When you watched the movie "The Matrix", did you pay attention to what psychological pressure Neo was subjected to throughout the film? Let me remind you how it was. This will allow us to re-evaluate this hero and his fate.
In this video, I will consider only the first film of the trilogy as a self-contained work, because it was originally intended to be so.
Neo has long been looking for a meeting with an authoritative hacker named Morpheus. And then, unexpectedly, Morpheus himself comes out to him and invites him to meet. It is clear that the appearance of such authoritative figures as Morpheus and Trinity in Neo’s life is an important event; Neo is excited, and therefore vulnerable to psychological manipulation. In the future, Morpheus's people use a number of psychological techniques to get what they want from Neo.
Recruitment
During their first meeting at the club, Trinity stays very close to Neo, causing him embarrassment. She violates his personal boundaries and uses her sexuality, and Neo cannot contradict her, because... afraid of missing his chance.
From the first minute of the telephone conversation, Morpheus puts psychological pressure on Neo, hinting that Neo is of great importance.
I was looking for you 13:49
“The enemy underestimated your importance. You are the chosen one” - 22:09
Imagine that, say, your favorite musician, with whom your worlds do not intersect at all, suddenly comes out to you and begins to tell you that you play the coolest and invites you to meet. Not a bad attack, isn't it? Although, to be honest, it seems that the person on the other end of the line has messed up something.
But the most important question, which for some reason Neo doesn’t ask at all: if I am the chosen one, then chosen by whom and for what?
During the second meeting, Trinity and Switch are already using mild intimidation and playing bad cop and good cop. Switch tests Neo for compliance:
Take off your shirt. Listen or stomp. – 23:24
Neo shows that he does not intend to obey, and then Trinity says that Neo must trust her. Why? Yes, because she can show him something that he has not yet seen.
Meeting with Morpheus
Morpheus during the meeting is emphatically friendly, attentive and constantly flatters Neo:
No - it’s an honor for me - 26:04 you look like a person who is not surprised by anything you are here: because you understood something
A person is methodically taught that he is not like everyone else, he is special. The only one who feels “that the world is not right.”
It would be naive to think that after all these manipulations Neo makes a free choice. No, his choice is determined by the pressure of authority and the fear of losing his dignity in his eyes, the fear of not meeting other people's expectations. And of course, the fear of missing out on the expected benefit: the secret knowledge that Morpheus hints at. Perhaps the most reasonable thing a person could do in such a situation is to flip a coin.
Take the blue pill and the fairy tale will end. If you accept the red one, you will enter wonderland.
Morpheus calls the “Desert of Reality” Wonderland, frankly misleading Neo.
Morpheus is silent about the fact that by taking the red pill, Neo’s entire previous life will be lost. Moreover, the whole team knows that Neo is doomed to death (the first frames of the film, Trinity’s dialogue with Cypher).
“We are condemning him to death, do you understand that?”
But they do what Morpheus needs, because... he has some sacred knowledge and faith.
After taking the red pill, Neo finds himself in a confined space on a ship with no way out, with a new mentor to whom he must now obey. Recruitment is complete.
Chastity and the choice of the other half
Samantha is still a girl, and for a normal person, considering that she is young (only 17-18 years old) and has not found her love, this is not a merit, but simply an adequate and normal position, and vice versa - it would be strange and condemned, if the high school girl wasn't innocent. But we are talking about a modern Western secular school.
Samantha's experienced friends, led by Lindsay, the herald of the girls' "pack", encourage Samantha to quickly give herself to her boyfriend Rob - a sort of Neanderthal, illiterate, stupid, insensitive "boyfriend" of the main character. At the same time, Samantha has a childhood friend, Kent, who is in love with her, although he is not handsome or popular, but he tenderly and honestly loves Samantha, understands her, and is much wiser than herself.
