when I do consider the matrix to be a really well-made blockbuster action movie perhaps these were details developed by the Wachowskis or was something suggested by the actor Joe Pantoliano himself either way it's interesting to see how a bad guy character in an action movie can have a little more dimension towards his wrongdoing and doesn't necessarily have to be a straight-up mustache twirling villain especially when you consider a character like say Luther in the Warriors who's simply an agent of chaos why don't you waste Cyrus no reason I just like doing things like that or Walter Peck and Ghostbusters who as time has gone by has actually been considered technically right about what he did this man has no dick but let me know what you think in the comment section it doesn't mean anything and while you think of this video overall this is my first time doing this kind of video and I'd like to do more so I'm interested in any intelligent feedback thanks for watching

Channel: Enlightenment Pictures

Views: 1,289,496

Keywords: The Matrix, Cypher, Wachowskis, Video Essay, Film Analysis

Id: VdxAx3kYdWs

Length: 15min 16sec (916 seconds)

Published: Sun May 08 2016