There is No Spoon

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2017)

The Matrix is one of the most iconic sci-fi movies in all of cinema history. The story follows a computer hacker named Neo who discovers that all life on Earth is nothing, but an elaborate ruse created by cyberbeings who use human beings for fuel in the real world. Neo escapes from his world known as the Matrix to find out the truth, that everything he thought was real was just a facade. The main premise of The Matrix revolves around the concept of reality and how we perceive it. This premise is most explicated by the famous "There is No Spoon" scene. What makes this scene so important is its ability to explain The Matrix, and how it questions our thoughts on expectations and reality.
The scene starts when Neo is sent to the home of the Oracle, the so called "mother" of the Matrix. Neo enters the Oracle's home where he sees a child bending metal spoons. Neo is mesmerized by the bending spoon which appears to be manipulated by the child's mind. The child gives the spoon to Neo and says to him "Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth. there is no spoon. then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." (The Matrix). Neo then looks at the spoon and tilts his head. As he moves his head the spoon bends and mimics his movements. The dialogue in this scene perfectly sums up the primary purpose of the movie by questioning reality. The child is saying that the spoon only exists in the Matrix. Knowing that the spoon was not real allowed Neo to bend it with his mind. We know that bending a spoon with our mind is impossible, but once we are told that the spoon does not exist we are given a new perception. If the spoon does not exist, we can perceive and manipulate it however we see fit. This scene reveals the truth behind the matrix. The matrix is only real if you perceive it to be real, knowing that it is not real allows Neo to shape the matrix however he wants. The child is conveying that the world inside the Matrix is an illusion and it does not exist like the spoon. The spoon in this scene is meant to represent the Matrix itself. This scene explains how Neo can perform all the unnatural feats throughout the movie. To escape from the reality of the matrix, Neo must free his mind because it is his mind that interpret and define what is real. Just by accepting that the matrix is not real he is able to move in superhuman speeds, jump extreme distances, fight in hand to hand combat, and fly.
The world as we know it is governed by laws of physics and probability. The Matrix brings up a philosophical question on whether these laws are our true reality. Everything we can see, touch, and feel are what we perceive to be real. Our reality is set with expectations, when we go to sleep at night we expect to wake up in the morning. When the sun sets we expect it to rise again. The Matrix questions whether our expectations and reality can be manipulated. If you don't believe that the sun exists your reality is, you don't expect it to rise in the morning. When Neo is told that the spoon is not real he was able to move it. To manipulate your reality is as easy as changing your beliefs and blindly following them. Neo is also told that it is not the spoon that bends, it is himself. This brings up another question, whether reality is fixed and cannot be changed. If the spoon is in fact not real Neo is faced with a choice, whether to accept the reality. If Neo chooses to accept the reality he will be able to bend the spoon. Choosing to either accept or decline the reality allows Neo to bend his own perception because of his power of choice. This concept of choice is what drives Neo throughout the rest of the plot in the movie. Neo is faced with the choice to believe in the laws of science, if the Matrix is real, or if there really is a spoon.
The Matrix in my opinion is one of the greatest movies ever created. It isn't just your average sci-fi action flick, it asks interesting and introspective questions about our existence and how we live our lives. The movie is both brilliant and entertaining. There is no doubt that The Matrix is one of a kind.