Influences and interpretations of The Matrix

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quote=The Matrix is arguably the ultimate "cyberpunk" artifact.
source=William Gibson, 2003-01-28 [ [http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/archive/2003_01_28_archive.asp#90244012 "THE MATRIX: FAIR COP"] , "The William Gibson Blog"] |

"The Matrix" makes numerous references to recent films and literature, and to historical myths and philosophy including Messianism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Existentialism, Nihilism, Vedanta, Advaita Hinduism, Yoga Vashishta Hinduism and Sikhism. The film's premise resembles Plato's Allegory of the cave, René Descartes's evil daemon, Kant's reflections on the Phenomenon versus the Ding an sich, and the brain in a vat thought experiment, while Jean Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation" is featured in the film. There are similarities to cyberpunk works such as "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. [http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_01_01_archive.asp#90244012 "The Matrix: Fair Cop"] . URL retrieved 7 July 2006.]

Neo is an anagram of "One", significant because of the main character's journey and eventual realization of self.

Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell" was a strong influence. Producer Joel Silver has stated that the Wachowski brothers first described their intentions for "The Matrix" by showing him that anime and saying, "We wanna do that for real".Joel Silver, interviewed in "Scrolls to Screen: A Brief History of Anime" featurette on "The Animatrix" DVD.] ] Mitsuhisa Ishikawa of Production I.G, which produced "Ghost in the Shell", noted that the anime's high-quality visuals were a strong source of inspiration for the Wachowski brothers. He also commented, "... cyberpunk films are very difficult to describe to a third person. I'd imagine that "The Matrix" is the kind of film that was very difficult to draw up a written proposal for to take to film studios." He stated that since "Ghost in the Shell" had gained recognition in America, the Wachowski brothers used it as a "promotional tool".Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, interviewed in "The South Bank Show", episode broadcast 19 February 2006 [http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=2701] ] Besides "Ghost in the Shell", another Japanese anime which influenced "The Matrix" was the 1985 film "Megazone 23", directed by Noboru Ishiguro and Shinji Aramaki. [cite web|title=Megazone 23|publisher=A.D. Vision|url=http://www25.advfilms.com/titles/megazone|accessdate=2008-05-05] An American adaptation of "Megazone 23" was released in 1986 as "".

The whole Matrix series can also be interpreted as the story of Jesus, with Neo, Trinity and Morpheus representing the Holy Trinity. Neo represents Jesus (the Son), Trinity represents the Holy Spirit and Morpheus represents the Father. Neo also has extraordinary powers and dies before being brought back to life. Adding credence to this idea is the fact that "Anderson" means "Son of Man."

Reviewers have commented on similarities between "The Matrix" and other late-1990s films such as "Strange Days", "Dark City", and "The Truman Show". [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990331/REVIEWS/903310303/1023 Roger Ebert's review of "The Matrix"] . URL retrieved 21 August 2006.] [http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=105863 "The Matrix (1999) - Channel 4 Film review"] . URL retrieved 21 August 2006.] [http://www.cinephobia.com/matrix.htm "Cinephobia reviews: The Matrix"] . URL retrieved 27 December 2006.] Comparisons have also been made to Grant Morrison's comic series "The Invisibles"; Morrison believes that the Wachowski brothers essentially plagiarized his work to create the film. [http://www.poormojo.org/pmjadaily/archives/002657.html "Poor Mojo Newswire: Suicide Girls Interview with Grant Morrison] ". URL retrieved 31 July 2006.] In addition, the similarity of the film's central concept to a device in the long running series "Doctor Who" has also been noted. As in the film, the Matrix of that series (introduced in the 1976 serial "The Deadly Assassin") is a massive computer system which one enters using a device connecting to the head, allowing users to see representations of the real world and change its laws of physics; but if killed there, they will die in reality. [Condon, Paul. "The Matrix Unlocked". 2003. Contender. p.141-3. ISBN 1-84357-093-9] There is also a similar "Matrix" used by the Travellers in Paul Cornell's 1992 "Doctor Who" spin-off novel Love and War, in which a socket at the top of the spine is used to plug into the Matrix.

