I always thought the Wachowskis must have realized that Cypher had a point about how the real world is hopeless and how Morpheus deliberately keeps that fact from his recruits until after they’ve taken the red pill. It’s most likely why they made him an over-the-top villain who murders his comrades and clearly has lascivious plans for a sleeping Trinity - otherwise, the audience might sympathize with him.
Great piece. Personally I think my disgust for Cypher was about more than his sins of doubt or hopelessness. It was his willingness to give up the only thing he had (the only thing any of us have, in the final analysis) that is worth anything at all. Even leaving aside the betrayal of the others. And to his oppressors no less!
As a counterpoint, I think of the scene in V for Vendetta where Evey is tortured for months, and given one last chance to cooperate, and she very calmly says she would rather die than comply. You can lose everything, including your life, and still keep hold of something that is more important.
I think this is similar to not giving in to cynicism and nihilism, as you say. I am deeply suspicious of how speaking about love, sacrifice, service, hope, redemption has been branded "cringe" or "cheesy" because those are the things that help us hold onto our individual and collective humanity. Enjoy the baby cuddles with your new nephew!
Great read! Excuse my philosophy nerd-ness, but this is an excellent case of Kierkegaard via cinema. I immediately thought of this from The Sickness Unto Death (sadly, I had to Google to confirm I remembered it right):
"Eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not..."
In the original Matrix Neo was the fifth "one" or something. The other four got killed fighting agents. He tells Neo early in the movie, but they cut it from the final version.
Cypher in The Matrix and Cipher in Metal Gear Solid are two sides of the same fall: men who woke up to reality, couldn’t handle what they saw and decided that controlling the illusion was better than living with the truth. Both traded human struggle for the cold comfort of managed perception and called it peace.
Excellent essay and thoughtful analysis of Cypher, that rat, ooh but he got his cumupance though didn't he?
As cliche as love and hope are to some, these are really showing themselves to be superpowers of humanity. What machinery, circuitry, or digital code/algorithm can contain or replicate all that strength of emotion and sensation, as well as a human being can?
I'd guess it will be awhile before it can be done, but maybe I'm ignorant of advances in robotics and AI. We'll see I guess.
My version of this character is Joel from Civil War. Cringe, I know, but it’s mainly because I very rarely feel like I owe my country anything. All my life, it’s dangled empty promises in front of my eyes and crushed my dreams with a smile, and more than ever I feel as if it’s getting exactly what it asked for. As a result, I often ask myself, “why shouldn’t I just revel in the chaos and get horny for the apocalypse?”
Ultimately, there are only three reasons why I don’t: two selfish and one unselfish. The unselfish one is that there are people I still care about who would inevitably suffer if everything really did fall apart. The selfish ones are 1) that I would probably end up like Joel did at the end of the movie: making an ass of myself once confronted with the realities of collapse and 2) that I probably wouldn’t last more than six hours in such a scenario.
Really enjoyed this. I've thought a lot about what you mention here, the despair that threatens to engulf you with such an immediate and immense quantity of information available, and I wonder if we shouldn't dig deeper to find a middle path that's neither red pill nor blue pill, neither hyperawareness of everything terrible going on in the world nor willful ignorance that keeps you blindfolded.
After having a kid and living through the Covid crisis in the first two years of his life (he was 6 months old in March 2020), I knew I simply did not have the mental and emotional energy to handle a constant flow of news. It was either limit news intake or a complete nervous breakdown. So since then I have indeed limited myself to reading the daily news from newspapers two times a day, three tops - on paper or my desktop computer, never on my phone, no apps, no notifications (and I haven't been on social media for a while, unless you count Substack, but news never pops up on my Substack feed and if it ever does, I'll terminate my account). I feel this is pretty similar to the quantity of news we had in the 80s and 90s - newspaper in the morning, news on TV at night. I'm pretty certain our brain isn't wired to handle more, and for now I'm satisfied that it keeps me informed and aware without feeling overwhelmed. This is a middle road that works for me, at least.
