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The Matrix as metamyth

Simon Danser

'The matrix is everywhere,' informs Morpheus, 'It is all around us. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth . . .'

The Matrix Written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski

'Reality' is some kind of ontological silly-putty.

Robert Anton Wilson

The Matrix, released Easter weekend 1999, is a remarkable film in a number of respects. More so than any comparable film, the script and details of the set design are informed by many different stories and myths. Perhaps even more remarkable is how quickly the film generated numerous articles in academic journals, and an impressive number of books from scholarly imprints devoted to the film. This article is based on reading many of these books and a selection of the articles. However I am not seeking to provide an overview of the scope of often quite diverse 'cultural studies' approaches.

Instead this article draws together the way the mythic themes of The Matrix can be regarded as 'metamyths'. In other words, how the script of The Matrix implicitly – and, at times, almost explicitly – engages with the underlying creation of mythic themes, especially the way cinema creates the illusion of reality and how, for the last fifty or more years, what nearly everyone in the Western world thinks of as reality has increasingly been created by mythic fragments disseminated by cinema.

My somewhat overly-focussed approach is not intended to diminish other ways of spontaneously 'relating to' or less-spontaneously analysing mythic themes in The Matrix. However this overly-specific way of looking at The Matrix fits in quite closely with some of the ideas about myth in the modern world being promoted by foamy custard, notably the ideas about 'mythic fragments' (see cosmologies as 'deep structures' and the politics of culture).

recognising The Matrix as metamyth

I have been mostly inspired by writers who have their roots deep in cultural studies and/or cinematic studies, and only 'sampled' – in a rather arbitrary way – the vast amount of writing about The Matrix which is less academic. Of these Jake Horley's The Matrix Warrior (published with considerable promotional activity by the publishers in 2003) starts off quite promisingly with a number of pertinent observations. Horley notes that the plot of The Matrix can be seen as a journey of Jungian individuation. He also considers that the apotheosis of the film can be regarded as a form of enlightenment. Horley also specifically states exactly the approach I am taking with this article, that is The Matrix is not such much a modern myth as a metamyth – 'a myth about the eternal processes by which myths, and humans, are made. It reveals the world as a myth…' (Horley 2003: 6–7) Sadly, the rest of The Matrix Warrior is a rather shrill and ultimately quite hollow attempt to explore the implications of taking the premise of The Matrix literally – we are indeed inhabiting a virtual reality composed by oppressive machine-intelligences – and that the film is a 'genuine message' intended to 'wake us up'. Oh dear…

Horley was certainly not the first to recognise The Matrix as metamyth. The previous year John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett had published The Myth of the American Superhero, a majestic study of the impact of Joseph Campbell's ideas about the 'monomyth' of heroes on both cinema and American culture (and the post-publication actions of George W. Bush would provide plenty of examples for an extended sequel!). Lawrence and Jewett discuss The Matrix in several sections of this book. Indeed, on the third page of their introduction Neo and Trinity are held up as conforming to the long tradition of cinematic superheroes who are 'lonely, selfless, sexless' (Lawrence and Jewett 2002: 5).

Lawrence and Jewett note that, not only is The Matrix rich in 'significant' imagery and symbolism, but that much of this is 'flirtatiously' polysemic, by which they mean that a given image is assigned with ambiguous and indeterminate meanings (Lawrence and Jewett 2002: 295) [See also foamy custard's introductory guide to pluralism and polysemy.] They draw attention to the observations by Slavoj Zizek that fans of The Matrix eagerly attempt to 'control ownership' of the film's ideas according to their own preferred vision (Jake Horley's The Matrix Warrior might be regarded as one of the more heavily-promoted examples).

The Matrix as a powerful polysemic pastiche

Such subtly can be seen in the names of the main character. He begins the film as Thomas Anderson but is 'reborn' as Neo. This is the Greek word for 'new', suitably evocative for a reborn hero. More subtly, 'Neo' is a double anagram for both 'eon' (suggesting 'new eon') and, more significantly, for 'one' – and Neo is explicitly perceived as 'The One'. Neo's original name, Thomas Anderson, associates with the Biblical 'Doubting Thomas' (and, as Neo, he constantly doubts that he is 'The One'); furthermore Anderson etymologically derives from andr- ('man'), suggesting he is the 'Son of Man' (Bassham 2002: 112).

