I think that the obvious analogy between the republic and the matrix is how the cave = the matrix. In both inhabitants are blinded to some greater reality and live in ignorance of the truth. In the cave, people can only see shadows and are limited to a single perspective because their heads are chained down. In the matrix, people are forced into this fake reality by machines and have no way to escape by themselves. In both cases "ignorance is bliss", as cypher says when he eats his virtual steak. The virtual pleasures of the matrix are not real. Similarly, people in the cave can not conceive of a world outside the cave and therefore have nothing to be jealous about. Blindness and sight are also reoccurring themes - Neo's eyes hurt when he first enters the matrix and Morpheous tells him it's because he's never used them (in a very metaphorical way). The cave people when exposed to the light of the outside also turn away because of the pain in a more literal way. Both are hinting at the idea that the truth is is overwhelming hard to take in if you have been sheltered from it for so long.
In terms of our own media age, I can clearly see how people before the age of electricity would be considered like people in the cave. They were technologically advanced, but they knew no other reality so they didn't have a problem with it. Even looking at old people today who are confused by new technology is an example of someone's eyes being hurt by the light. I don't think there is a red pill for totally erasing everything we know about technology after we have been exposed to it, but I suppose living in the wilderness could help move you along that path.
No comments:
Post a Comment