Keanu Reeves called the cops on a man who sent him a Matrix-inspired message. But what if the madman was telling the truth? asks Paul Eksteen
|||Gone Surfing
I, like millions of people around the globe, really enjoyed The Matrix.
It wasn’t only because it was a slick, action sci-fi movie. It was the premise: the idea that we are merely the AA batteries in a mechanical world order, living out our usefulness in a pre-programmed stupor of deadlines, bills and tax returns. The Matrix was a sobering retort to our obsessive quest for the meaning of life.
Why are we here? Religious and new age theory paint us as the gilded cogs of a supernatural design far too complex to comprehend. As we point our cars towards the morning traffic jams, wintery chill nipping at our ears, it’s easy to be seduced by the idea that something greater lies in store for us. Heaven, scores of willing virgins, a glorious reincarnation – who wouldn’t want a piece of that?
In the Matrix, our future is alkaline, the decor is Mugg & Bean (with all that exposed tubing) and life has to fight tooth and nail for the smallest foothold. Polar opposites, and yet the two world orders agree on two things: that a higher power governs our destinies, and that we need to wake up to the truth.
Neo did, earth-shattering as that truth would have seemed. Even if you hate your life, finding out that it’s all been a lie would seriously take the wind out of your sails. Most people would prefer to stay in the Matrix, especially if you are offered the kind of deal the film’s traitor makes with the machines (someone important, rich – the usual ego-strokers). I figure many people were enamoured by the idea of a Matrix not because they wanted to make a break for freedom, but because in the Matrix, you were a line of coding away from the living the life you’d always fantasised about.
The Matrix was just a movie. But imagine if it was real. Imagine a Morpheus-type saw potential in you and decided to set you free. Imagine you were sitting at your work cubicle and someone you had never met FED-EXed you a phone and urged you to run because Agent Smith was coming. Would you? Would you spring from your chair and risk it all on the promise of cool leather jackets and the mother of all raves in Zion? In the movies, Neo makes a break for it. In real life, he called the cops.
Police are still searching for an alleged stalker who had an envelope containing a phone and a Matrix-inspired message delivered to Keanu Reeves’ home. The message read: “I will call the cell provided tomorrow. We need to meet as I have already started building the new world. #masterbuilder”.
It’s only natural that Reeves would fear for his safety and notify the authorities. There are some crazy people out there. But I can’t help wondering: what if the supposed madman was telling the truth? How would we ever know? No one would have blamed Neo for seeking a restraining order on Morpheus after his “What is the Matrix” speech. But he bought the sales pitch and ended up saving humanity. Does this new incident, in turn, mean we’re all doomed? No one has seen The Oracle since Revolutions.