Today, my movie-blog completes a decade in
cyberspace with independent reviews of Bollywood and Hollywood movies that I
loved or hated. Back then, in the winter of 2003, blogging began when the
popular Matrix Trilogy came to an end and I penned my thoughts about 'Matrix
Revolutions'. On the occasion of my blog's 10th Anniversary, what best to
do than pay tribute to a cult cyberpunk movie, the 1999 film 'The Matrix'.
For
the uninitiated, 'The Matrix' is a story of a software programmer Thomas
Anderson (Keanu Reeves) who moonlights as a hacker by the alias 'Neo'. He is
sought out by a mysterious rebel Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne) who reveals to
him that the world around is nothing more than a computer generated dream world
and makes him realize the truth so that enslaved humanity can be saved. And
our hero, along with his love interest, Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) must accomplish
his quest by dodging and at times fighting the deadly 'Agents'.
The
Human vs. Machine angle has been played out in many earlier films; chiefly so in
James Cameron's Terminator series where, in a futuristic setting where machines
seek to destroy mankind as a way to supposedly bring peace. In the Matrix
universe, the setting is the post-apocalyptic future where machines have found
a use for humans as an energy source, batteries to keep their systems going
after humans had torched the skies and killed machines' access to solar energy.
The Matrix is a mere simulated reality to keep the brains in the bodies alive.
The
story's periodization is also of significance. Although the ruined world is set
in the 22nd century, Morpheus refers to the simulated reality of the system
being modeled on 1999 which is referred to as the peak of our civilization.
This, in a way, the slice of time reflected the global obsession of the millennial
bug at end of the 20th Century and the fears that the world may shut down due
to Y2K. Fourteen years hence, we can scoff at the hysteria.
Back
then, as teenagers, most of us enjoyed the sci-fi and cool action stunts. It
was a transition point from the staple action films which blew up things to
very slick stunts combining martial arts and state of the art photography. Does
anyone remember the epoch making 'bullet-time' sequence created for this
film? Well, the term has now been copyrighted by Warner Bros! Subsequently, a lot of films have displayed
reverence for these stunts by copying them. As the Winner of all the four
technical Academy Awards for that year, the film was a visual treat.
Those
with a keen eye would have noticed the use of a prominent tint to scenes in The
Matrix Trilogy. Scenes in the alternate reality of the Matrix had a greenish
tint like the yesteryear computer screens or like the display of the matrix
code that rolls down as the ubiquitous 'digital rain'; the green therefore
serving a metaphor for the computer generated dream-world that 'The Matrix'
was. The core of human civilization at underground Zion in 'Reloaded' or
'Revolutions' had touch of warm hues, obviously giving it the most 'human'
feel.
Character
names have roots in Mythology and philosophy. Protagonist 'Neo' is an anagram
of The 'One' that he plays. His mentor 'Morpheus' is named after the Greek God
of dreams. 'Trinity' is probably related to the Holy Trinity, used with varying
meanings depending on religion. 'Cypher', who betrays Neo is much like the Biblical
character of Judas. And, as the name goes, the 'Oracle' is obviously a
reference to the mythological wise one who sees it all.
The
antagonist, Agent Smith, starts off as a mechanism of control, a sentient
program of The Matrix; gatekeepers who prevent the unplugged ones from running
amok and destroying the system. As the trilogy progresses, Smith's program gets
entangled with that of Neo and becomes more 'aware' of his supposed role in the
system. While Neo who has transcended the bondage of matrix but fights for a
balance with the system, Smith takes a diametrically opposite, nihilistic
approach against the system and seeks annihilation.
Neo's
quest to uncover the truth behind the Matrix begins with a point-of-no-return
choice offered by Morpheus: "You take the 'Blue Pill' - the story ends,
you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the
'Red Pill' - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole
goes". Obviously, he pops the Red Pill.
The
writer-directors Andy & Larry (now Lana) Wachowsky have captured the nature
of the matrix in one of Smith's dialogs where he says "... the first
Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where
everyone would be happy. It was a disaster..." The view, which is
later acknowledged by the Architect in 'Reloaded', refers to a human need to
understand the world around us through misery, something that the human mind
actively seeks so as to keep itself busy and preserve a semblance of worldly
meaning.
Another
key to understanding the nature of Matrix is contained in a reference to Jean
Baudrillard's 'Simulacra and Simulation' which discusses the use of
copies to represent reality and Simulacra referring to copies that depict
things which had no real basis to begin with. And since the Matrix constitutes as a reality to
those that haven't realized it's truth, that it is a whole system designed to
act like a veil is much akin to 'Maya' in Advaitic philosophy.
