The wonders of the Matrix Trilogy.

[JediFonger]

this is coming off of this thread:
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=39408

as well as numerous other threads of people dissing the Matrix. first i am not a professional writer so any errors in grammar are simply a common man trying to express an idea. secondly this was an essay i had to write for my philosophy based on a book we were reading at that time referenced at the bilbliography Thomas White's Discovering Philosophy. thirdly the formatting is screwed up this was originally in word document. finally i just want ya'll to keep an open mind =). enjoy!

Matrix Decoded

Prerequisites: You must have seen the Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions) movies before you read this article. This article will be full of spoilers.

Rabbit Hole
You are reading this article because you want answers. You have watched three movies that have asked profound questions and now you need profound answers. Morpheus said, “I told you I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it.” (Matrix 1:10:34). To decipher the Matrix I can only give you the tools, you must learn how to use it. What are those tools? You are already using one of them. Curiosity. Humans are blessed with an intellect to question everything.
There are two subjects that you need to have a brief introductory knowledge on before diving into the Matrix. These are the tool boxes that the tools will be stored in. You will need both to understand the Matrix. The first tool box is computer programming and the second is philosophy.

Construct
Computer programming is a relatively simple concept. Machines will perform actions based on what you command it to do, but machines do not understand any of the human languages. They only understand on and off. So how do you command a machine on what to do? The first step is you write a program in English codes. These lines of codes tell machines what they can or cannot do. These codes exist so that humans can understand what it is they are telling the machines to do. These codes also exist so that you can work with other humans to create more complex programs that in turn control machines to perform more complex actions. The second step is that these lines of code are run through a compiler, which is what translates English codes into a language computers can understand. The compiler takes lines of codes and turns them into a series of on and off instructions that the computer obeys. After you run codes through the compiler the result is what is called a binary file. Binary because the instructions are only on and off, two types of actions. The third step is the time you command the machine to execute the binary file so that the machine follows the file and performs the actions stored in the file. That, in a nutshell, is the basic concepts of computer programming! It sounds complex but if you read this paragraph through a few times you will grasp the concept.

