In 1999, the Wachowskis blew a generation's mind with their sci-fi action film The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, a hacker turned digital savior of a dystopian world. To this day, The Matrix is regarded as one of the best science-fiction films and, after a slew of sequels and tie-in games, books, and animations, a game-changer to the influence of film on society. And it all began with one question: do you take the Red Pill or the Blue?
Since its initial release, the meaning and philosophy inherent to The Matrix have only grown deeper, at times almost incomprehensible. The world as humans know it is actually a simulation for their consciousness as their bodies lay intubated, harvested as batteries for the machines. The concept of the Red Pill and the Blue Pill is introduced in the first film where Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) offers soon-to-be-the-One Neo (Keanu Reeves) a "choice."
Basically take the Blue Pill and stay in the simulation, the Matrix, which is the "real" world with jobs and date nights and traffic, or take the Red Pill and wake up pale and slimy in a pod within a stalk of the machine's human farm. Countless philosophical papers and forums have been devoted to Red Pill/Blue Pill question, going as far as becoming a misogynistic movement via Reddit. Most opinions (if not all) lean towards the Red Pill, that it's better to know the truth than live a lie. This is the choice Neo makes as Morpheus did before him and Trinity. It's the choice all the humans living in Zion, the underground refugee camp outside the Matrix, made when offered (except the "homegrown" born outside the Matrix humans) and it's a choice they believe with their lives.
Except Cypher. Way back before the Matrix was Reloaded and before it was Revolutionized and before there was the Architect and the Machine City and oh so many Smiths... there was a dinner between free mind Zion operative Cypher and Agent Smith, a program willing to do anything to prevent the destruction of the Matrix. Blue Pill versus Red Pill is illusion versus reality and Cypher's reality, the dark and grimy Zion, disillusioned him to betray Morpheus and the Zion gang in exchange to be plugged back in. "Ignorance is bliss," Cypher quipped with a swallow of Matrix steak and a grin to Agent Smith. People died, including Cypher, and Agent Smith got the upper hand that would serve him through the franchise. It was shocking to characters and audience alike that when given the truth someone would throw it away in favor of coded comforts.
The Matrix 4 is scheduled to come out in December of 2021 with Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, and Daniel Bernhardt reprising their roles and Lana Wachowski set to direct (Lily Wachowski is tied up working on the Showtime series Work in Progress) and that's about all anyone knows. Even the movie's title remains a mystery (although the it may have been accidentally leaked, but there has been no official announcement) and the Matrix franchise is already a homing beacon for speculation even without an in-progress sequel. Theories are all over the map from Morpheus becoming the big bad of the film to Trinity being resurrected as a program mimicking her to a Blue pill (still in the Matrix) human functioning as a sort of anti-Neo.
And that's interesting. In 1999, the idea of being intubated and immobile as the mind's entire existence is spent in a digital fabrication didn't seem implausible. It seemed like a nightmare for the generation that might still have had a green text desktop at home. Sure, Zion was basically a giant wrecking yard outfitted with housing just a smidge better than Fyre Fest. However, those humans were free and knew where life began and where it ended. But a new millennium began after The Matrix was released, the development in the digital age sped up to a breakneck speed, and somewhere in the twenty-some years since the first film, a global event would force the world's population to stay home and get intimate with their devices. Suffice to say, after several decades of living with the machines, the Red Pill is not looking too tempting.
To break it down, the choices are Reality or Illusion, and both options are pretty awful. It's either being really positive about the homemade alcohol and FEMA-wear of Zion because there's a very good chance of machines coming through any day and wiping out part of the city, or living in a simulation of life which is easier by comparison but still pretty lame. It seems like, at this point, The One could strike a deal with the Architect or God or whatever that humans will stay in the simulation if it doesn't suck. But why is there pollution in the simulation? Why are there mosquitos? Why does the slice of bread with peanut butter on it fall face down every time? Why in this sophisticated program are everyday annoyances included with big things like murder?
If time has moved forward in The Matrix franchise as it has in the real world, then humans are past Thomas Anderson's dial-up hacking and have been dozing off in headsets after laser-dancing to EDM beats. They're ready to strike a deal. Audiences will see if anyone agrees in The Matrix 4, to be released December 22, 2021.