Sound advice, sometimes it helps to take a break from the Culture War.
As for Cypher, betraying his crew and the entire human race in a bid to indulge in hedonism was cowardly, cynical and dishonorable... but as you explained, the temptation to do so was very understandable, which is what makes him a great villain. He also got just desserts: zapped like an insect as his reward slipped through his fingers.
The original Matrix is a classic, but the one objection I have is that turning humans into batteries makes no sense. Nuclear power is far more effective at producing energy, and even organic molecules can be farmed by less expensive means. It would've made far more sense if the machines used us the way we use them, as an auxiliary intelligence. While computers are more efficient than us in many ways, there are also many tasks the human mind can do that computers cannot. Thus, it would've worked far better if the machines reversed roles, using our brains as organic processors while we slumbered in the Matrix.
I believe the original script had this idea actually, but the studio execs changed the explanation to batteries because they thought we were too retarded to get it otherwise. Oh well, things can't be perfect.
At the end of The Matrix, we see that computer code with “Anomaly Detected” or whatever. That’s referring to Agent Smith. As you point out, Neo is another layer of control built into the system. Smith is the actual tipping point.
You see this when he’s torturing Morpheus and he takes out his ear piece and one of the other agents is like, “wtf”.
When Neo “kills” Smith by leaping into his body and I guess disaggregating his code, the other agents flee in genuine fear. That’s not something they had ever seen before, even from previous “Ones”.
Nothing changed until an agent of the system went against his programming and created a crisis that the machines could only address by allying with humanity.
That steak always looked really good though.
Also in that scene was one of the funniest lines of the films: “…somebody important, like an actor…”
I always thought that was hilarious.
His nawas Mr. Mr. Reagan....twas a reference to Ronald Reagan.
Glad I read this one on my way to work this morning, as I fear I may have been Cypher-ing a little too hard lately.
Also, this is one of Joey Pants’ finest roles.
Me too, Su, me too. And thanks.
The fuckin oracle “You’ve already made your decision, you’re just here trying to figure out why”
Good write-up though.
I always thought the Wachowskis must have realized that Cypher had a point about how the real world is hopeless and how Morpheus deliberately keeps that fact from his recruits until after they’ve taken the red pill. It’s most likely why they made him an over-the-top villain who murders his comrades and clearly has lascivious plans for a sleeping Trinity - otherwise, the audience might sympathize with him.
Great piece. Personally I think my disgust for Cypher was about more than his sins of doubt or hopelessness. It was his willingness to give up the only thing he had (the only thing any of us have, in the final analysis) that is worth anything at all. Even leaving aside the betrayal of the others. And to his oppressors no less!
As a counterpoint, I think of the scene in V for Vendetta where Evey is tortured for months, and given one last chance to cooperate, and she very calmly says she would rather die than comply. You can lose everything, including your life, and still keep hold of something that is more important.
I think this is similar to not giving in to cynicism and nihilism, as you say. I am deeply suspicious of how speaking about love, sacrifice, service, hope, redemption has been branded "cringe" or "cheesy" because those are the things that help us hold onto our individual and collective humanity. Enjoy the baby cuddles with your new nephew!
Great read! Excuse my philosophy nerd-ness, but this is an excellent case of Kierkegaard via cinema. I immediately thought of this from The Sickness Unto Death (sadly, I had to Google to confirm I remembered it right):
"Eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not..."
I never thought of it that way but it's a great angle!
In the original Matrix Neo was the fifth "one" or something. The other four got killed fighting agents. He tells Neo early in the movie, but they cut it from the final version.
Cypher in The Matrix and Cipher in Metal Gear Solid are two sides of the same fall: men who woke up to reality, couldn’t handle what they saw and decided that controlling the illusion was better than living with the truth. Both traded human struggle for the cold comfort of managed perception and called it peace.
