The Matrix - Blue or Red?

In The Matrix, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, the main character Neo, a person with a semi-normal life is living in a false world created by computers.  Neo has been looking for the answer to the question of, “What is the matrix?” Eventually Neo meets a group of underground hackers who have known about the truth of Neo’s world. The leader of the group of hackers, Morpheus, has been searching for “The One” and he believes that it is Neo. Morpheus tells Neo that is a destined to do great things and Morpheus later presents Neo with two pills, two options, a red pill and a blue pill. The red pill represents the truth and change, something out of Neo’s world, where he would wake up from this dream and face reality; whatever that could be. While the blue pill represents falsehood, and Neo would continue living in the false fabrication of the world never knowing that he met Morpheus. Was Neo’s choice of the red pill correct?

If I was in Neo’s poistion, given Neo’s options, I would have chosen the blue pill.
 

Why not choose the red pill?
Yes, if I chose the red pill, I would stop living a worthless, useless lie of a life. However, would I be bargaining for more than I can handle? What is the point of facing the truth when I still have not lived this life to its fullest?  

      What is at the end of real life?
Taking the red pill is the same as committing suicide. If I were to die right now, I would face the real truth of life. Once the red pill is taken, it is impossible to return to the previous life, just as if one were to die. Once the red pill is taken, a whole new life will begin; one would be unable to see previous friends and acquaintances for they can become enemies at any time.

     So why would I take the blue pill instead?
Why would I throw away my current life, when I am still reasonably young and full of ambitions?  I would not trade my current peaceful life for one that is full of death, fear, and destruction. In the film, Cypher,  a fellow hacker in Morpheus’ group, wonders why he did not take the blue pill instead of the red pill when we was presented with the choice. He later meets up with an agent and makes a deal with him to give them Morpheus and in turn, return to the false world.

I would not blame Cypher for his decision. Once he took the red pill, he was thrown into a world where he was scared every day and forced to fight. The real world is not a nice place. In the film, the present world is black, lifeless, and fearsome. I believe the Neo is very courageous for taking the red pill, for I would not stay sane in a world that Cypher has to endure for very long.

And so, if I was in Neo’s place, I would have choosen the blue pill. I would rather live ignorant and not suffer than to know the truth and be forced to do something I would not want to do. There are things Neo has not experienced like getting married or having children. Even though the experiences may be fake, it is the same as being real if he does not know the truth. Ignorant is bliss.

Although people will say that taking the blue pill is cowardly, I do not believe that it is cowardly, but instead reasonable. Even if Neo was able to defeat the matrix and free all the people, what is there to return to? The world is destroyed to a point where life is nearly unbearable. Instead, they could all live in a virtual reality where it is so similar to what life is really like that it might as well be real.