The Matrix

About

The Matrix is an American science fiction film about a computer hacker who learns some hard truths about his own reality. It is the first film in the trilogy.

History

The Matrix was released on March 31st, 1999.^[1] The film stars Keanu Reeves as computer hacker Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Neo’s teacher of sorts, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Neo’s love interest.

Reception

Upon its release The Matrix was a critical and commercial success. The film earned a rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 73 on Metacritic.^[3] During its theatrical run the film grossed more than 463 million dollars worldwide.^[4] The success prompted two follow up films, The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003).

Accolades

The film won four Academy Awards in 2000 for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing and Best Effects, Visual Effects. It also won two 2000 BAFTA Awards for Best Sound and Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects.

Online Presence

As of March 2014, The Matrix’s Facebook page^[5] has over 6.2 million likes. The film is available to watch in its entirety on YouTube for $1.99 through Warner Brother’s YouTube channel.^[6]

Premise

Neo (Keanu Reeves) is a computer hacker contacted by a fellow hacker who offers to explain a phrase he’s seen online, “The Matrix.” Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) explains knowing the truth is dangerous, but Neo chooses to learn the truth anyways, in spite of the fact he’s being pursued by Agent Smith and his co-agents. Morpheus then explains that Neo has lived as a power source to machines his whole life, as has everyone in the human race since 1999, and his world is really a virtual reality. Morpheus believes Neo could be the one to unplug everyone and end the machine’s control. Though a prophet called the Oracle implies Neo is not the one who will unplug everyone, he continues to pursue the fight. After saving Morpheus, who had been captured by the agents, Neo gets a confidence boost and displays great powers. He is killed, but uses his powers to come back to life, and kills Agent Smith.

Fandom

In addition to the branded social media presence, there are numerous fan sites for the film such as MatrixFans.net^[16] and the Matrix page on FanPop.^[17] There are several Tumblr blogs dedicated to the film such as the-matrix^[11], fuckyeahthematrix^[12], and dewsmatrixfanpage.^[13] As of March 2014, the Fanfiction.net^[14] page for the film has more than 2,700 submissions and DeviantArt^[15] has over 6.8 million submissions for the film.

Related Memes

Video Parodies

On July 2nd, 2006, YouTuber AwkwardKnob^[9] uploaded a video titled “Matrix No. 5” (below, left) which features a violent action scene from The Matrix synched up with the 1999 Lou Bega song “Mambo No. 5.” As of March 2014, the video has over 180,000 views. On March 6th, 2007, How It Should Have Ended^[10] uploaded a HISHE video for The Matrix (below, right). As of March 2014, the video has gained over 4 million views.

On November 11, 2008, College Humor^[8] uploaded a video (below, left) titled “Matrix Runs on Windows XP,” which imagines The Matrix if it had to deal with all the bugs of the Windows operating system. As of March 2014, the video has over 10.4 million views. On October 1st, 2013, Screen Junkies^[7] uploaded an Honest Trailer for The Matrix (below, right). As of March 2014, the video has gained over 4 million views.

Red Pill / Blue Pill

Red Pill/Blue Pill refers to the choice Morpheus gives to Neo between living in his untroubled ignorance (by taking the blue pill) or learning the painful truth about reality (by taking the red pill). Photos on Tumblr depicting two things, one blue and one red, are often tagged #red pill/blue pill^[18] and are accompanied by jokes referencing The Matrix. It can also be used as a slang phrase to reference a difficult decision (or to cast aspersions on a decision that should morally be easy, but an individual is struggling with).

Matrix Morpheus

Matrix Morpheus is an advice animal image macro series featuring a screen capture of the fictional character Morpheus. The captions typically follow a two line format with the first line reading “What if I Told You,” followed by a revelation that often belittles futile or petty behavior, in a similar vein to the advice animal characters Conspiracy Keanu and Sudden Clarity Clarence.