As I noted during the discussion in class, the mirror in both The Matrix (1999) and Inception (2010) is a symbol. It is a symbol of reflection, be it the actual reflection of an image of an object or a person, or the reflection of something more abstract, such as representing a characters thoughts or feelings, the mood of the film, something real while they are in a dream state etc.
Bouncing the light waves of our environment, our reality, back to us so we can perceive it from different angles or view, the mirror in these movies is a tool to comprehend the imagined reality that the characters find themselves in, be it a computer construct or a dream reality. For Neo, it is used to understand that the world he believes is real, is in fact a construct, as the mirror envelops his body, something he can't believe is happening. Even though the mirror's themselves are not real, as they are just creations in an imagined reality, they are still symbols of reflection, endowed with the same power as a 'real' mirror by way of one's mind or the 'matrix', and serve as a powerful storytelling tool.
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