False Reality vs. the Real World

“It is the question that drives us.� – Trinity, The Matrix
We go about our daily lives – we go to work, we go to school, we have relationships with families and friends, we plan for our future, but one question never goes through our mind. What if none of this was real? What if everything we believed and lived for never existed at all, but is merely part of our imagination, a dream that goes on forever. This idea of false reality is explored in the film ‘The Matrix’. What if virtual reality wasn't just for fun, but was being used to imprison you? That's the dilemma that faces mild-mannered computer jockey Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) in ‘The Matrix’. It's the year 2070, and Anderson works in a cubicle, manning a computer and doing a little hacking on the side. It's while engaged in the latter activity that Thomas makes the acquaintance of Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who has some interesting news for Mr. Anderson -- none of what's going on around him is real. It seems Thomas, like most people, is a victim of The Matrix, a massive artificial intelligence system that has tapped into people's minds and created the illusion of a real world, while using their brains and bodies for energy, tossing them away like spent ba

The question rises as to is it sometimes better to do something that may seem wrong if it is for the overall good of the people. The machines in The Matrix are like the prince that Machiavelli presents in “Qualities of the Prince”, that try to keep people in control by giving them overall happiness in surreal world, while in reality they are slaves born with a purpose of a battery. But there are moral issues that rise and come before any material or spiritual happiness. It’s the idea of being a slave and being born to it. It is this dilemma that precedes any other happiness and has to be solved at any cause.

Watching through the movie even for the first time it is noticeable how the whole movie is set with a greenish tint to it. Which is the color of the code of the Matrix. This color detail adds another depth to the movie, letting the audience see traces of Matrix before it’s presented. The audience gets a chance to take a peak of Neo’s dream world. People live in this dream world without realizing that they are sleeping their lives away. Even though the audience sees the greenish tint of the Matrix people in the movie are used to it so much that they don’t notice the green environment anymore.

So is it better to live in the false reality of the Matrix or to know the truth, which is not so beautiful and colorful as the dream world? The surreal world might be bright and colorful giving us anything we want, but even one glimpse of reality can make us change our mind and realize who we really are. The ignorance of the reality can only bring temporary happiness, but not overall satisfaction. It makes us question our own lives, where we ignore so many things. Do we live in reality or are we dreaming our lives away? We’ll never know until we are willing to look directly at the glaring truth.

nt batteries when they're through. Morpheus, however, is convinced Thomas is "Neo," “the one" who can crack open The Matrix and bring his people to bo