Choosing a fantasy movie to review is a whole lot harder to do than it originally sounded (despite the fact that I have already done one of these reviews). During my selection process it seemed as if every movie I considered reviewing was more science fiction than fantasy. I was also hoping to review a movie I had not previously seen so that I would have less of a biased opinion on the themes in the film, or at the very least I wouldn’t have previous discussions about the story running through my head while trying to form my own theories. In the end this “struggle” led me to choose a movie that I had not seen but very well may be just a science fiction movie; however I am here to prove to you that although this movie may not be purely fantasy it does, in fact, have several fantasy qualities to it. Of the multiple elements of fantasy in The Matrix, the main ones I am going to focus on are the travel between primary and secondary world, the presence of an all-knowing prophet as well as a less informed but altogether just as important guide, and finally the existence of a chosen one that the story surrounds (not to mention the multiple the multiple references to Alice and Wonderland).
Firstly,
I believe that the existence of a secondary world (I will be calling the matrix
the secondary world. Although, a case could be made for it being the primary
world as he does begin his journey there.) is the most significant quality that
is required for something to be considered a fairytale, and as The Matrix
contains a secondary world it should be considered fantasy. Travel between primary and secondary occurs in
many if not all fantasy films/novels. Secondly, The Matrix has both a
mysterious guide, similar to Gandalf in The
Hobbit, and a prophecy given by the
Oracle that will come to pass, much like the one in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that concerns the four
thrones at Cair Paravel. Both the guide and the prophecy are used as
representational of the mystical in the fantasy genre and tend to also serve as
the catalyst that sets the chosen one on his journey toward queerness. This
chosen one that is also prevalent in most fairytales is my third and final
point. Just like Anodos, Golden Wlater, Bilbo, the Pevensie Children, and Harry
Potter the fantasy genre is driven by a character(s) such as Neo in The Matrix that have been thrust into a
world that isn’t quite what he would call home and is given a choice to act and
save everyone or to remain stationary and perish.
I
would also like to touch on the areas that make The Matrix science
fiction instead of fantasy. The first of these is when the story takes place in
time. The Matrix is set in the 2100’s, however it is the year 1999 in the
matrix itself. The fact that the secondary world is grounded in our own world’s
past does weaken an argument for fantasy since it does not allow the secondary
world to be completely detached and independent of our world’s history. The lack
of nature in the film is also a major hit to my fantasy argument. We have yet
to read a fantasy novel in this class that doesn’t have at least a major chunk
of the plot centered in a mysterious forest filled with woodland creatures and
living, speaking flora. However, in the matrix the entire film is centered in a
concrete forest filled mechanic sentinels and robotic agents. Finally, the
biggest hit to the fantasy view is the fact that the “fairyland” is not
entirely real which fractures the part of fantasy that relies on the existence of
a secondary world.
I know
that these three or four elements do not encompass all that a fantasy story is,
but I do not believe we can count out this story entirely. In spite of The Matrix
being based in the future as opposed to the past and having a surprising lack
of nature, not to mention the fact that the secondary world is an illusion, I
think this film merits the title of at least partially fantasy, because it has
just as many fantasy qualifications as scifi. After all, what exactly is
fantasy?
I am really interested in your discussion, Emily. I agree with your identification of the fantasy elements in the film (I've always been curious about the obvious "Alice in Wonderland" connections). While the secondary world is an intellectual state rather than a physical place, I think there is something to be said for the inversion of reality and non-reality. To us, the "real world" of Zion and Sentinels is secondary and the Matrix is reality, but it's the opposite in the world of the film. What's real and what's not real and why it matters gets pretty murky. I also think you make an excellent point about nature. Is nature as important as the independence of the secondary world? I would be really interested to hear your take on the second movie.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I spent 10 solid minutes trying to decide which world was the primary and which was the secondary before I began asking people and I'm still not 100% on which is which. This was also my first time ever watching any of the movies in The Matrix trilogy so as soon as I get my hands on the other two DVDs I'll let you know.
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