MovieChat Forums > The Matrix (1999) Discussion > Why was the Matrix set in the 90's?

Why was the Matrix set in the 90's?

posted 8 years ago by KingCobra686
28 replies | jump to latest

It seems to me like the Matrix would be a lot more efficient if it had been set in the Middle Ages or earlier. One of the main issues that the machines had to deal with was the percentage of people that would reject the Matrix and escape and fight to take it down.

Neo had an easy time escaping the matrix partially because he was this talented computer hacker who was always defying the system and looking for deeper meanings in life. He was already familiar with Morpheus and a lot of stuff associated with the Matrix, even if he didnt understand what they were. But what if he was a serf in the Middle Ages farming beets? He would have a much harder time realizing that he was in a computer world run by machines while living in his fake world where computers don't yet exist.

Even if he and others still escaped, they would have a much harder time transitioning to a world with all this technology that they had never heard of before.

[–] Degree7 8 years ago

Probably because the Machines lacked the programming language to reconstruct a historical world. They had previously created a perfect utopia for the humans, and quickly scrapped it and decided to reprogram it as the peak of human civilization (we can assume shortly before humanity became reliant on AI) so that the crops would remain happy, and I assume this is what the machines would be more familiar with.. A few other reasons could be that the logistics of operating a medieval world would be more cumbersome: in a 21st century setting, they would have acces to modern surveillance technology like cameras, helicopters, and computers that other bluepills like cops and whatnot would have access to to keep the population subdued. More resources for everyone as well. Also people tended to not live as long before the industrial revolution, so you'd have a world designed to have crops die off prematurely. It would be sort of counterproductive.

As far as a cinematic answer goes, it would be that the Wachowskis wouldn't want to spend extra money creating a period piece, and the film is a commentary on modern society more than a Highlander movie.

More than that, I doubt the story would be that much different with another setting. Neo would still be a truth seeker that felt the world was wrong, and Morpheus would find some other way to contact him, possibly by carrier pigeon! :D

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

[–] poem 8 years ago

The machines tried to find the simulation that would be the most stable.

The mediveal ages are very primitive and painful. I guess the rejection rate would increase, just like with an utopia, except for opposite reasons.

Modern times however strike a balance. Not too awful, not too utopic. There is progress possible, too.

At least thats the logic of the movie. Its not what I myself would state. I myself think the whole concept is obviously stupid. Many things are stupid about the movie, it works because its so awesome in other respects than the logic of the setting.

Thinking about it, The Matrix is much like Star Wars in this respect. Many aspects about Star Wars dont make too much sense either. However the core ideas are so cool, nobody minds.

---
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

[–] Degree7 8 years ago

Modern times however strike a balance. Not too awful, not too utopic. There is progress possible, too.

Nicely put.

I myself think the whole concept is obviously stupid. Many things are stupid about the movie, it works because its so awesome in other respects than the logic of the setting.

Wel with any science fiction/fantasy premise, there is always going to be that sense of dream logic. What is The Matrix if not a postmodern fable? Also, because it firmly inhabits the cyberpunk genre, it is allowed a certain sense of outlandishness that separates it from something like 2001 or Alien.

Thinking about it, The Matrix is much like Star Wars in this respect. Many aspects about Star Wars dont make too much sense either. However the core ideas are so cool, nobody minds.

Ah, the old willing suspension of disbelief is such a pesky contrivance, all for the sake of an allegory that is now considered dated hipsterism.

~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

[–] Stratego 8 years ago

Because the movie was made in the 90s. It wouldn't have the same effect on the audience if the story took place centuries earlier.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Making a 90's setting was a good choice. I'm not doubting whether or not the Wachowski's did that correctly. I'm questioning whether the machines made the right choice, within the world of the Matrix.

I just realized a flaw in my argument though. I was banking on the machines having an advantage if a bunch of middle ages peasants escaped and were confronted with a modern world with technology way outside of what they could quickly understand. I forgot that they had easy ability to run programs to educate Neo and others on helicopter piloting and different martial arts. I suppose that they could just as easily run a program to update any middle ages peasant on the history and technology that has occured in the last millenia.

[–] bsharporflat-50959 8 years ago

Making a 90's setting was a good choice. I'm not doubting whether or not the Wachowski's did that correctly. I'm questioning whether the machines made the right choice, within the world of the Matrix.

Understood. The Matrix HAD to be set in the 90's for the movie to work but you are wondering if there is an internal logic which could justify that choice by the machines.

The questions is probably better answered in the two sequels than in the first movie. Later in the story we learn that the people in the Matrix aren't 100% in the thrall of the machines and their programming. They retain a core of (sub-)consciousness and the ability (and need) for choice. This is why Neo's role is essential, and in fact created by the machines, themselves.

I was banking on the machines having an advantage if a bunch of middle ages peasants...

Again, in the later movies we learn that the machines already have all the advantages they could ever need. Humans are so far below them, it doesn't really matter what level of technology they think they have.

For example, the people of Zion think if they try REALLY hard they could win the war with the machines, not realizing that Zion was created by the machines and they can destroy it any time they want to (which they do, periodically).

