In an article I found out of the Middle East Times titled, Misunderstanding the meaning of Matrix, by Paul Schemm I realized the importance of presence in the movie. Schemm writes, ?we are enslaved by a world of illusion and must wake up and realize the truth.? In the Matrix all the humans are ?enslaved? to the presence in which they believe they live and breath in. When in all actuality the physical presence the humans live in is unknown to them due to the concepts of ?consensual hallucination?, the virtual reality where their mind resides, and ?optimized self-presentation. What is presence? Who is to say that we are or are not present in a particular place or moment.
There are six different forms of presence that we discussed in class and are found in the article titled, At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence. I talk about the different meanings of presence discussed in class and show examples that are in the Matrix. First, presence as social richness is measured on two concepts: intimacy and immediacy. To measure intimacy you measure several things between interact ants such as: physical proximity, eye-contact, intimacy of conversation topic, amount of smiling, body relaxation, voice quality, and others. In looking at immediacy we can measure the choices of language to get a sense of psychological closeness. In the Matrix, for example, intimacy is established between Neo and Trinity the first encounter they have at the club. To establish intimacy you can look at Trinity?s physical proximity, intimacy of conversation topic, and voice quality.
Second, presence as realism is the level that a particular medium can produce a seemingly accurate picture of objects, events, and people. We can look at two types of realism that are discussed by Lombard and Ditton, social realism and perceptual realism. To say that something is an example of social realism would mean that it is ?true to life.? Perceptual realism is when the characteristics of the people, sounds, and objects look like they would in real life even though the situation maybe not be so realistic. Here is where ?consensual hallucination? comes into play. Barbatsis and Fegan discuss space and ideational realities which is the relationship between the
reader and the text or what the reader is projecting. Inside the ideational realities lies the sense of a ?consensual hallucination?, the atmosphere that is created and shared in cyberspace by those that are presence in the sense of social realism. In the Matrix the humans are hooked up to machines that are all connected to meet in a common cyberspace, in an essence they are taking place in a ?consensual hallucination?. They are interacting in a presence that appears to be ?true to life? and at times events take place that are highly unlikely to occur. For example, when Neo is able to dodge the bullets that the Agent is shooting at him, or when Neo is able to take the cord that is hanging from the helicopter and save Trinity. We all know that those things are unlikely to happen in ?real life?.
Third, presence as transportation, here there are three levels that identify this aspect of presence: ?you are there, it is here, and we are together.? ?You are there? is being transported to another place, and that is done all throughout the Matrix when Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, Cypher, and others in their group go to and from the matrix. ?It is here? is when presence brings the objects, etc. from another place to your environment. The humans that are hooked up to the machines believe that the ?real world? is here with them when in reality they are being brought to the matrix. ?We are together? is having the sense that you are in a virtual space with another person, and that is the entire concept of the matrix. At this point I want to interject the concept of virtual reality. (Definition taken from Postmodern Virtualities) Virtual reality is a computer-generated place that is viewed by participant through ?goggles? and responds to stimuli from the participants. In the article, Postmodern Virtualities, Poster makes this revelation, ?these individuals need not be in the same physical location but may be communicating information to the computer from distant points though modems.? In the Matrix, the humans are present in a virtual reality where they are able to interact with another and react to the stimuli that the participants exert.
Fourth, presence as immersion is the idea of perceptual and psychological immersion. Perceptual immersion can be measured objectively by looking at the user?s senses that are getting the input and the amount of inputs from the physical world that are kept out. Psychological immersion is seen in the users involvement, is there a sense of competitiveness, excitement, or intensity. The concept of immersion is what the Matrix is based on. Again, the matrix is a virtual place where people are so immersed that they believe it is a real place I would like to introduce ?optimized self-presentation,? a concept discussed by Jacobson in the article, On Theorizing Presence. Optimized self-presentation is the thought that an individual selectively constructs his/her own self-image, their idealized self. We can see this phenomenon taking place in the Matrix on several occasions. When ever the characters enter into the matrix their physical appearance is different. While in the matrix they portray abilities that they don?t have in the ?real world?, for example, Neo and Morpheus? ability to accomplish extremely
difficult levels of karate. The crew with Morpheus tends to have an optimized self-presentation in the matrix because they are at their peak performance while they are immersed in the presence of the matrix. The presence of immersion is what ultimately convinces the humans that they are in the ?real world.?
Fifth, presence as social actor within medium can be described as simple as interacting with the television. You may be watching a television program and find yourself giving the character on the other end advice, obviously they can not hear you. You get so immersed in your program that you find yourself sensing that you are present with those involved in the television. This can be seen in the Matrix when Neo is still in the matrix and Trinity has just made it back. Neo?s line to return to the real world has been destroyed and Trinity stands next to his body and talks to him as though she is there with him in the matrix.
Finally, presence as medium as social actor involves the social responses of media users to cues provided by the medium itself. For example, when you take a computer-based test and it tells you immediately after you answered that you got the question right and you say ?yes? you have just responded to the computer as if it were you teacher telling you that you were correct. This type of presence is seen in the Matrix when the characters in the movie die while they are in the matrix and because of that they die in the real world. They are taking the information that has been giving to them while they are in the virtual reality and responded to it as if a human actually killed them.
Just like the Matrix, presence is a complex concept composed of different elements and extensions of meaning. Schemm comments that we shouldn?t ?be fooled by these illusions, however, for they are only a mask over the true subversive message of this film that we must transcend the material world and all its strictures and structures. Government, religion, morals, family, society ? all of them are lies used to enslave us and we must wake up.? We can let presence over take us and we become blind to where we are physically present. We can get lost in presence and in a sense loss a sense of our true identity because we allow ourselves to bring out certain strengths and forget about our weaknesses. Can you only be present in the ?real world? or can you find a sense of presence when you enter into a ?virtual reality?. What is presence? There is more to the presence than the simple definition given in Webster?s as the part of space within one?s immediate vicinity