Kent gives her a rose for Valentine's Day, but not red, but white with reddened edges of the petals, hinting at both Samantha's difference from others and her purity. Rob gives a standard rose and hints at quick sex. Rob simply doesn’t care about all Samantha’s feelings and about herself, but Kent can even criticize her in some ways to help her not make mistakes.
And at the same time, Samantha doesn’t even think about Kent, considering it offensive for herself to communicate with him (her childhood friend!), although she openly doesn’t love Rob and doesn’t feel attracted to him. What motivates her to choose a man?
Public opinion
Yes. Essentially, Samantha dates Rob because he is accepted by a society made up of narrow-minded and vulgar girlfriends, and a school environment made up of typical consumers of pop mass culture, where Rob is considered “popular” and therefore desirable. Only after a few of her “Fridays” did Samantha finally discover how Rob had ignorantly written her congratulations on Valentine’s Day. Only after several serious shocks did she finally begin to analyze what was happening around her, and first of all, what kind of person was nearby, and that she did not want to associate herself with someone who was simply stupider and worse than her.
However, the story did not end there, and when the changing Samantha decided to honestly tell her friends about what she was feeling and thinking now, including the idea of sleeping with Rob and mocking the local outcast Juliet, that’s where the pressure began.
The big disadvantage of this line is that on the day of her hysteria, Samantha still gave herself to Rob. Although without unnecessary details, with a clear emphasis on the fact that it was a mistake, with the regret of Samantha herself and even the fact that the “next day” it was erased, in Samantha’s soul and memory it was this guy who became her first man, and this It’s insulting and unfair, but compared to the finale, these are still flowers.
Picture of reality
Morpheus then tells Neo about the supposedly “real” world. And the important thing here is that Neo is forced to take his mentor’s word. Everything that we, together with the main character, learn about the situation on the planet, about the war with machines, about the matrix, is only the story of Morpheus. And a sober-minded person has every right to doubt it.
In fact, the “reality” of Morpheus is demonstrated to Neo in a simulator program. The question arises: couldn’t this picture of reality also be simulated? But so that Neo does not ask for evidence, Morpheus says:
I didn’t believe it myself, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes – 43:03
After this phrase, Neo can no longer ask Morpheus to show him the desert of reality in order to see it with his own eyes, because then he will question his authority and look stupid.
But of course, some viewers will say: we were shown that Neo himself saw the capsules with people when he was freed. The answer is contained in the words of Morpheus:
“This is your first time looking at them” 0:36
This means that what Neo saw has no factual accuracy. It could have been a vision caused by the red pill and the connected equipment.
Besides, if Neo had actually seen the capsules, he would not have responded to Morpheus by shouting, “I don’t believe it.”
Enemy
The next stage of preparation is identifying the external enemy.
The Matrix is a system, Neo. The system is our enemy. But until then, these people are still part of the system and, therefore, they are our enemies. 56:43
As we can see, Morpheus acts according to the principle “the end justifies the means.” For him, the death of people who are not ready to leave the matrix is quite acceptable. And Neo will subsequently act on the same principle - saving Morpheus, he and Trinity will kill ordinary people.
If you are not one of us, then you are one of them. – 57:37
This strict division between friends and foes is very important. And in the future I will show what type of consciousness it corresponds to.
Phrases from the movie The Matrix
This collection includes quotes and phrases from the film The Matrix:
Welcome to the real world. (Morpheus)
Get up, Trinity. Get up! We must get up! (Trinity)
Sooner or later you will understand, just like me. Knowing the path and walking it are not the same thing. (Morpheus)
I know you can hear me. I feel you. I know you're afraid. Fear us. Afraid of change. I don't know the future. I won't predict how it will end. I'll just tell you where it starts. I'll hang up now and then show people what you wanted to hide. I'll show them the world... without you. A world without dictates and prohibitions, a world without borders. A world... where everything is possible. What happens next is up to us to decide. (Neo)
Quotes from the Matrix have become world-famous catchphrases, for example this one - There is no spoon (The truth is that there is no spoon).
