"The Porn Matrix" (Work in progress with your help.)

Have you ever felt that the journey of a recovering addict feels like getting out of "The Matrix".

I know, this title has been used before (and I can't seem to find the original post.) pretty much to describe the same idea. Reading this at the time (last year) was interesting, but it didn't stick. A few months later, I watched the movie "The Matrix" (1998) again, and the feeling of similarity between the journey of the main character and that of a recovering addict was overwhelming!

To test this thought I ran the movie multiple times, trying to pinpoint the character arc and his behaviors/reactions. Armed with this data (quite loosely tied sometimes, I admit), I started to find many "nodes" where the story of that character pulled out from a digital (and enslaving) world matches ours, especially at the beginning of the recovery, when so much of the good habits and changes are to be made. I thought that, maybe, with that sort of imagery in mind, new fapstronauts could better understand where they are on their journey and trace better trajectories.

THE IDEA :

What I'm here for today : I've brought some of this data to you in the form of a spreadsheet (Found here), and I would like you to participate in the next phases of its elaboration. It is describing each scene by :

Code:

- Name and number (column A)
- Timestamp (column C)
(Columns D, E, F are used on my main sheet for different markers, to be used later)
- Action (column G)
- Interpretation (column H)
- Link with P abuse (column I)

I want this to be helpful, and so it has to fit the most profiles possible. For that I need your input. I will need many more than just my own case and story.


IF YOU WANT TO HELP :

What I would like you to do, if you want to participate :

First of all, read this :

DISCLAIMER

The only goal is to provide another type of
suppot material for future fapstronauts.
​

I know that a movie isn't the real world. I know that it's fiction. I know that identifying to movie heroes can appear childish to some. I know that some people hate that movie and the world it's built upon. I know that not everyone will see the symbolism. There is symbolism in many things we talk about on the forums though, and for many of us it is very important in their journey. It's all fine, if you don't like the proposal, no need to explode at my face with a rant about uselessness or geekism or lunacy. I get it.

No one's forcing you. If you choose to spend some of your time reading the forum, I suspect you might have something to say or learn about addiction, or yourself or others. And you can be useful here! So if you decide to walk this little path with me, please consider that it's a common effort that may be helpful to someone if done correctly - just like the best post you can come up with today. Thanks for reading - still here? Let's go then!

A few other things :

• This is not perfect. That's why it's called work in progress. Hopefully in time it gets fine-tuned enough that people will look at it and say, "Hey, I know that pattern, I've been there, and oh look, here's what I don't know yet"
• Nor does it intend to be. There are many philosophical and even religious discussions to be had over a movie that uses symbols at every scene, so I guess no one will EVER agree on what means what or what is supposed to mean what. There is no universal truth in there so let's not try to find it, let alone fight over it. What I would love you to put in there is your experience as a recovering addict.
• It's about all of us. Put things in there that the person you were before coming here would find useful or enlightening.

Okay now that this is done :​

1. Open this spreadsheet by clicking on the Morpheus quote. Fitting, I know. (open it in an incognito/private browser page, even if you don't have a google account, and YOU SHOULD NOT BE LOGGED WITH YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT IF YOU HAVE ONE, because your name would appear on the comments, and NOBODY WANTS THAT TO HAPPEN. I certainly don't want anything else from you than the lines below, and there's a reason why we haven't put our full names in our profiles, am I right?)
2. Read through the script (col G) and try to complete what is missing with comments (regarding what's happening in the scene)
3. Read through the interpretation (col H) and add your point of view as comments (still regarding the movie and the interpretation we can make from the point of view of the character involved)
4. Comment on the next column (I) for each scene that could be symbolic of the struggle of an addict trying to learn and break free from a world that's agressive and threatening to him, but has owned a big chunk of his life already.

HOW TO COMMENT THE DOCUMENT ?

Follow this link and learn about making a note or a comment in Google Sheets/Docs. It's easy, a matter of right clicking and typing. Easy!
https://www.prolificoaktree.com/cloud-software/15-google-sheets-comment-vs-note

GOING FURTHER
I'm more than open to your suggestions regarding this project. Please voice them as specifically as possible.
I suppose it will start slow, with only a very few people interested/available. It's fine, and I'm working out there in the real world too to help complete what would be missing.
The next post is a repository of important remarks on the whole allegory, with arguments for and against. I'll try to keep up with that as much as possible.

 

This post is reserved for discussion about the most sensitive arguments for and against the allegory.

Problem 1 : In the movie, the "Real" is a wasteland that no one in their right mind would want to stay in, especially coming from the Matrix. In reality, the "Real" outside a life of P isn't in such stark contrast.
This is a point that is made by friends I've approached with this project. And there's little arguments against this. I guess the strongest is what is felt by someone who's deprived of it's freedom of action or opinion : most would rather be a little worse off but able to count freedom of opinion or action as granted. In the case at hand, someone who lives without PMO for long enough truly rediscovers a world with wonders and beauties (quite litteraly) when not numbed down by his/her constant PMO. Would he/she go back to PMO after seeing that, if their decision was the only trigger? Then again, PMO world is tailored to be as attractive as possible, an endless stream of joy and entertainment. Compared to reality, it is indeed quite different.


Problem 2 :