Excellent essay and thoughtful analysis of Cypher, that rat, ooh but he got his cumupance though didn't he?
As cliche as love and hope are to some, these are really showing themselves to be superpowers of humanity. What machinery, circuitry, or digital code/algorithm can contain or replicate all that strength of emotion and sensation, as well as a human being can?
I'd guess it will be awhile before it can be done, but maybe I'm ignorant of advances in robotics and AI. We'll see I guess.
Fuck yea.
My version of this character is Joel from Civil War. Cringe, I know, but it’s mainly because I very rarely feel like I owe my country anything. All my life, it’s dangled empty promises in front of my eyes and crushed my dreams with a smile, and more than ever I feel as if it’s getting exactly what it asked for. As a result, I often ask myself, “why shouldn’t I just revel in the chaos and get horny for the apocalypse?”
Ultimately, there are only three reasons why I don’t: two selfish and one unselfish. The unselfish one is that there are people I still care about who would inevitably suffer if everything really did fall apart. The selfish ones are 1) that I would probably end up like Joel did at the end of the movie: making an ass of myself once confronted with the realities of collapse and 2) that I probably wouldn’t last more than six hours in such a scenario.
Excellent writing!
Thanks!
Really enjoyed this. I've thought a lot about what you mention here, the despair that threatens to engulf you with such an immediate and immense quantity of information available, and I wonder if we shouldn't dig deeper to find a middle path that's neither red pill nor blue pill, neither hyperawareness of everything terrible going on in the world nor willful ignorance that keeps you blindfolded.
After having a kid and living through the Covid crisis in the first two years of his life (he was 6 months old in March 2020), I knew I simply did not have the mental and emotional energy to handle a constant flow of news. It was either limit news intake or a complete nervous breakdown. So since then I have indeed limited myself to reading the daily news from newspapers two times a day, three tops - on paper or my desktop computer, never on my phone, no apps, no notifications (and I haven't been on social media for a while, unless you count Substack, but news never pops up on my Substack feed and if it ever does, I'll terminate my account). I feel this is pretty similar to the quantity of news we had in the 80s and 90s - newspaper in the morning, news on TV at night. I'm pretty certain our brain isn't wired to handle more, and for now I'm satisfied that it keeps me informed and aware without feeling overwhelmed. This is a middle road that works for me, at least.
Sound advice, sometimes it helps to take a break from the Culture War.
As for Cypher, betraying his crew and the entire human race in a bid to indulge in hedonism was cowardly, cynical and dishonorable... but as you explained, the temptation to do so was very understandable, which is what makes him a great villain. He also got just desserts: zapped like an insect as his reward slipped through his fingers.
The original Matrix is a classic, but the one objection I have is that turning humans into batteries makes no sense. Nuclear power is far more effective at producing energy, and even organic molecules can be farmed by less expensive means. It would've made far more sense if the machines used us the way we use them, as an auxiliary intelligence. While computers are more efficient than us in many ways, there are also many tasks the human mind can do that computers cannot. Thus, it would've worked far better if the machines reversed roles, using our brains as organic processors while we slumbered in the Matrix.
I believe the original script had this idea actually, but the studio execs changed the explanation to batteries because they thought we were too retarded to get it otherwise. Oh well, things can't be perfect.
At the end of The Matrix, we see that computer code with “Anomaly Detected” or whatever. That’s referring to Agent Smith. As you point out, Neo is another layer of control built into the system. Smith is the actual tipping point.
You see this when he’s torturing Morpheus and he takes out his ear piece and one of the other agents is like, “wtf”.
When Neo “kills” Smith by leaping into his body and I guess disaggregating his code, the other agents flee in genuine fear. That’s not something they had ever seen before, even from previous “Ones”.
Nothing changed until an agent of the system went against his programming and created a crisis that the machines could only address by allying with humanity.
Good article.
Excellent point and thanks!
Loved this. :) keep winning bro :)