What is the "real" reality

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Finding the distinction between appearance and reality is, and has always been, one of the principal focal points of philosophy. From Plato to Descartes, all philosophers have grappled with this problem (at one point or another); what is reality? While the question isn't exactly novel, the science fiction genre sort of picks up where the great philosophers left off in an attempt to answer, if not better understand, this question and ourselves. Works including Dark City (1998) and The Matrix (1999) have both pushed their audiences to think what is reality? Who am I and what does it mean to be human? While none of these works nor myself are so bold as to claim to have all the answers, the discussion is still worth delving into. Through an analysis of each film's theme of reality maybe we can learn something about what is real or something about ourselves and our humanity.
Alex Proyas' Dark City dives headlong into these inquiries in a few different fashions. The film begins with John Murdoch naked in a bathtub confused and suffering from amnesia. Although Murdoch is an adult this can very easily be seen as an allegory for birth. I don't want to say a rebirth necessarily because Murdoch doesn't remember who he used to be but a birth nonetheless. From this point on, Murdoch is essentially trying to figure out the reality of his identity. Not the easiest of tasks considering the altered reality he is in. Murdoch is lost, confused, and struggling to understand his situation. Without his memories he seems to be quite broken as a person.
Which brings us to the idea of memory being reality. Dark city poses the questions is our reality a collection of our memories? Do our memories make us human? Murdoch who has suffered amnesia and gain...

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...that doesn't negate the fact that you are still thinking. This in turn allows us to believe that as we think, we exist. This I would imagine is the goal of the protagonists in the Matrix. To get people to realize that they do exist and that the truth is a good in and of itself. To be secure in our concept of reality and our sense of self.
To conclude it seems I asked a great deal more questions than I answered, if any. Reality, as it were, doesn't seem to be the easiest thing to discuss. While the irony in that is palpable I believe there is value in probing these types of questions. Films like Dark City and The Matrix give us a playground to bounce ideas back and forth and their premises have a strong impact on our own identity and sense of reality. These films then while not being "real" themselves give us the opportunity to ask ourselves what is "real" anyway?

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