Both The Matrix and eXistenZ ask the question “what is real?” It is the way that the films focus on the question which makes the difference. In eXistenZ, the games that the film characters play becomes their world and it becomes impossible to tell, for viewers as well as the characters, at any point whether or not they are in fact still playing. Reality becomes irrelevant. It is possible that the film takes place in a virtual reality and this suggests that the blurred lines between reality and a game is impossible to make. The Matrix is more concerned about how the definition of reality can be bent.
In the scene where Morpheus brings Neo into the localized Matrix, they discuss these questions. Morpheus says something along the lines of if being able to feel, see, and smell something makes it real, then the Matrix can be considered real. The film seems to suggest that reality is subjective, that it all boils down to how our minds perceive what is on the outside. One of the powerful things about The Matrix that is lacking from eXistenZ is that at some point you wonder how we can know that we’re not ourselves in some form of Matrix, and I think the answer is that we really can’t. The fact is that we could just as easily be living in a simulated world. It may seem almost pointless to think about, but that’s the best part. The fact that it is on some levels irrelevant that what we experience might not be the “truth” says something about reality, that it is really relative.
We care about this question about as much as the people stuck in the Matrix might. For them the Matrix is reality just as much as the Nebuchadnezzar and Zion are reality for those outside it. Then the question becomes is “true” reality actually more valuable and if so why? Is ignorance bliss?
"True" reality is definitely the way to go. It will always be more difficult, but you can't really experience life or grow if you are living in an "ignorance is bliss" bubble. Both circumstances might feel equally real, but taking the challenge of trying to uncover the truth is going to benefit you in the end. So, being ignorant might be blissful while experiencing true reality is painful and sometimes terrible, but unfortunately that's just how people grow.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the Matrix, I'd have to say yes, ignorance is bliss. I saw the film for the first time this semester, after we'd watched eXistenZ. I felt that, though the films brought up similar questions about the nature of reality, eXistenZ did a better, more honest job. I'll try to explain. After seeing (I'll admit, only the first one) the Matrix, I felt that I would have been the kind of person who wanted to go back in time and choose the pill that kept me asleep and in my happy little pod of goo. eXistenZ, however, made this choice more difficult. If the characters "got out" (and if that was possible) they would be in a world very similar to our own. They may feel a little deprived of a favorite addiction, sort of like I would if I had to get rid of Netflix Instant, but they likely wouldn't be dealing with things like the end of humanity or eating slop for every meal. Because this is the case, we can see in eXistenZ some of the less obvious perks of the "real world". Being able to have (mainly) control of simple bodily functions and to speak to a stranger without needing to know their immediate purpose in your life are perks that it seems only the "real world" can offer, and they're ones we would miss if they were gone.
ReplyDeleteThese movies remind me of those weird dreams, where I want to wake up but I can't. Or-- even worse-- the ones where I dream that I've woken up and started my day and I may have the same loop of dreaming I woke up, only to realize that I'm still asleep, five or six times. On those days, I'm always really happy to get out of bed!
ReplyDeleteThen there's that expression, "I reject your reality and substitute my own." It's cute & funny, but the truth is that there is only so much manipulating one can do to his/her reality. My reality may be that I like to sleep late, so I can adjust that by getting a job that starts later in the day. I can get dark curtains so the sunlight doesn't wake me up early. But I can't change the fact that other people are getting up early and starting their jobs at 8 AM, nor that restaurants may stop serving breakfast before I'm ready to get up, nor that there is a TV program that I like that starts at 7 while I'm sleeping (although DVRs help adjust this reality, too).
So, that was a bit of a tangent. I guess ignorance is bliss if you can't change your circumstances, but I prefer to live in pursuit of a real life. And I think that's one reason that people sitting at a dinner table all texting, all locked into separate worlds, annoy me so much: Life is happening right in front of them, but they're too interested in the life happening somewhere else to notice.
I agree that reality is just a perception, just look at those fanatical wow and everquest players. they dont even need a game pod to leave reality for days at a time and live in another world. while these people are typically shunned, are they really that different from neo in their own perceptions of reality, or what matters. its surprising that an economy has sprung up from these games and people will pay real money for in game money and items. its actually pretty amazing that we can generate monetary flow in reality through in game commerce and desires for better weapons. this is kind of a modern day parallel that precedes the direction existenz went with the "what is reality question"
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