# Matrix (part 1) Question... (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484 "2003-05-15T17:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/1 "2003-05-15T17:29:49Z")
Okay I re-watched “The Matrix” last night with my girlfriend in preperation for watching the sequel tonight. She had a couple of questions I didn’t have the answer for: 1). How did Joe Pantoliano get in and back out of the Matrix for his meeting with agent Smith? 2). Is the Oracle a program or a person? This is mine: 3). Do the Agents know about the Oracle? MtM ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/2 "2003-05-15T17:58:05Z")
1. That’s a good question, since entry into the Matrix requires being physically connected with the assistance of someone jacking you in and then disconnecting you. An operator seems to always be necessary except in this instance. 2 & 3. Who knows? The agents don’t seem to know about her, though they have the ability to show up where the rebels are. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/3 "2003-05-15T18:16:50Z")
Your first question is something I’ve always wondered. Lots of looking, never seen a halfway plausible explanation for it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/4 "2003-05-15T18:30:34Z")
FWIW from the IMDB “goofs” page for The Matrix: > [@](#): > > Cypher couldn’t use the chairs by himself to go inside the Matrix. We see Cypher typing on the keyboards, watching the Matrix in code. He tells Neo that you have to look at it in code when you are not inside, therefore justifying that he might be interacting with the Matrix through the keyboard; he is not obligated to enter the Matrix in order to change events. Trinity talks about “shifts” at the beginning of the movie, also suggesting that she can go inside the Matrix without the aid of Tank. Cypher presumably gets an inferior sense of taste and smell compared to what he would have if he were actually plugged in, or he’d have no reason to deal. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/5 "2003-05-15T18:34:17Z")
Oh, and IMDB lists that as being incorrectly regarded as a goof. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/6 "2003-05-15T19:00:13Z")
They don’t explain it in the film, so we have to speculate. I think they have the ability to leave lines open, but they don’t do it because of security. Since Cypher was working for the bad guys anyway, he didn’t have to worry about them exploiting it. Sort of. It’s not known in _The Matrix_ whether the Oracle is human or AI. ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/7 "2003-05-15T19:07:22Z")
And in that scene where Neo and Cypher are talking, Cypher turns off 2 monitors as soon as he notices Neo there. And in the very beginning of the movie when Trinity and Cypher are talking, you see a 6(I think) appear and Trinity asks Cypher if he heard anything, and Cypher says no very suspiciously. ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/8 "2003-05-15T19:11:39Z")
Your second question is covered in the sequel, along with some implications on the third. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/9 "2003-05-15T23:21:32Z")
I have a question. If the Matrix is indishtinguishable from reality, how do we know that the Zion/Nebachanezzer/crappola future world is “real” and not another level of Matrix? ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/10 "2003-05-15T23:53:17Z")
I’d just assumed that jacking into the Matrix would be something to pass the time. Cypher doesn’t (as far as we know) do anything on the ship, so he might as well head in there if he’s bored. Whether or not that’s a standard activity for others, we don’t know. Me, I’d rather mess around in the ‘white space’ with all the junk I could think of and abuse my super powers. (“Tank, load me in an M1 Abrams. Now load in three hundred mimes. Watch this!”) My own question is where the heck Cypher got that crazy electro-gun. Did he build it himself? Is it standard equipment on the ship? As to the “goof” **Otto** quoted: What the heck do they mean “he’d have no reason to deal”? His entire reason to deal is that he’s sick of having to live in the real world! ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/11 "2003-05-16T01:12:32Z")
Regarding question one I always assumed that he left a line open like **Achernar** suggested, or it was a timed deal, where after he’d been in for an hour or so the hard line would ring enabling him to leave. Still be a bit inconvenient to have to reach around behind your head to unplug yourself in the real world but doable. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/12 "2003-05-16T15:45:44Z")
My first impression was that it was a flashback to a previous meeting between Cypher and Hugo Weaving when Cypher was there on other business. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/13 "2003-05-16T15:52:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BraheSilver \* > \*\*I’d just assumed that jacking into the Matrix would be something to pass the time. Cypher doesn’t (as far as we know) do anything on the ship, so he might as well head in there if he’s bored. Whether or not that’s a standard activity for others, we don’t know. > > Me, I’d rather mess around in the ‘white space’ with all the junk I could think of and abuse my super powers. (“Tank, load me in an M1 Abrams. Now load in three hundred mimes. Watch this!”) > > My own question is where the heck Cypher got that crazy electro-gun. Did he build it himself? Is it standard equipment on the ship? > > As to the “goof” **Otto** quoted: What the heck do they mean “he’d have no reason to deal”? His entire reason to deal is that he’s sick of having to live in the real world! \*\* The electro-gun is standard weaponry for those ships I would imagine. In _Last Flight of the Osiris_ , you get to see people blasting squiddies with them. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matrix-part-1-question-spoilers/175484/14 "2003-05-16T17:36:50Z")
ya, but why didn’t they use the EMP in the osiris?