One thing that has nagged me recently is the concept of blue pills and red pills.
The red/blue pill choice, as anyone familiar with The Matrix (1999) can tell you, is the metaphorical choice the character of Morpheus offers to Neo:
“You take the blue pill… the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill… you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
It is implied taking the blue pill reverts the taker back to their simulated reality of everyday existence and that the red pill wakes you up from the simulation and brings you into the “real world” where machines control the simulation.
For a bit of fiction, it works well. But the logic is a bit wobbly outside of the world of The Matrix. And people use the metaphor with earnest sincerity all the time these days without considering the problematic nature of the (false) choice.
The problem is that we are led to believe we can trust Morpheus, the “seer” and visionary of the insurgency. We are expected to trust him, in fact. We take it for granted, as viewers of the film, that he is a reliable character.
But we don’t know that.
We are not given enough time to evaluate whether he is trustworthy. For all we know, he has a completely hidden agenda that is counter to what he tells us.
For all we know about the story, the red pill is what presents an illusion and the blue pill erases the illusion. There is no solid reason for us to accept what Morpheus has told us about the nature of reality and it could very well be the reverse of what we are told. The rabbit hole is a bit fantastic when you think about it, after all.
Which is why I tend to not take either the red or blue pill (another forced choice which seems suspicious; why can’t Neo elect to take neither?).
I’ll leave red pills and blue pills out of my life. Instead, I will try to see things as they are without the augmentations that either promises.
Afterward: As with most people, I am basing my understanding on the first film’s logic. While I have seen the others, I don’t recall them well enough to know if they solved this problematic logic with similarities to cult-mind thinking. And I doubt most people (except fans) remember much beyond the first film when they use this metaphor.
However, by saying “Trust me — everything is illusion except what I say is reality” is a key component leveraged by cult leaders. In many ways, Morpheus is similar to a cult leader.
12 responses to “Half-penny thoughts — 11sep25”
I always think “ok if I take them both together do they cancel each other out?” 😁
Another excellent choice not presented as an option! 🤣
Like you said, works well in the movie. But simple a dichotomy usually doesn’t hold up in a complex world.
Exactly, but people apply it all the same to this day.
That’s unfortunately true. It’s ironic you don’t want to live in a simulation, but subscribe to a lens that is an oversimplification.
I’m with you on this one. While I enjoy the movie for what it is (great effects for its time!) and a fun story… people… it’s a movie. It’s not real. And I’m also skeptical of the either/or two-selection choice. And also… why believe Morpheus at all?! I think we are to believe (or it is assumed) that Neo, being face to face with him (and not a mere viewer as we are), can “feel” the truth in Morpheus. We know right from wrong. But it’s our choice (so they say) to accept the truth or purposely blind ourselves.
I think that’s my big takeaway: why believe anything we’re told in the film?
Trust no one! 🤪
My husband had the film on a good while ago, but I slept through most of it – looks like Morpheus got to me from the start! 🙂
😂
And there in lies the crux – who to trust?
I’d like to believe that altruism exists, but I’m not convinced. And aren’t most groups & organisations cultist by their very nature – after all leaders tend towards narcissistic megalomania. It’s just that some seem more convincing than others, which is heightened when there is merely an either/or choice.
Thought-provoking.
I think that there is always a visible and a hidden agenda when someone depends on trust to ask you to do something. The covert is not necessarily nefarious in nature, but trust seems to rely heavily on some level of secrecy.
Truly spoken.