Have you ever admired the Matrix? Her genius... Billions of people live full lives... in their sleep. You know, the first Matrix was created as an ideal world where there is no suffering, where all people will be happy. And a complete failure. People did not accept the program, everyone had to be destroyed. It is common to think that it was not possible to describe the ideal world in programming language, however, I believe that humanity as a species does not accept a reality without suffering and poverty. That is, utopia is just a toy that your primitive mind has amused itself with for the time being. That's why the Matrix became like this. The peak of your civilization has been recreated. It was your civilization, because when machines began to think for you, our civilization arose. And so, in fact, the revolution took place. Evolution, Morpheus, evolution. And people are dinosaurs. Look out the window. This is the decline of humanity. We are already the masters here, Morpheus. The future is ours. (Agent Smith)
I didn't say it would be easy. I only promised to reveal the truth. (Morpheus)
I... hate this city. This zoo, this prison, this reality - call it what you want - just makes me sick. Even your smell. I breathe it, I feel your stench on my skin. And although I understand that this is stupid, I am afraid of catching your infection, I think about it every day! Agent Smith)
We all fell for the first time. (Cypher)
I know kung fu. (Neo)
The main thing is not to believe any nonsense about fate. You are the master of your life. (Pythia)
It is just a single cell protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins and minerals. Everything the body needs. (Dozer)
What is reality? And how to define it? There is a set of sensations, visual, tactile, olfactory - these are receptor signals, electrical impulses perceived by the brain. (Morpheus)
There is much more information coming from the Matrix than you can decipher. You get used to it. Soon your brain does the translation itself. I can't even see the code anymore. I see a blonde, a brunette and a redhead. (Cypher)
You're stuck in the Matrix. (Trinity)
Sayings and quotes from the movie The Matrix.
Mister Wizard! Get me the hell out of here! (Neo)
Do you think that my reaction and strength here in this world depends on my muscles? I don’t even breathe air... (Morpheus)
Don't react to these hypocrites. Instincts and weaknesses are what distinguish us from vile machines. (Mouse)
So, it’s supposed to be carried out. preparation. But this is green melancholy. How about something more fun? Let's start with hand-to-hand combat. (Tank)
Never send a man to do the work of a machine. (Agent Smith)
Famous quote from The Matrix - Follow the white rabbit. (Trinity)
He begins to believe. (Morpheus)
If you had told the truth then, we would have shoved the red pill up your ass! (Cypher)
It's time to free your mind. But I can only show the door. You yourself must come out. ...Take a break from everything, Neo. Throw away fear, disbelief, doubts - clear your mind. (Morpheus)
Wake up, Neo... (Trinity)
Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, and tell Kansas, "Forgive me and farewell." (Cypher)
Try to dodge. (Trinity)
What is real is what you realize. (Morpheus)
Note. The “No Smoking” and “Fasten Seat Seat” signs lit up. The crew wishes you a pleasant flight. (Tank)
Have you ever had a dream that seemed like reality? What if you couldn't wake up? How would you know what is a dream and what is reality? (Morpheus)
Neo, I'm not afraid anymore. The seer predicted to me that I should fall in love. And my favorite is The Chosen One. Which means you won't die. You won't die, because I love you. Do you hear? I love you... Come on, get up. (Trinity)
Knock knock, Neo. (Trinity)
Maybe the machines didn’t know what chicken tasted like, so chicken tastes like everything else. (Mouse)
You can do it faster. Don't think that you are fast - know that you are fast. No more trying. Just hit. (Morpheus)
The matrix is a system. The system is our enemy. But when you are in it, look around, who do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, hard workers, ordinary people whose minds we save. However, as long as these people are part of the system, they are all our enemies. You must remember that most are not ready to accept reality, and many are so poisoned and so hopelessly dependent on the System that they will fight for it. (Morpheus)
Killing you is a pleasure, Mr. Anderson. Agent Smith)
I guess right now you feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole... (Morpheus)
What is "The Matrix"? Diktat. (Morpheus)
You have a gift, but you seem to be waiting for something. (Pythia)
You've seen this road. And you know where it leads. You don't need to go there, I'm sure. (Trinity)
