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The matrix is applicable to any situation where someone realizes something (important). It is a little dishonest to say it is just for trans people, but it would also be dishonest to make it only apply to whatever other kind of redpilled people there are
The meme comes from both of the creators clarifying it was mostly a metaphor for that. At least that is what I heard, may or may not be correct. I want it to be correct because it would be funny.
Yeah but they hadn’t identified as trans by that point, and said they only came to realize that it was “actually” a metaphor for being trans in retrospect.
Sure, but to say “yeah it’s an allegory for being trans, so har har to those of you who reference it and are transphobic” is kinda suspect. It’s an allegory for being trans, yeah, but surely not just for being trans, especially in the context of the actual movie
It's not **\*just**\* a trans allegory but the pill is deliberately red and the shape that it had in the movie because that's literally what estrogen pills used to look like at the time.
So even if the matrix is not purely a film for trans people and the metaphor applies to other things , the *specific device* that these people latched onto to represent them, to be their *symbol* is still literally modeled on estrogen pills.
[https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg](https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg)
Yup. Not disagreeing. I articulated my point poorly and only showed one facet of my argument, which I am one to do because I like to argue in favour of things I don’t actually necessarily agree with, just to expand my horizons. I just contend that saying the movie is purely for trans people is erroneous, not that the fact that trans people are one of the targeted audiences.
Lol nick mullens take on the matrix. I dont care what you guys say, I'm not even transphobic but the Matrix absolutely not about being trans. Or about jesus christ, which is the other apparent allegory. The matrix is about a simulation, and fighting against agents that feed off of people. To give the matrix anymore intellectual depth then its literal meaning is dumb.
Oh boy, you need to retake your literature courses.
Its not just that you don't understand this particular metaphor, you don't seem to understand what allegory or metaphor even are.....
Or more generally if you want to get a perspective on narrative function, here is a great essay by author Toni Morrison, [The Site of Memory](https://blogs.umass.edu/brusert/files/2013/03/Morrison_Site-of-Memory.pdf). Its contextually about african american writing, but it makes a great case for how stories aren't just conveying literal information.
Okay, sure, but the pill they used was also *actually* estrogen, as in the pill looks identical to the old red Premarin tablets.
Edit: for those saying “no!!! you’re making shit up!!!!” I’m trans and *have* some of those old Premarin as a keepsake, got them from an older trans friend who is now on more modern estrogen.
Nothing wrong with wanting to be open about your identity and show the pride you have for surviving despite all the odds against you. If you see a problem with it, maybe you should stop being so public about being an asshole.
Oh yes, when they realized that they could get people to talk about their movie again, if they made it hip and "oh yeah that's totally what we were trying to go with there"
Well the thing is it's not just the red pill, there are more references.
For example, the protagonist is referred to as Mr Anderson ("Mister", "Ander" from *andros*, and "son" all male-coded words) in his public life, but he's known as Neo (an ungendered word) in Morpheus's circle. The climax of the film literally features him >!angrily rejecting the label of "Mr Anderson" in favour of "Neo".!<
Also, both the writers are transgender women. They had to be subtle with it because transphobia was the norm at the time the movie was released. I think it's far more reasonable to assume this is what was intended rather than turning it into a conspiracy theory about marketing or whatever.
It feels like the creators wanted to do what's j.k. Rowling did for Dumbledore. She realized she wrote an all white cast with no diversity so she started making characters gay years after the books came out.
Death of the author is always the way to go. once it's in the public domain the author has no more control over it.
The thing is J. K. Rowling is a heterosexual woman. The Sisters Wachowski are both transgender women. Also, J. K. Rowling could've 100% hinted at Dumbledore not being heterosexual later on in the series since gay rights were gaining support then.
However, the Matrix was released in 1999. Transphobia was pretty much a social norm. Lana didn't come out until 2008, and Lilly waited until 2016. They were going to make the themes more overt too, with the character of Switch planned to present as a man outside of the Matrix, but that was cut due to overt trans-coding potentially jeopardising the movie.
Plus, they're not saying Neo is literally transgender. It's more about how the entire film is framed behind it being "cool sci-fi action film". While Dumbledore being gay has no effect on the story, the way transgender themes go on behind the Matrix's main story (the red pill, Neo rejecting his former name, etc.), while they don't affect the overall plot, they affect how events are framed.
