Contested Natures – Can nature be separate from society? A critical analysis of the film The Matrix.
The film, The Matrix, is an interesting socio-cultural document in that it directly questions throughout its course the idea of knowledge’s, nature, in terms of metaphors, and reality. A brief overview of the film is one where the world as we (they) know it and have come to perceive it is an illusion and the grim reality is one of machines dominating humans and controlling them in a somewhat alternate reality, in order to provide power for themselves. It follows three main characters Neo (anagram of one), Morpheus, and Trinity. In biblical terms this can be seen as the holy trinity, the Father (Morpheus), the son (Neo) and the Holy Ghost (Trinity). These main characters seek to uncover the truth for the people trapped inside the Matrix and free their minds as such, rather than them being told their nature in an empiricist manner. In terms of nature in this film it is rather implied rather than inherent, although the metaphors about nature can be read, some of which shall be addressed in the essay, although these include the presence of nature as something governing humans and non-humans, the idea of nature as language, and nature as a machine. Although natural elements are also present in certain scenes such as sprinklers (rain) and nature being adapted.
The Matrix can be seen in terms of cultural geography as a secondary world as stated in[1]. In this Kneale states that there can be two types of secondary world, a Utopia and Dystopia. Both of these are interesting in that the both apply to The Matrix. The general view of Utopia is one of a good place, although Kneale does state that this can be viewed as ‘non-place’. In relation to The Matrix this is interesting in that the nature and surroundings that are sold to the humans in the actual matrix are in a sense a non-place, it does not have actuality or tangibility, it is a non-place. In a key scene in the film the character Agent Smith explains how the original version of the matrix was to be a Utopian society, it was to be perfect human world, but was a disaster in that the humans could not accept their surroundings as being a Utopia. In relation to The Matrix being a dystopia: …”present a frightening secondary world” which is what in reality the matrix is. The wool has been pulled over the humans eyes in a sense from what is the actual, which is one of humans being slaves to artificial intelligence and where all nature is destroyed. This statement can be backed up by Castree “a particular body of knowledge can have tangible affects to the extent that people believe it to be legitimate, truthful and valid”. This is essence establishes the idea that the knowledge of what is natural (The matrix itself) has been sold as natural and tangible, making the knowledge seem real towards the humans inside the matrix. “…nature as the inherent force ordering both humans and non-humans.” This quote from Castree can explain that the force governing humans and non-humans (the machines) is in fact the matrix; the programming language used to explain to its users what is real is the force. Although looking from another view nature itself can be the force governing them.
Elaborating on this, the film has a scene where past human actions are being explained to the character Neo, where the humans were at war with ‘The Machines’ and in retaliation blackened out the sun. This in affect destroyed nature as we know it, although in retrospect our ideas of nature can be various, but in terms of nature it relies heavily upon an energy source “as abundant as the sun” (Morpheus). Without the sun to provide energy, nature as we know it would die and the earth becoming a wilderness.
Looking more closely at the film, ideas about nature, especially cognitive views can be drawn. Castree[2] goes in depth about knowledge’s of nature with many ideas being considered including “Knowledge is any form of understanding that can be articulated verbally, textually or pictorially…knowledge is how we represent the world in which we live to both ourselves and to others”. This is an interesting point in that the matrix is a form of understanding to the humans trapped inside it. In terms of cognitive knowledge the film has many links, Castree describes cognitive as
“Cognitive knowledge’s make claims about what is (and is not) natural”. This is a key element within the film as Morpheus tries to explain to neo the reality of what the matrix is, as he had previously come to believe that the matrix was the real world, and Morpheus describing that what Neo perceived to be the real world was in fact not (not natural).
