The Matrix Hero Myth

The Matrix Hero Myth

Hollywood is the production machine that continues to bombard America with its action-packed hero movies. The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves as a prime example of the larger than life Hollywood hero whose explosive screen acting and dumb luck turn the lead character into this hero, who tantalizes American audiences.

The storyline of the movie throws audiences immediately into the mystery behind “the matrix” from an objective person’s perspective. Neo, or Mr. Anderson as the evil Agents call him, is searching for an answer to a question he’s looked for all his life. He wants to know “what is the matrix?” Neo later learns from two new mysterious friends that the matrix is “the world pulled over your eyes.” In time, and with help from these friends Morpheus and Trinity, Neo learns the reality, or non-reality, of the matrix. He finds the truth of the world in which the human race is enslaved and is used as a power source for artificially intelligent computers, which took over the world long ago. At the prompting of Morpheus, Neo starts to wonder if he could be the one prophesied and destined to free the human race from the control of these sadistic computer programs.

To better understand the storyline and the hero, we need to know a little about the main characters in the movie, which are Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, the Agents, and Cipher. Neo, of course, is our hero of the story. He joins the war against the agents who patrol and partially control the matrix to free the world from the A.I. computers. Neo is a strong-willed young man who develops into a hardcore gun-wielding butt-kicker by the end of the movie. His language and look throughout the movie suggest just how reluctant he was in the beginning, and how all this changed by the end. His attitude in the movies opening shows him as an easily startled man who is a bit jumpy and quite cautious; his cautiousness especially shows as he first talks to the guy in the beginning to whom he is selling an illegal disk and his worry of getting caught shows through. In the end, he became the cocky hero as he dawned the black suit, sunglasses, and a set of guns. This turned him into our action hero.

Morpheus is the next character of major importance. He takes on a likeness of the well-loved Yoda from Star Wars. This is because Morpheus is the wise man who has the most experience and kno...

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... volley of bullets from the now dissatisfied Agents.

This is the process, which Seger believes makes a true mythic hero, The Matrix very closely parallels this concept and creates the mythical, and larger than life hero, Neo.

Another article relevant to this movie would be Kevin Jenning’s article “American Dreams.” This is based upon how the author tried to chased down the American dream and let it rule his life. He was so dead set on achieving this dream he let it get in the way of who he really was. This relates to the hero Neo in The Matrix because Neo for a time tried to deny that he really did have something besides just a bland little reality. He failed to see that he was more than what he thought he was, and after he dealt with the fact that his life had just changed radically, he aspired to be a warrior and a hero to take a stand against evil.

It is the American audience who decides whether or not a hero is just another hero or is something more. I think the American audience for The Matrix have already spoken, the money that The Matrix earned in the box office proves that. Neo has appealed to the fancies and hearts of individuals as a true larger than life hero.