Quote Originally Posted by WildeStyle
Dude, The Matrix draws from Plato's metaphor of the cave.

It's kinda hard to explain, so wikipedia it.
i know this Plato's Cave. But he was not the only people to think about this... Don Juan, the indian sorcerer referred in the books, teaches that what we call reality is not real, but only a representation, and those who realizes it can use it for its own advantage, doing thing aparently impossible (what is called sorcery), exactly what happens after Neo knows he is in the Matrix, and not in the 'real' world.
There is a lot of another similarities too... but they are too many to list here.

PS. The orangeman's sugestion of the Cannabible is very good too! Buy them all!