Love of Wisdom
Unlike computer programming philosophy is an extensive subject that is beyond the scope of this article. If computer programming is a tool box then philosophy must be a tool shed.
What is philosophy? Philosophy is asking questions about yourself and how you relate to the people and the world around you. Through the act of answering those questions you will gain a greater understanding of yourself and others. This article will concentrate only on one aspect of philosophy in relations to The Matrix, determinism vs. free will.
Determinism means that every action you take is based on a cause, that your choices cannot be freely arrived at. All of your actions are based on a cause that you then act out in effect. There are many philosophers throughout the ages arguing determinism, but none as prominent as from the last century. B.F. Skinner and Sigmund Freud. They have turned to science for alleged proof of causality. These two are also the founders of modern psychology.
In Skinner’s pursuit for the study of human behavior he believes that your “choices” do no result from “free” choice, but are predictable responses to stimuli. A cause and effect (causality). An example would be when you go to work in the morning and you say, “Good Morning.” to your co workers. You will repeat the action again to the ones that respond warmly on the following day. Your “Good Morning” is the stimulus and your co-worker’s reception is the response. Same stimulus always evokes the same response. Skinner believes that humans are controlled by consequences of reinforcement. If your co-workers are positively reinforced into responding warmly to your good mornings then they will tend to repeat the response every time you stimulate them. The only problem is that Skinner does not take into account human emotions, which can take on unpredictable choices and cannot be empirically measured.
Sigmund Freud believes that all human behavior is controlled by the Unconscious. That below what you cognitively realize there is another level of consciousness. An example would be “Freudian slips”. If you are talking to a very attractive person and you want to say Hi to them but what came out of your mouth was Hi Sexy. It is your unconscious surfacing and reminding you of your physical desires. Freud believed that you have three parts of a personality; Id, Ego and Superego. Ego is you yourself. Id is the carnal physical drives of your body (typically encompassing sex and aggression). Superego are pressures from your friends, family, media, anything that did not originate from yourself. Freud believed that you did not choose to be who you are because you are made up of childhood experiences. These childhood experiences are what the Superego is made of. Both Superego and Id are pulling and tugging at the Ego. It is your parents telling you to be in a certain career, it is the media telling how you should look or talk, it is your friends telling you how to live your life, it is your hormones driving your need for sex. The problem with Freud’s idea is responsibility. There is no way of accounting for criminals that say it was their Id that killed someone or their Superego that robbed a bank. Society would run amok.
Free will is the antithesis of determinism. Every choice that you make are not under the influence of others or causality. You are reading this article because you have chosen to enlighten yourself of new knowledge… or at least that is the hope of the author. The following three philosophers defend free will.
Aristotle tackles Freud’s problem of responsibility directly by dividing it up into voluntary and involuntary actions. Voluntary actions are choices that you knowingly take, therefore you are entirely responsible for those actions regardless of the time you made it. Let’s say you are miserable because you are reading this article right now. You voluntarily made the choice to read my article from the beginning. You still have a choice to stop reading, yet you continue to read. You are responsible for your own misery. Involuntary action is when a person, such as the author of this article, holds a gun to your head and demands you to read through this article. You are NOT responsible for those actions. Aristotle believes that through these choices humans define their personality.
William James’s pragmatism claims that free will gives humans a more satisfying and rational explanation of experience than determinism does. James believes that when you are presented with choices, you will regret the choice you did not make. That very feeling is why we have free will, it is because there is more than one choice at any given time.
Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism believes that you are totally and entirely bound to freedom that every choice that you make determines you very essence, your nature.
The problem with James’s “feelings” are that it is too unscientific. Sartre’s interpretation is too strict on making choices that define the make up of a person that he leaves nothing to external forces, such as Freud’s Superego.
The key to philosophy is a balance of ideas. Take the parts that you think makes sense to you and come up with your own philosophy.

[JediFonger]

