Snow Ball Paper - The Matrix (Final Edits)

[Matrix]
In the movie The Matrix, Morpheus, known as a computer hacker, introduced Thomas Anderson, known as Neo, to the real world and how the world he was living in was “a ravaged wasteland where most of humanity [has] been captured by a race of machines which live off of their body heat and imprison their minds within an artificial reality known as the Matrix” (http://www.imdb.com/). To find out more about the matrix, Morpheus gave Neo the option to take a red pill, to learn more about the matrix and take him out of it, or the blue pill, which would have allowed him to continuously live in the matrix. Is the truth of the matrix worth pursuing? Neo took a moment to think about it and took the red pill which puts him in an alternate reality different from the matrix that he was previously living in. Neo is reborn again into the real world where he goes through a process, similar to how Jesus was batized, and was welcomed to the real world.
In the real world, Morpheus hooks Neo and himself back into the system where he teaches Neo more about the matrix. They both look at a television which symbolizes the information that influences those who watch television to think a certain way. Through the television, Morpheus shows Neo the differences between the matrix and the real world.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Morpheus exposes Neo about how the system is dominating the real world causing those to misunderstand the big picture of what they call ‘reality’ when it is just the appearance of others they actually see. “It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” The world pulled over people’s eyes is the matrix, and the truth is the real world, appearance vs. the essence. And if Neo remained to stay part of the matrix, then he would not be able to realize what kind of false reality he was living in. Morpheus revealed to Neo that he is ‘the one’ and that he had a mission to save the last real city on earth, the people of Zion, from the machines that make up the Matrix. Even though Neo struggled to understand the truth and believed he was not the one, he was finally convinced by Morpheus that the world he was living in was a complete lie and because of the many encounters with the agents, the machines of the matrix, he believed he was able to defeat them, after all – he is “the one”. The revelation trope found in The Matrix is the life changing affects of Neo choosing to stay in the matrix or the real world. Because of him taking the red pill, it is obvious that Neo had to go through dramatic changes to get used to the real world.
Similar to the Bible, Judas, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples betrayed Jesus by giving him up to the soldiers that were looking to arrest him. Out of betrayal, Judas was given money as his reward. Neo like Jesus, Cypher was Neo’s Judas who wanted the easier way out. Cypher was a man part of the crew who chose to be in the real world. He knew the differences between the real world and the matrix, but even though he lived in the real world, he liked how the matrix made him feel. He did not feel comfortable in the real world and because of that, he wanted an easier life. In order to obtain an easier life, he was to hand Neo over to the agents, as fair trade, Cypher would go back to his false reality – back into the matrix. As viewers watch the movie, it is obvious how Cypher was the betrayer for the way he presented himself with alternative suggestions to throw off the main character, similar to other movies when the betrayer has a suspicious characteristic to his or her self. Like most people who want the easier way out of life, Cypher betrayed Neo, Morpheus and the rest of the crew, the true prophesy, for his own benefit.
Agent Smith, the main rival of Morpheus and Neo, does not accept the fact that Neo is trying to save the real world from the Matrix and the machines living inside the real world. In a particular scene in The Matrix, Agent Smith captured Morpheus, trying to drain out his brain to obtain access codes to the city of Zion. During the process, Agent Smith shares a revelation with Morpheus:
“I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.”
The Binary Opposition found in The Matrix is the revelation trope good vs. evil. Agent smith is trying to convince the audience to believe that he is a good guy, but little does the audience know is that he is being manipulative to his own advantage. Agent Smith believes that he and his fellow agents are able to save the human race by eliminating them. He shares his revelation, which offers a false statement to the audience, to Morpheus, who tries to resist the lies that Agent Smith is trying to feed him. Behind the appearance is the truth and what appears to be the truth behind Agent Smith’s revelation is the desire to abolish those who are part of the real world.