The Matrix Decoded - Chapter 19

The Matrix Decoded

Chapter 19 - Dealing for Bliss

DVD Script
(fairly close, anyway)

Notes

CYPHER: Whoa! Shit, Neo, you scared the Bejeezus out of me.

(Cypher touches a monitor and several go blank.)

NEO: Sorry.

CYPHER: No, it's all right.

NEO: Is that...?

CYPHER: The Matrix? Yeah.

Remember that Cypher means are 'zero,' 'one that has no worth or influence,' 'one that is without value' and 'a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning -- something that is hidden.'

As Neo approaches, Cypher is startled and immediately begins hiding what he was doing on the computer by turning off the monitors.

NEO: Do you always look at it encoded?

CYPHER: Have to. The image translators sort of work for the construct programs but there's way too much information to decode the Matrix. You get used to it, though. Your brain does the translating. I don't even see the code. All I see is blonde, brunette, and redhead. You want a drink?

Here, Cypher begins to mislead Neo. You don't always look at the Matrix encoded...Neo sees the Matrix as it truly is at the end of the film in the hallway. He understands the code. Like Cypher, an unbeliever never gains spiritual eyes. "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see..." (John 3:3). The Spirit of God gives understanding to the believer, but things still remain a mystery to the unbeliever.

Cypher also changes the subject and gets Neo talking about something else to divert attention away from what he was doing.

Neo nods.

CYPHER: You know, I know what you're thinking 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually, to tell you the truth, I've been thinking the same thing ever since I got here.

CYPHER: Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill!?

Like Satan, Cypher offers Neo negativity and false camaraderie to win his trust. In destroying his faith, Cypher hopes he can influence Neo to give up in his quest for truth.

CYPHER: Good shit, eh? Dozer makes it. It's good for two things: degreasing engines and killing brain cells.

CYPHER: Can I ask you something? Did he tell you why he did it?

Neo looks up.

CYPHER: Why you're here?

NEO: ...yeah.

CYPHER: Gee-zus! What a mindjob. You're here to save the world. You gotta be shitting me. What do you say to something like that?

CYPHER: Little piece of advice: you see an Agent, you do what we do; run. Run your ass off.

NEO: Thanks...

CYPHER: Any time.

CYPHER: Sweet dreams.

Cypher indicates that Morpheus is misleading Neo and that he has no faith that Neo will be able to save them all. He attempts to undermine Morpheus' leadership and steer Neo down any path other than the one he is on. He plants discouraging messages and doubts in Neo's mind, just as Satan and the world do.

C.S. Lewis mentions that if Satan had only one weapon, it would be discouragement.

(RESTAURANT)

AGENT SMITH: Do we have a deal, Mr. Reagan?

CYPHER: You know, I know that this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, do you know what I've realized?

Now we see what Cypher had been doing...setting up a meeting with an Agent so he would not need help returning from the Matrix.

CYPHER: Ignorance is bliss. Agent Smith watches him chew the steak loudly, smacking it between his teeth.

CYPHER: Mmm so, so goddamn good.

AGENT SMITH: Then we have a deal?

Steak is a great metaphor of the flesh, the carnal nature of man. "When you sit down to dine with a ruler, carefully consider what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for it is deceptive food." (Proverbs 23:1).

The steak is also bloody rare - a foreshadowing of the blood that will be spilled by Cypher's betrayals. The surreal restaurant harp is suggestive of enchantment, the deception of the enemy to lull the Christian into complacency.

CYPHER: I don't want to remember nothing. Nothing! You understand? And I want to be rich. Someone important. Like an actor. You can do that, right?

AGENT SMITH: Whatever you want, Mr. Reagan.

CYPHER: All right. You get my body back in a Power Plant, reinsert me into the Matrix and I'll get you what you want.

AGENT SMITH: Access codes to the Zion mainframe.

CYPHER: I told you I don't know them. But I can give you the man who does.

AGENT SMITH: Morpheus.

This is a convenant meal...two parties sit down together to come to an agreement, to form a covenant, and celebrate that covenant by sharing a meal. Still practiced in Middle Eastern countries, a covenant meal is considered as binding as a paper contract in America.

(Note: Ronald Reagan is remembered, among other things, for repeatedly stating "I don't recall" when questioned on the stand during the Iran-contra trials about some of his actions. Ronald Reagan was also an actor in his younger days.)

An 'actor' has no self-substance; he is a simulacrum. 'Actor' can be a synonym for 'hypocrite', meaning someone who pretends to be what he is not. Cypher is indeed a hypocrite who 'acts' like a willing part of the Nebuchadnezzar crew - when he is not betraying their very lives.

"You fool! This very night, your life is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared for yourself?" (Luke 12:20)

Now that we know his true nature, his prior actions take on new meaning:

At the beginning of the film, Cypher holds on the line to give away Trinity's position ("the informant is real"). Trinity is bloodied in the chase and almost killed.
Because Cypher gave him away ("we have the name of their next contact") Neo is tracked and tortured by the Agents at his Metacortex office.
Cypher exhibits jealousy of Neo when he sees Trinity taking food to him, and expresses his lack of faith in this man that Morpheus claims is 'the one.'