In Defense Of Cypher
Red Pill, Blue Pill, Black Pill, New Pill
In the 1999 film The Matrix, we see the hero Thomas Anderson, offered a choice. Feeling increasingly disenfranchised and disconnected from the world, Thomas began to seek something more. Office drone by day and hacker by night, Thomas was better known in the hacker underworld by his pseudonym, Neo. Neo began to feel more and more that the world around him was not real and the people he encountered were merely drones. He searched for some inarticulatable secret, a truth that always seemed just beyond his vision. Neo heard whispers of a mysterious figure named Morpheus who could supposedly reveal the truth to him. After endless investigation, digging and being harassed by a shadowy figure known as “Agent Smith” who threatened his life, neo is finally able to meet Morpheus. The mysterious figure offers him a choice in the form of two pills. The first, the blue pill, would let Neo go back to his old life. Boring and predictable, but safe and comfortable. The second, the red pill, would let Neo see the truth he has been seeking but at great personal danger. Neo takes the red pill, and his life is changed forever. He wakes up in a pod amongst millions of others and learns the world he thought was real was merely an illusion. The source of the illusion was a race of malevolent machines that had defeated humanity long ago and enslaved them to use as biological fuel to keep the machines themselves alive. Neo awakens to learn that humanity had already lost, and the machines had total control.
There is hope, however. Neo joins Morpheus, Trinity, Switch, Apoc, Mouse, and Cypher in the underground human resistance. Together, they form a small cell dedicated to freeing humanity from slavery and the clutches of the machines. Even more promising, Morpheus believes Neo is "The One," a prophesied hero destined to defeat the machines and lead humanity to freedom. Not everyone shares this belief - some are openly scornful - but Morpheus remains steadfast in his faith. Regardless, the resistance crew continues to train and plan to fight the machines the best they can. Neo proves to be powerful and a valuable asset, but after a meeting with the mysterious Oracle - the very figure who created the prophecy - he is told that he may not be the One after all. Hope falters. It seems the fight will have to continue without the messiah figure they had longed for. Some are indifferent, some are disappointed, and some, like Morpheus, still cling to hope. But for others, the news is simply too much to bear.
The Machines are the main antagonist of The Matrix series. Cold, unfeeling and logical. Driven by a single purpose, and one that was given them by humanity in a classic act of hubris. As such, it’s hard to hate the Machines. Perhaps to fear them, but hate is misplaced when directed at something cold and unfeeling. But the machines are no more a villain than the ocean that sinks a ship or the wolf that devours a deer- they’re merely behaving according to their nature and are not malicious. There is one villain in the series, however. Cypher is also a hacker who awoke from the matrix to join the fight against the machines. But Cypher became increasingly disillusioned with the cause. He began to regret his decision to ever take the red pill and more than once laments his decision to Neo and his comrades. At some point, it all became too much for Cypher. He was tired of being cold, hungry and afraid. Cypher decided to take the blue pill again- by any means necessary.
Cypher meets with Agent Smith, an archon of the Machines, and agrees to betray his comrades in exchange for being put back into the Matrix. In return for betraying Morpheus and the location of the human resistance to the machines, they would put Cypher back in the Matrix as a rich, famous celebrity with no memory of the last nine years of his life where he fought against the machines. In the pivotal scene where he meets Agent Smith in an upscale restaurant, we see a window into his mind and his thought process as he eats a steak and enjoys a glass of fine wine.
“You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss”
Like most people, when I first saw The Matrix decades ago, I felt only disgust and scorn for Cypher. His greed and weakness resulted in the deaths of many of the heroes of the tale and nearly spelled the end of humanity. In fact, Cypher’s actions would have resulted in the victory of the machines if it had not been for the brave actions of Neo and Trinity to rescue Morpheus and keep the Machines from locating and wiping out the last of human resistance. Cypher has gone on to be one of the most universally reviled figures in modern pop culture for his betrayal. After all, what honor is there in betraying your friends and comrades in exchange for living in ignorance and base, carnal pleasure? But in recent years, something has happened that I didn’t expect. I began to sympathize with Cypher. What’s more, I began to understand him and why he did what he did.
“The Red Pill” and “Blue Pill” has become a metaphor that has transcended The Matrix films and become a ubiquitous metaphor used in everything from politics to dating and even cultural taste. To be “Redpilled”, while initially popular in the manosphere pickup artists spaces, has become cultural shorthand for waking up to the true nature of reality. While initially right-wing coded, this phrase has become popular with many groups to signal waking up to rejecting “the blue pill” of the official narrative on a subject and seeing the truth. It’s easy to see why, too. More and more people seem to be becoming aware that the world we thought was real is merely an illusion and that there are endless ways that we are lied to and propagandized to. But much like it was for Neo, waking up to the true nature of reality isn’t always what you expected it to be.