According
usually accepted beliefs, the absolute Truth, also called 'Brahman'
refers to the all pervading universal consciousness with the rest of the
universe constituting Maya. But then, the latter is both real and unreal. As
Sankaracharya points it out in Vivekachudamani, 'seeing the reflection of
the sun mirrored in a water jar, a fool thinks that it is the sun itself'. Apropos,
while the image of the sun may be a false, a simulation, but the sun itself is
real.
In
his lectures on Jnana Yoga, Swami Vivekananda has said "Maya of the
Vedanta, in its last developed form, is neither Idealism nor Realism, nor is it
a theory. It is a simple statement of facts - what we are and what we see
around us" and is precisely so in the case of 'The Matrix'.
Also, the Swami goes on to say "it (Maya) exists only in relation to my
mind, to your mind and to the mind of everyone else", much like
Morpheus describing Neo's self-image in the Matrix as a 'Mental projection
of the digital self' and describes real as "If real is what you can
feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals
interpreted by your brain".
Some
fictional but logical additions to the Matrix cyberspace are its rules such as
that of gravity which can be beaten by those who have gone beyond its
existential plane. Take the scene where Neo asks for guns and rows of them
simply appear and you could load combat training programs and technical skills
at the click of a button. But, when Neo realizes his 'One-ness', he just does stuff
by merely contemplating it and using bare-hands instead of weapons.
The
very concept of some people being 'liberated' and the rest still being
'plugged' to the system is also profound. Morpheus warns Neo that the very fact
that the people you see around you in the Matrix are potentially enemies
although it is the latter's intention to save them. The following lines
describe the feeling "you have to understand, most of these people are
not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly
dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it". Doesn't
this sound familiar with the world we live in?
Big
questions on ideas of 'Fate' are also discussed. While Morpheus believes in
Oracles and prophecies, Neo doesn't even believe in fate. But, as it turns out,
the Oracle predicts a lot of things including Trinity's love for the One, Tank
stopping Cypher from Killing Neo or the whole Merovingian and key-maker
sequence. In the end, it is revealed that all of this was nothing more than a
feed-back loop of the Matrix. Even about choice, the Merovingian describes it as
an 'illusion between those with power and those without'. Ultimately
though, Neo somehow brings a form of peace which wasn't thought of by either
humans or machines earlier.
But
why the middle-path? Why not bring down the Matrix? This is like asking the oft
repeated philosophical question: why can't we destroy Maya? The simplest way of
explaining it is by the analogy of life and death. The very fact that life
exists means that it is going to die someday as no matter is immortal. While
Neo perceives a solution through balance, Smith sees an answer in annihilation.
Therefore, where there is good, there is evil and prosperity exists only in
juxtaposition with poverty. Even the universe is rests on the premise of
destruction in the process of creating or sustaining something else. Ah our
life is such a contradiction!
Therefore,
the film or the Matrix Trilogy doesn't actually suggest overthrowing the
machine regime and creating a new world order. While the first film ends with
the note of Neo turning into a superhero, he actually represents the idea of a
liberated one. This idea of personal
liberation is not unlike the idea of 'Moksha' where one is 'free' of the
bondage of the Matrix depicted by 'Maya'. And the trilogy ends on the note of finding
balance between things where the simulated reality persists but those that want
to opt out will get to be free.
The
spiritual underpinnings are obvious at the beginning of Neo's quest when they
visit the Oracle as Morpheus tells him “I can only show you the door; you
have to walk through it”, he is the quintessential Guru to Neo. And in the
Oracle's home are the profound words 'Temet Nosce' meaning 'Know
Thyself' in Latin, probably hinting at the heart of Advaitic beliefs about the
self being nothing but Brahman, as the vedas proclaim "aham brahmÄsmi".
And the realized ones do their level best to alleviate suffering around them
without destroying the system.
To
sum up, the profound revelation of the falsehood of Maya is most clearly portrayed
when one of the children being cared for by the Oracle bends a spoon at will
and Neo fails at it. With all serenity, the boy says "Do not try and
bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.. there
is no spoon.. it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself".
So,
where do we go from here? 'Red Pill' or the 'Blue Pill'?
References: (1) The Matrix Trilogy
Films, (2) Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol 2 & (3) Wikipedia entry
on Advaita Vedanta
Declaration: The analytical content
in this article is the author's original contribution. Names and Characters
from the film are the property of the filmmakers. The views on philosophy and
interpretations of quotes from spiritual texts linked to the films are purely personal.
Comments