The matrix will forever hold a place as one of my favorite childhood movies as the action and computer generated imagery back in 99’…were ahead of its time. Today, I’m twenty years old, in college and assigned to re-watch this bad-ass movie and utilize my mature adult intelligence to “critically” think about the socially constructed reality at a college level. Therefore, I shall proceed to say that after watching the Matrix, the movie pertains to the socially constructed reality as a result of a machine world that overran the human race with superior technology and powerful foes. They harvested the natural energy of human bodies in corn field like electronic pods and trap their minds in the matrix. By imposing unparalleled violence and destruction upon the human race, the artificial world of the matrix was constructed by the machines to control human life and maintain its supremacy. Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, recognizes that there are at least these two realities, and he challenges Neo (Keanu Reeves) to recognize that he has to choose which reality he is going to accept by either taking a blue or red pill. “This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends; you wake up and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes” (Matrix). At the same time, most of the human population is mentally enslaved and don’t recognize that their reality is artificially constructed and have no need for or interest knowing otherwise. The story line and plot of the matrix is computer enhanced fiction. The action is outrageous but the fundamental principal of a socially constructed reality can be related by to my life as it is expanded upon throughout the movie. For me, my “Neo” moment hit me when I discovered on my own that Santa Claus wasn’t real. It was Christmas Eve and I was playing soccer in my house with a soccer ball. I accidently kicked the ball into my parent’s room and under their bed. As I crouched down to retrieve my ball, I saw my new unwrapped big wheel that I previously thought was going to be brought down a chimney by a fat ass white guy in a red suite. It took me a few minutes to comprehend what I had just seen but I eventually put two and two together and began to cry heavily. Just like every other holiday character, Santa Claus was a huge influence on my life as I was born and raised on the idea that if I behaved well, the Santa that I see on TV, at school, and at the mall will come to my house and give me gifts. However if I’m naughty, I’ll receive a lump of coal. I would even buy reindeer food and place it all around my house to make sure my street wasn’t missed.
Even if I didn’t find my Christmas present under my parent’s bed, I would have figured it out sooner or later as I reached a more mature age. However, I had the ability to freely use common sense to realize that Santa Claus is just made up. As for Neo, he was supposed to be a part of the pinnacle of human civilization and instead, was born into a dystopia world where the artificial reality was forced upon by sentiment machines.
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