Knowledge as a curse to the one who learns it is one of the oldest tropes in storytelling. From the curse of mortality that came with Adam and Eve eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to the world of HP Lovecraft that spoke of Abdul Alhazred, the mad Arab driven insane with the knowledge of elder gods of the Necronomicon, there seems to be something to the theory that there is some knowledge that people are just not meant to have for their own good. In the modern day, with the black mirror of technology, I’m beginning to understand why. 24-hour news cycles and social media become a never-ending psychic assault on your peace of mind. The digitally induced schizophrenia of social media will create voices in your head that will never quiet. To stay informed of the society around you collapsing in real time becomes maddening. The curse of knowledge can be a heavy burden to carry and even when we think we’ve found the “truth,” that knowledge may itself be part of a deeper system of control.
We live in an age where the simple act of reading the news each morning feels like an exercise in masochism. Every headline seems to bring a new reason to despair: global pandemics that upend daily life, political instability that threatens to tear societies apart, and the ever-present drumbeat of looming wars that could ignite at any moment. We are reminded daily of the fragility of the supply chains that keep our world running- delicate systems held together by threads that can snap without warning. A ruling class that seems increasingly detached from, if not openly hostile toward, the people they govern. Fake choices masquerading as democracy. The slow creep of authoritarianism, rising in lockstep with pharmaceutical companies and tech giants consolidating power. The cost of living soaring higher each year, the dream of homeownership slipping further away for many. Even the basic fabric of social trust seems to be fraying, with polarization and unrest growing louder by the day. The threat of economic collapse hangs over it all like a sword of Damocles we’ve somehow grown used to living beneath. And through it all, social media algorithms, finely tuned to exploit fear and outrage, keep us locked in a cycle of endless doomscrolling - a constant, psychic assault that leaves us overwhelmed, exhausted, and numb.
And that’s just by reading the news. Do you really want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes? Without even delving into the realm of conspiracy theory, if you begin to look under the surface, it can make it impossible to see the world in the same way. The world portrayed in The Matrix is becoming less science fiction and more science fact every day. Thanks to AI and automation, vast swaths of the population may soon become unemployable as the skills they worked a lifetime to build can be done by AI housed in a datacenter that uses the power consumption of a small city. There seems to be a concerted effort by tech oligarchs to create a digital panopticon that will observe and track every single move you make with privacy becoming a thing of the past. We are quickly reverting to techno-feudalism where a few wealthy and powerful tech elites can control every aspect of your life. And this is only the stuff they’re doing out in the open. Perhaps The Matrix was too optimistic with a future in which humans are living batteries used to keep the machines running. It seems they no longer need us, and the liquidation process is beginning. The useless eaters will be converted to biodiesel, not worth the calories it will take to keep us alive. It’s easy to look towards the future and feel despair. At a certain point, it can all be too much. After a while, you want to just shut out the world and live in blissful ignorance. After all, if the end is inevitable and humanity is going to hell in a handbasket, why not at least enjoy the ride? What’s the point of watching the collapse in real time when there’s Netflix, porn, DoorDash and the algorithm?
This brings us back to Cypher and his steak. There was always something that was so striking about this scene. Beautifully shot. The opulent restaurant. The almost pornographic shots of the steak. Rare, nice and bloody. Perhaps not the most subtle, but blood on your hands is a strong image. Maybe 30 pieces of silver would have been too on the nose? But there is a stark contrast between the restaurant, a beautiful illusion and cold, hard reality. The gray, cold world of reality cypher inhabits is unfeeling and cruel. Nine years is how long Cypher tells Agent Smith he has been fighting. Nine years is a long time to fight a losing battle. One has to wonder how many people Cypher saw die in a war that became increasingly futile. How many false promises were never kept? How many “Ones” did he see come and go before Neo? Perhaps Cypher was once like Neo. Young, idealistic and filled with righteous anger at the system that kept him, and the rest of humanity enslaved. Justifiably angry at what he had built his old life around being revealed as a lie. To be reduced to a mere biological power source for the continued existence of the very system that keeps you enslaved. Rage against the machine, if you will.