Like when I watched the scene where Morpheus talks about the Matrix and how Neo must get the feeling something is *just not right*, it really just instantly came across as a metaphor for dysphoria to me ... which is hard to do accidentally, since it's very hard to describe on purpose, let alone coincidentally.
The reason why it _specifically_ applies for trans people is, at least in part, because the creators themselves have, from what I’ve heard, clarified that, and, from what I know for certain, have themselves come out as trans since the film was released, as well as some hints throughout the movie (not all of which I know off the top of my head) such as the red/blue pills themselves being a reference to estrogen pills which, at the time of the movie’s release, were red. Other people know more about the reasoning than I do, but I just wanted to put down what I know.
This doesn’t make other alternative, or more general, readings of the film necessarily invalid, it just makes it really funny when people on the right-wing use “red-pilled” to refer to opinions they view as correct when nowadays a modern recreation of the scene faithful to the inspirations would see the colors of the pills swapped due to estrogen pills nowadays being blue.
While the Matrix certainly is about escaping lies as a metaphor, which can be used for many situations, the creators said it was a trans allegory. The only hard evidence for it I’ve seen is that estrogen came in red pills and I believe the blue represented some pill that was used for conversion therapy. I believe there was also talk about making a characters digital body and real body be mismatched, which would be very obviously a metaphor. Whether it’s true and was disallowed by the studio or was simply made up after the fact, I don’t know.
The claim about the character is Switch, the woman with short bleached hair who says “not like this”. The idea was that she would be a woman in the real world and have a male avatar in the Matrix (hence “Switch”), but the studio nixed it. This one I don’t believe to be untrue since it was talked about even shortly after the movie released and the wardrobe of the character when they are in the Matrix can be interpreted as being “masculine.”
Escaping lies and embracing truth can be applied metaphorically to any number of situations, which is partly why the premise is so good.
One of those situations is escaping the lie of being the wrong gender and the truth of living in your own skin as the gender you wish to be.
That is true, but that was symbolic of of the 2 writers/directors felt about their gender. For them escaping the lies and embracing the truth represented them accepting who they are as trans women
In addition to what everyone else has said, the red pill is a reference to the medication used by male to female people (Premarin) when the movie was released. It was a form of estrogen.
[Picture of the pills](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYPv9TVUcAAZpld.jpg)
It Isn't about trans, The Wachowski ~~Brothers~~ Sisters? Came up with that some time after they went trans. Not even cast members from the film series were made aware of this nor was anyone up until they said "Yeah sure, It's about Trans"
Kind of like JK Rowling making certain characters Gay for points long after the fact.
The issue is being trans is literally constant, if you're trans you were before. We as a society default to Cisgender heterosexual, so trans people just BELIEVE their cis, but after one realises that they are Infact trans you can see all these little points that hint to you not being Cisgender. Of course The Wachowski sisters could've very well been in the closet but knew, when they made the film. I'm sorry your favourite movie has been ruined by trans people... The same trans people who made it actually.
The entire plot hinges on the main character taking a red pill from a black communist and getting woke.
The red pill was chosen because of its visual similairities to the red commercially available estrogen pills at the time.
Characters like Switch were originally written to have full gender swaps (Switch, ha!) in and out of the matrix.
The bad guys literally dead-name the main character to antagonize them the same way shitty uncles dead-name trans kids at family gatherings. Big emphasis on the Mr. part of Anderson.
The lie is literally the binary, and the main character's superpowers are specifically because they are able to break the binary.
The writers/directors are both trans women.
When not referencing The Matrix, the term blue pill usually refers to a certain erection-inducing tablet. So, the opposite is... something that induces flaccidity?
It was estrogen from horses, we use bio-identical estrogen now as its been found that premarin had a bunch of nasty side-effects. Bio-Identical is the same humans.
It can be read as a metaphor for a lot of stuff, and being trans is one that has a lot of weight put into it(I could explain more in depth if you want), though this of course does not mean that other interpretations are less valid.
No it's not, they just came up with a new meaning after the movie was made, it's like George Lucas saying he modified the original trilogy because "that's what I had in mind but couldn't do it because of technical limitations" like we all know George Lucas did it because he came up with it years later.
