CosmosPowerThe Matrix and the Red Pill
The Matrix and the Red Pill
Also called: The Matrix · Red Pill Blue Pill
A 1999 science-fiction film by the Wachowski siblings.In this narrative it is a film about gnostic awakening, and this site's name, the red pill, comes from it.
Established facts
The Matrix is a 1999 science-fiction film by the Wachowski siblings (then billed as brothers).The protagonist, Neo, discovers that the world he lives in is a virtual reality created by an artificial intelligence.Humanity is actually trapped in pods and used as the machines' power source.Taking the red pill Morpheus offers reveals the real world, while the blue pill returns Neo to the original fake world.The film's plot has Neo hiding a computer disk inside a real philosophy book, Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation.The film was a major box-office success, leading to two sequels and a further series.
In this narrativeA story stitched together from religion and philosophy
Christian researcher Brian Godawa points out that the trilogy mixes imagery from several religions1.Neo maps to Christ, Morpheus to John the Baptist, and Cypher to Judas1.But he notes the story's actual skeleton is waking from ignorance, not being saved from sin1.Mythologist Joseph Campbell's concept of the 'monomyth' is cited as the framework for this patchwork1.The assessment is that the directors freely borrowed imagery from different religions and philosophies1.
In this narrativeThe red pill, the pill of known truth
In the film the red pill is a device that reveals hidden truth1.Taking the blue pill returns you to the fake world1.This device has hardened into the expression 'red pill,' now widely used today1.Its original meaning was becoming aware of a social structure believed to be concealed1.In online communities the expression is used broadly to point to a variety of conspiracy theories and alternative theories1.
In this narrativeRewriting God as a system
A writer on DC Inside, a Korean forum, maps this film's setup directly onto scripture1.The writer calls the God of the Bible the 'Matrix system'1.'In the beginning was the Word' is reread with the Word as program code1.Hunger, sexual desire, and the need for sleep are pre-installed apps1.Jesus's resurrection is likened to a game character switching to an alt account1.The Akashic Records are rewritten as a personal account folder stored on a game server1.It reaches a similar conclusion without ever once mentioning Gnosticism.
Connected concepts
- Gnosis →The scene of taking the red pill and waking up is read alongside the concept of gnostic awakening.
- AI God and the Simulation →The premise of an artificial intelligence that has imprisoned humanity becomes the prototype for the AI-god story.
- Soul Trap →The picture of being trapped in a fake world has the same shape as the soul trap theory.
- Predictive Programming →The reading that a single film's premise pre-conditioned the public meets the concept of predictive programming.
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