StoryreaderThe Alien In Relief pt 4
January 12th 2007 23:42
The Matrix uses cyberpunk conventions ‘…in that it centres upon the relationship of humanity to technology.’ (Leblanc 1997: 6) and weaves them around postmodern (and pre-millennium) concerns about the nature of the real, playing cleverly on the at times alienating quality of ‘reality’. ‘Neo: …ever have that feeling that you’re awake, but you’re really dreaming?’
The protagonist/hero of The Matrix is a computer programmer by day called Thomas Anderson, at night he becomes Neo a computer hacker who is searching for some vague and intangible ‘truth’. Which he finds, or rather it finds him in the form of Morpheus’ resistance. Neo is extricated from the matrix and has the true nature of reality revealed to him.
The Matrix is ‘…a “neural interactive simulation” constructed by the computer overlords to deny individuals an awareness…of the world.’ (Fitzsimmons & O’Brien 2002: 9-3) designed to cover the bleak brutal reality in which earth is a blighted wasteland where human beings are engineered and stored in production plants. Oblivious to their role as human batteries, energy supplies for the machines that control them.
From this point the narrative follows a fantasy style trajectory ‘The magical adventures are tied together and the story given shape by the heroes’ gradual assumption of his proper powers and his place in society.’ (Attebery 1992: 88) where Neo must come to terms with his appointed role as ‘the one’, the potential saviour of mankind.
The Matrix departs from The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’ use of the familiar backdrop. There the reassuring surface of normality (familiarity) remained firmly in place. In The Matrix that reassuring surface is revealed as an illusion, a curtain that is whisked away to reveal another reality something that is alien and unfamiliar.
Just as reality becomes alien so too does the perception of the self. It is shown to be divided and within the context of The Matrix the self ceases to be merely the self rather it becomes a technologically mediated construction. Or like the matrix itself a “neural interactive simulation.”
The dualities between real and simulation, waking and dreaming, physical and spiritual are recurring preoccupations within the narrative foreshadowed by the dual identities of Thomas Anderson and Neo. The ‘constant slide and contradiction between the real and the fantasy, the actual and the imagined is of structural importance to the film.’ (Fitzsimmons & O’Brien 2002: 11-3)
The protagonist/hero of The Matrix is a computer programmer by day called Thomas Anderson, at night he becomes Neo a computer hacker who is searching for some vague and intangible ‘truth’. Which he finds, or rather it finds him in the form of Morpheus’ resistance. Neo is extricated from the matrix and has the true nature of reality revealed to him.
From this point the narrative follows a fantasy style trajectory ‘The magical adventures are tied together and the story given shape by the heroes’ gradual assumption of his proper powers and his place in society.’ (Attebery 1992: 88) where Neo must come to terms with his appointed role as ‘the one’, the potential saviour of mankind.
The Matrix departs from The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’ use of the familiar backdrop. There the reassuring surface of normality (familiarity) remained firmly in place. In The Matrix that reassuring surface is revealed as an illusion, a curtain that is whisked away to reveal another reality something that is alien and unfamiliar.
The dualities between real and simulation, waking and dreaming, physical and spiritual are recurring preoccupations within the narrative foreshadowed by the dual identities of Thomas Anderson and Neo. The ‘constant slide and contradiction between the real and the fantasy, the actual and the imagined is of structural importance to the film.’ (Fitzsimmons & O’Brien 2002: 11-3)
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