The Matrix And Multiraciality

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Ashley Guerrero November 30, 2009 The Matrix and Multiraciality “What is real?” is the main question behind the 1999 movie The Matrix. The plot talks about how everything anyone knows is an illusion and that the human race is controlled by machines that have created a virtual world humans see and recognize as real. The protagonist is Neo, a computer hacker living within the matrix unaware of its existence until Morpheus offers him a choice to leave the ignorance and see the matrix for what it really is. In their way are the Agents, computer programs that enforce the matrix’s control over the human race and try to shut down anything that could be a threat which in this case are Morpheus and Neo. What does this have to do with multiraciality? Well, one can see The Matrix as a metaphor for the trials a multiracial individual must go through. Neo is the “multiracial” protagonist of two worlds (fitting because the actor Keanu Reeves is English and Chinese) and he must first decide which one to belong to, then transcends both in order to become “The One”. The matrix itself is a representation of society and how it forces a person to conform and in this way the matrix/society gains its power. Lastly, the Agents are the ones in power and set the rules for the matrix just like the white elite do throughout history. Although the intent of the film was probably far from it, The Matrix is a good metaphor for the life of a multiracial person sharing common themes such as choice between worlds and being/breaking from control. In a famous scene very early on in the movie Morpheus gives Neo a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. The red pill being truth and the knowledge of what the matrix actually is and the blue pill being ignorance of it all by staying in the matrix and forgetting all that has happened. This choice
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