I admit it is written between the lines, but Matrix-Revolutions makes it clear that humans are helpless pawns in this war. Among humans, only Neo has any power at all with regard to the machines. The only reason humans come out a bit better in the end is because they have the help of another machine (The Oracle). Notice that in the end, things come out a LOT better for her and her followers, in the end.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Yeah good point. We see the series almost exclusively from the human perspective and their fight to get free, but in the end they are very minor players. The battle of Zion was an incredibly one-sided invasion on the humans only refuge that they had been preparing for, but still lost horribly. Smith was essentially just a nasty virus in their software and Neo was an easy way to get rid of it without having to sacrifice data (human batteries).

[–] Kruleworld 8 years ago

But what if he was a serf in the Middle Ages farming beets? He would have a much harder time realizing that he was in a computer world run by machines while living in his fake world where computers don't yet exist.

Sounds like a good premise for a fan-fic!

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

[–] Xaeden 8 years ago

A) Neo escaping was part of their plan. The problem the machines had was the number of people who would reject the Matrix as their reality and spread that rejection to others, period. The escaping part was the machine's way of weeding those people out so that they could work for the machines by helping more problem people "escape" to a central location where they could all be wiped out periodically.

Remember, after each "One" fulfills the Architect's purpose, he selects a new crop of people to replace the 250,000 killed in Zion and start the process of "saving" another couple hundred thousand from the Matrix. The "free" people are unknowingly working for them to help keep the Matrix running, so the machines simply replaced one illusion of free will for another.

B) The problem with a medieval setting is this; population. The machines wouldn't keep more people around than they need to so the number of living people are the number of living people that they need for their power scheme. However, the global medieval population was in the 2-3 hundred million range. Hence, if you want a medieval world that both houses ~7 billion people and maintains the proper look and feel with people sufficiently spread out then you have to create a world that is several times larger than the real world.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Both good points. I forgot about the Architect stuff. I guess preventing people from escaping the Matrix completely was never part of the machine's strategy. With that in mind, the 90's are a good setting for weeding people out quickly. Computers and the internet are common in people's homes, but are still a new and mysterious technology, so people accepting that they are under the control of mysterious machine overlords is not too unrealistic.

[–] Druffmaul 8 years ago

One of the earlier posts touched on what I think- The movie was set in the same time in which it was actually made because they wanted that connection with the audience. They wanted to audience to think, a la Keanu- "Whoa. What if WE are in a matrix right now??? Duuuuude...."

[–] whatisthisidonteven2017 8 years ago

The screenwriters were updating the year the movie was taking place literally with every new version of the script they were writing each year until the movie was made.

"You believe it is the year 1996."
"You believe it is the year 1997."
"You believe it is the year 1998."
"You believe it is the year 1999."

Kinda funny if you read the scripts one after the other.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Very interesting, but it makes sense why they would do it. Its a very direct way to make the audience imagine themselves in Neo's shoes and become more immersed in the movie.

[–] chrcoluk 8 years ago

I can think of a few reasons.

1990s much higher population density, as shown in the movie the agents thrive in that as more bodies to take over, as well as I assume easier to pack more crops in.

They used the police to aid them at times, in medieval times there was no civilian law enforcement. More so lots of people died from fighting.

Historical records, the AI probably gathered information from digital records, and there was a lot of unknown for them regarding more further back in time.

[–] Totemkauf 8 years ago

I am suddenly imagining a world that's a bit of both.

Imagine a quaint little medieval town , now picture the skyscrapers from this movie. Now combine them in your mind.

Imagine an extremely dense city , just as many people as would be downtown/shown in the Matrix movie. But there's no steel , no concrete, just very very tall wooden/stucco whatever medieval looking buildings. Built as close together as modern cityscapes are.

[–] Ahstaroth 8 years ago

It seems to me like the Matrix would be a lot more efficient if it had been set in the Middle Ages or earlier.

But then you wouldn't have plot contrivances like requiring special telephones to get out of the matrix. :P

But seriously, it was set in the 90s because it was filmed in the 90s. And it was very apparent by the late 90's that machines were one the cusp of thinking for us. Which they pretty much are now and makes Smith's lines even more poignant now. Think about how smart phones have taken over society. It's insane.

Look, this movie was a bit high-concept as it was. If all the sudden this beet farmer we couldn't really relate to ended up being a computer simulation, it would be tonally very "off" and wouldn't have worked as well I think.

However, I did think it would have been cool if the matrix was very old and Jesus was the first guy that figured it out, which is why he could perform the miracles he did. That would have probably triggered outrage though.

I had an idea for a similar concept, it was actually a combo of the ideas of The Matrix, Forever (TV series), and Total Recall, and sprinkles of others. Feel free to steal and make this into a book/movie, I don't have the time. I had a theory that Henry in "Forever" was stuck in a video game simulation gone wrong, and that's why whenever he died, he'd respawn in water. Water was his "spawn point", set after his initial death. Sadly, that show got cancelled early and the fantasy/science aspect behind it was never really explained.

So my idea was, a guy goes into a company that offers a total VR experience, requests to be put in a fantasy world MMO-type game, and is immediately placed in a desolate, cold area with absolutely NOTHING, no one for miles, no gear, no food, NOTHING, as a "level 1" player. Dies repeatedly (explosure, starvation, bears, etc), HATES it, but can't get out because something wrong happened with the game. Eventually he progresses, even becomes a king in his old age. Then is devastated when he finally wakes up.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 7 years ago

What?! That was just a bad ending. People will leave the cinema moaning.