Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real, you questioned if you was still dreaming? What if the dream you were dreaming was merely a dream within a dream! What if, someone told you that your whole world was simply a visualization of what we are programed to believe? This paper is based on my interpretation of the movie, The Matrix and understanding reality and imagination. As humans our perception on things dictates our understanding and view on certain situations. In this paper you will read about free will of imagination, and the reality of what is imbedded within our minds. I will also explain the decisions we make and the decisions that are made for us. I will use information from sources such as the movie The Matrix, and Kant’s theory of free will and many others.
In the movie The Matrix, when Neo meets Trinity it seems so real, it seem as if he was actually awake, but then Neo woke up in his bed, this would imply that Neo was dreaming. After this Neo went to work, and eventually got arrested by agent Smith. When Neo was in the police station he says,” I know my rights. I want my phone call.” (Neo 24). The agent says to Neo, ”what good is a phone call if you are unable to speak”(Agent Smith 24). And like magic, Neo’s mouth was mended together like bricks and concrete upon a four story building. Would this imply that Neo was dreaming? Let’s remember Neo had just gotten out of bed and went to work. So, was Neo still dreaming? In the movie Morpheus offered Neo an alternative towards two different worlds. A choice of staying within the walls of imagination or waking up in his bed like nothing had ever taken place. “This is your last chance Morpheus says, stoically after this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed, and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill you stay in wonderland, and I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes”. Morpheus also asked Neo, what if he had a dream that was so real, and never woke up, how he would know if he was still sleeping! (Morpheus 36).
Neo took the red pill and started the process of living in the real world. This real world exist outside the virtual reality, this reality is design and controlled by the computer. Neo experienced a life inside a pod full of liquid; he had these plugs imbedded in his neck, back and his upper torso. As he stood up, he saw an entire city of theses pods, some with full grown adults and others with infants, eating the fluid through the tubes for survival. Likewise, in reality the process of a woman given birth holds and protects a child in the embryo. Imagine living in a world that was programmed inside of our brain, living in a world that was created to keep us trapped. What if we aren’t really here, what if we are sleeping inside of a pod in cave in the bottom of a crater in the depths of the abyss?
According to the movie, The Matrix our planet is merely a virtual simulation design to keep us confused, but yet comfortable to deal and cope in society. This program is designed to keep us engulfed within our understanding of our materialistic wants. According to Kant in the documentary Philosophy and The Matrix, philosophy is all around us. In our society it is engulfed with a mental understanding of self belief. This documentary also talks about how The Matrix was perfect, kind of like the biblical term, the Garden of Eden. When Morpheus showed Neo how The Matrix world looked like, ironically the world was a perfect picture of the one Neo remembered through his memory. Morpheus then showed Neo a picture of the real world, a world with no computer imaging, no touch ups, and no enhancements. Shockingly the world was desolate, there was no sun, it was cold, dark, and the clouds hovered over like a black storm striking with vengeance, the thunder struck powerful and consistent. There were no people; it was just a world of darkness!
Gunkel’s article, The Virtual Dialectic speaks about,” the virtual reality, cyberspace and different types of computers”. He agrees strongly about the possibilities pertaining to free will, and how we perceive through our environment. In comparison with the movie, Neo went to meet the Oracle, and watched a young child bend a solid steel spoon. Neo is bewildered, the child sensed Neo’s expression, and explained to Neo the purpose of understanding. The child
told Neo, the spoon
wasn’t really there, and he explained how he shouldn’t look at it as a solid,
look at it for what it really is; keep it in its original place.
Neo was trying to bend
the spoon with his mind; the child reminded him not to look at the spoon as a
solid. He informed Neo that he wasn’t
bending the spoon, but in reality, he was bending himself. When Neo applied
this rule, like a magic show at the Trump Plaza the spoon started to bend. The
Oracle tells Neo that he is the one, and that he had the free will to do
anything he wanted to do, he had a choice, and always choose wisely. .
In
the end of the movie Neo had to make a choice, leave Morpheus, or go back to
the ship. Because Neo is the one, or believes he’s the one, he went to save
Morpheus. After a heroic helicopter rescue, Neo was faced with a multitude of
agents. He had fought Morpheus many times, but these were all practice
simulations. When Neo would hit or kill an agent, the agent would just body
shift to another human. The agent would always be able to reappear through a new person. Neo
eventually was shot, and was believed to be dead, after Trinity talked to him
from the ship, he finally woke up. He woke up believing that he was the “only”
one. He kills the agents whenever he wanted to. He was faster and stronger than
all the agents; Neo had mastered his Imagination of reality!
In
conclusion, are we living in a world that is through our imagination of
understanding, or are we living in a world that is the reality of someone else’s,
or something else! It has become clear to me that we can use our minds for
anything. The way that we perceive things is because of the things that are depicted
in our society. In the movie, The Matrix
imagination and reality has given me a vivid view on how things are seen.
