After we were done watching the Matrix, it reminded me exactly why I did not want to watch it in a first place when it first came out, due to the many deep layers of symbolism, meanings and confusion. I know we were supposed to “read” the movie and not just watch it, but as I was watching it and listening to Morpheus speak about The Matrix, what it is and how it works, all I could think about was “Daoism, Daoism, Daoism”. Everything he said sounded like exactly something from one of the Daoism readings we had. Although I did not understand Daoism that much, I still found some connections between The Matrix and Daoism, beginning with the idea of “how do you define real”. I loved the scene when Neo went to visit the oracle and when the little kid told him that the spoon isn’t actually bending because there is no spoon. If this is also something that Daoism reflects, I don’t believe in it one bit. I mean it would be great if I could look at things and bend them how I want to and move objects around the room however I wanted to, but so far that’s been impossible because I actually think that the spoon I eat with exists. If the spoon doesn’t exist yet it is there and we can see it and feel it and use it, does that mean that we as people do not exist either? We can be touched, smelled and seen, yet if we are just like that spoon that doesn’t exist, we as people aren’t any more real than that spoon. I guess what I am trying to say is that the question “how do you define real” is fair, but a better question is how do you differentiate between “real and unreal”? What makes certain things real and certain things unreal?
One thing I remember from the movie is when Morpheus explained that even though Neo knows something, he can’t explain it and that he can only show him the door and Neo has to walk through it alone. This reminded me of Daoism because we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Daoism really is, and then we came to the conclusion that Daoism goes with the flow and that it can’t really be explained in just one way. The movie is all about things being real and un- real, which reflects many themes in Daoism.
I enjoyed watching this movie and never knew that it reflected many parts of Daoism and it would be really creepy if the world really became an artificial reality called The Matrix in the next century or two.
Those who love philosophy love exactly the kinds of questions you're asking. If the spoon's not real, then am I real? What is reality and how does it work? For some, those questions are terrifying. For others, exhilarating. We have to make some kind of peace with these kinds of questions. Sometimes we ignore them, sometimes we say it's all God's master plan, sometimes we just say it doesn't matter, sometimes--and I think daoists are doing this, but they're not the only ones--we wrestle with them, trying to make sense out of the impossible.
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