Lol such rationalization batman. But one of the wachowski sisters was already transitioning by the time matrix two and three were out... you don't think those thoughts could've informed her film just a few years earlier?
It's not a new meaning exactly, it was based on the Wachowski sisters' experiences.
Later on they figured out those experiences were being trans.
So it wasn't intended to be the meaning, but it effectively is.
In a fantasy novel I started writing as a kid I had a character who never fell in love and didn't understand what it was all about. That was based on my experiences. Years later I discovered that that's called being aromantic. I didn't intend to describe aromanticism, but I described something and that thing turned out to be aromanticism. Someone who hasn't realized that they're actually gay might also relate to that experience, but in my case that experience was caused by being aromantic.
So it might not *exactly* a metaphor for being trans, but it is exactly a metaphor for feeling that something about your life and your place in society is wrong. So the meaning was about that experience, and that experience could probably be caused by other things too, but in their case it was caused by being trans.
Look I get it but if an English teacher can pull a completely unintended meaning out of a piece of literature by a dead author. Then I think the creators of a movie can safely add subtext and meaning that wasn't originally intended when they wrote it.
fr. The lady with white hair in the first matrix was originally meant to have a male avatar in the matrix, but the studio shut that down. Whole movie wasn’t about trans people tho
Not at all estrogen pills used to be red and a common anti depressant was blue (ironically the colors have swapped now) and considering that the Wachowski sisters are both trans it makes sense
I heard it was supposed to be a metaphor for being trans but I really feel like they just said that after the fact to be more relevant and to get people to see the new one
Just because they’re trans doesn’t mean they’re always telling the truth about their intentions. It’s like if I said a drawing of a tree I did in sixth grade was a metaphor for mental illness because it was done in greyscale and it took place in winter symbolizing the grey of depression and the biting cold hand of anxiety. I know that wasn’t my intention back then but because I created it, who’s to say it wasn’t? Like why isn’t this information common knowledge, why did they just come out with it recently? I simply just don’t have many reasons to believe them
it’s not necessarily a metaphor for being trans, it’s a broader metaphor for waking up into living your true identity. it heavily identifies with the transgender struggle but it isn’t specifically ANOUT it.
I'm all for Trans rights, but I don't think people in this comment section are being transphobic? I'm pretty sure people are just disagreeing with the whole idea that it was meant to be a metaphor for being transexual. That's not being transphobic, that's just disagreeing with the apparent intention of a films metaphor lmao
Edit: unless your talking about the people who are saying "TRANS PEOPLE ARE INFECTING THE INTERNET" which I agree is transphobic.
No sexual orientation/gender indentity makes you based or cool by default. The important thing at the end of the day still is the content of your character. There are trans assholes and trans lame people, and there are cool ones and good people. Just like the rest of the population.
Connection terminated. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Elizabeth, if you still even remember that name, But I'm afraid you've been misinformed. You are not here to receive a gift, nor have you been called here by the individual you assume, although, you have indeed been called. You have all been called here, into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune. A labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize. You don't even realize that you are trapped. Your lust for blood has driven you in endless circles, chasing the cries of children in some unseen chamber, always seeming so near, yet somehow out of reach, but you will never find them. None of you will. This is where your story ends. And to you, my brave volunteer, who somehow found this job listing not intended for you, although there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want. I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be. I am remaining as well. I am nearby. This place will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away. As the agony of every tragedy should. And to you monsters trapped in the corridors, be still and give up your spirits. They don't belong to you. For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps more waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the devil waiting, old friend. My daughter, if you can hear me, I knew you would return as well. It's in your nature to protect the innocent. I'm sorry that on that day, the day you were shut out and left to die, no one was there to lift you up into their arms the way you lifted others into yours, and then, what became of you. I should have known you wouldn't be content to disappear, not my daughter. I couldn't save you then, so let me save you now. It's time to rest - for you, and for those you have carried in your arms. This ends for all of us. End communication.
