The Matrix (1999)

Published: Mar 29, 2014 |Updated: Sep 11, 2023

Synopsis

The Matrix is a movie about infinity, hero’s journey and energy flows. The main character Neo is a 30-year-old hacker living a lonely life. His days are filled with tasks that don’t resonate with his own core. Tired of his life he’s fallen asleep with his music on. Suddenly his computer starts to talk to him. Neo listens. The journey starts.

Jump to powerful ideas »

Genre Action, Scifi
Production year 1999
Director The Wachowski Brothers

Energy waves flowing – The Matrix

by Adriano Pascarella

The story of Neo

Living a life of conformity and boredom Neo alias Mr. Anderson is a lonely man who makes pirate programs for his ‘clients’. One moment his computer starts to talk to him. In this scene as a metaphor a man starts to listen to his own deepest voice. His own heart. And it came so loud and obvious to him that the man (Neo) started to pay attention.

He follows it. And as long as he listens to that authentic deep voice, his old thoughts and beliefs start to become after him. In the movie the agents and police men represent Neo’s old thought patterns and beliefs. Neo connects with Morpheus through phone. Morpheus is a man who is much farther on the path of knowing the Matrix and he sees the awakening potential in Neo.

Morpheus won’t give up on Neo. The phone rings at night, Neo picks up the phone, it’s Morpheus. Morpheus has become a mentor in Neo’s life. Now the mentor guides Neo to follow the next steps. Neo goes under the bridge, in the car, and suddenly Trinity’s colleguae pulls out a gun in front of Neo and commands Neo to take of his shirt. Neo is shocked.

He almost gives up but the loving, truthful, honest, convincing feedback from Trinity gives Neo inspiration to stay. In this scene the loving support of the friends who see the greatness and truth in you and who don’t buy your bullshit, can inspire you. Only honest feedback to a friend can inspire and help a friend. It might be intense but it reveals what’s truly important to you in your life. Trinity takes the machine and removes the ‘bug’ – the resistance – from Neo’s guts.

Neo meets Morpheus. Morpheus offers him a choice to take a red pill or a blue pill. Red pill is the path of wonder, questions and excitement, and the blue pill is the path of predictable boredom.

Neo takes the red pill and Morpheus shows him how deep the rabbit hole goes. Neo starts to see the beauty of every moment => awakening from the Matrix. He sees the things he has taken for granted in a new perspective. He realizes he has an imagination. He wakes up and sees loads of people in sleep.

New things require new muscles to train, and Morpheus and his crew take care of Neo’s growth. Neo realizes as he decided to take a red pill to become a man that there’s no way of going back to the old life.

With the help of the operator Neo starts to load martial arts skills into his unconscious. Morpheus takes Neo to a training program. Imagination – infinity, the base of creativity – is the place where you can load and unload whatever you wish. This is the place of sowing and reaping. Make sure that you take care of the weeds (in the film metaphorically Agents, policemen), and plant the good stuff. To know more about the law of sowing and reaping check out Jim Rohn’s version of it.

Neo visits the Oracle. The Oracle points out to Neo that one of the foundations of the mature life is through knowing thyself.

Morpheus is in danger and Neo realizes what he needs to do. Resistance forces – police and gunmen are guarding the house where agents keep Morpheus.

Neo knows what to do. He believes his cause – to bring Morpeus back.

Conclusion:

After a fight, a battle against resistance forces inside, Neo finally overcomes the agents (his own negative self-talk aka shadow side,) he overcomes himself. Receiving the love and support from Trinity through a romantic kiss, Neo gets up again and leaps into the battle.

Agents shoot bullets toward him but this time Neo is strong and skilled enough to stop the bullets (the destructive negative self-talk and words) and he sets a boundary to himself by saying ”No.” from his depth.

He knows his power and sees the Matrix – energy dynamics, patterns and flows, the ”code” – of the world, and through this realization he’s able to go inside of the Agent Smith. He has overcome himself.

Neo walks out from the phone booth with a new sense of confidence and sees the world through a man’s eyes.

Powerful ideas from The Matrix

  • Taking a red pill could mean speaking your truth to your friend, leaving a circle of friends, or quitting a boring job.
  • It's never too late to start your life's journey.
  • Listen your own deep voice and trust that voice inside of you - Answer the call.
  • Love, forgive and allow yourself to love yourself. Love heals as it healed Neo.
  • Find a mentor(s) who are on the same path as you.
  • Find the people who love you – some people won't love you no matter what you do – and some people won't stop loving you no matter what you do – go where the love is.
  • Be aware of your energies – your feelings / emotions (anger, sadness, joy, shame, guilt), and learn to use them for your and your loved ones' benefit.
  • Be aware of your self-talk and communication - words can heal, give life, protect, and bless. They can also kill, devastate and curse. (Like the bullets shot at Neo.)
  • Most people sleepwalk through life and the rare actually live it awake. Everybody has their own gifts and talents to give to the world so everybody is 'the one'. Take responsibility of Your mission in the world. That is where true happiness can be found.
  • Appreciate intense situations, they have the ability to bring you at your edge and know what's important to you.
  • Step to the unknown, do new things, communicate differently, you might first think that's insane (Like Neo escaping his office from the agents) or it doesn't make any sense -the new life awaits you– leave the old life back – it might be scary but definetely worth it. (And exciting.)
  • Pay attention to your dreams - they may provide crucial information of yourself and your life.
  • Every moment counts. "Life is not happening to you. Life is responding to you."

»Return to user reviews

Discuss The Matrix below: