»note on sunglasses«

in reloaded (in the beginning) when they're talking about "the last transmission of the osiris" i noted all (Well, most of them) the rebels were wearing sunglasses. is there a sort of symbolism behind that or is it just for looks? (because in my case, it's a bit silly wearing sunglasses in a relatively dimly lit room isn't it?)

Actually, almost everyone in the films have glasses.

Neo has glasses, Trinity has glasses and Morpheus has glasses.

Niobe, Ghost and practically all the rebels wear glasses.

Agents wear glasses. Smith wears glasses.

The Twins, Seraph, the Keymaker, the Oracle all wear glasses.

I didn't see glasses on the Architect, the Merovingian, Persephone, the Trainman or the Indian family.

i just throw that idea like that... but maybe that Agents can "read" in eyes of people (it looks like eyes have a big importance in the virtual world, like e.g. when Smith takes his glasses off to talk with Neo in M1) and can guess if they're rebels or "blue pills". Hence the fact that they try to hide their eyes behind sun glasses.

Well that's the only explanation I could find that could explain the need of sun glasses.

not that this is the case but there are computers that the screen is the lenz of glasses that you wear, so you could be on matrix-explained without anyone else knowing it, of course you'd have to use the tiny keyboard to type

one reason may be that they are used to it being dark in the real world, neo didn't wear glasses before he got unplugged, so when they are in the matrix it's really bright for them

eyes, the windows to the soul
maybe they can tell something about you by looking into your eyes

I'm sorry but there is a very obvious and annoying reason why those people have glasses. It looks cool, but it also hides something.

When people fire guns there is a natural reaction to this - blinking. A blinking person firing a gun does not look as cool as a person wearing sunglasses firing a gun. The latter may be blinking too, but the audience cannot tell.

Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, Niobe, Ghost, all agents in M1, The Twins, Seraph and practically all the rebels fire guns. All these people wear glasses.

The merovingian never fires a gun. Persephone never fires a gun. The architect never fires a gun. None of the members of the Indian Family fire guns.

The oracle and the keymaker both wear seethrough glasses. If they fired guns you would be able to see them blinking. However, they have a different reason for wearing glasses - They wear glasses as a sign of wisdom.

For once Fatpie has a good theory, except for the wisdom thing (wich relation with sunglass ?). However, note that the people around Merv are not all wearing sunglasses (there were 2 black guys, I think, firing at Neo in Merv's Chateau, and they had no sunglasses).

The other bodygards in the Hell Club were not all wearing sunglasses neither. Switch had seethrough glasses too. Nah, finally it does not fit with the movie, but it was a nice shot.

Hello!

I also wonder why they have sunglassses. I don't think it's because it looks better, that wouldn't be like the bro's. It must have a reason, that reason I do not know, but I would gladly like to know it.

Don't forget that everyone isn't wearing sunglasses... Like Soren and Roland...

Do anyone have any other theories about the

Whenever someone fires a hand gun they are wearing sunglasses. I can't think of any exceptions to that. Neo fires a huge minigun in M1 without wearing sunglasses but that's a bit different. Firing handguns makes you blink and that is so not cool.

As for the wisdom thing, people always look more intelligent when they wear normal glasses. I have noticed however, that the oracle does NOT wear glasses, only the keymaker does. Since the oracle is the wisest person in the movies I think that refutes the 'ordinary glasses are worn by wise characters' theory.

first, I must correct you Fatpie. In Matrix Reloaded some of Merovingians men _do not_ wear glasses while they are firing neo ( as Apocryphe already said ) with handguns/machineguns, so that theory isn't too good

What, in the Chateau scene? Well to be fair they don't need them to look cool in that scene coz they are about to get their asses kicked. They're just annoying grunts.

Also they only used the guns very briefly, later resorting to more conventional weapons. While they used guns the camera wasn't on them for very long - mostly focussing on Neo and the stopped bullets. The twins, on the other hand, use guns a fair bit during the chase and they wear sunglasses.

I don't think there is much doubt that sunglasses are used to cover up blinking. It cuts down on the amount of editing and retakes.

its clearly just to make them look cool i mean they all wear pure black or pure white stuff, long coats and smart wear like ties and stuff.

