The reading "Red Pill or Blue Pill: Is ignorance bliss?" emphasizes the noticeable resemblance of the main characters of The Matrix movie, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The protagonists namely Neo from the Matrix movie and Alice in Alice in Wonderland shared similar experiences throughout their journey. One example of which is that they were shown with things that would start their journey into either a world of reality or fantasy. Neo was presented with the red pill and blue pill the same way Alice was given the magic drink and cake. The choice they made put them through self discovery and experiences of what they thought is real and what's not.
The Matrix movie relates to Plato's book The Republic in a sense that both deals with knowledge, reality and enlightenment of the truth. The film showed how Neo turned away from the truth when he was first approached by Morpheus. This is similar to the accounts of Socrates in "The Allegory of the Cave" where the cave dwellers refused to see the truth and continue to believe in their imaginary world - a world full of illusions.
The film clearly demonstrated how Neo and Cypher made choices that greatly affected their lives. Neo seeked out the truth to better understand the difference between appearance and reality. In the process he gained knowledge and wisdom that helped him to fully understand the meaning of freedom and what the world really is. On the other hand, Cypher's vision of freedom and reality is overshadowed by his poor perception of it's true meaning. He betrayed everyone in order to free himself of responsibilities and restraints.
This reading tells us that we have choices to make in life. These choices will pave the path towards our future. The knowledge we attain and the experiences that comes with our effort in seeking the truth leads us to accept the world around us and help us to understand that reality is part of our everyday existence.
No comments:
Post a Comment