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Sociological Analysis Of The Matrix

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A n alternate reality, machine takeover and a life built on lies. The dystopian genre has a habit of shedding light on societal concerns. A specific example of this can be seen through the analysis of the movie The Matrix, in which the issues of artificial reality, a word run by machines forcing conformity and human enslavement are all jam packed into 2hours and 30minutes. The first Matrix program was created to serve as a perfect utopia for the human kind, however, it was not accepted as real so they just kept waking up (IGN, 2003). The Matrix was then reconstructed to reflect our society at its last stage before it was taken over by the machines (the year

1999) (IGN, 2003), which as time passes, shows an eerie resemblance to the society …show more content…

Even though the film came out over 15 years ago, it is enormously appropriate to our lives today (Cyberchimp, 2014). “The Matrix plot in itself could be seen as a metaphor for how we are all so engulfed in the media that we immerse ourselves into the artificial world that it projects” , which as a society we all fear that this dependence at some point will go too far.

The societal concern that we live in a “media saturated society” - in which we hardly ever see things for ourselves, but through different forms of media has only increased since the debut of this film (Cyberchimp, 2014).
Our Own Alternate Reality
Each and every time we turn on the television, we are, in a way, taking the blue pill (Dr. John L. Reizer, 2015). “In the Matrix movie, the blue pill represented amnesia, a prescription for keeping people blissfully ignorant about everything in life that made up the very fabric of their perceived reality” . When given the opportunity, Neo chooses to swallow the red pill, instead of the blue. This lets him discover the “Real World”, an opportunity that few people have a chance to experience (Dr. John L. Reizer, …show more content…

If people continue to turn on the television or check their phones and see the stories that bring disorder to our society, they will be unable to see the world as it actually is (SN, 2014). Without people opening their eyes, being innovative and fighting for change, there cannot be any progress in the world, which is a concern that many people have for the future.

An example of our society “taking the blue pill” are the photographs and videos taken for social media. We see these pictures and have a perceived reality on what life the people must live. However, unless we witnessed what was going on first hand, we have no way of knowing if these pictures and videos are accurate representations of what is actually going on (SN, 2014).

Unfortunately, the majority of the citizens of the world believe the information that is put in front of them and accept it without question, just as those trapped in the Matrix take no thought to what is going on around them. The issue brought to light here, is that the gullibility of the younger generations may be taken advantage of by those in power, leading to an uncertain

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