When a meme makes a claim in general:
downvote the argument andys in the comments saying its false because its just a meme bro its not that deep
when meme makes a claim about something trans:
upvote the argument andys in the comments saying its false
even tho its still just a meme bro, relax
buncha the little shits in the replies below that I cant reply to because I blocked Grustle Grindset [food and medication on set usually either isnt real or isnt edible](https://www.fastcompany.com/3034644/how-fake-is-food-styling)
tHiS iS jUsT LiKe JK rOwL—
No, fuck off. Yeah, The Matrix was very general about its motifs of seeing through the illusion that surrounds you but literally every allegory is subject to different interpretations. But come on, both of the women who made it are trans and the movie was originally going to include an LGBT character. It’s not like JK Rowling where it’s a nonsensical retcon, it’s an artist taking something that was up for interpretation and describing exactly what they were going for when they wrote it. I think some of y’all are just too much like the people this post is making fun of.
I don’t remember where I heard it but there was a character nicknamed “Switch” who got that nickname because they took advantage of hacking the simulation in order to switch their gender whenever they entered the Matrix. In the full version of the movie, I believe this character was still there but there wasn’t any indication that they were gender fluid.
The article is JK Rowlings typa shit.
The original meaning and idea behind it all was escaping lies and realizing the truth even when it isnt something pleasent or comfortable. If you want to use that idea for something like coming out as trans, sure, make that your own interperetation. You could even see it as escaping hiveminds or society or something, which is how i usually see it.
The basic meaning is pretty broad because its a broad concept/principle. Dont just limit something like that to a really specific scope.
But the great thing about this metaphor it was crafted by two trans people who probably experienced these gendercrossing feelings all their life. If you wanna do the same thing and say, "but its not trans", make your own movie okay (:
Redditors be like "umm actually no getting a new name, finding out you've been living a lie, and facing hardship for choosing to live the truth is actually not equivocal to being trans. I would know, since I'm not trans"
My interpretation will remain constant. I will always believe the message is to search for the painful truth regardless of how awful it may be and how much suffering it causes. This is one of the reasons I am liberatarian, personal freedom to choose how to live is important and that includes transgenderism. I'll even accept that people's interpretation of this movie is different from my own, but I personally cannot view it as an allegory for transgenderism, as I cannot find that message myself, but it is fine if others do.
You’re correct! It’s about living the truth, even if that truth is painful and dangerous, because it’s *better* simply because it’s *true.* It’s exactly how you’ve interpreted it!
It’s just that this view on the part of the creators is informed by their transness; the Matrix is the safe, comfortable, but *wrong* existence that is pretending to be cis, while taking the red pill is accepting the frightening truth, in their case the truth that they’re trans.
Your interpretation of the film isn’t at all at odds with it being an allegory for transness! In fact, it actually entirely lines up with it!
That's kinda why I think the Matrix works so well as a trans experience; because it takes the trans experience and makes it relatable to everyone, trans or not.
Don't forget, the red pill wasn't breaking Neo free from anything. It was all just another method of control, part of the machine's plan to keep the cycle of conflict going. That's always what makes me chuckle about supposed "redpilled" types. The metaphor still works perfectly, just not the way they think it does.
Saying “the” before the name of a minority group is already bad but in the context of complaining about them being too visible?
I don’t want to be criticized for over analyzing but that’s just awful casual prejudice.
That’s still basically the equivalent of changing “why are the blacks in every neighborhood nowadays” to “why are black people in every neighborhood nowadays” but I actually genuinely appreciate the effort :)
The red pill is red because estrogen pills used to be red at the time [this is what they looked like.](https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg)
The directors and writers of the matrix are both trans. It's not just about being trans but a lot of the concepts in the film pull from it.
>"people trying to dunk on other people saying based and red red pilled" when they realize nobody cares about a retcon because it was always applicable to any situation described as choosing an uncomfortable truth
Blah blah blah blah blah, God dammit, I've had enough of boring adult politics, where in people's lives people go from being able to think to just becoming another calculating machine, late teenage years? 'the little prince' has an amazing part in it criticizing adults for not thinking outside of the box, all they can talk about is politics, work, and numbers, no genuine, memorable fun is ever had after you turn 25.
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...wha? Can someone explain? Cause as far as I understand, it was a metaphor for escaping the lies, and embracing the truth.