Literature

The storyline and plot of "The Matrix" is similar to the theories behind Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft. Both stories deal with the idea that humans live in a world that is not what it seems. Humans are subject to a "curtain" in which they cannot make out what is reality and what is pre-programmed into their minds.

Not acknowledged, but strikingly similar is the 1982 hit video for 'literary myths, including "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Judeo-Christian imagery about Messianism, Buddhism, Gnosticism and the novels of William Gibson, especially "Neuromancer". Gibson popularized the concept of a world-wide computer network with a virtual reality interface, which was named "the matrix" in his Sprawl Trilogy. However the concept and name apparently originated even earlier in the 1976 serial "The Deadly Assassin" on the British science-fiction television series "Doctor Who", which featured a virtual reality known as the Matrix. The first writer about a virtual reality, populated with unsuspecting victims, was Daniel F. Galouye with "Simulacron Three" in 1964.

The concept of artificial intelligence overthrowing or enslaving mankind had previously been touched on by hundreds of science fiction stories. Many have commented that "The Matrix" was inspired by the work of Philip K. Dick, not only dealing with issues of Gnosticism and prophetic visions but also the war against the machines in a post-apocalyptic world. The idea of a world controlled by machines and all of humanity living underground goes back to the 1909 short story "The Machine Stops" by E. M. Forster.

The plot of "The Matrix" bears some resemblance to the basic plot of the book "Neuromancer". This is not necessarily surprising, since both "The Matrix" and "Neuromancer" are roughly in the same cyberpunk genre. In both stories a computer hacker is recruited to perform a particularly difficult task. Some of the relevant conventions related to the genre might include the tough-guy hacker/ hero, his optional female sidekick, and the more-or-less malevolent artificial intelligences.

Several illustrative differences between the two works also exist. For example, Gibson's human Turing Police are tasked to limit the growth of artificial intelligences. The Agents of "The Matrix", by contrast, are AIs who curtail human development. Gibson shows humans working alongside the AI Wintermute; their eventual triumph is presented as a victory for the "good guys". Again in contrast, the human-AI collaboration in "The Matrix"—Cypher defecting to the agents—appears to undermine all that good and right stand for. From this standpoint, "The Matrix" can be seen as an antithesis to Gibson's "Neuromancer".

One other connection between the two is the use of a location called Zion. In Neuromancer, "Zion" is an orbital colony founded by Rastafarians, where the main characters dock before traveling to "Freeside," the giant orbital station where the final act of the novel takes place. In "The Matrix", Zion is the underground home of the free humans (never seen onscreen in the first movie, although it is featured prominently in the two sequels). It is possible that this is only a coincidence, and that Zion is used as a generalized metaphor for a mythical city which could be considered to be the last hope for humanity. However, given the obvious influences of "Neuromancer" on "The Matrix", and the appearance of many Rastamen in Zion, it is likely that the name "Zion" is used as a metaphor (including its meaning to the Rastafari movement) and as a subtle homage to Gibson.

The film also shares many ideas with Grant Morrison's counter-culture comic book "The Invisibles", with which the Wachowski brothers have professed a familiarity.

Some resemblances also exist to Frank Herbert's seminal novel, "Dune", the concept of a war between humans and machines with religious overtones (Herbert's Butlerian Jihad). The sequels to "The Matrix" exhibit further similarities to "Dune". "The Matrix" is only one of several pieces of fiction that have been influenced by this book.

Cinematic

"The Matrix" reused some of the film sets from "Dark City", a movie filmed shortly before that was similar in plot and style. "The Matrix" incorporates many other cinematic influences, ranging from explicit homage to stylistic nuances, some of which have been acknowledged by the Wachowski brothers.