In the 1950s, researcher Curt Richter conducted an experiment where he placed rats in buckets of water to see how long they would swim before giving up. Rats left alone would drown after about 15 minutes, but if they were briefly rescued, dried off, and placed back in the water, they would swim for hours- sometimes up to 60 hours. The key difference was the introduction of hope: after being saved once, the rats fought far longer, believing rescue was possible. The experiment showed that even a small glimpse of hope can drastically change endurance. It’s easy to scorn Cypher as the viewer who got to see the end of the story, but if you were in his place, what would you do? What good is it to be hyper aware of injustices and systematic problems you have no power to change? How long can your psyche hold out without hope? How many atrocities can you witness before something breaks in you? How long until that steak starts to sound pretty tasty? How long until you just want the pain to stop and you’re willing to take the blue pill, too?
So, I understand cypher. I sympathize with him. In my worst moments, I sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t make the same choice he made. Cypher was in the place that many of us seem to be right now, that of a slowly drowning rat observed by cruel, unfeeling forces outside of our control or understanding. It can feel like there is no hope and things will never get better, like it would be easier to just let go and live your last moments in blissful ignorance. And that’s human. It’s not wrong to be overwhelmed. To want to give up. It’s easy to feel despair, especially with the way the world is headed. But Cyphers sin wasn’t doubt, but hopelessness. He betrayed the humans to the machines for comfort and ignorance- and in turn, betrayed his own humanity. This is the black pill of nihilism, and it is poison to the soul. At first, it can feel good to have all your worst fears confirmed. Doomscrolling and immersing yourself in the worst humanity has to offer can carry a sick pleasure. But this is no end to this path but numbing yourself or becoming bitter, isolated and nihilistic.
Cypher chose ignorance because the truth broke him. He couldn’t bear a world without hope, without comfort, without the dream he had been sold. But Neo faced an even crueler revelation: not only was the world broken, but even the dream of saving it was a lie. "The One" wasn’t a messiah- he was a pressure valve, built into the system to control resistance, to turn rebellion into another form of obedience. Every step Neo had taken, every moment of belief, had been accounted for. In that moment, he could have done what Cypher did- surrendered, let the system erase his pain, exchanged truth for comfort and control. But Neo didn’t. Standing before the Architect, offered the same poisoned bargain, he chose to bear the weight of knowledge and the burden of love. He chose Trinity. He chose humanity. And in doing so, he did what no one else had: he broke the cycle - not because he was "the One," but because he refused to abandon what made him human.
And that’s what it comes down to. It’s corny and cliché. Maybe it doesn’t make for a very satisfying conclusion to a series like The Matrix either. After all, “the power of love” seems like some cheesy, Saturday morning cartoon fare when it comes to the conclusion of an epic sci-fi. But much like how The Matrix touches on deeper themes of Gnosticism, the sacrifice Neo makes touches on deeper, more ancient themes as well. You don’t have to be a Cristian to find the beauty in the story of Christ which Neo’s story mirrors. In the story of the resurrection, we see that that the world is fallen, but worth redeeming through love and sacrifice. Christ doesn't escape reality; he enters it fully, suffers with it, and saves it by love, not by secret knowledge alone. It’s not enough to know the world is flawed, you have to be willing to do something about it.
That’s what I’ve noticed helps me, at least. When I constantly read about all the very real ways the world is getting worse, I sink into pits of despair. If I doomscroll enough, the same patterns emerge. The industrial revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. We’re doomed, it’s already too late. It’s no longer about victory, but trying for a less bad outcome. The best I can hope for is throwing my body into the gears in hopes that one day that my blood rusts this infernal machine enough to some day shut it down. But that’s suicidal ideation with a narcissistic coat of paint. This attitude is isolating and will create ten thousand Ted Kaczynski’s or Luigi Mangione’s, each as ineffective as the last in creating lasting change. But when I choose to engage with the world is when I feel hope. When I look at my sister, soon to give birth to my nephew. When I look at the smiling face of my wife. When I see the beauty of the world around me not as a tragedy of something that is being lost, but something worth fighting for. That’s when I want to keep going, to keep fighting.
I don’t want to make this a “log off, touch grass” essay. Its trite and isn’t helpful and if anything, it can be another blue pill. What is important is to consume information mindfully. Yes, I know that “mindfulness” has been co-opted by the corpos, but there’s something there. Think about the information you consume and discern if it will help you with your goals or hurt you. Stay grounded, but stay engaged. Learn to recognize what is a trap to keep you ineffective and what will help the cause. There are no hard and fast rules, but if you stay engaged with the world and the people you love, that’s a good start. There will be difficult times ahead, but the task is not insurmountable. If it was hopeless, they wouldn’t need the propaganda and lies. Stay sharp, try to move towards self sufficiency and finding a community you can rely on. Combine this with doing things to stay grounded and live in the world. Friends, family, community, and above all, love. This is the new pill, a way forward. Awareness without despair. Love without naivety. Resistance without losing your humanity. Waking up is just the first step, the real battle is to keep going.
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.
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.