![]() (Please note that I am using the red pill/blue pill imagery as it was originally presented in the movie, not as it has been co-opted by certain groups to advance their views of male and female oppression.) ![]() For Buddhist practitioners, that choice is equivalent to whether you use a glimpse of what you actually are to begin a journey into the unknown or you use it to define and solidify a sense of self. In the movie The Matrix, the protagonist, after finding out that he lives in an illusory world, is offered the choice between taking a red pill and continuing to learn about reality or taking a blue pill and returning to an illusion of life. But it is precisely here that you have to make a choice. That is freedom-freedom from the tyranny of reaction. In that groundlessness, you know that it is possible to experience whatever life throws at you, and not react. For most people, there is a feeling of deep joy and extraordinary freedom, and a humble appreciation th at that experience or shift is only the start of a journey. The utter groundlessness of experience, when you know it directly, not conceptually, is profoundly meaningful, and it affects people in different ways. ![]() Given the options on the table, these are more threats than choices.The experience of mind nature is, for almost everyone, a turning point in their practice. The same applies to The Matrix's red and blue pills, which is essentially a choice between cold, harsh reality, or a comfortable lie. Bugs' crew face getting killed by Machines, or getting punished by their superiors. One option is decidedly worse than the other in both cases, but neither is especially inviting. Thomas Anderson faces accepting his mental breakdown, or accepting the Machine apocalypse actually happened. ![]() The Matrix Resurrections also paints The Matrix's illusion of choice as a coercive tool. Isn't this why Trinity chose to leave the Matrix, rather than stay with her digital family? Bugs raises a point about whether humans are as free as they like to believe - digital programming ruled Neo's mind in the Matrix world, psychological programming determines his path in the real world. Whether picking a pill, selecting a door, or sacrificing his own life, Neo was never making choices in The Matrix because his actions were inevitable. As Bugs points out, a choice isn't a choice if the person already knows what decision they must make. The Matrix Resurrections proves The Matrix's red and blue pill dilemma was never about choice - it was a blend of coercive inevitability. When Morpheus rescues Neo from an Io holding cell, he gives him the choice between breaking free or staying put, then adds, " But that ain't a choice." During their therapy sessions, the Analyst describes Neo's struggle between mental breakdown and the Matrix being real as " not much of a choice," and Bugs' pilot utters " you call that a choice?" when told to pick between death by squids and an Io court martial. You already know what you have to do." This thematic thread runs throughout the entirety of The Matrix Resurrections. When Jessica Henwick's Bugs offers Yahya Abdul-Mateen's Morpheus/Smith hybrid his own two colored pills, she admits the scenario is entirely symbolic, claiming, " The woman with the pills laughed because I was missing the point. The Matrix Resurrections redefines the meaning of choice, proving the red pill/blue pill, the Architect's doors, and even Neo's sacrifice were all just an illusion of choice. Related: The Matrix 4's Zion Replacement Name Has 3 Hidden Easter Eggs
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