The Matrix at 25 and Beyond

David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving

I kept thinking about The Matrix’s 25th anniversary, how I saw it when it first came out, and how its been on constantly ever since. Yes, it’s had a huge cultural impact. Yes, I can measure my life by certain movies and sometimes I do. But what felt really compelling to me was the idea of The Matrix at 50 or 100! How will the film resonate a century from now and beyond? Every day, that technology seems closer and less hypothetical. But what form will the future take? The Matrix wasn’t a prediction so much as it’s a thought experiment. And if nothing else, the question of whose interest artificial intelligence serves may define more of our future than people are comfortable admitting. The Matrix will always occupy a part of that debate. That makes it more than an action movie and more than a time capsule. And if one day, history and fiction ever converge, this might be the dream we’re all having right before we wake up to something new.