Digitally Enhanced Performances: The Actors Who Received a Virtual Touch-Up

 A look at the philosophy of the controversial series The Matrix

The Matrix film series is one of the most famous and successful cinematic series in the history of Hollywood, and it consists of three films, the first of which was released under the title The Matrix in 1999, followed by the second and third parts titled The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both of which were released in 2003. The trilogy was created by Directed by brothers Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Hugo Weaving.

The Matrix trilogy revolves around a hacker (Thomas Anderson / Neo) who always senses that something is wrong with the surrounding environment, only to realize that all human life is nothing but a virtual reality known as the Matrix developed by artificial intelligence to subjugate the human race. To control and turn it into a source of energy. Neo's life is turned upside down when he realizes that - in the real world - he lives in the year 2199 AD and is of critical importance to the resistance group seeking to liberate the human race.

It can also be said that The Matrix trilogy is one of the most controversial cinematic projects, due to the extreme discrepancy in the interpretation of some of the symbolism and the content of the messages involved in the events passed through the sentences of dialogue. Quite the contrary, she said that she came loaded with a lot of religious ideas. What is certain is that The Matrix series raised a huge number of intellectual and philosophical issues whose interpretations have long preoccupied fans of the series, and still preoccupy some of them today!

The human mind...a prisoner of physical limits!

The Matrix series of films, especially the first film - released in 1999 AD - was not only satisfied with presenting philosophical questions or theses but in building the plot and drawing the world in which the events take place completely on the general principles of philosophical thought, calling for transcending the limits of concrete reality and striving towards disclosure On the simple and absolute facts.

The human mind is a prisoner of human senses, confined in turn to the narrow physical realm, expresses (Morpheus) frankly and clearly during his first meeting with (Neo) within the Matrix; It tells him that all the stimuli surrounding him that he sees, hears and smells are only electrical signals that the mind interprets in some way.

The film goes beyond that limit, emphasizing that the mind is the biggest deceiver and the first screener of facts and that the entire surrounding reality is nothing but a world of illusory dreams with which human consciousness has coexisted for long periods until it became postulates for him that became entrenched inside him and thus he became unable to believe in the truth of their falsity and proceeds The events of the Triad are divided between the pseudo-material world and the hidden real world that can only be reached by transcending the awareness of tangible physical limits.

Doubt is the only way to certainty

In establishing its events, the film focused entirely on the Cartesian approach that relies on mental perceptions in establishing its philosophy, especially the theory based on self-doubt and existence, which is one of the most important, famous, and prominent theses of modern philosophy; As the actual beginning of the events is represented by the arrival of (Anderson Neo) to the stage of doubt in the truth of himself and the truth of his existence, the doubt leads him to try to transcend the physical barrier to the hidden truth that he senses and does not realize.

This is clearly evident in the first meeting between Trinity and Neo; She tells him that questions are what motivates us and what drives us towards knowledge and that what he senses in himself and what he is doing now has preceded him, which is what eventually brought her to the stage of certainty and full knowledge of the truth of herself as well as the reality of the matrix.

The theory of skepticism occupied quite a place in The Matrix trilogy and extended to include everything, self-doubt, doubt in the veracity of the prophecy, doubt in the purpose they seek, and even doubt in the extent of man's ability to adapt to the facts themselves and his ability to bear knowledge and confront them

Idols of Illusion and Love of Ignorance

(Murvis) accompanied the newcomer (Neo) on a journey through the world of the Matrix, during which he revealed to him the difference between the imaginary world that he had known and familiarized with for many years and the real world that had been hidden from him for the same length of time, and when both of them regained consciousness, the first question asked by (Neo) was related to the extent The possibility of undoing all of that, intending to return consciously to before meeting (Murvis) and before knowing the truth and what happened!

Man loves procrastination and is secure in his concrete reality and trusts in his limited awareness as long as he is the owner of the supreme word in that illusory world and the one in control of everything within its scope, to the extent that it may push him to deny the facts and disbelieve in them if it contradicts his desires or threatens the illusory power that he imagines.

The events of the series witnessed the betrayal of one of the characters to his race of humans, as he made a deal with the customers to help them get rid of (Murvis) and his group, and his only request in return was to take him out of his consciousness, erase from his memory everything he knows about the real world, and bring him back Once again to the heart of the world of the Matrix to once again enjoy ignorance and enjoy once again the routine, uncomplicated life in which he has an illusionary ability to control his own destiny and the course of things around him!

