Freedom in a World of Conformity (The Matrix)
John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and Pierre Elliot Trudeau were visionaries of the free world that drew the populace into their dreams. These great leaders did not have to thrive off conformists or tell their followers how to act, function and behave. In contrast Adolf Hitler demanded conformity, compliance out of fear so that his followers became so jaded they could not differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad, real and unreal. In situations such as these, individuality disintegrates into a common notion of one; liberty seems lost. In The Matrix the rebels fight for freedom in a world of conformity illustrated by the agent's enforcement, the matrix functioning on conformity and Neo defying conformity on a quest for freedom and truth.
The agents act as representors and enforcers of conformity who remain in the matrix to defeat the rebels that symbolize freedom. The agents are "everyone and no one"; machines connected to a mainframe computer with no sense of self and character. Attire is an expression of individuality, likewise the agent's dress identical; "You all look the same to me." Their names exemplify conformity, Smith, Jones, Brown, the three most common last names in the United States (Jawell). Voices of the agents cannot be differentiated, they are monotonous, void of distinction, thus unveiling their computerized duplicity. The agents protect the matrix from the rebels to ensure conformity and maintain the dominance of the machines.
The city of the matrix functions on strict conformity; no one has the freedom to use his or her own minds. The people of the matrix live as they are told to live by the machines, disabling them from real freedom of expression, action and faith. The towering, cold, impregnable buildings enhance the machines image of omniscient power over the miniscule populace. Thomas Anderson's tiny cubicl...