This has links with other concepts within knowledges of nature such as Ontology and epistemology. The former is a statement where it is the theory of being and what reality is. Whereas the latter is beliefs about how we can come to know reality, and empiricists believe that seeing is believing. These statements are very influential when analysing the film, because both can be applied. In one scene Morpheus is explaining about the Matrix and quotes “What is real, how do you define real, if your talking about what you can feel, smell, taste and see then real is just electrical signals interpreted by your brain”. These tangible elements are how Neo has come to believe that the matrix was real, and when learning the truth how the matrix isn’t the reality he once knew. Castree also states “…we only comprehend nature by means of formal statement about, then mental understanding of it. Touch, sounds and smell matter immensely too” which links into the film quote, as well as empiricists views of that we can only know what we can see with our own eyes. Although this has a dualism in that Neo has seen the world as he knew it, but seeing it from another point of view with his own eyes confirms what Morpheus has told him of the matrix being unnatural and not reality. This is backed up in the film when Morpheus quotes “There’s nothing I can say that can explain it for you… come… see for yourself”. In looking at whether nature can be separate from society, the film and other sources state that in fact there can be a dualism. In terms of them being linked one definition of nature is the entire physical world, which in this case can be the matrix itself. This is because it encompasses both natural elements within it such as environments (concrete jungle?) and physics (which can be broken), as well as it having a society within as well. In terms of nature and society being separate the matrix is just one contained form of nature, with the actual nature, which being the wilderness now is separate from the matrix. Although natural metaphors about the matrix have been included in the film such as (Morpheus) “fields…endless fields” and states that humans are no longer born but grown. In fact that humans are a part of nature.
The idea of belief is heavily used in the film, and in relation to nature it can be viewed that we can only come to know what nature is through interaction with it, or knowledge producers mediating what it is, to us. Going back to biblical views this can be seen as a crisis of faith for Neo, as he struggles to comprehend what is reality, and also in terms as a fall from grace being ousted into a wilderness.
In relation to wilderness the previous paragraphs have tried to understand how the wilderness has been created within the film, but the idea of wilderness is one totally different to today’s view of what it is. William Cronon[3] states that wilderness is a human creation, which can be seen in the film, with human action forcing the death of nature. He goes onto to say “Wilderness hides its unnaturalness behind a mask that is all the more beguiling because it seems so natural”. This view is interesting in that the wilderness in the film is hidden from the humans trapped inside the matrix. Although todays view of the wilderness is one of being beautiful and untouched the view in the film is of it being man made destruction, with Morpheus quoting “Welcome to the desert of the real”. This identifying the wilderness, the desert is the actual reality that Neo should be aware of. Another interesting point to note is that Cronon does mention Zion, one of the American national parks, which in the film is described as the humans city (those not inside the Matrix), whether this was intentional by the Wachowski brothers (the writers) is unknown but Zion in the film is seen as the refuge from the wilderness created by man. Not entirely related to wilderness but one of the films premise, Cronon goes on to state “we work our nine-to-five jobs in its institutions, we eat its food, we drive its cars, we benefit from the intricate and all too invisible networks with which it shelters us, all the while pretending that these things are not an essential part of who we are” This is very similar to a quote in which Morpheus explains about the matrix being all around us, but noting that Neo has sensed that something is not right with the world. Another statement from Cronon is one where he states “…a planet in which the humans and the natural can no longer be distinguished because one has overwhelmed the other”. This view is very relevant towards the idea that human action overwhelmed nature and destroyed it within the film. Although all these ideas are only implied in the film, so we as well as Neo are a product of a knowledge producer, how do we know that this is the truth? One interesting quote from the film is where Agent Smith states “Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment and you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed, and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area.”. This can be viewed as humans having relations to nature, acting likes animals, but not having this equilibrium, and in a sense creating a wilderness.
There are many metaphors within the film such as nature as language, this relates to the programming language used to create the Matrix. The nature of the matrix is written and the people inside that matrix come to interpret nature from this language. Another idea is one of nature as a machine, along with the language the matrix is just part of a machine, inherently ordering the nature within it, and humans being part of that machine as well, interacting with it. One metaphor that is interesting is one where can the body be seen as social or natural. Within the matrix the body is just a digital representation of the persons actual self, using the programming language. So considering this, is the body socially constructed?
[1] Secondary worlds, John Kneale in Cultural Geography in practice, 2003
[2] Noel Castree, Nature, 2005
[3] William Cronon, The trouble with Wilderness. Cronon et al,1996,Uncommon ground
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 England & Wales License.
–>