Its action scenes use a physics-defying style drawn directly from martial arts films, integrating Hong Kong-style wire work and kung fu (under the guidance of Yuen Wo Ping). The hyper-active gun fights recall the work of directors such as John Woo and Ringo Lam, while the shot composition during the build-up to Neo's climactic duel with Agent Smith is reminscent of clichés of Western films (featuring close-ups of hips and complete with modern-day tumbleweed).

In the film "Total Recall", Arnold Schwarzenegger's character is offered a red pill to return to reality, in precisely the same way that Neo is; while the action scenes of "Strange Days" take place in virtual reality. The premise of characters being trapped in a computer-generated world has also been used in the "Red Dwarf" novel "Better Than Life", among others. "The Matrix" also uses a common science fiction setting in which a dystopian Earth has formed through a struggle between humanity and machinery or AI; in which a small human "resistance" must fight to save humanity.

The Wachowski brothers have frequently cited Japanese animation as a strong source of inspiration; in the documentary on "The Matrix Revisited" DVD, Joel Silver explains that before making the film, the Wachowskis showed him an "anime" and then stated "We want to do that for real". The title sequence, the scene late in the movie where a character hides behind a column while pieces of it are blown apart by bullets, and a chase scene in a fruit market where bullets hit and burst watermelons, are practically identical to shots in "Ghost in the Shell". Also, the movie borrows the idea of Ghost hacking, which was featured in the "Ghost in the Shell" movie.

A scene near the end of the movie, in which Neo's breathing seems to buckle the fabric of reality in the corridor around him, as well as the "psychic children" scene in the Oracle's waiting room are evocative of similar scenes from the 1980s anime classic "Akira".

The general concept of a computer world that exists in connection to the real world is similar to the movie Tron.

The franchise's close relationship with anime continued with "The Animatrix".

Clothing

Trench coats and sunglasses play a significant role in the Matrix cinematic feel and have largely inspired a similar subculture. Viewers would know whether a character or situation was being played out within the Matrix if central characters were wearing their characteristically dark clothing, complete with sunglasses that would be of little use in the sunless realm of the real world. Sunglasses were worn regardless if it were day or night within the Matrix, adding to the image of detachment of reality in the Matrix, the dark "cyber" atmosphere, and also the artificial, industrial environment they lived in. Symbolically, this may reflect the degree of vulnerability of the characters; many characters (Morpheus, Agent Smith) lose (or even break) their sunglasses during major battles, or discard them: a symbolic disposal of the tough, unemotional image.

Not all characters within the Matrix wore glasses, but as a general rule, the rebels wore sunglasses that had rounded lenses, and adversaries such as Agents wore 'evil-looking' glasses with corners or angles. Notably, Cypher, the rebel who betrays Morpheus to the Agents, wore rectangular sunglasses, thus signifying his role as a "bad guy". Agent Smith's sunglasses changed after his transformation in "The Matrix Reloaded" from the square Agent-style into lenses shaped similarly to the protein capsule of certain viruses. It is also notable that Agent Smith's sunglasses & Neo's look strikingly similar except for the jagged vs. curved designs. The sunglasses used in this movie were custom-made on the set, although replicas are widely available. See the article about Agent Smith for the stylistic genealogy of the Agents.

Generally, secondary characters seem to follow the alternative fashion of the 90s, Indie and Rastas. It should be noted that the Rasta look seem to be very common of humans in Zion.

Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Elements of philosophy, theology and ontology are heavily present in "The Matrix". Students of Gnosticism will notice many of its themes touched upon. There are also many references to Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity, with concepts of enlightenment, nirvana and rebirth. Further references to Buddhism and Hinduism include the free will versus fate debate, perception, the concept of Maya, Karma and various ideas about the nature of existence. In many ways "The Matrix" is about a kind of reality enforcement, hyperreality or, some might say, an awareness that the material and physical world are an illusion.

