Throughout history, horror stories have played off of the fears that pertain to the time period that they were written in. When feudal peasants relied on crops and livestock for survival, the scariest thing imaginable was a werewolf that could endanger both resources. When the anonymity of city living came around, The Strange Case of Dy. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written. It played off of the fears of nightlife in the city. In present time, we feel relatively secure compared to our ancestors. This is mostly accountable for machines that do most of our work. One of the most fearful things in present time is the idea that these machines could turn on us, and even destroy us. This plot is illustrated in the movie called The Matrix. It is a current science fiction movie about robots taking over the world and making humans into slaves. The reason humans do not revolt is because they believe they are living a normal life through virtual reality. The Matrix is generally not classified as a horror movie, however it plays off of the fears of our current time just like a horror movie does. It reflects the fears of machines taking over the world and the possibility that our own reality is a lie. It identifies this fear through the cold, emotionless nature of the machines enough so that the machines themselves can be classified as monsters. It also represents a national allegory, and highlights important cautions to take when making new technological advancements.
The scariest thing about the plot of the Matrix is that it is plausible in a future setting. If robots could make us feel that what we are seeing is real, then why wouldn’t we believe it to be true? Even if we questioned reality there would not be enough proof, nor anything to do about it even if we had figured everything out. The main character leading a resistance movement against the machines named Morpheus asks the questions: “What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about...