Summary
- The inclusion of the book Simulacra and Simulation in The Matrix hints at a deeper, more pessimistic message about reality and simulation.
- The book serves as a roap for Neo's journey, as it discusses the idea of living in a hyperreal era where symbols replace actual things.
- The Matrix itself is a distraction from the fact that even the "real world" of Zion is just as fake, suggesting that Neo's quest to escape the simulation may be futile.
Morpheus' red pill, a prop at the beginning of the film hints at an even darker story and more pessimistic message. Nothing is as it seems in the world of The Matrix, but a book that Neo owns raises even more intriguing questions about the realities that the protagonist - and the real-world Matrix audience - inhabit.
After Neo (Reeves) wakes up in Zion, he realizes his life has been a lie and he has actually been entombed in a pod to power computers, along with the rest of humanity. Before this moment though, Neo, as Thomas Anderson, is already aware that his world can't fully be trusted. Filmmakers the Wachowskis convey this to viewers by including a copy of Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard in the film. The philosopher's classic book discusses reality and simulation and certainly played a role in inspiring The Matrix, but it is more than a simple Easter egg.
A Clue About The Matrix Is Hiding In Plain Sight In Neo's Apartment
Anderson's copy of Simulacra and Simulation has a front-and-center role, as he keeps it in his apartment, hollowed out, and used to stash computer files. The book would have provided a useful roap for the chaos Neo is about to face - provided he gave it a quick skim before moving it to a hiding place. Baudrillard argues that we are living in a "hyperreal" era where symbols of things have replaced things. He also says that as experiences and places become more artificial, they feel more intense, becoming more real than reality. The Matrix takes this ideology to a literal place, having Neo physically in a different reality from the one he experiences.
However, by including Simulacra and Simulation in the movie, the Wachowski sisters also hint to viewers that they have laid a trap while creating The Matrix. The apparent message of the movie's plot, like the world Neo lives in, can't be trusted. This is because while Baudrillard argues that reality has been replaced by the hyperreal, he also warned there is no actual reality left underneath it, just endless copies that end up signifying nothing. Hyperreal places and experiences mask the artificiality and meaninglessness of what we think of as the "real" version. This has big implications for a film set between a real and a fake world, like The Matrix.
How Neo's Book Changes The Meaning Of The Matrix
In the book Anderson/Neo owns, Baudrillard uses the example of Disneyland as a hyperreal version of America, showing guests America's imagery, history, and places more intensely than the real thing. However, he adds there is no real America underneath, and the artificial Disneyland masks the truth that everything else is as unreal as a theme park. The quote is as follows:
Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, whereas all of Los Angeles and the America that surrounds it are no longer real, but belong to the hyperreal order and to the order of simulation. It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology) but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real.
If the Matrix is Baudrillard's Disneyland, it serves to distract from the fact that Zion, the "real world" of the movie, is just as fake. The Matrix's Architect discusses a similar idea in The Matrix Reloaded, revealing the people living in Zion play a key role in upholding the computers' system of control over humanity.
If Simulacra and Simulation is in the movie as a guide to viewers, then, it is telling them that whether Neo is in the Matrix or not actually makes no difference. The simulation just serves to mask the unreality of the world outside it, creating the illusion that there is a way for Neo not to live a lie. In The Matrix, Neo opens up his Baudrillard book after words flash up on his computer telling him to "wake up." Perhaps, though, there is no way for Neo to wake up, and nowhere for him to wake up in.
Source: Baudrillard, J. (1983) Simulacra and Simulation