Quote:

Persephone never fires a gun

Persephone fires a handgun when she kills one of the guards in Merv's Chateau before she takes Neo and Co. to the Keymaker.

Fatpie, the Oracle does wear normal glasses.

On the other hand, maybe that there are two reasons for wearing glasses : it looks cool (rebels are human after all and it's not like they can often look cool in reality), and the fact that glasses seem to show something about what they have in mind.
Remember that Neo takes is glasses off when he kisses Persephone "for real". Smith do the same to Neo in matrix 1, when he says "I'll be honnest with you" and he does it again with Morpheus in the torturing room.

Defintly, glasses are there for hidding some informations about the person that wears it, like someone said above, "eyes are the windows of the soul".

Ok, it's definitly to hide something. Look at Smith when he's in flames, his sunglasses are not completly hidding his eyes.
All his clothes are in "flaming code", but the glasses are not.
It means that glasses have a specific meaning in the machine world.
Neo's sunglasses are completly opac too hen viewed in "neovision".

Apocryphe wrote:

Defintly, glasses are there for hidding some informations about the person that wears it, like someone said above, "eyes are the windows of the soul".

So the reason the Architect, Merovingian, parsephone, oracle, keymaker, indian family, all of them don't wear glasses (that hides their eyes, anyway) is because they are important/ powerful programs so they dont need information because they just can't be read.
By the way
Do you think the look of smith in flames has something to do with firewall?

i've always questioned the significance of the sunglasses, it must mean something (besides covering up blinking), every time that Neo jacks in he wears them, but when he is in limbo he doesn't have shades on....does this mean anything?

speaking of sunglasses, anyone notice that in Reloaded and Revs, the lenses of Smith's sunglasses each have seven sides?

Hm, good topic. I don't think this really ever gets discussed.

I don't believe the glasses have any "technical" purpose within the Matrix. While I do see them as symbolically hiding something, I doubt that there is actual code, etc., that Agents or the like get major access to. While eyes are the windows to the soul, I think that's about as far as it goes. Otherwise, it's not like people see your eyes in the Matrix and get super-critical information about you just from looking.

If that were so, then every time Neo loses his glasses while fighting, he'd be screwed. And the agents vice-versa. So I don't think it has anything to do with "preventing someone from reading vital information about me."

But it seems to be a mechanism used to hide. Some people don't wear glasses... but look at their personalities too. For instance, the captain of the... bah, can't remember the third ship. Was it the Hammer. The one that Niobe doesn't command. That guy never wears glasses in the Matrix or anywhere. And yet, look at his demeanor, shown briefly in the beginning of Reloaded, and then in the real world. There's no difference. It's "the same guy."

But Neo, Trinity, and even Morpheus seem to have two different personalities. The war-like one, where they are serious and ready to do battle, which you see in both the Matrix and the real-world... and then the "honest" side or the soul. They express this much more in the outside world. Trinity seems much softer when outside the Matrix. Even Neo seems genuinely less stiff and more of the "just Thomas Anderson" style. When he goes to see the Oracle in the first Matrix, he doesn't wear glasses. And he's still walking around and observing things as "Thomas Anderson." But when he gets inside the Matrix again to save Morpheus, he's "friggin' Neo." The glasses - he goes in there with no confusion or curiosity on his face. The oracle told him what his two choices were, and he made it. The glasses hide the "Thomas Anderson" part and represent the Neo side.

He fights with them on that entire fight - until he finishes firing his guns at the Agent. Neo realizes it's hopeless, and he calls out to Trinity. Pieces of Thomas Anderson showing through. But he doesn't remove the glasses just yet. The bullets fly, and Neo has to get the job done. He dodges the bullets, then Trinity saves him.

When he gets up - the glasses come off. He's talking candidly to Trinity. He's no longer really in "soldier, hide my fears, emotions" mode. He's just plain ole Neo or Anderson, or whatever he likes to be called.

