We are dead, but think we are alive. We are asleep, but think we are awake. We are dreaming, but take our dreams to be reality. We are the halt, lame, blind, deaf, the sick. But we are doubly unconscious. We are so ill that we no longer feel ill, as in many terminal illnesses. We are mad, but have no insight .
These are not the ramblings of a madman - Laing was a clinical psychiatrist, and a revered one at that. For whatever reason, the Wachowskis seem blessed (or cursed?) with an insight into the shallow brittleness of what we each accept as reality. They continued to explore this theme of delusion in V for Vendetta - another superb film. These are profound and brave assaults on our accepted reality. They are brave because we resent being roused. Plato said that if someone were to take the cave dwellers outside of the cave and show them actual reality they would say that he was mad and try to put him to death. The brothers latest film, Cloud Atlas, is apparently beautiful but baffling: I will be looking hard to see if the clue to it doesnt lie in another attempt to rouse us from our unconsciousness. Your comments are very welcome, please share your thoughts below.