Morpheus says that line to Neo from within the Matrix. I think he’s basically saying to Neo that if he just used words to explain it, Neo would never fully understand or believe it. Aside from his encounter with the agents, Neo has never apparently questioned whether he’s actually living in reality or in a simulation.
Keep in mind that this is 1999 when the peak of computer graphics is Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and Crazy Taxi.
Yeah, so even if the simulated world has steak instead of goop and gives you a cushy office job, Neo is the kind of person who can’t just accept not knowing.
It’s not that he’ll enjoy life in the real world more. It’s that he can only truly understand if he gives up all these comforts to know the truth.
That also goes to the criticism that people (sometimes jokingly) have of The Matrix. That in 1999 Gen X was so spoiled that a steady, well-paying office job with a cubicle was so terrible that Neo tried to escape it. The reality was that in a sense his fatal character flaw was curiosity. His actions as a hacker drew the attention of the agents. When Morpheus gave him a choice, he gave up the comforts of good food, an easy and boring job, not being on the run all the time, etc. so that he could know the truth, because he just couldn’t accept this simulated reality.
Morpheus says that line to Neo from within the Matrix. I think he’s basically saying to Neo that if he just used words to explain it, Neo would never fully understand or believe it. Aside from his encounter with the agents, Neo has never apparently questioned whether he’s actually living in reality or in a simulation.
Keep in mind that this is 1999 when the peak of computer graphics is Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and Crazy Taxi.
On the other hand, Neo is a skilled hacker, deep in geek culture, and he feels the Matrix like a splinter in his mind, driving him mad.
Maybe Neo would have understood, but the audience wouldn’t.
Yeah, so even if the simulated world has steak instead of goop and gives you a cushy office job, Neo is the kind of person who can’t just accept not knowing.
It’s not that he’ll enjoy life in the real world more. It’s that he can only truly understand if he gives up all these comforts to know the truth.
That also goes to the criticism that people (sometimes jokingly) have of The Matrix. That in 1999 Gen X was so spoiled that a steady, well-paying office job with a cubicle was so terrible that Neo tried to escape it. The reality was that in a sense his fatal character flaw was curiosity. His actions as a hacker drew the attention of the agents. When Morpheus gave him a choice, he gave up the comforts of good food, an easy and boring job, not being on the run all the time, etc. so that he could know the truth, because he just couldn’t accept this simulated reality.
I don’t think Neo’s curiosity is a fatal flaw. I think it’s his greatest virtue.
In the end it turns out to be. But, it’s what prevents him from living a quiet, pleasant life like Cypher wants to do.
I think Cypher’s desire for ignorance is his fatal flaw. In the end he dies because of it and accomplishes nothing of value with his life.