Materialism and subjectivism have emerged from the tradition of western philosophy as the two dominant ways to look at the world. In general, materialists attempt to use philosophy as a tool to look objectively at the world, and to derive broad, all-encompassing principles that govern our actions. These efforts are based upon their belief that reality is created by physical and external circumstances, and that the forces acting independently of the mind are the central causes for what we experience. Subjectivists, on the other hand, believe that reality is created by the mind alone. Consequently, they are brought to the conclusion that philosophy cannot tell us general truths about reality, but that these truths must be singular to the individual. This is a difficult debate to settle because, obviously, everyone is confined to looking at the world through their own perspective, but the idea that everyone shares some common perspectives remains appealing. The film, The Matrix, displays a number of both subjectivist and materialist notions, specifically with regard to the question of reality. It is not clear as to whether or not the film was intended to offer a synthesis of the two concepts, but each seem to play some role in the world that Andy Wachowski creates. .

             When Neo first learns of the matrix Morpheus explains to him, "If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real" is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." (Matrix, 1999). This is a particularly materialist perspective of reality. This is because, since materialists believe in the physical aspects of the world, they conclude that any phenomena that are present in the mind are mere consequences of what we physically observe the mind to be. So, whereas an individual believing in the separation of the mind and the body would believe that electrical patterns in the brain are simply the physical indicators of mental thought, the materialist would say that those electrical patterns were thought.