The following essay, then, is not a movie review as much as it is a description about where I have come from, and where I might be going.
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The Matrix as a Metaphor for Fear.
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The rules upon which the Matrix is based (for it is a computer program that everyone, and everything, follows) represents what I call Fear. At the heart of it, the Matrix is Fear incarnate wrapped in seductive garb. When I speak of Fear, I am not referring to fears of failure, loneliness, spiders, or heights. These are fears with small f's, and are merely projections of something much bigger. Fear with a big F comes from something much deeper. It's elusive to define, and yet it's everywhere. As Morpheus points out in the first movie, we can see, hear, taste, and touch it. Big F' Fear can be likened to a black veil that taints our perspective, rendering everything we see in shades of darkness. We could conquer the small fears that we see, and still be left with a veil over our eyes. The Matrix is that veil! It's the world Fear built. As he said, "it is a prison for your mind."" But it is not solely a deception that is thrust upon humanity by the machines, however. Everyone who is still plugged into the Matrix is also a willing conspirator as well.
In this parable, the Matrix exists to obscure humanity from their true purpose. I mean this in three ways: 1) Humans generate an abundant source of energy, and the machines need it to survive. The real purpose of their lives, then, is to provide the machines with electrical energy. 2) Because they are 'asleep' and lie in a vat of goo in real life, humans never realize what their true potential is. 3) People are also unaware of their purpose with regards to their lives in the Matrix. If the Matrix is a perfect facsimile, then a lot of people live their lives feeling separated from each other in the chaotic hustle and bustle of 20th Century America.
