The Matrix in film analysis

¶ … Matrix [...] truth and reality in the film. Truth and reality are often hard to tell apart from dreams and unreality. This is very true in the film The Matrix. Neo's world is really simply an illusion created by those in charge, while the alternative life the rebels live underground is in fact real. However, there are parts of each life that seem quite real, and it is difficult to tell where truth and reality end in the movie, and lies and deception begin.

The Matrix might seem like a difficult movie to understand at first. It is hard to tell where Neo's reality begins and ends, and where the world's reality begins and ends. Actually, the only real world is underground, and the life above ground is just a virtual reality "matrix" where people live and work, but do not really exist. At one point, Morpheus tells Neo-about the matrix, "It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth" (The Matrix). The movie is really a commentary on our own lives, and how we, as the human race, tend to live our lives as if we are simply robots moving through our own computer program called "life." Neo-has to wake up to his potential and be unplugged from the matrix. We must wake up to our own potential and live our lives creatively and fully for them to be truly real to us, and for us to be truly fulfilled and satisfied. The movie may be science fiction, but it is also a dose of reality for the people who watch it and recognize themselves as they move through the matrix of their own lives.

There are many characters in the film that are wise and all knowing, and who teach Neo-about his own reality - that he is "the one." Perhaps the most memorable, and the most real, is the Oracle, who seems like a kindly grandmother, but knows all and sees all. Her reality is the ultimate truth, and yet, she is so realistic that she hands out chocolate chip cookies to those who visit her. Her reality is the reality of the past, with all its fond memories. Yet, she can see the future. She lives in an alternate reality that lets people find themselves and build on their strengths. This is another part of The Matrix that is a lesson to the people watching. The film is telling us that we are capable of anything, just like Neo-is capable of "dodging bullets." The only limitations on us are those that society puts on us, and the limitations we set for ourselves. At first, Neo-does not think he can fight with Morpheus, but he can. The movie is telling us that we are stronger than we think we are, and that we have to discover our own strength and make it our own reality.