<p style="text-align: center">V’nai Vazquez</p>
<p style="text-align: center">The Matrix (1999)</p>
<p style="text-align: center">The Wachowski’s</p>
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The Matrix directed by The Wachowski's is about Thomas Anderson, a computer programmer and a hacker, his alias is Neo. He feels something within himself and waits at his computer at night for some kind of sign that reality wasn’t what it seemed. He is contacted by Trinity who introduces him to Morpheus, who claims to have been watching Neo. Morpheus offers Neo the opportunity to either continue living the way he has been or to be awakened to true reality. Neo chooses true reality and finds that nearly all of humanity has been enslaved by machines who use human’s body heat and electric energy for survival and energy, and keep their minds focused on a reality the machines have created, this is known as the Matrix. The plot is based around Morpheus’s belief that Neo is “the One” that will be able to conquer the machines and free humanity. The Matrix directed by The Wachowskis should most certainly be preserved for not only the technical achievements but also the philosophical themes that still strike up conversations today.<!--more-->

When The Matrix was released it was during the era of Postmodernism. The idea is that reality became shaped by the wealth of technological information. The artists of the time take ideas from history and current events and put an ironic or paradoxical spin to it, creating a style that is “superficial and profound” (Fiero). Scientifically there was a lot going on as well. The Chaos Theory that pointed to numerous patterns that occurred naturally. The Human Genome project was also underway, mapping DNA thus giving scientists the ability to clone life forms. The Language Theory was also being discussed, which advised that language actually limited our ability to understand philosophy (Fiero). Throughout the decade it seemed the question on everyone’s mind was what else could there be? A new age of philosophy had sprung up and there seemed to be so much that humans did not know or understand, that there must be more than what we had currently understood about life. The internet was launched less than ten years before the movie was released, which sprouted a new age of information. Visual stimulation seemed to take over like a wild fire. This new generation of people were saturated quickly by all of the access to computers, telephones and cameras, everything then became marketable to every audience.  Now add the deep new discoveries and theories that were coming to fruition in addition to the all access pass to nearly all of the information known to man, via the internet, and this lays the perfect ground work for The Matrix to come to life.

Blast From the Past and Galaxy Quest were also released in 1999. Although they took a more satirical approach to the question of the future of America and the effects of machines and aliens, respectively, they both posed the question of what else is there. Blast From the Past focuses on the world as it was to become after the era of hippies it takes a few people that lived in the 60‘s and faces them with the reality of the 90‘s, where television was a focus and it seemed many people were mindless followers. Galaxy Quest was able to show what earthlings focus’s were, the aliens believe that Gilligan’s Island was an actual place, because when they learned about our planet that was what was on the television set. It was not a new idea to pose the question of where the world was heading, with the guide of our new technologies, and to show the potential from a third party perspective. In The Matrix we are able to see first hand from Neo’s perspective what may happen in the future. The painting art pieces of this era were focused on the consumerism idea. Andy Warhol based his art on every day commonplace objects, focusing them as the center, similarly to how it seemed the culture was facing itself. Consumerism was the name of the game in the 90’s it was as though a whole new world of products were finally able to enter the market because of the amount of available advertising. I think this plays into the idea of normalcy and consumerism going hand in hand because as Neo is learning about the matrix he finds that the machines had an opportunity to make the world perfect, the experiences of humans without flaw. However, humans wouldn’t accept that, they knew innately they were supposed to face hardships and they were supposed to make decisions on their own. Consumerism not only allows us to make our own choices it drives us to that.

The Matrix was unusual because of the intense amount of special effects and usage of certain effects that had been around but not the focus of many movies before. For instance there are the scenes where it is slow motion movement with a 360 degree around the actor. The film had over 3000 special effects (NY). The way the Wachowski’s wanted it to be stylized was similar to Japanese animation, so when they “created weather, fire and smoke, [they] wanted it to move not realistically but impressionalistically” (NY) The special effects were huge for the movie industry. A lot of study went into the facial expressions, body language, and hair and clothing movement. Since the Matrix was stepping into this new element of part live action part heavy special effects they found it very important to mesh the two types of video together seamlessly. Additionally this film sparked a lot of debate and philosophical conversations.

To anyone who is familiar with Descartes’ saying “I think therefore I am”, would understand the sudden spark in controversy. Descartes meant the only true way to tell if one exists is to think it, when you think “I am” it is truth, there can be no disputing it there is “immediate intuition, not the conclusion of dubious reasoning” (Brittanica). Which really throws The Matrix for a loop. Other than Neo, no one was questioning what life was all about or really had any type of philosophical thought process. The few people we are introduced to while in the Matrix are those who work in a colorless office, with little emotion, only flat monotonous activity. Secondly, we are introduced to a few young people who are only living for the moment, at a rave party, not concerned with the past or present. Was this life that we were all living a lie? Was it all just made up completely for us? What truly was the purpose of life, are we now giving more focus and attention to the machines at our fingertips than ourselves? What does reality truly mean? These among countless other questions arose and caused many people of all ages to consider a deeper meaning for life. Something that may be particularly interesting is the stir the film caused in the religious community. Various sites have forums that discuss the religious implications of Neo’s character among a slew of other comparisons to Christianity (ex. <a href="http://godlikeproductions.com" target="_blank">godlikeproductions.com</a> and <a href="http://angelfire.com" target="_blank">angelfire.com</a>).

