What is real? This question kept coming up while a couple friends and I watched The Matrix over the weekend. Not one of us had seen it before and we were driving ourselves crazy trying to figure out the various aspects of the movie and what it all meant or why things were certain ways. At some point, after trying to explain things to each other became too frustrating we finally just decided to comfort ourselves saying "it's only a movie!"
Within the context of the movie it's easy to take that escape but The Matrix raises larger questions. Not just what is real in the movie but what is actually real in the world? What if everything you thought was true turned out to be completely fake? The movie frames this question by providing a red pill which will reveal the terrifying truth and a blue pill which will allow a person to continue their dream existence is blissful ignorance. Of course, Neo chooses the red pill; it wouldn't be much of a movie if he didn't. But I don't think I would have done the same.
The blue pill seems far more appealing to me. Not simply because it would allow me to continue on in the life I know but because I have a different definition of real. Rather than "real" being something that is externally and objectively defined, I think that humans actively define our own reality. The first definition of real would probably lead a person to the red pill but the latter leads me to the blue pill. If my existence is constituted by a so-called dream world then so be it. That dream world is real enough to me. It is everything I know, it is how I have defined my existence and who I am. The problems in this dream world are the ones that concern me and I am content to live my life in that world because it is what is real to me.
Moreover, if we constantly question our existence how long will it take before we drive ourselves crazy? I mean, just watching the movie was frustrating enough to my friends and me. To always be wondering if there is something else controlling us or something more real or powerful out there is too much for me to take. The questions are simply too big and probably unanswerable. Sure, it's cool to think about every once in while but soon enough I just have to force myself to stop because it's too much to think about. I think it's more productive and realistic to concern ourselves with the existence we have been given and define ourselves and our actions based on what we know to be true in our own lives.
I do, however, see the rationale behind the red pill. How are we supposed to solve anything or improve our lives if we don't ask the big questions? Just from watching the first movie in the series it seems that a willingness to address the bigger problems may lead to a better or at least more true (by the first definition) existence for everyone. It is certainly a noble thing to do and a tough fight. It seems that how we interpret the problems that the movie presents largely comes down to how we each determine what is "real'.
I touched on the "what is real?" topic a little in my post as well, though I think that the red pill is the better path to follow. When watching the red pill or blue pill scene, Neo mentions that he doesn't believe in fate because he hates the thought that his life is being controlled. That idea clicked with me, and I feel almost exactly the same way he does. I think that if I knew what the world was really like--what was behind the veil--I would feel in more control of my life, and be more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteThe bit with Neo and fate clicked with me too, and that would be my rationale for taking the red one, though I'd love just a sliver of more information before I picked it.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not surprised that you picked the blue pill. Certainty is comforting. And if you've got a really good life, why give it up?
I think that the blue pill is logically the smarter path to follow, but when you throw emotions into the fray it gets a lot more complicated.