Determined Freedom
“It’s the question that drives us, Neo. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question just as I did.” Trinity said to Neo (Matrix 11:30). Now that you have a primer on both programming and philosophy you can begin by taking a look at determinism in the Matrix Trilogy. “The time has come to make a choice, Mr. Anderson,” Manager (Matrix 12:45). Very early on in the first movie we are presented with a choice. The Manager’s comment regarding Neo’s tardiness to work is within the Matrix but the Manager is really asking Neo to make a choice to knowing the truth of the Matrix. He is also asking the audience of the movie to answer that question. He is asking you to make a choice. What choice? The choice to understand philosophy, to apply it to your life and to gain understanding of the truth. That is also why the window washers are there in the same scene. The glass represents a view into life. The Warchowski Brothers only made one cameo appearance in all three movies. They are the window washers in this scene because they believe they are cleaning your mind’s eye into your own life. They are the philosophers that will take you on this journey of “choice”.
After Neo wakes up in the real world Morpheus apologizes to Neo for waking him out of the Matrix at such an old age. Morpheus then questioned Neo about going back to the Matrix. “But if you could would you really want to?” Morpheus (44:45). These attenuating circumstances would suggest that Morpheus is what Aristotle would refer to as an involuntary action from Neo’s point of view. Is Morpheus an agent of causality? Does his blind faith depend on an empty foundation? Is his belief in the Oracle logical? No, as we find out in Matrix Reloaded:
“Causality. Action, reaction. Cause and effect, “ said Merovingian.
“Everything begins with choice,” said Morpheus.
“No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without,” said Merovingian (Matrix Reloaded 1:06:03-1:06:22). Here we have an interesting contrast between Merovingian the determinist and Morpheus the freedom fighter. Merovingian is both B.F. Skinner and Freud combined through the illustration he uses. He attributes programming the cake as the cause and the effect is that woman getting very aroused. The Merovingian believes in this so much that he says, “Causality. There is no escape from it. We are forever slaves to it.” (Matrix Reloaded 1:08:07). Freud’s Id also plays into the picture as the Merovingian is able to physically satisfy his carnal lust without giving heed to his emotional consequences. That is why Persephone, Merovingian’s wife, helps Neo. In Matrix Reloaded Neo later meets the Architect that is even more deterministic than Merovingian. He notes that the Oracle “stumbled upon a solution whereby 99 percent of subjects accepted the program as long as they were given a choice even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level.” Architect(Matrix Reloaded 1:53:50). As Neo puts it, “Choice. The problem is choice.” (Matrix Reloaded 1:52:20). William James would have approved Neo’s statement for choice. The Architect represents the harsh cold reality of determinism. It is a series of mathematical precision, devoid of emotion, only logic and rationality. To the Architect humans are merely numbers and equations to be solved, balanced and manipulated. The problem with that approach is that human emotions do not quantify merely as stimulus and responses as Skinner puts it nor is it just Id or Superego at work. Warchowski specifically put the themes of love throughout the Matrix trilogy just for the purpose of explaining the irrational nature of human emotions. The Merovingian compares love to insanity in Matrix Revolutions. Love is what saved Neo from dying in Matrix, love is what saved Trinity in Matrix Reloaded and love is what saved Zion AND the machine world.
The Oracle is a neutral program inside of the Matrix that wants to survive the future. She could be deterministic or free will if that is the ticket to survive. “So it’s really up to you. Just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I’m going to tell you or reject it.” Oracle (Matrix Reloaded 45:36). “But if you already know, how can I make a choice?” Neo (Matrix Reloaded 45:53). So what is the Oracle? How can she see the future? Is she is manipulating it? “Now, since the real test for any choice is having to make the same choice again knowing full well what it might cost…” Oracle(Matrix Revolutions 5:55).
Is the Matrix Trilogy more determinism or free will? It appears from the above evidence that the Warchowski Brothers may have led you into determinism, that all of your life you have been controlled by the Matrix. Every choice that you make is a mirage of hope. As Mr. Smith says, “It is inevitable.” Smith(Matrix Reloaded 58:47). Nearly every character that Neo meets wants Neo to perform and action for them. In the beginning of the Matrix the Manager wants Neo to be on time. Agent Smith wants Neo to come clean of his cyber crimes. Morpheus leads him to the door but wants him to open it. Oracle wants Neo to save Morpheus. The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar wants Neo to save Zion. All of the Agents want Neo to die. In Matrix Reloaded all of Zion wants Neo to save them. The council of Zion wants Neo to save them. Merovingian wants to Neo to be locked up in a Train station. Architect wants Neo’s code to reboot the Matrix. In Matrix Revolutions the machines want Neo to kill Smith the Virus. Through the entire story Neo is being herded into a destiny that does not appear to be of his own choice. But that is not the end of it. The reason why the Matrix Trilogy are the most philosophical movies of all time is because for every side of an argument it provides the opposite view with equal footing.
Although every character commands Neo to perform an action, he still has a choice to make. Even though the Manager tells him to be on time, we know it is not the first time that Neo is late for work. Just like he flips off the Agents, he doesn’t care about the Matrix world. Morpheus gives Neo a blue pill and a red pill, Neo can make a choice. He can choose what to do. Although the Oracle gives Neo information the final choice is still Neo’s to make. Neo must make up his own mind. The Oracle gives information to the human characters so they can make their own choices. She does not impose her will upon them. In the Architect’s room Neo chooses to save Trinity and not Zion. There is a difference between what the people of Zion want, to save themselves, and what Neo wants. To save Trinity. He is so free that he is almost condemned to be free as Sartre says. The existential ideas are prevalent especially in Matrix Reloaded. You can argue that the Matrix Trilogy is entirely for free will because at the end of the Trilogy Neo chooses to sacrifice himself for the survival of both the machine world and Zion.