The Matrix as a Messianic mix-and-match

Other blindingly obvious parallels to Christianity include the heroine's name 'Trinity' (and the unexpected gender-flip of a somewhat androgynous heroine having the name of a patriarchal metaphor for God is explicitly alluded to when Neo says 'I always thought you were a guy'). The allusions to the Christian trinity extend to numerous instances of rooms being numbered '303'. More subtle references to Christianity include:

• The red pill is akin to the Biblical apple (Fillipo 2003: 80).
• The last human city is called Zion, 'a poetic and religiously charged name for Jerusalem… often used as a designation for heaven' in Christian literature (Bassham 2002: 113)
• The spaceship is called Nebuchadnezzar, after the Babylonian king (c.605–562 BC) who reputedly built the hanging gardens and destroyed the original Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Daniel interpreted his dreams (even ones the king did not know he had dreamt, a seriously Matrixian twist!), which foretold the coming of the messiah (Bassham 2002: 113; Felluga 2003: 93; Yeffeth 2003: 297).
• The name plate on Nebuchadnezzar states 'Mark III No.11', which may be an allusion to the apparently relevant passage of the Bible at Mark 3:11 (Bassham 2002: 113)
• Neo undergoes a 'virgin' (re)birth into a womb-like vat.
• Neo is 'baptised' in the human battery refuse tank by Morpehus (who in other ways is a St John the Baptist to Neo's Messiah) and the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar.
• Morpheus has aspects of St John the Baptist, although he can also be considered as a God-like father figure to the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar, and confusingly also has Satanic aspects (Fillipo 2003: 80).
• Even more confusing the character Cypher fulfils the role of Judas but his name resonates with 'Lucifer'. Indeed, Gregory Bassham considers that Cypher looks like traditional depictions of Lucifer 'and movie buffs will recall Louis Cyphre, Robert De Niro's Satanic character in the film Angel Heart,' released in 1987 (Bassham 2002: 113–4).
• Trinity is akin to Mary Magdalene, including an apparently celibate relationship with Neo.
• The single communal meal onboard Nebuchadnezzar is akin to the Last Supper.
• Cypher's betrayal of Neo is arranged over a 'Last Supper'.
• After his death, Neo is resurrected with a kiss from Trinity.
• In the final scene of The Matrix Neo flies through the sky, akin to a literal reading of the Biblical accounts of Jesus' ascent to heaven.

The Matrix, Buddhism, Hinduism and shamanism

The film's eponymous matrix may be thought of as analogous to Buddhism's samsara, with the 'real world' as the illusions of mara (Ford 2003: 164, 169). Hinduism also regards material reality as an illusion and uses the related word maya (Thompson 2003).

Overall we should look at the religious allusions in The Matrix as pluralistic and polysemic, as Gregory Bassham has discussed in detailed (Bassham 2002: 114–21), although he omits shamanism, even though 'Those who are not personally able to spend a few months with shamans in the Himalayas should watch the film The Matrix (1999). It is a film that should be required material for all budding ethnologists.' (Müller-Ebeling, Rätsch and Shahi 2002: 279)

The Matrix mythology, psychology, philosophy and politics

The polysemous references extend even further into psychology and philosophy. Several writers about The Matrix have seen links to the ideas of the influential post-Freudian psychiatrist Jacques Lacan (Zizek 1999; Lawrence and Jewett 2002: 296; Milutis 2003). Many have spotted the explicit inclusion of Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation – early in the film Thomas Anderson is shown taking a copy from his bookshelf, then opening it to take out the illegal software concealed in a hollowed-out cavity. However Andrew Gordon considers that The Matrix dilutes Baudrillard's ideas 'to the point that it doesn't reflect his thinking' and is not faithful to Baudrillard's conclusions (Gordon 2003: 119).

