The Matrix is similar to the Meditations of First Philosophy in that it presents a scenario involving a person being radically deceived by the external reality. Skeptics have argued that, if we could be deceived as to the nature of the outside world, we would not know what we thought of as our ordinary knowledge. The Matrix is a good argument, when combined with the skeptical principle. The Matrix portrays a fictional, computer-created world. The Matrix’s scenario is what I would call an examination of the deception hypotheses. The Matrix requires viewers to consider whether their current perceptions are possible without any world similar to them. This brings up a few questions. How does this film make the viewer question their own experience? This is it an actual screening of a philosophy claim? Is the screened version as convincing as the written claim of Descartes? What does it tell us, if at all, about the film’s nature?

Neo, the protagonist of The Matrix, is clearly troubled by his world. He tries to find out what’s bothering him. Neo does not believe that his world is real. Trinity and Trinity’s cronies intervene, and Neo realizes the world he has believed to be true is only an illusion. Neo comes to this realization after Morpheus, leader of all the rebels, gives him a drug. Neo is taken into a room with a lot of computer and video equipment that’s being operated by several people. The electrodes are placed into his ear and taped on his chest. Morpheus informs Neo that he has taken a pill that is part a program to help him find Neo. Neo can now see reality in its true form. Neo sees himself in a reflective mirror. The image appears to fracture, with lights appearing in it. It moves as if a fluid. Neo reaches up to touch it and his finger sinks into the liquid mirror as if he were touching mercury. The liquid mirror pulls with his finger when he removes it. It eventually returns to the original shape. Morpheus is asking Neo about his dreams. When you wake up, how will you be able to tell the difference between your dream world and reality? Neo starts to fibrillate, as the mirror-like material moves from his arm up to his chest. I claim that this film gives viewers a similar experience as Neo. They will see the world in the same way. After all, while we were looking at the movie screen, we had assumed that what we saw was accurate information. The images we saw projected on the movie screen were interpreted as the real world of the film. The filmmakers also disrupt our perception of the film’s world by presenting us with a real experience (albeit a fictional one) that makes us realize our senses are deceiving us. By doing so, the film transforms the perception that we have of the screen opening up a fantasy world to us. It then becomes an awareness of how the screen hides the world behind representations which are not matched in the imaginary world. Neo experiences a similar awareness, though his is a more real-world experience. The film does this by showing us that the computer simulations that make up the Matrix are also similar to what the film claims. The Matrix shows its viewers a fictional world. We are deluded by the film about reality.

Humans in this fictional world are actually living a skeptical thought-experiment. The Matrix is shown as a computer-generated illusion, which we had believed was the fictional world of the film. This is similar to what Descartes said about reality being nothing more than a demon’s appearance. Because the film is so quick, the viewer does not always grasp what he or she has seen. Later scenes provide viewers with a better understanding of the metaphysics by showing them the characters in their Matrix form, and then intercutting that with the real world behind this manipulated illusion.

A fight between Neo, and Morpheus is one example. The film shows the crew members watching Neo and Morpheus in CRTs as Morpheus tells Neo repeatedly to stop believing that the Matrix world is real. This will allow him to realize his true abilities and power. This juxtaposition shows the Matrix world and Trinity’s gaze at Neo as they both look on screen. Neo also comes to the realization that his world was nothing more than a computerized simulation. It is as if we are experiencing the same experience that Neo did when he realized that the Matrix was a computer-generated projection. What we find is that we were mistaken in believing the’real’ film world was actually a computer-generated projection. The Matrix can make the Matrix seem (fictionally), but it is not. It is an interesting twist on Descartes’ hypothesis of deception. The film, by substituting rebellious computer networks for the evil demonic demons, shows that it is capable of deceiving its audience in a similar way to what Descartes imagined the demon to do to him. The Matrix can deceive viewers into believing that (fictional) realities are real. We have been led to believe that the Matrix is real by the film, just as Neo and his fellow inhabitants are led to believe. It is not only films that can lead readers to make false assumptions about their fictional worlds. The Matrix is unique in that it tricks viewers into believing they’re seeing a real world, even though they aren’t.

An earlier sequence establishes the power of the film to deceive its characters and its audience. Neo is being interrogated by computer agents after he has been arrested. The experience is frightening for him and ends with an agent injecting a creature that looks like a worm into his abdomen. Neo’s nightmare ends with him awakening. This leads to us – and Neo – changing our view of the scene. The film uses a trick that filmmakers have used for years: they frame the scene so that what audiences think is part of a fictional world in the film is actually the subjective experience of a character. The film leads viewers to this conclusion by manipulating their belief in the fictional world.

The film’s goal is to get audiences to accept the idea that what they perceive as the real-world is actually a projection. It asks them to consider whether such devices could have blocked us out of the world or allowed us to see it on the screen. The Matrix is a genuine philosophy film because it includes a complex thought-experiment within its larger narrative. The film deceives viewers in such a way as to make them doubt their own skepticism. This thought experiment is not only a modern update of Descartes’ evil demon thought experiments for an aging audience that worries more about virtual reality than the truths of science. But it also demonstrates how a technology used to screen reality can make us accept its own projections as real.