[JediFonger]

The Revolution
“Is it freedom or truth?” Smith (Matrix Revolutions 1:49:11)
Mr. Smith represents determinism and Neo represents free will. Smith is so bent on carrying out the course of causality that even if he destroys both the Matrix and the real world it does not matter because his philosophy is that what is coming is “inevitable”. Yet Neo prevails to rebel against that idea “Because I choose to.” Neo (Matrix Revolutions 1:49:57). Neo’s version of inevitability lies not in cause and effect but in a choice. “You were right, Smith. You were always right. It was inevitable.” Neo (Matrix Revolutions 1:52:35). His choice to sacrifice himself defies all logic and explanation, yet it is exactly this freedom to do this action that saves the world. Even with the Oracle’s eyes (to see the future) Smith could not see his own end because he is locked in the tower of causality. Even if Smith was told what Neo would do ahead of time Smith would not believe it because he is so deterministic.
The Matrix Trilogy has every branch of Philosophy explored. Simulacra & Simulation, a green book (Matrix 8:28) appeared in the first movie and Morpheus says, “Welcome to the desert of the real.” (Matrix 41:16) lifted directly out of Baudrillard’s first essay. Warchowski had most of the cast read this work before production of the movies. Neo says, “You ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or still dreaming?” it is a reference to Descartes’ Lucid Dreams. Neo references Buddhist and Judeo-Christian ideas in regards to God’s proof/existence, there is a heavy spiritual undertone throughout the Matrix.
Remember computer programming? Well inside a computer code there is a concept named “for loop”. A loop is needed sometimes when a program requires choices that need to be presented to the user. A for loop consists of initialization all of the components needed for the program to continue, a check in the condition, execute statements that is within the body of the for loop and finally it ends with commands that run after the loop happens. That piece of code from programming generally looks like this:

for(initialization;condition;postloop)
{
body;
};

You would use this when writing programs that call for a machine to perform an action for finite or infinite amount of times. An example would be the ATMs when you enter in your password. Let’s say your password was only 1 digit and it was the number 5. The ATM program might check to see if what you entered was 5 and then let’s you take out cash. This is where the for loop can come in handy. The code might look something like this:

for(insert_ATM_card;if_password=5;eject_ATM_card)
{
Withdrawl_money_allowed;
}

The computer checks to see if you inserted your ATM card, which is the initialization part, then it checks the condition of your password to see if it 5, if it is then the computer executes the body of the loop where the ATM is allowed to give you money. After that the computer executes the post loop that ejects your ATM card. If your password is incorrect it would just eject your ATM card and NOT allow you to withdraw money. Here is the for loop for the Matrix Trilogy:

for(matrix=wake_neo;reloaded=neo_chooses_trinity|| reloaded=neo_chooses_zion;revolutions++)
{
Destroy Zion;
}

Matrix is Neo’s awakening and his initialization into the real world from the Matrix. Reloaded is the condition that Neo choosing Trinity or, the two vertical lines represent OR, Neo choosing Zion. Either way Zion is destroyed, which then leads us to Revolutions rebooting the Matrix with Neo’s code by another iteration of 1. Revolutions++ means Revolutions=Revolutions+1.
What does all of this mean? At the end of Revolutions Oracle says that Neo may return, this means that the sequel to Revolutions is The first Matrix where everything starts over again. The Matrix Trilogy is an infinite loop full of endless and exhaustive examination of philosophical ideas unbounded by time. “Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose!” Smith (Matrix Revolutions 1:49:16). This line of dialogue from the Warchowski Brothers is directed at you, the audience, to live life with a purpose or meaning. The original intent of the Matrix Trilogy is not only to entertain the physical, emotional senses but also the intellect, to stir your curiosity enough that you may start to seek out articles like this one. Philosophy works by probing deep into the most fundamental questions of life. Your journey has just begun. Calvin said to Hobbes at the very last panel of their existence as comics, “Let’s go exploring.”

