The Matrix (the movie)

There are parallels between biblical themes, Gnosticism and the movie ‘The Matrix’.

Slavery & Oppression
The ‘Matrix’ is a world of evil in which humans are imprisoned in it and controlled by sinister forces (the machines). Equivalent to Egyptian enslavement of the Jewish tribes.

Enlightenment
To escape, one must obtain an inner knowledge about the falsehood of the ‘Matrix’. Neo as Moses or Christ is the bearer of divine enlightenment whose mission is to relieve humanity of its ignorance and lead them to truth and goodness.

Belief
Neo is face with the choice of risking his life to save Morpheus. Against all odds, Neo’s belief in saving him overrides the logic of venturing into a ‘suicide mission’. Neo is willing to die for his friend to save him (like Christ is willing to die to save mankind).

Resurrection
When Neo is ‘killed’ by Agent Smith, Trinity (another religious theme) comes to his rescue and by her ‘faith’ Neo is resurrected back to life.

Dream Theme

Another theme in ‘The Matrix’: Dream vs. Reality. ‘The Matrix’ is similar to the ‘Brains in Vats’ argument, where it is supposed that the world as we know it is actually technologically generated and fed into our brain, which sits hooked up to wires in vat of chemicals, devoid of a body.

 "Is it possible to tell reality from a dream?" When we dream we often believe that what we are experiencing is real. How can we be sure that what we are now experiencing is not a dream of some sort?

The argument itself is not easy to refute. To someone who replies that the argument can be easily refuted by the simple fact that we wake up, it can be pointed out that there are occasions when people seem to have dreamed of doing that. This is called an "infinite regress": anything which is mentioned as being an aspect of reality is said to be part of the content of the dream itself. So, I may dream that I think I am awake; I may dream that I can tell waking from dreaming; and so on.

To solve the problem, first, the following observation is established: dreaming and waking up are concepts that are tied together (you cannot have one without the other).

In Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’, the Prince of Denmark says:
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count
myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I
have bad dreams.

Second, a validity truth test is made: “Is it possible that you are dreaming right now?” The truth test is constructed with ‘For’ and ‘Against’ (F&A) arguments.

F&S Argument:  Real life is mix of Real and Fragmented & Strange.  Dreams are always seem fragmented, strange or both.  

Morpheus: I imagine your feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don't like the idea that I am not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell why you are here. You're here because you know something. What you know you cannot explain, but you feel it. You felt it your entire life. There is something wrong with the world, but you don't know what it is, but it is there. Like a splinter in your brain, driving you mad. It is the feeling that brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
(thunder in background)
Morpheus: Do you want to know it is?
Neo (nods)
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It’s all round us. Even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work. When you go to church. When you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself (thunder). This is your last chance. After this there is no returning back.

Morpheus gives Neo the choice between and a Red and Blue pill. The red pill is similar of the philosopher breaking out of chains in Plato's Cave, emerging in the sunlight and learning the truth behind the lies. Taking the blue pill is to choose a life of ignorance, refusing to shatter the illusion you're living in.

Morpheus: You take the blue pill...the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill...you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Neo takes the red pill which leads him to discover that he is a slave to a dream world sculpted by the machines.

Neo: Right now, we're inside a computer program?
Morpheus: Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. Your plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair changed. Your appearance is now what we call residual self-image. It is the mental projection of your digital self.
Neo: This isn't real? (touching couch).
Morpheus: What is real? How do you define real? If you are talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can see and real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. This is the world you know (turn on television). The world as it was at the end of the 20th century. It exists now only as a part of a neural-active simulation that we call the Matrix. You've been living in a dream world, Neo.

This is the world as it exists today. Welcome to the desert of the real.

(thunder amongst a shattered, ruined city landscape).