Matrix as allegory

Rating: Null/10 (6 December 2002)

The Matrix rocks. This is because it explores many of the most important philosophical conundrums explored by philosophers since ancient times, AND provides a powerful allegory exploring the importance of mythology in society and its direct relevance to our own time and place.

What is the matrix? According to the dictionary,
matrix: 1. A situation or surrounding substance within which something else originates, develops, or is contained
The Matrix as described in the movie is the set of beliefs, often little more than myths, that comprises the surrounding substance that contains and sets boundaries on human thought. Examples abound throughout history. There was the Matrix of the catholic church during the middle ages, based on the Jesus myth. It is clear that during the middle ages that the church was far less about God than it was about power, specifically the power of those who "took care of things" for God. The upper echelons of the church hierarchy were responsible for setting the conditions in the Matrix and used this to maintain control over society. If the average person in those days were to be shown that, for example, the Shroud of Turin were a fake, and that no evidence for God existed, they might suffer the same reaction as when Neo was unplugged. If they then tried to tell their fellows, they would be met with disbelief and labeled a heretic! Another example is the Babylonians, whose society probably constituted the first Matrix, and is referenced in the movie (the ship is named Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian king). Here they had a priesthood and a pantheon of Gods that justified their hierarchical society, and provided a false narrative for politics that was used to set boundaries on the citizens' thinking and maintain control.
Although very general in scope, the Matrix specifically chooses our own society to depict in the movie. The movie thus asks, what is OUR mythology? What are the unexamined assumptions that constrain our thinking? This is the enduring importance of the Matrix, which I believe elevates to the level of the most sublime art.