Bibliography
-White, Thomas I. Discovering Philosophy Brief Edition. NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.

-Irwin, William, eds. The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real. IL: Carus Publishing Co., 2002.

- Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. MI: University of Michigan, 1994.

-The Matrix Trilogy. Dir. Warchowski Brothers. Perfs. Keanu Reeves, Joseph Cotton. Film/DVD. Warner Brothers, 1999 for the Matrix, 2003 for Matrix Reloaded, 2003 for Matrix Revolutions.

-Warner Brothers. “Philosophy & The Matrix”. The Matrix Trilogy Official Site. http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/phi.html (Nov 20th, 2002, March 20th, 2002, December 19th, 2003)

-Honderich, Ted, ed. THE DETERMINISM AND FREEDOM PHILOSOPHY WEBSITE. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/dfwIntroIndex.htm.

[trismegistus]

Yours is a nicely written paper, JediFonger, and it's clear a great deal of research and thought went into it. Here's my problem. I think you really come to your point when you write: "the Matrix Trilogy are the most philosophical movies of all time" and "The Matrix Trilogy has every branch of Philosophy explored."

Fine. That doesn't make them good films (much less great ones), it merely makes them a rehash of a number of schools of philosophical thought. If I make a documentary that consists of nothing more than a camera set up in your philosophy class filming the professor's lecture, have I created a great documentary? I've covered a lot of philosophy, and I've covered it in far more detail than you get in the Matrix Trilogy (which has to devote itself to narrative, and, you know, rave scenes and such), but simply presenting these things doesn't make art, it makes an expository essay on film, or at best it makes an advertisement.

I don't want to spend time trashing the ideas of the film (although I see little real profundity there), and I don't think it's necessary to do so. The series isn't good as cinema. Everything other than the visual spectacle is no better than average: acting, editing, score, direction, script. Now for the first film the visual spectacle was enough. It was a bold and beautiful vision, and it could carry a fairly formulaic plot. After The Matrix, however, there was nothing left to say, and the tools with which to say it had already been used once. The Brothers Wachowski really offer nothing new in the second and third films (except for those raves, of course). What was a nifty little first movie ends up becoming a video game with Neo fulfilling tasks and fighting Bosses at the end of each level. (And the Bosses become more absurd. Come now! 10,000 agent Smiths? But this is the problem with ending the first movie with Neo reaching God Mode; once he proves that he can effectively do anything he wishes within the matrix - including fly and blow up Agents at will - nothing there can be seen to be a threat to him. To do so is to turn the end of the first movie into a lie.)

I suspect this is just one more thing we'll agree to disagree on.

[JediFonger]

you are correct tris =). i really loved the 3 movies not only for my reasons stated up above in the essay but for the fact that the brothers really took something as deep and intellectual as philosophy and pump it through the pop culture lane. they have done it in a way that fused video game-love, kung fu, anime, goth, computer-geekdom, all subjects that the major public know very little about. in essence they took all things cult and, ironically, unculted them in the pop culture. as "cinema" and as "entertainment" i thoroughly enjoyed the films. even without all of the thinking it held my attention until the very end. it was certainly every bit as epic as lord of the rings. i still remember the first screenings of revolutions audiences gasped at the screen (such as neo's slow mo punching smith). now if that ain't "cinema" i dunno what is.

[fayefaye]

oh man... can I quietly share my opinion and y'all can ignore my post and go on and have a constructive discussion? I really hate the matrix. there. I said it. [shudders]

[crisaor]

Well, I was hoping to discuss the Matrix trilogy and express my opinion about it, but Trismegistus already beat me to it. I think the same as he, in regard to both the movies and to JediFonger's article. Most of all, I think this is right on the money:
The Brothers Wachowski really offer nothing new in the second and third films (except for those raves, of course). What was a nifty little first movie ends up becoming a video game with Neo fulfilling tasks and fighting Bosses at the end of each level. (And the Bosses become more absurd. Come now! 10,000 agent Smiths? But this is the problem with ending the first movie with Neo reaching God Mode; once he proves that he can effectively do anything he wishes within the matrix - including fly and blow up Agents at will - nothing there can be seen to be a threat to him. To do so is to turn the end of the first movie into a lie.)
Considering that, the first movie is perfectly able to stand for itself, as it always has. The other movies were just a big merchandising trip.

