Many precedents exist for the idea that the real world
is an illusion, and the Matrix trilogy is riddled
with specific references to philosophers who have entertained this
idea. Although the films are meant to stand on their own and create
their own set of philosophical questions, the Wachowskis pay homage
to these precedents through both obvious and subtle references.
Four of the most striking philosophical precedents for the Matrix trilogy
are Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation,
Plato’s allegory of the cave, Socrates’ visit to the Oracle of Delphi,
and the work of Descartes. The films refer to all four of these
at various points.
Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation
One of the most overt philosophical references occurs
near the beginning of The Matrix when Neo stashes
his illegal software inside a hollowed-out copy of a book by French
postmodern philosopher Jean Baudrillard entitled Simulacra
and Simulation. Originally published in 1981,
Baudrillard’s book argues that late-twentieth-century consumer culture
is a world in which simulations or imitations of reality have become
more real than reality itself, a condition he describes as the “hyper-real.”
For example, walking and running are not nearly as important as
they were in premodern societies, but jogging is a recreational
pastime, replete with special shoes, clothes, books, and other gear.
To take another example, we no longer live in communities where
food is produced locally and whole grains are a necessary dietary
staple, but we have health food that enables us to replicate the
experience of a peasant’s diet. (Admittedly, terms such as “jogging”
and “health food” show that the book is somewhat dated, but the
point still holds.)
Baudrillard argues that consumer culture has evolved from
a state in which we are surrounded by representations or
imitations of things that really exist, toward a state in which
our lives are filled with simulations, objects
that look as if they represent something else but have really created
the reality they seem to refer to. In such a situation, the world
of simulations increasingly takes on a life of its own, and reality
itself erodes to the point that it becomes a desert. Morpheus introduces
Neo to the real world by welcoming him to “the desert of the real,”
a phrase taken from the first page of Simulacra and Simulation.
Thus, the entire concept of the Matrix films can be interpreted
as a criticism of the unreal consumer culture we live in, a culture
that may be distracting us from the reality that we are being exploited
by someone or something, just as the machines exploit the humans
in the Matrix for bioelectricity.
Baudrillard’s greatest philosophical influence is Karl
Marx, and while the Matrix films do not refer to Marx explicitly,
the fact that the inhabitants of the Matrix are exploited by means
of an illusion that they all inhabit renders the films closer in
spirit to Marx than to any other philosopher. Marx argued that the
working class is exploited by the ruling classes, but the working
class’s exploitation is only possible because it does not perceive
itself as being exploited. The working class misunderstands its
own position because it is confused and distracted by social messages
that give workers a distorted explanation of how they fit into the
world—for example, religion, school, and ideologies such as nationalism
and patriotism. (According to Baudrillard, consumer culture is what
misleads us.) Marx’s partner, Friedrich Engels, coined the term false
consciousness to describe the working class’s ignorance.
Of course, the argument that average people are ignorant of their
own best interests and exploited by rulers who create and capitalize
on that ignorance is still common today. The documentary films of
Michael Moore, for example, have sought to demonstrate that politicians
and the news media exploit Americans’ fears of violence and terrorism
to distract us from our true economic and political best interests.
Nevertheless, the original source of all such “false consciousness”
arguments, including that of the Matrix trilogy,
is Marx.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Plato explores the idea that the real world is an illusion
in the allegory of the cave in The Republic. Plato
imagines a cave in which people have been kept prisoner since birth.
These people are bound in such a way that they can look only straight
ahead, not behind them or to the side. On the wall in front of them,
they can see flickering shadows in the shape of people, trees, and
animals. Because these images are all they’ve ever seen, they believe
these images constitute the real world. One day, a prisoner escapes
his bonds. He looks behind him and sees that what he thought was
the real world is actually an elaborate set of shadows, which free
people create with statues and the light from a fire. The statues,
he decides, are actually the real world, not the shadows. Then he
is freed from the cave altogether, and sees the actual world for
the first time. He has a difficult time adjusting his eyes to the
bright light of the sun, but eventually he does. Fully aware of
true reality, he must return to the cave and try to teach others
what he knows. The experience of this prisoner is a metaphor for
the process by which rare human beings free themselves from the
world of appearances and, with the help of philosophy, perceive
the world truly.
Neo is pulled from a kind of cave in the first Matrix film,
when he sees the real world for the first time. Everything he thought
was real is only an illusion—much like the shadows on the cave walls
and the statues that made the shadows were only copies of things
in the real world. Plato insists that those who free themselves
and come to perceive reality have a duty to return and teach others,
and this holds true in the Matrix films as well,
as Neo takes it upon himself to save humanity from widespread ignorance
and acceptance of a false reality.
