Fundamentals of Mass Communication - Essay Example

Number Is Neo the Real Hero in The Matrix? Introduction The article by Brizee and Tompkins on “Psychoanalytic Criticism” revealed that Swiss psychologist; Carl Jung theorized that human knowledge and experiences which are common and concurrent across generation are developed in the collective unconscious evolving to be archetypes or symbols. In the world of art particularly in film industry, gender archetypes are used as an allegory of the real life situation to get the interest of the audiences. In 1950’s, American science fiction films conveyed the issues that besieged the government such as the Women’s movement, anti-war movement, and the Civil Rights movement (Booker 13). The films Terminator and Robocop mirrored the “dehumanizing potential of technology” that was an issue in America during the reign of President Reagan (16) with the concept of male heroes and female damsel in distress to make the story alive and exciting. However, some films were created simply to be entertaining without much connection to a particular social and political state of affairs. I chose to deconstruct The Matrix film episode due to the meanings attached to its symbols and due to its popularity. The symbolism and gender stereotyping in film can be an effective tool in conveying messages to mankind’s socio-political issues. The film The Matrix was first shown in public in 1999 but due to its huge success it became a trilogy with The Matrix Reloaded episode in May 2003, and The Matrix Revolutions shown in November of the same year. The film appeals to both male and female audiences from teenagers to late twenties basically because it is the age group who are interested in virtual games and martial arts stunts. The film is heavily loaded with gravity defying martial arts stunts and its story is based on computer generated technology which is of interest to the aforementioned audiences. The romance between the lead characters of Neo and Trinity as well as Trinity’s own persona in the film makes it generally appealing to female audiences. Body Major Characters and its Symbols. In the hit science fiction film The Matrix, the major characters Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, the Oracle, and Agent Smith embodies the archetypes described by Carl Jung. These archetypes along with the other symbols were used to support the entirety of the film and the message it wanted to convey to its audiences. It is worth noting though that the film is heavily loaded with male characters playing both the protagonists and antagonists roles. In the trilogy, there are four women who played important roles: Trinity, The Oracle, Captain Niobi, and Persephone compared to the rest of the male characters who were in the film. Neo is the archetype of a hero destined to be the defender of the real people enslaved by the machines in the Matrix world. Neo whose name is an anagram of the word “one” was foretold to be the person who possesses the sole capability to disempower the machines and bring back the order and natural way of life of the humans. The entire character of Neo and his name Thomas Anderson as the computer hacker in itself are composite Christian messianic symbols. The name Thomas was derived from the biblical character doubting Thomas while Anderson means ‘son of man’. The symbolic meanings of the lead actor’s name are a precedent to his big role in the movie as the person who will defend the city of Zion and bring about the new beginning to humanity. Although Neo was the supposed hero in the movie, his character showed anxiety and uncertainty over his fate that needed the conviction of Trinity to gain confidence on his new found role. This display of character indicated gender reversal of roles wherein the women were the usual subject to anxiety and lesser fortune while the men were perceived as more focused and resolute. Morpheus is the archetype of a father figure who exudes authority, and is very stern and powerful. The name Morpheus itself is coined from the Greek mythology who is the god of dreams. In Encyclopedia Britannica, the name Morpheus is told to be sending various kinds of human shapes to the dreamer. The god of dreams manipulates the dream of the dreamer but at the same time awakens the dreamer from slumber. The choice of the character’s symbolic name is appropriate for his role as the person who guided Neo from enlightenment since Neo was apprehensive about his destiny to be the chosen redeemer. In the synopsis of scenes from The Internet Movie Database, the act where Morpheus asked Neo to choose between the blue and the red pill, the former embodies the typical role of a father who instills motivation and guidance to his children, allowing them to choose their own destiny. The name of Morpheus itself has symbolic ties to one of the themes of the film on dream and reality. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, the name Trinity is borrowed from the Christian doctrine that connotes the unity of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit as three persons in one. In movie however, the name Trinity was bestowed to the female lead character. Trinity was the archetype of a powerful woman who exudes confidence, sexuality, intelligence, and influence much like the powerful women in the history like Joan of Arc in France, Cleopatra of Egypt, and Catherine of the Great of Russia. Williams in his article “Mastering the real” argued that the real hero in the film is not Neo but Trinity not only because of the powerful symbol of her name but because of the character’s role in the movie. In the movie, it was Trinity who led Neo to the ‘follow the white rabbit’ coded message, saved Neo from the agents, delivered Neo to Morpheus, and convinced Neo as ‘the one’ when Neo struggled to leave the matrix during a tough battle with agent Smith. This left the audiences then to ponder about the role of Neo as the main hero. To sum it up, it was the female character of Trinity who made the changes for the city of Zion and Neo just acted out under tutelage of the former. