Matrix hidden meaning: How the woman in the red dress applies to today.
The Matrix was launched onto screens in 1999 and at that time very few people would have imagined just how ubiquitous it would become in society thanks to the filmmaking techniques used that were said to be groundbreaking and the philosophical meanings. RED AND BLUE PILL... BUT THERE IS MORE! The phrase “take the red pill” is today a phrase that just about everyone has heard and knows the meaning of as the Matrix remains as popular today as it was two decades ago. Despite the film being almost twenty years old, it is still relevant in an age of emerging artificial intelligence and advanced robotics. Today it brings about deep questions about what it actually means to be humans who are self-aware.
IS THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS MERELY A DISTRACTION?
Perhaps one of the most famous of all scenes in The Matrix is the scene in which Morpheus, Laurence Fishburne, tries to explain to Nero, Keanu Reeves, just what the Matrix really is. Neo, who has just been unplugged from the computer simulation that ensures the humans are pacified so the robots can feed on their energy, is getting a lesson on reality. However, he is distracted as he sees a beautiful woman walking towards him in a red dress and she really stands out among the dark-suited people. Morpheus then asks Neo if he was listening to him, or whether he was looking at the woman in the red dress. Neo hesitates a moment and when he turns back around from looking at the women he is face to face with an agent who is pointing a gun at his head.
This is a scene that has layers of symbolism and much deeper meaning and all of which have parallels to the modern matrix of society people live in. However, before being able to understand just what the scene represents first people have to understand the symbolism of Neo and Morpheus. In Greek mythology, Morpheus was the messenger of the gods that came into the dreams of mortals and shared knowledge along with hidden messages with humans. While he was able to take any form, his message and mission were the same. In other words, he was a messenger of the truth. Neo in ancient Greek means young one or a new one and when Neo is introduced in the film he does not know what the matrix is and he is not yet disillusioned, he is fast asleep while searching the internet for Morpheus. Neo, therefore, represents the spiritually infant selves who are distracted, blind and still looking for a footing in a world that always captures people’s attention. So Morpheus is trying to explain the truth to Neo about the Matrix but he gets distracted by the woman in the red dress. The woman represents distractions that can interrupt the connection for hearing the deeper message of truth. Agent Smith and the gun represents a danger that the distraction of the woman in the red dress is once people look beyond the external surface illusion. The Matrix is a system of control that is illusionary, maintaining dominance due to dividing and conquering and a reminder that is constant of just how different and separated people are from others, be it race, politics, wealth or even just football teams. The woman in the red dress might appear in the form of drugs, television, alcohol, pornography or any other forms of shallow escapism that might stop people from connecting with the truth. So is this the ultimate meaning of the scene with the woman in the red dress, is she nothing more than distraction? You might think differently.
