The Hero Myth of the Matrix

The Hero Myth of the Matrix

According to Linda Seger all myths, in all cultures are much the same. In these myths it is just the time, place and setting that changes. This is why Hollywood is so successful at making good movies, because they base it off these myths. The most popular myth is that of the hero, because for most of us this is what we want to be. With this myth we can live that experience through these characters. In the creation of a hero there are ten stages, using the Matrix as an example we will look at these ten stages.

Like in Linda Seger's essay, the first stage of the hero is he/she is presented to the viewers in normal surroundings doing normal things. In the movie the Matrix Thomas Anderson, also known as Neo, (Played by Keanu Reeves) is a program writer for a software company and lives by himself. The only way this story differs from Seger's essay is in Neo's free time he is a rebel computer hacker. He does this because he is looking for an answer. "What is the Matrix?" This is the way we see Neo before his transformation into a hero.

The second stage of the hero, according to Seger, is when the real shaping of him/her begins. Something happens to the hero and he/she must make a choice. In the Matrix, Neo is told, through the computer, by Trinity (Played by Carrie-Anne Moss) to "Follow the white rabbit." He then meets Trinity at a club, and she warns him that he is in danger. Neo, is then captured by agent Smith, (Played by Hugo Weaving) Brown, (Played by Paul Goddard) and Jones (Played by Robert Taylor). They tell him to help them capture Morpheus (Played by Laurence Fishburne) or be tried for computer hacking, but he refuses. This is the choice he had to make, that is when the a...

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...ak and bend the rules of the matrix.

Then there is the good mother who according to Seger has the all the qualities of a good mother she provides to all the needs of a child or who ever she is helping. She is also known for her insight. In the Matrix, the Oracle is the good mother Archetype. She cares for many including Neo; she shows she cares by bring kind. She is the one who tells Neo that he must make a choice, that he is looking for something, and he is not the one because he was maybe wanting for his next life. This show her insight and that she tell Neo only what he needs to hear not what he wants to hear.

As we stated in the beginning Hollywood is very good at making movies because they base them of these myths. The hero's myth is the favorite and as we can see, the Matrix fit this myth perfectly. Maybe that is why it won four Oscars and three MTV awards.