But that's my theory. Anyone who doesn't wear glasses normally is kind of just a representation of a person who is just "always" that way. Like whatever they are doing in the Matrix is out there for all to see. They are almost always candid and open. The Merovingian has nothing to hide. Persephone has nothing to hide. The Oracle has nothing to hide. The Architect has nothing to hide. Well.. they don't reveal the entire truth - but perhaps they aren't uncomfortable with people seeing what's inside of em.

In William Gibson's book Neuromancer, the female kick-ass character, whose name escapes me at the moment, wears sunglasses that are sewn onto her face.
The same goes for a female character in Mona Lisa Overdrive.
The overlay is so finely done that the anyone looking at her would not be able see " that the silver lenses met the pale skin with no sign of a seam."

Morpheus in M1,wearing his mirrored glasses, always reminds me of Gibson's characters.

I wonder if it started out as referential nod, then got picked up by the designer ( approved by the bros of course) and finally, became another ambiguous symbol that could stand for many things.

I partially like Doctor Shafts explanation. The idea that people can read you is very true... especially in fights. Eyes can eaily give intent away, and people need them to see. So you can tell where someone is focused, and predict what they're going to do better.

So it's a bit of that "glasses hide intent" kind of things. But I really think they just use it for fights.

Or Morphious with his reflective ones because he knows it can make people think, and sort of creep them out.

Of course the last reason, which is established in the first film. Is that your fassion sense is a sign of your affiliation. Atleast for people unplugged. The more they want to fight the system, the more "Matrix-ish" they look.

it is a form of protection protecting the wearing parties from a hack.

you are getting close

Nobody else notice how all the rebels glasses are rounded while the machines have parallelagram glasses? It's not really a reason but it is something to consider. You should also consider moments like when Neo talks to the Oracle in M2 they both take off their sunglasses but when he fights Smith he puts them on(Maybe they add VD). When Smith takes over the Oracle he takes off his glasses to laugh maniacally.

why would the oracle need to wear sunglasses?

a machine protecting itself from the sun lol.
very funny huh?

the oracle doesnt wear sunglasses, she sometimes wears reading glasses.

a machine that likes candy?
do you think that a machine program has a sweet tooth for lollies lol
very funny huh?

why would the oracle be eating something that is part of the system that she is destroying?
the oracle doesnt eat.
funny huh?

the oracle is not a sentient program, she is a machine that is controlling the program shell of the oracle.
i mean, how much can a program that is controlled by the system know?

and i know, why does the oracle smoke cigarettes?
my uneducated geuss is
i dont know
maybe it shows that she has some sort of human quality.

THE_FIRST_ONE wrote:

why would the oracle need to wear sunglasses? a machine protecting itself from the sun lol. very funny huh? the oracle doesnt wear sunglasses, she sometimes wears reading glasses. a machine that likes candy? do you think that a machine program has a sweet tooth for lollies lol very funny huh? why would the oracle be eating something that is part of the system that she is destroying? the oracle doesnt eat. funny huh? the oracle is not a sentient program, she is a machine that is controlling the program shell of the oracle. i mean, how much can a program that is controlled by the system know? and i know, why does the oracle smoke cigarettes? my uneducated geuss is i dont know maybe it shows that she has some sort of human quality.

Man, What the hell are you talkin' about?
The Oracle is a sentient program, every program in the matrix (with a shell) is a sentiant program! if she was'nt a sentient program, she would'nt even know about the matrix!
she is designed ot learn about the human psyche- thereofre she has human emotions and behavior: smoking cigarretes or wanting more candy

Sunglasses are a symbol for a fight
Like the shield in medievel wars- the programs\rebels use sunglasses when they are fighting in a ranged combat (to shield their eyes from the gun's flash- to make it look cool)
But if you look carefuly in the trilogy, you will see that when the rebels\programs are fighting hand-to-hand, they don't need glasses and they are usually thrown eside.

M1- train station - neo vs Smith : smith has removed his glasess
M1- hotel - smith shoots neo : smith has glasses

M2- freeway - morpheus burn the twins with his uzi and all : wears glassess
M2- "Trucks Amuck" - morpheus vs agent : morpheus throws glasses aside

M3- Super Brawl - neo vs smith\oracle : no glasses