What is The Matrix? Does it Matter?

As I delve into the oft tread road of questioning the nature and meaning of "reality", I find this quote from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (is there anything not in Harry Potter?) to be particularly enlightening:

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that, Harry."

The character of Albus Dumbledore has just told the protagonist of the story to be wary of the Mirror of Erised (desire spelled backwards), a magical mirror that shows the viewer whatever the deepest desire of his/her heart might be. He reminds Harry that it is only illusion.

I will return to Mr. Dumbledore in a moment, but this interaction brings me back to questions I've had for a long time, which usually lead to the same conclusion: There is no conclusion, and I find myself sympathizing with the character of Cypher.

While I might be persuaded to argue that actual "reality" is better than a "reality" that has been created for me, I'm finding it hard to create a particularly compelling argument. Especially when I run up against this nagging little idea: what happens when you can't resist--can't change the reality you find yourself in? What happens when we don't know better? What happens when we are the characters in Waiting for Godot, waiting around for something to happen to us--rather than it being the other way around. Aren't our perceptions about the world around us an illusion, subjective viewpoints dependent on the viewer?

And what about all the people slumbering within the cave of the Matrix, oblivious? What do they want?

It is these questions that the movie ultimately fails to answer for me, attempting to drown out these questions with screams about a "reality" that is preferable to a "dream world", but it never specifies exactly what makes one reality better than the other (from a philosophical standpoint that is; of course, human beings being used like batteries is obviously not a desirable thing). Agent Smith raises this question in the final moments of the flawed (but ultimately rewarding) third film.

I think an answer, in part, is the one that Neo gives to this question--why does he continue to fight, struggle against inevitable defeat, desperately cling to the idea of "reality"?

Because he chooses to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YC7TMi0l68

I believe that it is our reactions, our choices that define us, give us "freedom". We may not be able to choose the cards we are dealt, but we do get to choose HOW to face those cards.

And so, I return to Albus Dumbledore. Rather than choosing to fall into a crippled scholasticism, sitting around all day musing about the meaning of reality--wondering what makes an illusion worth living, I choose to live--lest I forget how to.