You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and live a normal life. You take the red pill and I'll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. (Morpheus)
I know what you're thinking, I'm thinking the same thing right now. To be honest, I've been thinking about this since I got here. Why, oh why didn't I take the blue pill?... Good shit, huh? The dozer chases him away. It's good for two things: cleaning engines and killing brain cells. (Cypher)
Everything I did was what he told me to do. (Cypher)
I know it's not real, and when I put it in my mouth, the taste will be instilled in me by the Matrix. Do you know what I decided during the ten years that I was free? Ignorance is bliss. (Cypher)
Time is always against us. (Morpheus)
I want to share a theory that I recently created. I was studying the classification of biological species and came to the conclusion that you are not mammals. After all, all animals on planet Earth instinctively adapt, find balance with their environment, but... humans are not like that. Having occupied some area, you multiply until all natural resources are exhausted. To survive, you have to capture more and more new territories. There is one organism on Earth with a similar habit. Do you know which one? Virus. Humanity is a disease, a cancer on the planet, and we are the cure.
Being the Chosen One is like being in love. Nobody tells you that you are in love. You just know it. (Pythia)
Sayings, phrases and quotes from the film “The Matrix” - a cult science-fiction action film directed by the Wachowski brothers, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and Hugo Weaving. The film was released in 1999.
Pythia
Pythia is another authority that should influence Neo’s self-awareness.
In general, the presence of this character does not fit into the logic of the film, because Pythia is a program. If she is on the side of the rebels, then this means a split in the intelligence of the matrix.
“She’s a guide. She will show your way"
But this means that it controls people’s actions and influences their will. Why then can she be trusted? There is no answer in the film, and if we were Neo, we might well suspect Morpheus and Pythia of collusion.
The behavior of Pythia is the culmination of moral pressure on our hero. At first she is friendly to Neo,
And you are very interesting. No wonder she likes you
then she tells him that he is not the chosen one and shows that she is disappointed, blaming him for his indecisiveness.
You have a gift. But it seems like you're waiting for something.
But as soon as Neo breathes a sigh of relief, because now he is free from the responsibility for saving humanity, she brings down an even greater moral burden on him: she puts him before a choice - to die for the sake of his mentor or to take on the burden of guilt for his death.
someone will die, him or you. and who – it’s up to you to decide – 1:16:42
Truly, this is amazing! Methodically drip on a person’s brain so that at a certain moment he becomes ready to sacrifice his life. Saving humanity does not necessarily imply the death of the hero, does it? But now the stakes are raised to the max, and this is the end point of Neo's preparation: the willingness to die.
Well, then, in my opinion, there is an outright mockery of a person.
Don't be upset! Eat a cookie!
How a programmer and hacker could believe in the “prophetic gift” of the program remains a mystery. After all, it is obvious that if she prophesies about the events that occur inside the matrix, then most likely this means that she simply has access to all the necessary information. And if some event in the matrix suddenly coincided with the Pythia’s prediction, then this means that most likely it was planned in advance.
Plot
Cute and young Samantha welcomes a new day - Friday, Valentine's Day, pleasant weather, a good SMS message in the morning. The girl has many global plans for this day, including trusting her boyfriend, spending the night with him for the first time. But “man proposes, but God disposes.”
Samantha ends up at a party where an unpleasant incident occurs and, let's be honest, she behaves extremely inappropriately. Having hastily left this “holiday” with her friends, she dies in an accident.
The next morning, waking up in her own bed, Samantha again finds herself on a Friday morning holiday on a day that is about to change her life. And, no matter how she tries to change the course of events on this ill-fated night, she wakes up again on Friday morning, Valentine's Day. And so, in this endless “Groundhog Day,” Samantha wanders around like a blind kitten, doing either noble or base deeds, trying to overcome the task with her mind, or falling into hysterics and obeying momentary impulses.
