The Matrix's imaginative storytelling that demands viewers to look beyond its visual elements, do some heavy intellectual lifting, and question the nature of their own existence.
In one of The Matrix's most memorable scenes, Morpheus offers Neo a choice between two pills: a red one to learn the Matrix's truth and a blue one to settle for the delusional comfort of ignorance. Neo takes the former, and his perception of reality begins to distort. A cracked mirror next to him mysteriously changes, and when he touches it, a silver liquid clings to his fingers and rapidly spreads all over his body.
On the surface, the mirror scene symbolizes that once Neo releases his firm hold on his pre-held conceptions of reality by taking the red pill, the Neo's perception and reality in The Matrix. When he finally takes the red pill, his skewed perception of reality begins to correct itself, and, in turn, even the mirror reflects this change by transitioning from its broken state to being mended. This metamorphosis further escalates when Neo touches the mirror. The mirror's goo swallows him whole, symbolizing that there is no turning back for him and although the pursuit of learning the truth will be painful, it will eventually set him free.
How The Matrix's Mirror Scene Alludes To Alice in Wonderland
In Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll's description of a mirror is portals in The Matrix Resurrections.
Mirrors are truly fascinating in the sense that they are simple everyday objects. Yet, they conjure up some incredible emotions and mythos. No wonder then that not just in The Matrix but in many other films and TV shows, mirrors have played a myriad of roles. While they personify duality in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