The dialectic of science and faith

The Matrix series devoted large areas to present the thesis of the conflict between belief based on absolute confidence in the unseen, and scientific thinking based entirely on rational thinking and logical analysis. The character (Murvis) represented the first category, the adventurous warrior who spent his years searching for the savior or the chosen one who was mentioned in the prophecy and was said to be able to redeem the human race and end the long war.

On the other hand, some personalities appeared in opposition to the ideas of (Murphys) and refused to comply with the occult, led by the leader (Luke), who, despite his daring, only engages in calculated adventures, and does not enter a battle until after calculating the probabilities of winning and losing based on material evidence and mental calculations. The second part, is The Matrix Reloaded, and the third is The Matrix Revolutions.

Some of the other characters took a middle position between the two types of thinking; Believing in the prophecy and at the same time refusing to be blindly led by it, the polemic events were not conclusively resolved nor completely triumphant for either side, so much so that Neo himself, the center of the prophecy, was suspicious of it

Between the human will and the inevitability of predestination

Neo's journey from beginning to end was based on a choice that Morvis put in front of him when he gave him two blue pills which would make him wake up in his bed and continue his life in the imaginary world of the Matrix as an employee in the morning and hacked in the evening as if nothing had happened, while the red would carry him to the real world And reveal to him the complete and abstract facts.

Curiosity and the human instinct to penetrate the unknown prompted Neo to choose the second pill, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that Morpheus sought after for so long. In the same scene, Murphys asked him about the extent of his belief in fate and destiny and he replied that he does not like the idea that he is not in control of his life and destiny, so that Neo, with his absolute will and free choice, has led himself to his inevitable destiny determined since ancient times before his birth.

In many of its chapters, The Matrix films dealt with this issue, which is one of the oldest and most complex dialectical dilemmas centered on the limits of human will and whether it is a choice or a path. The trilogy, however, was always limited to providing explanations, hints, and sometimes prophecies, but it did not tell any of them what to do.

The free choices and decisions - sometimes individual - of the three main characters (Neo), (Trinity), and (Murvis) always moved them towards their destinies and pushed events along the prepared path, albeit deviant from it.

Causal philosophy and the mystery of the equilibrium of existence

Causality or causality is considered one of the oldest philosophical topics dealt with by a large number of great Greek philosophers, led by the philosopher Aristotle, who established his theory on four axes: the formal cause, the material cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause. Causal relationships have been one of the issues raised in the events of The Matrix trilogy, especially the second movie, The Matrix Reloaded.

These philosophical theories were embodied in the personality of “Merovingian”, one of the few elements who are aware of the fact that it is just a computer program and an element within the matrix system. An equation - in a very simple phenomenon - consists of only two elements, action, and reaction, and all actions and events - both simple and particulate - occur because of and for a reason.

According to the philosophy of The Matrix, or rather according to the causal theories, all life is managed by that rule and through it, existence maintains its balance. In the last third of the same film, Neo reaches out to the person responsible for designing and building the matrix in the first place. They have a conversation about an extensive Matrix algorithm. Complexity and how it works and that it is entirely based on very complex rates that include an infinite number of possibilities for various causes responsible for pushing life within the matrix forward and protecting it from reaching collapse and then annihilation.

One of the manifestations of cosmic equilibrium - within the matrix and in the real world - was represented by the two extremes (Neo) and the client (Smith), where the more skills the former acquired, the greater the strength of the other party, as if the balance within the matrix was preserved and the equations governing it were protected from imbalance, which It was the cause of destroying the previous versions of the Matrix, as stated by the founder. This is more evident in the last confrontation that brought them together; The only way to defeat Smith was for Neo to sacrifice himself to upset the balance of existence that could only be restored by the other side's annihilation as well!

In conclusion, we can only say that The Matrix series of films deserved the wall of popularity it has gained and the position it enjoys. Perhaps the best thing that distinguishes it is its intellectual aspect represented in the messages it carried and the issues it raised did not overshadow the artistic aspect, to remain in the first place a series of films Exciting and fun science fiction, and if you want to take it as such, you will not be completely wrong, to join the group of works - relatively few - that excelled in balancing between fun and depth, most notably the Star Wars series.

It is mentioned here that the Matrix series is scheduled to be revived again shortly, through a new series of films, which news circulates that it will revolve around the character (Morvis) in the youth stage, and this is not surprising, as Hollywood has in recent years been re-investing the most famous and successful The works that were presented in previous decades, all we hope is that the new series will be on the same level as the original series and represent a real addition to it and not be just a purely commercial investment.