The title of this piece by Adam Gopnik, which first appeared in the New Yorker, is quite misleading. Upon first reading and seeing the words “A Critic At Large” at the top, I was expecting a movie review of some sort. At first the article begins to show The Matrix as a cult, speaking about the following that it has evoked, but then it begins to talk about the premise of the first movie and what made it so epic. Gopnik describes Neo and Morpheus’ quests and also speaks about the Cathars, a medieval Christian group, and their beliefs that possibly inspired the movie. After all the background knowledge he instills upon the reader he finally gets into the two horrible disgraces that were the sequels. He touches not only how terrible they were, but how they destroyed everything the first created. He wraps everything up with a lot of philosophical information that also too might have helped inspire the Matrix. He ends by saying that the Matrix is ahead of its time due to what has happened in our society over the last couple years, which I agree with.
Why do I find the title of the piece misleading? It is for the mere fact that he doesn’t find anything wrong with The Matrix; his quarrels come with the two sequels. The Matrix was a mind-blowing and brilliant movie that expanded the minds of the millions of people who watched it by allowing them to question their existence. A movie that has the ability to do that will stand the test of time as a classic. In classrooms all across the country, kids and teachers discuss what if this wasn’t real? What if people are just a speck of dust in a computer in this place we call the universe? I love philosophy. I think learning about existentialism, absurdism, and nihilism are things that all people should have to be exposed too, this is probably why I took such a liking to the Matrix. I agree with Gopnik on his points about the sequels. They were awful. They took the fun, the thought, and the complexity out of the movies. They became too commercialized in order to appeal to a wider audience so that they would gross more in the box office. It was also apparent that the Wachowski brothers never intended for a sequel to be made and instead tried to create another epic piece of work to no success.
The second part this article goes into is some of the literature of famous sci-fi writers and philosophers who might have had a hand in creating the dream world that was The Matrix. It also hits on how ahead of its time the movie was. The Matrix was about political freedom and social change in a world that was controlled. Today’s world is the same way. We, the people, are not equal anymore. The government and big business is suppressing what the majority wants in order to profit. The stock market is in shambles, and we have lost control and are now a dependent nation. We need to “free our minds” and start voice our opinions and standing up for what is right.
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