The Matrix Inception

There's something about the movie trilogy The Matrix that always bugged me.  First off let me say I love the premise and it remains one of my favourite movie franchises of all time.  I will still watch it and enjoy it, doubts and confusions aside.  I love the series because of the questions that it raises, the debate it inspires, and the underlying philosophy that is carried throughout the three main movies of the Brain in a Jar.

I should point out now, this post will be heavily laden with spoilers for the movies so if you haven't seen them or have any intention of someday seeing them then I wouldn't continue reading unless you're content with spoilers.

There are many events that happen throughout the three main movies that all centre around Neo, and his ability as "The One" - the protagonist of the series.  For those that haven't seen the movies, all of mankind live in pods connected to a massive machine that uses human bodies to generate electricity.  The humans themselves are jacked in to the machine and in order to pacify them their minds are contained within a simulated world called the Matrix - a world modelled on the human world as it was at the end of the 20th century when the movies were made.  The movies themselves take place in a hypothetical dystopian future where the machines rule the world and humans no longer have any control.

Neo possesses abilities within the simulation to be able to manipulate reality, to be able to modify it to his will.  The ultimate purpose of this is not really explained, other than to say these abilities help him with his purpose fulfilling a prophecy which in itself was designed as a measure of control.  There is however a point after he escapes the simulation and returns to the real world, where he appears to exhibit these powers in the real world.  This scene I never fully understood.  Some have argued that his power extends beyond the Matrix to the machines themselves and that is why he was able to control them - I don't accept that explanation.  Instead, I can only draw two possible conclusions from that scene.  The first is that the reason Neo possessed the powers within the Matrix is because the Architect who created the world within the Matrix was true to his word and created a world as accurate as he could - which would infer such powers are part of being human, that the psychic individuals that visited the Oracle - a character who can predict the future - were in fact humans who had realised their full potential.  This explanation would mean those who are awake in the real world would be capable of the same abilities as Neo in the real world with time and effort.

The alternate explanation which I prefer, is that the real world in which Neo wakes alongside the others who have escaped the Matrix, is in fact a simulation.  In the final Movie there are multiple scenes in which Neo, after being blinded by Agent Smith - the main antagonist - is able to "see" the world in the same way he saw the world as code within the Matrix.  These scenes and the abilities which he shouldn't have in reality, make me conclude the real world isn't real.  There are a myriad of plot holes and implausibilities associated with the movies to choose from that don't make sense but this one more than any other always stuck with me.  If this were actually true then the Architect still would not have technically lied about anything, and the purpose of the One and their adventure would remain as a method of control.  At one point in the movies it is explained that the first Matrix was a Utopia and that it was a disaster because humans rejected the programming because they needed to have a struggle to know they were alive.  If this theory is true that the real world is also a simulation, it would conform to the concept that those who realise the Matrix isn't real also need a struggle to fight in order to be contained.