How would Morpheus have reacted? Although its pretty clear from the characterisation in the movie I recently watched an interview with Laurence Fishburne where he made the point that Morpheus is basically a fanatic. He is a zealot totally committed to his cause, and as is shown by how they treat the basically innocent people who get in his way inside The Matrix he has no qualms at all about killing and using violence to achieve his objectives.
Its implied that most of his adult life has been built around one goal, finding The One, as he was prophesied to do. And in Neo he think’s he has achieved this, and played his part in saving the human race, despite the apparent free choice I can’t imagine him just taking Neo’s decision to take the blue pill lying down, it would mean an end to his own purpose in life at the very least. So it kind of makes me wonder how he would have reacted?
On a side-note I once read an interesting fan-theory, Cypher was chosen before Neo as Morpheus mistakenly thought he was The One, when he found it he wasn’t…well it would explain a lot about Cypher’s actions and makes him come across a little more sympathetically, he is basically a crushing disappointment to Morpheus and to himself, wondering what he gave up his previous life for.
When Cypher has the conversation with Neo about the weight of responsibility for saving the world its not just an observation, he knows because he has already had that expectation himself, and failed.
On another sidenote someone recently commented to me that The Matrix should be remade with modern special effects, I almost laughed before I realised that the movie is very nearly twenty years old! I remember going to the cinema to watch it like it was yesterday…
The One would never choose the blue pill, and Morpheus (a prophet) knows this, so he would not have bothered trying to change anyone’s mind who chose the blue pill.
As for Morpheus (John the Baptist) having faith, of course he does; Neo = Jesus, Cypher = Judas, etc; the symbolism is all essentially spelled out.
heres another question according to the history file shown on the animatrix side movie in the human/ai war they blacked out the sky permantley so the ai army couldn’t use solar power but it killed off the worlds food supply forcing the setup
so the matrix movies are about turning it off …but everyone wakes up to a " the sun went out wasteland ? …
Well, the others did give Neo an “our way or the highway” choice in the car (during the scene when they fish the “bug” out of his navel - starting at 1:26 here) and he does make a move for the car door before Trinity makes another attempt to convince him to stay. If Neo had made a move for the blue pill, I can picture Morpheus making a similar last-ditch effort to gain his trust, change his mind.
If you think he already tried with Cypher but found out he wasn’t the One, then that suggests that Morpheus is open to the idea that the candidate he picked is wrong. So I would think he’d just try to find someone else.
If we remove that idea, and say that he is 100% sure Neo is the One, then I would expect the whole thing to have been a false choice, and both pills would do the same thing. It bugged the crap out of me that the sequels, which made stuff about choice, didn’t have the Machines using false choice as a means of control (with a secret third option so it’s still really a choice).
I always thought that making the pills functionally identical would be the smart move, but things would get a little awkward if Neo chose the blue pill.
MORPHEUS: Remember, all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.
[Neo swallows the blue pill. Morpheus smiles.]
MORPHEUS: Follow me.
NEO: Wait, what? You said the story would end and I’d wake up in my bed if I took the blue pill!
MORPHEUS: I said the blue pill would do that? Oops, my bad. I meant the red pill. I always get those confused. Jeez, I’m such a dope!
By the time the 3rd movie ends, we learn that humanity is nothing but predictable. They will resist reality. They will keep pushing for the truth. This eternal struggle is what keeps the system cycling over and over again.
Neo embodies humanity by having this discontented drive deep within him. Presumably from years of observation, Morpheus sees this clearly. So he knows he’ll select the red pill. The only reason he presents it as a choice is because humans always require the illusion of free will (or else they spaz out and the system breaks?).