Samantha is looking at thousands of chances to live this one day perfectly, and to do this she needs to completely change herself.
There are essentially four main themes in the film and in most cases they overlap with each other.
- Chastity and choosing a soul mate
- The pressure of a degraded society among teenagers
- Setting priorities for spending time
- Death
"I believed"
The efforts of Morpheus and Pythia bear fruit: Neo reaches the required condition. After the agents capture Morpheus, Neo volunteers to rescue him.
now I believed it too – 1:36:42
After all the manipulations carried out with his consciousness, he believed and was ready to die for the sake of his mentor.
Neo noticed that Pythia's words coincided with what happened to Morpheus. But it never occurred to him that all this was part of the plan and part of his test. This did not occur to Trinity, who was predicted by Pythia that she would fall in love with the Chosen One. Perhaps even Morpheus was a victim of the Pythia’s manipulations: after all, it was at her behest that he sought the Chosen One.
However, our task now is not to build another film theory, but to pay attention to the methods that leaders use in relation to adherents and to the completely uncritical attitude of the adherents themselves to what is instilled in them.
The pressure of a degraded society
In one of the key scenes of the film, filled with the ridicule of angry teenagers, “Scarecrow” – Juliet attacks Samantha and her friends. Juliette calls Lindsay a bitch, her two fellow singer-songwriters alcoholics, and Samantha a wimp. And this characteristic really suits the girl.
Yes, she is weak-willed. Because only such a person can allow the degraded and insolent girl Lindsay to be the head of their girl flock and obey her. In one of the scenes of the already twisted time loop, Lindsay, having heard from Samantha that she refuses to sleep with Rob, sends him an SMS, explaining the reason for the “transfer” of their intimate relationship. That is, with all her arrogance and recklessness, Lindsay simply arranges Samantha’s life the way she wants, and in general shows an aggressive and unhealthy interest in what concerns only Samantha and her man.
Due to her weakness, Samantha hesitantly and reluctantly agrees with the crowd mocking Juliet, and in response to the natural indignation of her friend Kent, she could only shrug her shoulders, “What?!” Yes, I’m like everyone else!”
Accidentally ending up in Kent’s room, Samantha sees the inscription “Be yourself” and in conversations either with him or with her mother, she remembers that, in fact, as a child she was a kind, gentle and good girl, with whom Kent fell in love. On one Groundhog Day, he even sent her a Valentine's card with the text "You're not like that" when she decided to completely let herself go.
At the same time, she calls herself “trash,” realizing that her behavior towards Juliet was terrible, but she finds the strength to change and fight for the right to be herself, only due to the shock.
Why has she now become “like everyone else”? Why did you stop “being yourself”? Why is she now slowly but surely taking the path of a slob, a frivolous and angry girl?
Because she wants to be popular in the school community, she wants to be as “cool” as Lindsey was, and therefore, together with two other faceless and similar girls, she essentially falls into the abyss. At the same time, Samantha was not raised in the worst family - she has happy and loving parents, not too strict, but not too soft, and has a younger sister who requires care. Samantha is a very prosperous girl, but she is still subject to the influence of the circle in which she finds herself, and adapts to it as best she can.
An outcast like Juliet, who even tries to commit suicide, or the wiser Anna, who has closed herself off from society, is, according to the plot, for Samantha a visual marker of what will happen to you if you are not “like everyone else.” If you stand up for the weak, be different from the crowd. Even everyone’s phones are the same - fashionable iPhones, as a hint at the lack of individuality of each and blind obedience to the rules set “from above.”