Today a lot of people really enjoy The Matrix, even though we have far more advanced technology and mind bending movies, this film really set the stage for these worlds to collide. The use of the technology is almost like an art in the way it enhances the idea of this future where you can enter the information in the program and be that person with certain skills. Additionally, it still sparks conversations any where you go. People that have not seen it in ages are able to conjure up the feelings the movie gave them, whether that is goose bumps when Neo dodges the bullets or the deep philosophical questions it left them wondering. Fewer people are likely to put up a fight if you disagree with them as far as the religious opinions go nowadays versus in the hayday of it’s release. My conclusion for that is that now a lot more people are open to any kind of religion and ideology. Suffice it to say, you will come across people who so adamantly believe that there was religious undertones, but for every one of those people you will speak to 10 who thought there were several layers but found them to mean something else. I find this both sad and amazing. To me it seems that less people are passionate about believing in something, but I think it’s incredible how far we’ve come as a society to be more accepting toward one another. Additionally, when people think of this film they find it to be a “definitive hybrid of technical wizardry and contextual excellence”, “plot as well as characters I cared about”, “to all who doubt the profound nature of The Matrix... free your mind and watch the film again” (IMDB). It would seem that this film is quite flawless in the minds of current viewers, the effects, the acting and the philosophy all seem to strike a chord within it’s viewers. Many films nowadays are a flash in the pan and disappear in popularity shortly after their release. The Matrix has been around for 14 years and is still going strong in the hearts of it’s audience.

Prior to writing this paper I re-watched The Matrix. It still blows me away. The movie came out when I was nine, when I watched it then, there were a lot of explosions and slow motion graphics which I was all for. I mean what nine year old doesn’t like a good hand to hand combat scene? Watching it as an adult gave me a much clearer view point on how people were able to see as far as philosophy goes. In my opinion I love watching movies just for entertainment, however I can see how for many films the director’s ideologies come into play through their works. The Wachowskis are not philosophers, they do not have doctorates. It would seem they allowed so much room for interpretation of the film so that each of us would have to discover our own meaning from it. They gave it a wide enough berth that it gained in popularity through the discussion, rather than lose traction because of the strict black and white policy that some director’s use. I think The Matrix is meaningful because it leaves room for the human race to consider what it is we want from machinery. It has caused me to wonder just how far will we allow artificial intelligence to go, for instance Siri, by Apple she is able to work like a personal assistance. Sure, Siri doesn’t have arms and legs, but all the information that she learns about us just through our voices, she is able to understand when you talk to her “as you would to a person” (Siri). Although I do not think that it is plausible for machinery to take over the world, I think it is important for us to take a step back and truly consider the repercussions to our advancement in technology will lead us. It is pertinent that we tread the waters of advancement carefully before we just do it because “we can”.

Another movie that came out in 1999, is 10 Things I Hate About You. This is a horrible movie to do a comparison to The Matrix because they are completely different. The only similarity is that they are both films that were released in 1999. 10 Things I Hate About You (henceforth referred to as 10), is a movie about young love, it is about two sisters in high school who see the world completely different from one another but both find a boy who help them expand their world view in different ways. One of the sisters is the popular girl who meets a boy who is the nerdy character. The other sister is the outsider who goes against the grain and meets the bad boy. Although these aspects seem very trivial the movie shows young love in it’s pure form, without all the sex and lust that typically goes into that type of genre. Although there are no special effects in this movie. While The Matrix is relatable because it brings everyone to a point where they may consider the distant future for humanity, 10 brings everyone together under the reminder of their first love and to think back to the simplicity of young love. A few other movies that came out at the same time were She’s All That and Never Been Kissed, they were along the same genre and theme. Both The Matrix and 10 are extremely entertaining and have excellent actors. Although 10 does not have the longevity that The Matrix might have it can still conjure up a lot of emotions with the audience it was aimed toward.

Future generations should be aware of the great leaps in special effects it did and how it set the pace for what action movies began to aim for. They should be aware of the religious and philosophical themes that have been discussed so adamantly by people of all ages. Even if they never “learn” that this was such a big deal in both religious and non-religious circles, the story line is so malleable in it’s definition that the future generations will be able to pick up on the underlying themes themselves. Although it is helpful to learn about the history of the 90s to learn how much technology was effecting the generation  it is not pertinent to understand the movie itself, which is yet another reason it is worthy of preservation, the film speaks for itself.
<p style="text-align: center">Works Cited</p>
Editors of The Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Cogito, ergo sum (philosophy)” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 2013. Web. 20 November 2013.

A short article discussing Descartes’ Philosophy of “I think therefore I am”. I used this to gain a better understanding of the phrase and meaning of it.

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Fiero. “The Humanistic Tradition”. 6th edition. August 2011. Textbook. 19 November 2013.

I used chapter 37 in discussion with the visual arts and how Andy Warhol was a large part of the culture then.

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“Siri. Your Wish Is My Command.” Apple. 2013. Web. 21 November 2013.

This is an informative page released by Apple that tells of all the features and abilities that Siri is able to do. I used it to drive home the point of the scary reality of AI.

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“Reviews and Ratings for The Matrix.” IMDb.com, Inc. 1990-2013. Web. 21 November 2013.

This was a huge compilation of over 500 reviews of The Matrix. I used it to pick out what people in current times think of the film.

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Taub, Eric A. “The ‘Matrix’ Invented: A World of Special Effects”. <i>The New York Times</i>. 3 June 2003. Web. 20 November 2013.

This was a well worded newspaper article written in regards to the amount of special effects that made up The Matrix. I used it to discuss how the work was different than other works of it’s time.