That very specific Matrix style of acting

[u/neongrayjoy]

It is ironic that humans and programs in these films behave identically, there's a subdued robotic quality to the human characters. Is there any discussion behind this choice in interviews? One would think the human characters should be especially personable and warm and, well, human to contrast with the machines. Even the jokes are often delivered in a deadpan way.

I've watched the Wachowski's other films and I can see their style of dialogue is distinctive, but the way it's performed isn't always the same. There's this cinematic, bordering on pretentious or cheesy quality to the writing that somehow works so well. But as for performances, Bound and Jupiter Ascending and Speed Racer couldn't be more different. So I'm suspecting the performance style in the Matrix is intentional, but I'd love to know the reasoning for it.

[u/mrsunrider]

Watch again and you'll notice that for the most part, the red pills behave and even speak completely differently when they're in The Matrix compared to when they're unplugged. It's as if entering the simulation and performing the feats they do in it necessitates a degree of detachment.

It's an intentional distinction that I always loved about the first three films (and the subversion of which makes me enjoy the fourth even more).

[u/Evangelos90 → u/mrsunrider]

You'll notice that at the very last scene in Resurrections Neo and Trin deliver their lines the exact way the OP describes,signifying the fact that they're really back at their old selves.

[u/mrsunrider → u/Evangelos90]

That definitely was not lost on me.

It was pretty satisfying.

[u/Bookwyrm-Pageturner → u/mrsunrider]

Idk they've got their "personable" moments inside the sims and their stoic cult leader/member moments outside, so it's all kinda mixed up - however ratio wise it's generally not 50-50, that's true.

[u/amysteriousmystery]

It's somewhat similar to how the Wachowskis talked. Plus, being still in the closet they were quite reserved as people.

They are out and loud nowadays.

[u/Bookwyrm-Pageturner]

One would think the human characters should be especially personable and warm and, well, human to contrast with the machines. Even the jokes are often delivered in a deadpan way.

Well which "human characters", Neo at the start? His cool club-goer clients? The no-nonsense cops at the beginning?
Well those aren't "subdued robotic deadpan" are they?

 

If you're talking specifically about the redpills, i.e. Trinity and Morpheus at first, well, they're not simply presented as "humans", they're these mysterious occult shades-wearing countercultural-clubgoer-looking-counterparts to the creepy conspiratorial FBI agents, are they not?

Seems like them being all cool stoic serene-spiritual and no-nonsense-professional when they're doing armed operations etc. matches all of that quite well?

However even Cypher breaks that pattern right in the opening phone conversation, and even excluding their "real world scenes" they've all got various moments or scenes where they either become more personable, or get more and more unhinged and disheveled as they're getting worn down during an operation, etc.

So yeah sometimes, perhaps by default, when they appear in the Matrix they're in the shades-pokerface mode, but not all the time - maybe "when in character", one could say.
Why they're walking around with that persona and fashion at all (i.e. even sometimes) is never quite explained though - could be the goal to make a certain alluring-but-standoffish impression on the populace, or it's an act of defiance against the Agents, or it's just part of their "Zion culture" another side of which you see in that cave Temple of theirs, idk.

 

Then as to the "machines", well even the agents break down emotionally at times (at least Smith and Johnson do), and then there's all the ones like the Oracle, her receptionist lady & the Keymaker, Rama-Kandra and Sati (Kamala being a bit on the icier side though), the Merovingian & Persephone and a lot of their sly henchmen, that don't "act robotic" either;

while Seraph is like a meditating mystery monk, so he does, in his own way.

 

So yeah and if you're asking from a creative, out-of-universe perspective, similar answer - "cos that's the style", cause they're meant to be a bunch of cool clubgoer-haxx0r-looking badasses, mixed with military / spy operative and spiritual / mystic / zen monk tropes that they also embody at various times (or project for recruitment / cult leader purposes).

And then if Keanu has his "stone-face" moments it's either variations of the above, or cause he thinks his reality is a weird dream nightmare or he's dazed and astounded by all the new experiences and revelations, or towards the end cause he starts becoming a vision-having into-the-spirit-world-gazing prophet messiah type.

 

So all in all these movies are a lot more like Star Wars than Terminator - which means, you wouldn't ask why Tarkin talks in a stiffer fashion than 3PO either right? Cause it's not a "robotic robots vs. warm humans" thing over there, often it's about how human the robots act (mostly for humorous purposes, in that case) while the humans are often military men or zen mystics or royals or other stuff that justifies various kinds of stone-faced stoicism - not a contradiction at all.

And while yes there are some Terminator-esque elements here, with the way all the hostile AIs like agents or robots act (at least by default), and some emphasis on "personal and warm humanity", but that's just a part of it and counterexamples/subversions are all over the place.