[Ron Price]

There are many ways of summarizing this film and many an interpretation. The following prose-poem is a personal and poetic reaction--not only an interpretation.-Ron Price, Tasmania.

The film The Matrix was released in Australia the very week I taught my last classes as a full-time professional teacher, April 8th 1999. I had been teaching for thirty years. I won't summarize the details of the plot and all the characters. But some of the theme is as follows: a fundamental discovery is made about the world that it doesn't exist. It's actually a form of Virtual Reality designed to lull people into lives of blind obedience to the system. People obediently go to their jobs every day without knowing that Matrix is the wool that has been pulled over their eyes. The reality of life is that people are slaves. The rebels want to crack the framework that holds this Matrix in place thus freeing humankind. Some believe a messianic One will lead a social uprising; this messianic One will possess both mind power and physical strength. -Ron Price, Pioneering Over Four Epochs, 4 November 2006 with thanks to Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, March 31st 1999.

The world has been in a great sleep
from which it is slowly waking
thanks to that messianic One
and the uprising has begun
silently, unobtrusively, for
the revolution is global and
out of man's control--it is also
spiritual--having begun within
the Shaykhi school of the Ithna-
Ashariyyih sect of Shiah Islam.
But don't tell anyone--it's the
best kept secret-non-secret in
the world and it is slowly rising
from the obscurity in which it
has been shrouded for 160 years.

Ron Price
4 November 2006

[JediFonger]

people still watching this? =P. trilogy has only gotten better and better everytime i rewatch 2&3.

[Video Drone]

I always thought that Matrix 2 and 3 were totally out of place... and after watching other movies on the subject I stopped regarding Matrix as a very deep movie... but I'll see what you have written here.
But some of the theme is as follows: a fundamental discovery is made about the world that it doesn't exist. It's actually a form of Virtual Reality designed to lull people into lives of blind obedience to the system.I think the problem is that people didn't really hear of virtual reality before. But that is only because other movies on the subject are not as straightforward and certainly not as popular as the Matrix is...

To JediFonger - I watch it now and then but I still don't see much in there but an action movie, especially the last 2, the first one was a lot better.

[matrixstudy]

I have taken alot out of what I have read above and for that I thank all those who have input. I have decided to my dissertation will be on The Matrix Trilogy, I am currently investigating the two theoretical books...Like a splinter in your mind and Taking the red pill... Unfortunately after months of dwelling I am still looking for an answer of how my study (thus half way through) is actually relevant to my english degree directly...despite discussing theorists such as baudrillard, Descartes and Barthes who have put invaluable systems of thought and narrative theory into Literacy 'critical' theory. Anybody got any sort of opinionated angle on this?

[TheMatrixFilms]

that is a excellent write up by the OP, and really gets into what the matrix films can be about, not just all out action, though the action is really good and was ground breaking at the time, but the most important element of the matrix films was that of the philosophy or just put plainly to make you think and question the world around you.

like my screen name the matrix films are my most favourite films i have watched, as far as i can think right now, they are anyway, very inspirational and unique really, and you can have lots of time thinking over the concepts in the films as well, whereas most films are just one dimensional at times.

[WyattGwyon]

Good first film—then they cynically beat every bit of cash they could out of the franchise without any discernible critical standards. The sequels are laughable. Would have been far better had they never been made. Kind of the way I felt about the Dune series.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

While I didn't think the second and third were completely horrible--I enjoyed them for the action and effects--they definitely were horrible in comparison to the first, which is probably one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.