The Matrix

The matrix trilogy

-Erik Helleren

what makes this post-apocalyptic, action movie a movie about choice? According to the movie itself, the matrix is a complex equation, and equation that dictates every day events; however, the antagonists, the machines, can neither solve for nor compensate for a singular variable: the burden of choice. The creator of the construct itself admits that he has failed to compensate for choice many times before, and, as a result, the Matrix failed a total of 6 times before. It was the simple fact that humanity has the burden of choice that prevented the antagonists from reaching ultimate goal.

Throughout the movie, the characters are presented with choices that effect the ultimate outcome of the movie. The first and arguably the most important choice is Neo's simple choice of wither or not to follow a woman with a white rabbit tattoo. This could be easily conceived as the most important choice that Neo makes in that if he choses to not follow this woman the entirety of the trilogy would not happen; however, due to Neo's desire to quell his curiosity, he choses to follow this woman. This choice, not to spoil the trilogy, leads to his suffering and, ultimately, to his death. Yet, it is not this choice alone that is the source of his suffering, it is but one of the several stepping stones that lead to the ultimate consequence. The next major choice that Neo is confronted with is the most iconic moment in the first movie. Neo is presented two pills, a red pill and a blue pill (video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arcJksDgCOU). He is told that the red pill will allow him to see 'how deep the rabbit whole goes', while, with the blue pill, he will wake up the next day and believe whatever he wants to believe. Here the two choices are quite clear, take the red pill and you will receive knowledge along its consequences, take the blue pill and you get nothing except a good nights sleep. Either way, his choice is final. Neo makes the choice to take the red pill with its consequences. As a result, he is catapulted out of the matrix and into a body of water where deceased people are dumped. He quickly finds himself drowning but is rescued just in time. As a direct result of his choice, he learns the fate of man kind on Earth and exactly what the matrix is: a giant power plant. He finds it difficult to cope with this new knowledge and goes into a fit of rage which quickly subsides.

The Matrix itself is used to showcase choice. This is because everything in the matrix is, to some extend, limited by the preconceived notions of the individual user. This is initially brought up during the initial fight scene between Neo and Morpheus. Morpheus probes Noe after a considerable length of the fight after Neo has yet to hit him. Morpheus questions Neo until he understands that the Matrix is just as limited by the users as the Matrix itself. In essence all Neo must do is chose to believe in his own ability and he will be capable of whatever he wants. This is further exemplified when Neo is instructed to leap across the gap between two buildings. He fails only because he chose to doubt himself. In other words, the impossible is only impossible because one choses to think that it is impossible. Thus the only constraint what you are capable of is your choices, an essential existential ideal.

There is a very difference between classical existentialism and that presented in the Matrix. As far as the facts I can glean from Sartre's essays and play “No Exit,” choice is a spontaneous thing that is a byproduct of sentient beings (if not the deffiniton itself); however, that choice is made in the moment, consciously and actively by the chooser. With that comes the 'burden of choice” which is that your choice to make and that choice effects the entire human condition. The major difference between this and the existential ideas presented in the Matrix is understanding. The Oracle, one of the major philosophical characters in the movie says this to Neo: “You didn't come here to make a choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it”(Matrix: reloaded). This clearly implies that choice is not instantaneous but rather choices are made up before the 'moment of truth' when we finally understand our choice. This is when we 'finalize' our choice by acting out that choice, yet this finalization is well before we act out our choice, sometimes before we even know we even have a choice to make. The best example is executed during the second movie; however the choice itself was made in the first. Neo and Trinity fall deeply in love and as a result are will to make sacrifices for each other. A choice has been made here: Neo would sacrifice anything to protect Trinity. During the second movie, Neo is 'given' the choice to either serve his purpose, ending his life for the salvation of humanity, or to save Trinity's life. Neo is not given a choice here, he is just given understanding. Yet, even with this fundamental change in the workings of this existentialism, the remainder of the classical ideals remain intact in that the chooser still has a significant burden and he must live, or die, with the consequences. Neo's ultimate choice to truly save humanity from the Matrix and the Machines comes at a very steep price: he losses first his love and then himself. The last movie in the trilogy ends with both Trinity's and Neo's death for the salvation of millions: a sacrifice they both choose to make.

Just looking thought one of the many characters that display choice, we can clearly see that, the Matrix is quite possibly the most existentialistic movie of our time. Yet it does much more than just agree with old ideas, it presents new ones, further critiquing the formula of choice. Yet, at the same time, these movies present the idea that choice cannot be quantified, it can not be accounted for, and, most importantly, it is what separates us from the machines. It is what makes us human, because without choice, what are we?