A scene that is key in understanding what exactly the matrix is happens when Cypher is selling out Morpheus and the others to Agent Smith. He is sitting at dinner with this conspirator, eating a juicy steak. With every bite of the steak he chews in an exaggerated motion, and comments on how good it tastes, even with the knowledge that nothing about it is real. This scene is basically the turning point; where Cypher becomes the villain, and there is a stronger sense of good and evil for the remainder of the film. Although we see from the start that the agents are hunting down Neo and Morpheus, and it seems obvious that these Agents are the bad guys, it is worse to be a traitor. Cypher willingly accepts an opportunity to abandon the life he chose, and from then on he is the person the viewer puts the blame on. At closer consideration, however, what we see of Zion is bleak, and even though the matrix is not real is considerably more pleasant. It’s not hard to identify with the fact that Cypher wanted a way out, a way to not only escape the life he has, but to totally forget that he ever knew something outside of the matrix. Even better, he cuts a deal that lets him return to the matrix as someone important; an actor. He probably found his way to Morpheus and the others because he didn’t feel fulfilled in the matrix, so he searched for a way out. When the reality hits that Zion is life outside the matrix, Cypher wants to ensure that he will feel fulfilled and happy in his reincarnated life, and he thinks by being “someone important” he won’t ever want anything else. After seeing Zion, it is impossible to argue that we wouldn’t do the exact same thing. Who wouldn’t choose to eat that juicy, delicious steak over the slop they get outside the matrix? The matrix is the world that we as the viewer are living in, and the comforts, luxuries, and everyday happiness is worth too much to trade in for life outside of it. The saying what you don’t know won’t hurt you comes to mind because in the end, why would you want to know the matrix isn’t real? With all the knowledge we have of the difference between Zion and the matrix, it is safe to say any right-minded person would prefer the matrix. Even the oracle, the character possessing more knowledge than any other, who knows exactly everything about life outside the matrix, chooses to live in the matrix because it is just a superior lifestyle. If this superior person chooses life in the matrix, how can we put Cypher at fault for doing the same thing? If his only way out was through Agent Smith, then he did what he had to do. All things considered, the audience should be putting Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and the others at fault for choosing to live on the outside. That fact alone should lead us to believe that they are the bad guys, not Cypher. If anything, we should identify with Cypher for wanting a way back to the lifestyle of the matrix. Life outside the matrix is too hopeless and grim for anyone good to want to be part of it.

Anna Thibeault