The Matrix film analysis and themes

¶ … Cypher's desire in The Matrix, to be plugged back into the program. It is maintained that this desire is wrong or misleading from the viewpoints of both Plato and Socrates, who say that knowledge is virtue and thus, nothingness -- the result of the Matrix -- is essentially nothing.

Ignorance is bliss"

The first important philosophical question raised by The Matrix is whether reality is better than illusion, or the other way around. Cypher was wrong to make a deal with Agent Smith to be plugged back into the Matrix. The Matrix at best could have been a ride in an amusement park rather than a way to live. However, through the movie we learn that those involved deeply with the Matrix consider it somewhat to be larger than life. Cypher and others do question their own minds about what is real, what is not, they are aware of the answers. Nevertheless, ignorance is bliss for Cypher to wish being plugged back into the Matrix ("Theory of Knowledge").

Cypher believes that it would be extraordinarily pleasurable for him to be in the Matrix program. When he makes a deal with Agent Smith, he agrees to wanting to know nothing, and to fulfill his desires, all of them, by way of fantasy in the Matrix ("Theory of Knowledge"). Obviously this is an unnatural way of living -- knowing nothing when one can know much is a mistake that is humanly impossible to be made unless one destroys himself by some means. The Matrix puts ones brain cells to rest: this is close to euthanasia, suicide, homicide, or coma (to put it in a gentler tone than the sound of the other alternatives). Is this the price for happiness? It should not be. It is not the way we were born, nor the way we were supposed to survive. It is akin to alcoholism or drug abuse whereby one can be made to forget his present and enter a different state. And yet, can we confidently say that the Matrix is unreal? - No. The Matrix has its own reality.

That the Matrix is blissful for those who choose to remain ignorant of reality -- reminds one of Plato's notion of eutopia. Or is this not so considering that eutopia does not imply any artificial means of becoming happy? It comes to mind that perhaps reality for the one spending time in the Matrix can be determined based upon how long he spends in and outside the Matrix. Would not one living in the Matrix become accustomed to it and consider it home? - Possibly. But just as Plato has pointed out in The Allegory of the Cave, the brighter state, the happier state will more likely appear as reality to those experiencing it. If a prisoner in the Allegory leaves the cave, he notices he has come out of darkness into light. He pities the ones in the cave at this time. Prior to this he had not realized the darkness or the unawareness he lived in, and unlike Cypher, he does not wish to return into the state of darkness (Plato). The prisoner believes he has abandoned that and now the argument is -- should he ever be returned to the darkness for further learning, and for a greater appreciation of knowledge or light so that he could once gain be released from the cave to sense the same freshness of liberation he felt before?

Cypher does not acknowledge that the state outside the Matrix is better for him. He is not like the prisoner who sees knowledge as bliss ("Plato's Allegory of the Cave"). Cypher is deluded by the unethical nature of the Matrix program, and he sees it as superior to the world outside. Again, it may be debated whether the Matrix is ethical or not so. Perhaps we may confidently leave such questions to the psychologists of the world.

What would Socrates think about the Matrix? Socrates denies that ignorance is bliss, of course. He encourages people to think. In The Apology by Plato, Socrates defends his position as one who looks for virtue, peace, happiness, justice, and quality. Socrates did inspire the youth to use their intelligence, to seek the truth, to gain more knowledge. Those who put him on trial, however, argued just as Cypher would -- that ignorance is bliss and people must be left to think of nothing new if not nothing at all (Ziniewicz). Evidently, Cypher's ideas clash with those of humanists like Socrates and Plato who believe in the evolution of man: that man must rise above his current state, keep rising until he reaches the peak after which he would have to descend and once more enter a state of ignorance (if unavoidable). This is the cycle of booms and slumps, if one may desire to consider them in this manner. Fortunately, the cycle must move along without stopping as Cypher might want it to, in the Matrix program.

Socrates considered knowledge as the greatest of virtues. At the same time, he did not consider himself intelligent, believing that those who think they are wise are actually dim-witted, and vice versa. Purity and excellence were the concerns of Socrates, and ultimately of Plato as well (Dunkle). Certainly, both of these philosophers would disagree with Cypher's desire to be plugged back into the Matrix. Nonetheless, one may speculate whether they would allow Cypher only one such experience in the Matrix program, or if they would believe that it is healthful to experience different experiences and thus, anybody interested in the Matrix could try it once.