#9 The Matrix

The Matrix 1999

"What is the Matrix?It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."

I think this movie is quite relevant to my topic "real" & "identity", so i re-watched it few days ago. In this movie, the main character, Thomas A Anderson which also known as Neo has different personalities depends on his identity. He has multiple identities that living two lives, which is software programmer and computer hacker.

Basically, the basic notion of the movie is the real world around us is an illusion or is not real. The real world around us is actually a computer evolved world.

Morpheus awakened Neo in the real world and started guide him to discover the truth.

Here's some of the conversation from the movie that I found interesting.

1. Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

2. Morpheus: What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

3. Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

As Morpheus points out in the movie, you couldn't tell which one is the real. (At this time, I also get confused with his words that is this world real? )  How do you define real? Can the game's virtual identity of mine be real? Why not? 

It is you that changes how do you see and how do you believe in your own perception.

From this movie, the reality doesn't look better than the computer evolved world. It's similar to our society today, as people are more rely on technology that humans are now discovering themselves and exploring new identity on the internet. The concept of this flexible self consists two selves which are self deception and self awareness. The capability of combining these two selves through lines of communication gives one the capability to explore all the different identities within oneself.
In this movie, Neo is struggling between his identity and the real (The One). Whether he is the one who can save humanity freeing them from the Matrix and end the Machine War or he is just an ordinary people.

References: 
Hein, M. (2013) 'Reality, Identity and The Matrix' [Online] Available at: http://philfilmrhodes.blogspot.com/2013/01/reality-identityand-matrix.html 

Further Reading:
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/society-and-culture/The-Matrix-reality-check-truth/883.aspx