Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulations discusses what is known as “the loss of the real” which means that invasive images the come from film, TV and advertising in contemporary life has led to the loss of the distinction between real and imagined, reality and illusion. Baudrillard said we have a passion for what is real, but that we live in the hyperreal-“everything is a model or an image, all is a surface without depth”- rather than the real and we are cut off from the authentic yet believe that there is a reality outside of representation. If we accept the loss of the real and become aware that everything is a simulation we can be brought to euphoria; however, it is easy to lose the real in the quest for it. The Wachowski brothers’ film The Matrix dives into Baudrillard’s theories concerning simulation, representation, and simulacra, which is the system where “a sign is not an index of an underlying reality, but merely of other signs”. Some of the movie’s characters enter this awareness and reach euphoria.
Beaudrillard creates four stages of simulation that can be translated through an analysis of The Matrix. Stage one; the simulation stands in for reality. The Matrix, Neo’s life in his apartment, his job the city they are all part of a simulation for what is real; the Matrix stands in for reality. Second, the simulation hides the absence of reality. This stage is expressed when Neo believes he is having déjà vu, Neo still believes that he is the center, that his perception is what is real and his mind is in control; however, déjà vu is merely a glitch in the program-he is in the program and the sighting of two black cats, one after another, is more than déjà vu, it is a glitch in the program that exposes the structurality of the structure. Neo’s innate response is to rationalize seeing the cat twice and place it under the category of déjà vu, because something that cannot be explained-such as this-causes discomfort and to be able to feel comfort again Neo classifies it as nothing more than déjà vu. However, Baudrillard and The Matrix unbalance the accepted concept of reality in the loss of what is real. In the third stage simulation produces its own reality. Neo and Morpheus are fighting in the unreal and their bodies are being affected in the real, in other words the unreal determines what happens to their real bodies. The simulation determines what happens to the real. This leads into the final order of simulation, a viral or fractural stage in which the simulation no longer needs models; reality does not exist so there is no need for simulation.
In one of the earlier scenes from the movie Neo is asleep amidst his technology until he is awoken by a call from Trinity “Wake up Neo”. In this scene Neo is visually surrounded by technology, the images of the screen are constantly changing and reflect onto his face, words such as “searching” and “manhunt” become one with Neo’s face, which happens to be the greatest persuasion of what is real-we believe what we see, but are the words reflected onto his face or is he a reflection of these words, which of course come from technology. The technology is overpowering Neo and he is literally surrounded. Neo is also listening to music; he is completely plugged in. The room around him is dark except for where we see the clutters of technology that represent the randomness of signifiers. The concept of “the one” is foreshadowed by the composition of this scene. The strongest light comes from the top of the computer screen and casts and light onto the sleeping Neo, as if he is being called to the light. Furthermore, the way his arm is draped across the table is the same arm we see in Michael Angelo’s “Pieta”. From the beginning Neo is associated with Jesus. When Neo finally awakes, the words “The Matrix has you” appear across the computer screen and Neo presses the escape button twice, however the words are stationary, this represents his lack of control and it shows that what is going to happen has already been determined, there is no way out-no escape button to press. Neo jumps from signifier to signifier as he follows the white rabbit, never actually landing on the signified.
These ideas are directly related to Baudrillard’s distinction between reality and illusion. Neo is under the illusion that he is in control and that the world he lives in is a reality, however the truth is revealed with the infamous words, “The Matrix has you”. Neo is originally in the control of the Matrix and in the first order of simulation, however after he is led to Morpheus, chooses the red pill and is awakened to the world that has been calling out to him, he reaches an understanding of reality and not only understands that the world he used to live in, the Matrix, was a simulation and he is now in an enlightened state of mind.
However, not everyone wants to live outside of the Matrix, some believe that ignorance really is bliss. In a discussion with Agent Smith Cypher says, “You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.” Cypher is seduced by the unadulterated comfort and sheer bliss of unreality and feels that too much reality is nothing more than a killjoy, he abandons the world of the red pill, he does not care if the pleasure is not real, he wants to return to the a world filled up of Simulacra and Simulations. Baudrillard and the Matrix speak to the notion that the world as we experience it is not real but the product of a kind of collective hallucination.
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