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Oracle originated from Latin word which means to speak or to pray, a response to a petitioner’s request through a divine communication. In modern days, the Oracle is called fortune teller or astrologist because of their ability to tell certain events in the future that can serve either as warning or guidance. In the movie, the Oracle represented its mythological role when she advised Neo to seek through himself. Although the Oracle’s role in the movie was very short, it was an important element that enhanced the role portrayed by Neo as the savior. The character of Oracle portrayed by a woman set inside a comfy home was another gender archetype of the motherly role of women who rears her children to become better individuals. This influential female role in the movie connotes to the increasing roles of women in the society. In the “The 2011 Time 100” article of the Time Magazine on people who made a difference or affected the world, there were twenty eight females who made it in various categories of leadership and the arts denoting the increasing influential roles of women around the globe. Agent Smith is the archetype of a villain that brings chaos and burdens the protagonists in undertaking their objective to topple the machines and bring freedom to the real people living in Zion and to those enslaved in the Matrix world. Although the main enemy of Neo and the people in Zion are the machines, Agent Smith embodies the Shadow archetype with sinister desires. Heroes are born in the midst of chaos, thus agent Smith is an important character in the film to promote the need for a hero who would bring liberation. Major Themes and its Symbols. The film’s symbolic association with the post-modern philosopher Jean Baudrillard was caught in the scene when Neo hides his illegal software inside a copy of Baudrillard’s book on Simulacra and Simulation. Readings in Encyclopedia Britannica showed that the theoretical ideas of Baudrillard on simulacrum and hyperreality argued that humans believed more on the simulated reality as real than reality itself. Cypher became a traitor to Neo and his group because of his desire to live as somebody important like an actor in the illusory world inside the Matrix. What he failed to realize was that everybody plays an equal part in the natural scheme of things and that the perception of an actor as somebody more important is just an illusion created to build social class in the society. The war between the machines and the group of Neo in the film symbolizes human subversion to technology or the dependence of humans to technology. The scene where Neo, Morpheus and Trinity have to be connected to wires to enter the Matrix world, and the rows of frozen humans attached to machines symbolizes the dependence of current generations on technology. Recent technological developments like the internet has connected the world cost effectively and much faster when communicating and sending relevant information across the globe. The video games as well have been tuned to duplicate real human circumstances bestowed with super powers to appeal to the young adult and teen population. However, technological advancement has its own disadvantages. The rise of communication through electronic mails and instant messaging contributed to the declining demand in postal services resulting to low return of investment and massive retrenchment in the workforce. The most concrete example is the ongoing financial crisis in the U.S. Postal Service. De Haven’s article on “Privatizing the U.S. Postal Service” revealed that the “electronic communications are making physical mail delivery less relevant” contributing to low revenues in addition to its expensive operating expenses, union workforce, and congressional interference. Accordingly, USPS lost $20 billion from 2007 to 2010 increasing its debt from $2.1 billion to $12 billion. In the movie, both Morpheus and Trinity believed Neo to be the chosen one. The Oracle herself does believe in Neo but did not explicitly reveal it to help Neo discover himself and be the person he really is. This theme strengthened the plot of the movie as it aligns with the universal truth on the continuous struggle of human between free will and destiny. Destiny is predetermined factors or course of events while free will is the human’s freedom and ability to choose. The existence of archetypes itself is a sign that some aspects in humanity have been preset and passed on across generations to accept. Presently, the theme is a representation of the predetermined social classes shaped by the capitalist society. Individuals born in poverty level are expected to lead a tough and modest life, and to serve within the general workforce while those who were born in upper middle class are expected to emerge as the leader and thinker in the society. The existence of the free will made possible the switching of social roles and rise of lower class to the middle class and vice versa. Conclusion The Matrix is a much celebrated film that won four Oscars on best editing, best sound effects, best visual effects, and best sound. The glory of the movie lies not in the use of symbolism and philosophical context alone but more on its connection to the viewer’s struggle to solve the dichotomy between reality and illusion in their lives. The numbers of male stars in the casts of the film is more than the female casts, but does this mean that the female characters were under represented? As I have said, the symbolism and gender stereotyping in film can be an effective tool in conveying messages to mankind’s socio-political issues. And in the film, the female characters all played important roles that showed the supremacy of their being. Although number in multitudes count, the individual attributes of the characters depicted the empowered role of women in the twentieth century superseded the quality of numbers. The women were portrayed active and logical beings who were depended on by their male counterparts to save the oppressed world which to this very day holds true as more and more women are participating in the development issues in the country. Whether Trinity should be the main character in the movie or not, the most important depiction of the name to a woman was the deconstruction of the typical image of a god as male, and putting relevance and recognition to the role of women in the advancement of a society. What is essential then was the deconstruction of the typical image of woman as passive and emotional, and putting relevance and recognition to her role in the advancement of society. Works Cited Brizee, Allen, and Tompkins, Case. “Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)”. The Purdue OWL.Purdue Online Writing Lab, 2011. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. Booker, M. Keith. Alternate Americas: Science Fiction Film and American Culture. London: Praeger, 2006. 13-16. Print. De Haven, Tad. “Privatizing the U.S. Postal Service”. Downsizing the Federal Government. Cato Institute, November 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. The Internet Movie Database. “The Matrix (1999)”. IMDb.com.Inc., 2011. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. Time Magazine. “The 2011 Time 100”. Time Specials. Time Inc., 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Williams, G. Christopher. “Mastering the real: Trinity as the “real” hero of the Matrix.” Film Criticism. The Free Library. Allegheny College, 2003. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. Read More