Some Christian anarchists say the world we live in is a Matrix and the only way of escaping is through achieving enlightenment. They say notable escapees over the years have included Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth and Muhammad. They believe the movie has many similarities to the New Testament with Neo, Morpheus and Cypher playing the parts of Jesus, John the Baptist and Judas respectively. These Christian anarchists believe the main difference to "The Matrix" is that outside our world lies paradise rather than the dark world portrayed in movie.

An alternative take on this theme which has been suggested is that the Matrix represents the old world of religion and superstition and that the path to true enlightenment is to embrace science and progress by shaking yourself free of the shackles imposed by society, although, paradoxically, Morpheus and Neo must make several typically human leaps of faith along their journey. In both interpretations, the Oracle plays a key role, communicating either prophecies or theories to the other characters.

There have been several books and websites written about the philosophy of "The Matrix". One of the major debates arising from the film is the philosophical question, is our world reality or is it merely an illusion which is billions of years old? Similar questions have also been raised in other science fiction films such as "eXistenZ" and "The Thirteenth Floor" (both of which were released the same year as "The Matrix", receiving relatively less attention in box office sales and ratings), "Total Recall", "The Truman Show" and "Abre los ojos" (remade as "Vanilla Sky").

"The Matrix" follows all phases of the Campbellian heroic myth arc with near-literal precision, including even minor details like the circular journey, the crucial battle happening underground, and even the three-headed immortal enemy (the three agents).

Another story structure claimed by esotericists to be archetypical, the Fool's Journey, can also be seen in the movie and associates the scenes of the movie, in sequence, with the "Major Arcana" of occult or divinatory tarot. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpXk0p27Pyc "The Matrix Tarot" YouTube video] by [http://daniel.boettger.googlepages.com Daniel Böttger] ]

The character of the Oracle is strongly similar to that of the Oracle of ancient Greek legend. In particular, her warning to Neo that he is faced with a choice between saving his own life, or Morpheus' is very reminiscent of the warning that the Oracle gave to King Leonidas when setting out for the Battle of Thermopylae. In the Greek legend, she warns Leonidas that either his city will be left in ruins, or that a Greek king must die, thus Leonidas is left with the choice of his own life or the survival of his city. It could be further argued that had Neo chosen to save his own life, Smith would have gained the access codes he needed from Morpheus and the city of Zion would have fallen. Thus, ultimately, Neo's choice was the same as that of Leonidas: his own life, or the fate of a city.

The ideas behind "The Matrix" have been explored in old philosophical texts on epistemology, such as Plato's allegory of the cave and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. In a well-known Solipsistic thought experiment, the subject is a brain in a vat of liquid; in the Matrix, Neo is a body in a vat.

Postmodern thought plays a tangible role in the movie. In an opening scene, Neo hides an illegal minidisk in a false copy of Jean Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation", a work that describes modern life as a hyperreal experience of simulation based upon simulation. Interpretations of "The Matrix" often reference Baudrillard's philosophy to demonstrate that the movie is an allegory for contemporary experience in a heavily commercialized, media-driven society, especially of the developed countries.

Some academics have argued that the Matrix series is consistent with a Marxist analysis of society. Professor Martin Danahay and then PhD candidate David Rieder co-wrote a chapter of the best-selling book "The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real" (ISBN 081269502X ) in which they argue that the movie gives a visual image of Marx’s ideas, particularly in the scene where Morpheus tells new recruit Neo that the computers have reduced him to nothing more than a battery.

"Humans in The Matrix must produce electricity to run the machines that enslave them, just as workers in Marx’s analysis must produce surplus value through their work," Danahay explained. "Also, the rebels in the movie liberate Morpheus from an office, and they rescue Neo from his white-collar job. The rebels are trying to get workers to wake up and realize they are being exploited, which is one of Marx’s aims, too." [http://utamagazine.uta.edu/fall_2003/discoveries/matrix.html] .

