MovieChat Forums > The Matrix (1999) Discussion > The cell phones make no sense

The cell phones make no sense


I have been thinking about how all the cell phone stuff works, and it doesn't seem to make sense.

First, how do they obtain those phones, are they 'born into the Matrix' with them somehow? How do logistics inbetween the 'construct' and The Matrix work anyway?

Second, do they use an official phone service (which would require quite a lot, but would be somewhat doable, but also very traceable) that they then pay every month (prepaids probably didn't exist yet in 1999), or do they have their own 'cell phone network' that doesn't follow the normal cell phone rules?

The problem with this one would be that surely The Matrix would 'know' something is happening weird signal-wise, and it would not work for long for this reason. The machines control it, so why would they let some custom signals even exist? On the same token, surely the machines would not let some cell phone service provider sell phone connections or SIM cards to the 'blacklisted' individuals, so did they somehow steal other people's identities or create new ones out of the blue and thus hack into the governmental system as well just so they can use those dang cell phones?

When it gets down to it, you needed to have a 'person' active in the system to get a cell phone account, so it would have been quite the hassle - some walkie talkie stuff would have been so much simpler and easier in my opinion. I mean, Morpheus's 'person' just as well as 'Thomas Anderson''s 'person' would be deactivated when it comes to being able to purchase or use any of the system's services, which includes governments, corporations, and thus, cell phone service providers.

So how did they get access to the cell phone network, exactly?

Also, how does the whole 'speak from the real world into The Matrix' work? It's kind of hard to wrap your head around it, since The Matrix is a simulation that the machines control, so they could stop any signal at any point, but how is the real-world spoken voice even transmitted to a simulation as simulated voice of a simulated 'avatar' so it can be heard by another 'avatar' that then transmits and converts this into signals that fool your actual physical brain into thinking they are hearing a voice, when they aren't.

Even video games are not this complex, they just use actual voice that your physical ears receive. But not so in 'The Matrix' for anyone that's plugged in, so this is incredibly and needlessly complicated, when they could just use the actual physical ears of the plugged-in people (do these ears stop functioning just because 'you are in a simulation'? So many questions..)

Also, when Morpheus is speaking in the ship, and Neo is receiving his voice (the machines don't interrupt this stuff for... what reason, exactly?), wouldn't that lead to the physical machines being able to detect where the signal is coming from, or how does it all work? (So little is explained in the movie, these questions are unanswered)

I always wonder about 'bringing your own stuff into The Matrix' as well - why does 'the Construct' (what an imaginative name... not!) even work? I mean, you 'pick up' things in that local simulation, then somehow (how?) transport them into 'The Matrix' that, for some reason, accepts these uploaded extra files the machines clearly did not create? Why?

Why would any server accept illegitimate uploads of files the server is not supposed to have? It makes no sense!

So the cell phones.. how did Morpheus time that FedEx delivery of a probably 'Construct'-originated cell phone to that exact moment? Would it not have been more effective to just have someone give him a walkie-talkie or something, instead of going about it in such a roundabout way - OR - could Trinity have been less coy and actually TOLD HIM all this stuff so Morpheus doesn't have to put a 'fake' cell phone in a delivery service?

How does money work, can they just generate cash so they can pay for the FedEx and stuff? They obviously can't have bank accounts (which is why I doubt they can have cell phone accounts), so cash is the only option. However, why would The Matrix accept, what would HAVE to be 'counterfeit' from the system's point of view? Wouldn't it be just as dangerous to use 'counterfeit' money as it is in the real world? I mean, money is 'numbered', so you can't just create 'more' of it without it being suspicious very quickly.

When you start pondering about the details of how things work in a movie, it's surprising how many movies fall apart... to so many pieces, too.

None of which make any sense!

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Can you hear me now?

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BEWARE! Avortac4 is a troll trying to waste everyone's time with such idiotic comments. Look at his posts. He doesn't think anything in any film makes sense. His post may seem like it makes sense in the first sentence or two. But he always quickly wanders off into a completely idiotic idea, and then writes a wall of text that makes no sense. And his sole purpose is to waste your time, thinking he's cute for doing so. Don't feed the troll. If you write a comment, you're giving this troll EXACTLY what he wants. Don't comment after my comment.

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Why are you so obsessed with Avortac4?

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They're a comedy team. Just let them work.

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Lol, that was funny. I'm starting to think they're the same person.

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The answer to all of your questions is that they are hackers. They are recruited based on their hacking abilities. They illegally hack their way into the Matrix to come and go. The program doesn’t allow, but it’s just code, and it’s not perfect. So it’s a dedicated game of cat and mouse.

So no, they aren’t paying a cell phone bill.

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