Joe Milutis extends the scope of the intellectual ideas even further when he suggests The Matrix makes one think of the 'Marxist meme from the "Theses on Feuerbach" about philosophy versus action [and the] Althusserian cunning of Agent Smith's greeting of "Mr. Anderton" (he's always trying to convince Neo that he's only human) opens up rickety anti-humanist debates.' (Milutis 2003)

The Matrix's 'godfathers' – Philip K. Dick and William Gibson

Even within the genre of sci-fi the directors of The Matrix cast a wide net. This is in part because The Matrix derives key ideas from the seminal sci-fi novels of Philip K. Dick and William Gibson, writers who have overtly and otherwise influenced most sci-fi action movies in recent decades. The most famous of the films based on Dick's stories span two decades – Blade Runner (1982) and Minority Report (2002). The Matrix is deeply rooted in this genre of sci-fi films influenced by Dick and Gibson.

'Philip K. Dick's influence on The Matrix cannot be overstated. Along with William Burroughs, Dick was one of the leading exponents of paranoid awareness in twentieth century: these guys took Kafka and Sartre's existential nausea and ran with it, all the way into the twenty-first century and beyond... In 1974... Dick began communicating with some kind of interstellar machine entity, which he called VALIS, an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System. VALIS bears more than a passing resemblance to The Matrix itself.' (Horsley 2003: 208–9)

Dick's highly individual relationship with reality also encompassed aspects of Gnosticism and Paul Di Fillipo has detected a Gnostic aspect to the Christian exegesis of The Matrix (Fillipo 2003: 80, 91).

William Gibson is equally significant as a precursor for The Matrix, as Dani Cavallaro has explored in a book-length study (Cavallaro 2000). Indeed Gibson uses the term 'matrix' as a synonym for cyberspace in Neuromancer (published in 1984, long before popular awareness of the Internet). This is exceptionally felicitous word-play as dictionary definitions of the word 'matrix' include:

1. the womb
2. that which gives form or foundation to something enclosed in it
3. the intercellular substance of a tissue
4. the material in which minerals are bedded
5. the hollow where a monumental brass is located
6. a mathematical concept

The Matrix and cinematic precursors

• 2001(1968)
• Logan's Run (1976)
• Star Wars (1977)
• Alien (1979)
• Tron (1982) – the hero must defeat the Master Control Program to escape from entrapment in a computer
• Blade Runner (1982)
• The Terminator (1984)
• Total Recall (1990) – where the hero cannot tell the programmed world from reality
• The Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
• Men in Black (1997)
• Fight Club (1999)
• eXistenZ (1999)
• The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

This list of 'precursors' has been extended by other, more cinematically-aware writers, who have drawn attention to the films in which the key actors, especially Keanu Reeves, have previously appeared, and the more-or-less intentional 'assimilation' of characters. But perhaps this is less important than the way, as already noted, Reeves' character, Anderson/Neo, fits into the 'momomyth' of cinematic saviours (Lawrence and Jewett 2002: 5).

Despite having quite a different 'look and feel' from The Matrix, David Cronenburg's eXistenZ draws the viewer into similar, but more intensely perplexing, scenario. Firstly there is a more visceral sense of 'jacking into The Matrix' (Freeland 2002: 205–9). The ending of eXistenZ 'throws into question the very idea that there is a firm way of distinguishing between reality, virtual realities, and fiction.' (Worth 2002: 178). In contrast, the ending of The Matrix is especially disappointing and the closing platitudes barely disguise a crude attempt to leave plenty of options for the sequels.

The Matrix and literary precursors

The Matrix, mirrors and visual motifs

• numerous reflective sunglasses
• Morpheus's pill case
• the mirror that 'melts' and creeps up Neo's body during the rebirth sequence
• a car mirror
• multiple reflections in a computer monitor
• the spoon-bending boy monk
• the mirrored skyscraper into which Trinity's helicopter crashes (causing a realistic 'ripple' to spread over the exterior)

The Matrix and mythic fragments

Repeated exposure to myths – or merely mythic motifs – rather than conscious learning is responsible for embedding myths into the structure of our consciousnesses. Such 'deep structures' manifest in the modern world not so much as fully-formed mythical narratives but rather as 'fragmentary references, indirect allusions, watchwords, slogans, visual symbols, echoes in literature, film, songs, public ceremonies, and other forms of everyday situations, often highly condensed and emotionally charged. (Flood 1996: 84)

In a directly analogous manner, the extensive – but by no means exhaustive– list of 'mythic motifs' in The Matrix which have made up most of this article so far are excellent examples of mass media making 'fragmentary references' to wider mythic and intellectual ideas, although we rarely fully recognise, still less analyse, the connotations.