Danahy and Rider also argue that rebellion against the machines' domination is an analogy for the modern-day workplace with the evil agents dressed like corporate executives, and Neo escaping from his cubicle to escape them. When he ambushes the evil agents later in the movie, they are in an office high-rise complete with impersonal decor. (Source: "Arlington Star-Telegram", June 10, 2003).

Similarly, the Maoist International Movement has adopted the Matrix as one of its favourite films asserting that they "could not have asked for more in a two and a half hour Hollywood movie" and views it as an exercise in dialectics in which a new mode of production is explored, the "battery mode of production". [http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/movies/review.php?f=long/matrix.txt]

The youth wing of the Russian Communist Party has also embraced "the Matrix" and its sequels with youth wing leader Oleg Bondarenko asserting there is "no difference" between Neo and Lenin as revolutionaries. [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_836226.html]

There are also elements of conspiracy theories. Similar to John Carpenter's "They Live", the Matrix is presented as the 'System', which secretly controls everything and which, according to the theorists, will eventually consume everyone. In the Matrix, high positions in companies and organisations are held only by those who are part of the System (programs, like Smith or Ramakandra). The Agents are those who uphold the 'order' and keep the 'consipracy' safe, like the MIB of pop culture.

"See also:" the [http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_category.html philosophy] section of the [http://www.thematrix.com/ Official Matrix website] .

cience

It should be noted that the reason given in the movie for computers enslaving humans makes no sense from a thermodynamic point of view. The chemical energy required to keep a human being alive is vastly greater than the bio-electric or thermal energy that could be harvested; human beings, like all living beings, are not energy "sources", but rather energy "consumers". It would be vastly more effective to burn the organic matter to power a conventional electrical generator or to use geothermal energy or the heat generated by the dissipation of the tidal movements of the oceans and crust or any other not yet imagined source. The sunlight could only dimly penetrate the atmosphere in the movie. However, a biological-power alternative would be light-independent ecological systems that utilize mineral or methane degrading autotrophic bacteria. To conclude, there is no real incentive for the Machine to maintain a Matrix for power (or to enslave them).

Some people have pointed out the possibility that the laws of thermodynamics could work differently in real life than in the Matrix (to make it harder for people to suspect they are being used as a power source), or that the machines have technology not yet imaginable by humans, and thus the known laws of science are impossible to apply in this situation (Morpheus mentions that the human power source is "combined with a form of fusion"; but if the machines have such a cheap alternative to power, the Matrix necessity become diminished). Another possibility is that of the exploitation of latent electrokinetic abilities in human beings as demonstrated by Neo's destruction of a Sentinel in the "Matrix Reloaded". On the other hand, Morpheus speaks of physical laws like gravity applying both to the real world and within its simulation, and the scenes we see within the real world are certainly consistent with physical laws as we know them. Entropy, however, can't be the machines' invention, because if it did not exist in their world, or if the direction of energy flow was sometimes concentrated instead of dissipated, the machines either could not exist, or would not require a constant source of energy to operate, mutually exclusive to the idea that humans blocked most sunlight from Earth to cut them off from their primary source of power.

Critical fans have speculated that the machines were actually using the humans' brains as components in a massively parallel neural network computer, and that the characters were simply mistaken about the purpose. A massively parallel neural network computer based on human brains might also be more energy-efficient to run than equivalent computer components, solving the thermodynamic paradox associated with the use of human bodies over conventional electrical generators. The characters' error would then be reflected in the "Zion Historical Archive" of "The Second Renaissance". In fact, this was very close to the original explanation. Because the writers felt that non-technical viewers would have trouble understanding this explanation, they abandoned it in favor of the "human power source" explanation. The neural-network explanation, however, is presented in the film's novelization and the short story "Goliath", featured on the Matrix website and in the first volume of The Matrix Comics.

It is also established later in the trilogy that the machines and humans are interdependent for reasons more philosophical than technological.

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