Alright, so admittedly I've avoided The Matrix like the plague since it came out.
I think that, yes, the allegory to Plato's "The Cave" shows up in the first 25-ish minutes (or however long we watched). Neo's tossed out of the cave he's been living in and is, as Manfred Mann put it, "blinded by the light." Sure, we have an interesting philosophical question accompanied by nifty visuals and a storyline, but thinking about that and the scientific research that we continue to do, it's obvious (to me, anyhow) that we have an endless curiosity about and drive to find out what reality really is because we have no idea. And we get a pretty good idea about it, and then find out there's either more to it or that we were probably wrong in our assumption.
We think we're so smart.
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I think part of human nature is the endless search for "something more." Whether it is the real reality that The Matrix illustrates or a purpose in life or something else, we always find ourselves asking "what if ...?" As you say, this is a major driver for scientific research today. It is also a part of our nature that movie makers tap into to create greater interest in their films.
ReplyDeleteOne distinction I see between The Cave and The Matrix is that Neo desired to find out about the Matrix while the prisoner is forced to learn what reality is. In fact, the prisoner "prefers the deception of the shadows." Perhaps this is the case for characters not focused on in The Matrix should they have been exposed to reality.
I agree with Aaron that we always seek for something more than what we have or what we see. I think it's just human nature to seek for bigger reality, the big picture. The movie Matrix questions, what is real? what is reality?
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