Dir. by David and Larry Wachowski (released: 1999)

Major Characters:

• Neo ("The One," Thomas Anderson)
• Morpheus
• Trinity
• Cypher
• Agent Smith
• The Oracle (Mother of the Matrix)

Themes:

• Human vs. Machine
• Freedom
• Truth
• Appearance
• Reality
  • The levels of reality in the film
    • The Real World (RW)
    • The Matrix
      • Subdivisions of reality within the Matrix
        • The Matrix version of RW
        • The Matrix Version of dreams
        • The previous versions of the Matrix

Philosophical and Religious References:

• Christianity
• Buddhism
• Allegory of  the Cave

Discussion questions:

• Why must Truth and the knowledge of the Truth be  a painful thing? Is the pain worth it?
• What does it mean to be human? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being human?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of being free? Do the advantages of freedom outweigh the disadvantages? Explain.
• According to the film, what, if anything, is the difference between Truth and Reality?
• Does Truth really set you free?
• Who are the skeptics in this film? who are the stoics? Who is right?
• In the film, what "truths" are unknown or unknowable in RW?
• Why is the "truth" of historical events easier to know inside the Matrix than the "truth" of historical events in RW?

Discuss the following quotes

• Morpheus: “What is real. How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. This is the world that you know. The world as it was at the end of the twentieth century. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix. You've been living in a dream world, Neo. "
  • How is RW different from the Matrix according to this definition?
• Cypher: “You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.”
  • Why is he wrong? or is he wrong?
• Agent Smith: Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world. Where none suffered. Where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed that we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering. The perfect world would dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this, the peak of your civilization. I say your civilization because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization which is of course what this is all about. Evolution, Morpheus, evolution, like the dinosaur. Look out that window. You had your time. The future is our world, Morpheus. The future is our time.
  • Is there some element of truth to Agent Smith’s depiction of the limits of human happiness?
• Boy: “Do not try and bend the spoon—that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.”
  Neo: “What truth?”
  Boy: “There is no spoon.”