Spoilers for The Matrix (1999). Trigger warnings for brief discussions of sexual assault and explicit content.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, The Matrix remains one of the coolest films ever made. Yes, it’s Jesus parable is heavy-handed and Neo (Keanu Reeves) flying off in the final scenes is utter tosh (not to mention indicative of the direction the series would go in) but the visual style and incredible choreography means that it endures today.
One of the joys is seeing how the Wachowskis brought a wide variety of influences – ranging from religious texts, philosophy, and anime as well as dystopian science fiction and cyberpunk – into a cohesive style. Yet there is a reference that is less noted amongst fans.
The cyberpunk references, particularly William Gibson’s Neuromancer trilogy, are a clear starting point. However, another celebrated, if more controversial, figure in science fiction also weighs heavily. Harlan Ellison was not the first author to explore the negative effects of artificial intelligence in his work but his seminal 1967 short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is one of the darkest pieces within the genre.
Ellison is closely linked with the world of The Matrix. As the Wachowskis expanded the universe across different mediums, the author was namechecked by Lana Wachowski as one of the writers for The Matrix Comics and was listed in the introduction of the first season. While no story was ever published under Ellison’s name, it is rumoured that The Man Who Knew Too Much was written by him under the pseudonym W. Wilbur W.
This isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Ellison wrote under many pseudonyms during his career – sometimes just to show displeasure with how his work had been changed during the editing or production process.
While the author’s direct links to the franchise are interesting, it’s the more subtle cues to his work within the first film that we are going to look at. If we look at Agent Smith’s (Hugo Weaving) monologue when he tortures Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) late in the film, there are hints of the AM supercomputer from I Have No Mouth…
Smith – a humanoid replacement for the sentient supercomputer in Ellison’s text – tells Morpheus of his disgust for humanity, comparing it to a virus that was destroying the planet until the computers took over. Unlike AM, Smith also sees himself as trapped, moving beyond simple sentience to something closer to a human desire to escape.
This scene was as much about humanising the Agents that act as enforcers within the Matrix, as it was about providing a plot device for Neo and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) to launch their attack.
Perhaps the most overt reference to Ellison’s work occurs far earlier in the film. Neo is caught by the Agents and questioned. They offer him a deal in which his criminal record will be wiped clean if he cooperates and helps them track down Morpheus. Neo remains stoic and asks for his phone call.
“What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?”
This response, delivered in the chilling neutral tones that Weaving worked on for the character, leads to a sudden moment of body horror – a shock in what has been, up until this point, a stylish, if generic cyberpunk film. Neo goes to say something and his lips fuse. The Agents surround him and pin him to the table, revealing a metallic bug that is inserted into Neo’s stomach.
Neo quite literally tries to scream but has no mouth to do so. For a few horrifying moments, he becomes the final form of Ted in Ellison’s story. Punished for resisting the computer’s power and forced to endure torture without even the simple release of a scream.
It's fitting that the darkest scenes in The Matrix reference a writer such as Ellison. Ellison was frequently controversial. His short story includes violent sexual encounters, some of which verge on bestiality, with the characters constantly forced to question their morality in the face of AM’s constant manipulation. Less shocking now, but certainly controversial at the time, Ellison also included homosexuality and masturbation.
In the 1995 video game adaption of the story, which Ellison wrote, the difficult subject matter would be expanded upon to include war crimes, mental illness and sexual assault – with the story of Ellen heavily referencing Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.
The Wachowskis ignore these more extreme moments, however. Recognising that the original short story was shocking enough, they cleverly utilise some of its most famous scenes to create stark, disturbing imagery within this blockbuster science fiction film.
Writers/directors: The Wachowskis
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving