Morpheus: I imagine that right now you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he’s expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: ‘Cause I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life; that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind — driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room, you can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind.
(long pause, sighs)
Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
(Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill)
Remember — all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
While the Matrix is fantasy there is some truth to what it is telling us. Have you ever wondered what the truth is? Are you told the truth or do you discover the truth? Have you often thought about what it is you believe?
Politics is characterized as shrewdness and the use of intrigue or strategy in contriving any position of power or control. A shallow example of efforts to influence people is Al Gore?s attempt to paint rosy cheeks and assume the mannerisms of Ronald Reagan in order to convince people he is the right man for the Presidency. Unfortunately, the efforts to influence people?s thoughts is often far more sophisticated as innumerable competitive factions in the political arena have expended a great deal of effort to determine how to influence people?s opinions in order to achieve their objectives. Unsuspecting people are drawn to beliefs that are near or half truths as though these beliefs are etched in stone.
In the case of the Matrix, the truth was the people were slaves to another truth unknown to them. What truth is it that you know and how do you know it? Are you tumbling down the rabbit hole? What is the standard by which you gauge your knowledge?