The Matrix and the Struggle Between Illusion and the Desert of the Real:
an allegory for the contemporary western society
matrix /‘maytriks/ noun 1 a substance, environment, etc within which something else originates or develops. 2 a mould in which something is cast or from which a surface in relief is made by pouring or pressing. 3 the natural material in which something is embedded. 4 the substance between the cells of a tissue that holds them together. 5 a rectangular array of mathematical elements treated as a unit and subject to special algebraic laws. 6 something resemble a matrix, esp in rectangular arrangement of elements into rows and columns. [Latin matrix womb, from matr-, mater mother].
Perhaps, some people might claim that a piece of art subscribed as an allegory must be understood as something else, according to its (allegory) intrinsic value (more than just a symbolic representation); however, there are hidden messages in art that arise differently, considering the audience background. In this sense, elements in a system, such as literature, might begin to symbolize something diverse from their original meanings in the passage of time and space and audience.
Thus, an allegory is a symbolic perception in a given representation proposed by the writer, painter, director’s perspective. As a consequence of this relationship between what is perceived by the audience (reader, moviegoer, etc) and the representation of one asserted reality, this essay aims to dealt to what may be seen as an allegory for the contemporary western society through the opposition between the real world and the world of illusion generated by an artificially intelligent computer program (called “the matrix”) in the first movie from the Wachowski Brothers’ Trilogy The Matrix.
The dictionary entry above, working as an epigraph, sets the mood and prepares the reader of this paper to keep it in mind throughout the reading. All the meanings of the word ‘matrix’, thus, apply to what is presented in the movie and is related to each of its individual parts (the real world, the virtual world, the world of the machines).
Some contemporary authors, such as Jean Baudrillard and Slavoj Žižek, argue that the philosophical implications seen in The Matrix should not be taken so seriously, for it is just a movie and the Wachowski Brothers are nothing more, nothing less than people who exploit such elements without the necessary knowledge that comes just through learning and experience.
On the other hand, authors, such as William Irvin and Harry F. Dahms, theorize about different elements spread by the film, such as a dialogue between the Plato’s myth of the cave and Neo’s mission, a critical theory of alienation. The perspective assumed in this paper is that, as any sort of art, cinema, as well as literature, might convey critical representation of the world, of specific societies, and of specific individuals, philosophical implications, theoretical discussions, and so forth. Hence, the decision of considering the philosophical implications seen in The Matrix seriously is a demonstration of confidence in the role the art of films has in the contemporary world.