Separately, it is worth saying that the phrase “Be yourself” today is a recent youth trend, but most often in popular culture it is presented with a message meaning - live brightly, put fashionable tattoos on your body (spoil your body, take risks), behave relaxed and etc. Uniqueness in opinion, in lifestyle, in self-development is not only not encouraged, but can even be ridiculed. This is what happens when sobriety among “cultured drinkers,” innocence among “experienced women of the same age,” modesty among “loose” people, and so on are ridiculed. It is this threat of expulsion from the circle of socially acceptable and popular representatives of society that causes Samantha to allow herself to be put under pressure, to be told what to do, how to think, who to hate and who to sleep with.
However, in the film in question, the phrase “Be yourself” has a positive meaning and in the mouth of Samantha’s mother it sounds like:
“Find the best and focus on that.”
Samantha finds the best in herself - her kindness that has not yet faded and her desire to take care of everyone. She forgives everyone, including her friends, finding something good in each, and even Lindsay at the end of the film turns out to be just an unhappy and ruined child, becoming a villain due to the lack of love from her parents and her fear of condemnation and mockery. On the last day, Samantha tries to kindly pay attention to everyone around her, to make this day bright and special for everyone.
However, before this Samantha has to realize one more truth.
Sectarian consciousness
If in Neo's previous life his direct access to reality was blocked by the Matrix, then in his new life his access to reality is limited by the ideology of Morpheus.
I will conditionally call such consciousness, which does not interact with reality directly, but receives its description from unconditional authority, “sectarian consciousness.” And in Morpheus’ group we see many signs that coincide with the signs of a sect:
- Having a charismatic leader
- Belief based on the religious revelation of the leader - (for Morpheus this is the belief in the chosen one)
- Recruitment using psychological manipulation
- Concealment of true goals (for example, Morpheus talks about the law - not to free the minds of adults (44:53). But this contradicts his own plan to free people from the matrix. Which means we can doubt that this was his true goal.)
- Alienation of the individual from the outside world and his previous social connections
- Blind obedience to the leader
- Psychological pressure
- A strict division between friends and foes. Declaring the outside world to be evil.
- Use of ordinary group members to commit crimes
Terrorism
We're this close to calling Neo by his real name. But first I will give the most important fact from the film, which will be my main argument.
At the beginning of the film, Neo opens Baudrillard's book Simulacra and Simulation.
In this book, Baudrillard describes the system of modern cultural society and says that terrorism would be the only means for identifying methods of total control, if the system had not also assimilated it, turning it into one of the simulacra (for example, when the government itself carries out terrorist attacks in order to confirm presence of power in society).
The Wachowskis in this trilogy illustrate this idea of Baudrillard and show how the system assimilated terrorism into itself. Those. made it only a means of self-checking for errors.
Thus, Neo is a terrorist. And the Morpheus group is a terrorist group. Morpheus, by the way, was called that at the beginning of the film.
"Help neutralize a known terrorist"
Neo's entire training was focused on making him see the world the way Morpheus sees it. Seeing the enemy in everyone who does not belong to his group. Be ready to die for the sake of the leader's idea.
Leader and hero
It is important to understand the difference between the role of a leader and the role of a hero. Morpheus is the leader of the resistance. he is the one who unites people around him and leads them towards a goal. And the leader cannot sacrifice himself, because then his cause will die. That's why leaders need heroes who are willing to make sacrifices for their cause. Neo is such a hero. People like Neo are a real boon for leaders who realize their plans.
I'm already familiar with the objection that Morpheus sacrificed himself for Neo. But this is not so! What looked like self-sacrifice was in fact either a pre-planned event or a completely irresponsible act.
Only Morpheus had the access codes to Zeon's computer. Morpheus had to understand that the agents needed him alive and they would not kill him without receiving the codes. And, knowing this, Morpheus suddenly decided to be left alone with the agents? Don't you think this is an unreasonably risky, even suspiciously risky tactic? With his decision, Morpheus put everyone at risk, including Zeon! Did he have the right to risk going straight into the hands of the enemy? Definitely not. As I said, a leader cannot put himself in danger.
It’s another matter if this was part of Neo’s preparation, a kind of initiation carried out by Morpheus together with agents at the behest of the Pythia.
