dreams represents a psychological consequence in relation to a physical change that signifies her growing up .
The Virtual and Hyper-Real
The style of The Matrix falling under the sub-category of cyberpunk contributes to the relationship between the virtual , physical and the illusive , as Gina Ziebell states , ‘ While bodily experience involves interactions of the human body with the physical reality , cyberpunk introduces an interaction between mind and virtual reality in cyberspace .’ 77 The characterisation of the film being ‘ cyberpunk ’ suggests a society dominated by technology , in ways in which those who are subject to it are being oppressed which is evident in The Matrix with Morpheus explaining the matrix Neo , “ You can feel it when you go to work , when you go to church , when you pay your taxes . It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth .” 78 Morpheus ’ s dialogue lists mundane actions in order to comprehend the magnitude of the oppression that those who are not aware of the matrix are being subjected to . The listing draws the audience ’ s attention to the development of more advanced CCTV , challenging what the data that they are collecting is being used for . In keeping with more contemporary concerns , Carolyn Korsmeyer presents the argument that the concerns over technology before the millennium have carried over to today and become primarily focalised or even modalised through politics as she notes , ‘ The plot premise permits the film to raise not only venerable philosophical problems about the relation of mind and body and the uncertainty of knowledge , but also more contemporary paranoias about political power in a cyber-infected world .’ 79 In the United States , voters are presented with a digital voting system to choose candidates , in several elections , voters have documented an ‘ error ’ of the machine where they are unable to vote for the democratic option and have had the machine vote for the republican option regardless of where on the screen they have clicked . The age of the digital and the subsequent anxieties have far
77
G , Ziebell . ‘ Why Does the One Only Exist in Cyberspace ? Obsolescence of the Body , Construction of a Virtual Subject and the Question of Control in The Matrix ’ in Of Body Snatchers and Cyberpunks ed . S . Georgi , and K . Loock , Kathleen ( Germany : Universitätsdrucke Göttingen Universitätsdrucke Göttingen , 2011 ), 173-184 . 78 The Matrix , 00:28:00-00:28:14
79
Carolyn , Korsmeyer . ‘ Seeing , Believing , Touching , Truth .’ The Matrix and Philosophy : Welcome to the Desert of the Real ed . William Irwin . ( Chicago : Open Court Publishing , 2000 ), 42 .