Bennett recognises that myths are difficult to analyse because they are intimately linked with our basic cognitive processes. He suggests myths 'are like the lenses of a pair of glasses in the sense that they are not the things people see when they look at the world, they are the things they see with. Myths are the truths about society that are taken for granted.' (Bennett 1980: 167)

In The Matrix the metaphor of lenses is replaced by the metaphor of The Matrix creating a simulation of 'reality' (and in addition we might regard the use of mirrors in The Matrix to be another counterpart to Bennett's lenses metaphor). This brings to mind Bob Trubshaw's metaphor in cosmologies as 'deep structures'

In practice of course most people are so absorbed within the 'structure' of reality that they acquired as children that they have no awareness that entirely different world views are possible. It is as if they live inside bubbles with 100 percent internal reflection. Others may be able to see into their bubbles but they cannot see out. As Robert Anton Wilson has noted, the seemingly impossible task of bursting such all-encompassing bubbles falls to Zen riddles, Sufi jokes, the works of Aleister Crowley, and "a few heroic efforts by philosophers".

To a far greater extent than most people realise, over the last fifty or more years cinema and television have created what nearly everyone in the Western world thinks of as reality. In the 1950s Alfred Hitchcock picked up on a flawed understanding of Freudian psychology (and, as outlined in an overview of mythological theory, Freud's model of conscious is best regarded as deeply flawed, even when understood correctly) and brought to Hollywood an imaginary 'cause and effect' of human behaviour that has come to dominate not just cinema and television generally but, by extension, has become accepted by many people as the way people 'really think'. Because this grievously flawed popular psychology is now so pervasive few people who are not professionally trained as psychologists are aware of either the flaws, or even how recently it has become adopted as a 'model' of reality.

From Hollywood to soap operas, the mass media bombard us with assumptions of how society 'must be' – all the way from social structure, socially acceptable and deviant behaviour, consumerism, through to ready-made 'lifestyles', and so on and so on. The Matrix in large part conforms to this – how many in the audience think they too would look cool in an ankle-length black coat? Indeed there are times when The Matrix seems like a pick-and-mix sweet counter, as so many fragments of popular culture are alluded to, fashioning a pastiche of almost everything that the target audience might regard as 'cool'. Yet, as with the window-washing sequence already mentioned, the directors of The Matrix sees the film as part of a meta-narrative, a process of meta-mythmaking where mythic motifs reflect back on themselves.

Despite the apparent novelty of the central idea in The Matrix – what we think of as 'reality' is artificial – the many ideas brought together in the film have been around for some time, in many cases for a very long time. The actual novelty is perhaps more about the quantity of 'philosophical' and religious ideas which are brought into the script – almost always (apart from the central messianic character and plot) in fragmentary and enigmatic ways – and the original approach of the directors to the making of action sci-fi cinema. Above all, the directors are seemingly fully aware of cinematic mythmaking, and meta-mythmaking processes involved.

Unlike earlier self-consciously 'eclectic' and mythic sci-fi films (such as Star Wars), The Matrix has triggered many viewers to question their beliefs in the whole of 'reality'. While many films lead the viewer to reflect on aspects of the fictionalised events within the movie, few films provoke the viewer to start thinking about what is happening outside the film, least of all to ponder about deeply philosophical issues such as the nature of reality. This is supreme novelty of The Matrix and a key reason why it quickly seized the attention of more academic writers as well as 'fans'.

a passing final thought

references

copyright © Simon Danser 2004

Simon Danser's own Web site, Beyond Reality, also deals with how we construct our ideas about 'reality'.