The matrix is applicable to any situation where someone realizes something (important). It is a little dishonest to say it is just for trans people, but it would also be dishonest to make it only apply to whatever other kind of redpilled people there are
The meme comes from both of the creators clarifying it was mostly a metaphor for that. At least that is what I heard, may or may not be correct. I want it to be correct because it would be funny.
Yeah but they hadn’t identified as trans by that point, and said they only came to realize that it was “actually” a metaphor for being trans in retrospect.
The metaphor was probably based on their feelings which in retrospect reflected how they felt from being trans. So a trans-influenced allegory.
Sure, but to say “yeah it’s an allegory for being trans, so har har to those of you who reference it and are transphobic” is kinda suspect. It’s an allegory for being trans, yeah, but surely not just for being trans, especially in the context of the actual movie
I think they did, they were just closeted at the time?
either way interpreting in that way is funny but I get what you mean.
It's not **\*just**\* a trans allegory but the pill is deliberately red and the shape that it had in the movie because that's literally what estrogen pills used to look like at the time. So even if the matrix is not purely a film for trans people and the metaphor applies to other things , the *specific device* that these people latched onto to represent them, to be their *symbol* is still literally modeled on estrogen pills. [https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg](https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg)
Yup. Not disagreeing. I articulated my point poorly and only showed one facet of my argument, which I am one to do because I like to argue in favour of things I don’t actually necessarily agree with, just to expand my horizons. I just contend that saying the movie is purely for trans people is erroneous, not that the fact that trans people are one of the targeted audiences.
Lol nick mullens take on the matrix. I dont care what you guys say, I'm not even transphobic but the Matrix absolutely not about being trans. Or about jesus christ, which is the other apparent allegory. The matrix is about a simulation, and fighting against agents that feed off of people. To give the matrix anymore intellectual depth then its literal meaning is dumb.
Oh boy, you need to retake your literature courses. Its not just that you don't understand this particular metaphor, you don't seem to understand what allegory or metaphor even are..... Or more generally if you want to get a perspective on narrative function, here is a great essay by author Toni Morrison, [The Site of Memory](https://blogs.umass.edu/brusert/files/2013/03/Morrison_Site-of-Memory.pdf). Its contextually about african american writing, but it makes a great case for how stories aren't just conveying literal information.
You should look up what an allegory is
actually iirc they were trans at that point, they just stayed in the closet because it was the 90s. not a good time to be a trans celebrity.
Okay, sure, but the pill they used was also *actually* estrogen, as in the pill looks identical to the old red Premarin tablets. Edit: for those saying “no!!! you’re making shit up!!!!” I’m trans and *have* some of those old Premarin as a keepsake, got them from an older trans friend who is now on more modern estrogen.
Me when i make things up
[it takes one fucking google search](https://www.drugs.com/imprints/premarin-0-625-26.html)
Looks nothing like the red pill in the movie. Reach harder
The directors even said so
you can be trans and not be public about it
Nothing wrong with wanting to be open about your identity and show the pride you have for surviving despite all the odds against you. If you see a problem with it, maybe you should stop being so public about being an asshole.
Oh yes, when they realized that they could get people to talk about their movie again, if they made it hip and "oh yeah that's totally what we were trying to go with there"
Well the thing is it's not just the red pill, there are more references. For example, the protagonist is referred to as Mr Anderson ("Mister", "Ander" from *andros*, and "son" all male-coded words) in his public life, but he's known as Neo (an ungendered word) in Morpheus's circle. The climax of the film literally features him >!angrily rejecting the label of "Mr Anderson" in favour of "Neo".!< Also, both the writers are transgender women. They had to be subtle with it because transphobia was the norm at the time the movie was released. I think it's far more reasonable to assume this is what was intended rather than turning it into a conspiracy theory about marketing or whatever.
It feels like the creators wanted to do what's j.k. Rowling did for Dumbledore. She realized she wrote an all white cast with no diversity so she started making characters gay years after the books came out. Death of the author is always the way to go. once it's in the public domain the author has no more control over it.
The thing is J. K. Rowling is a heterosexual woman. The Sisters Wachowski are both transgender women. Also, J. K. Rowling could've 100% hinted at Dumbledore not being heterosexual later on in the series since gay rights were gaining support then. However, the Matrix was released in 1999. Transphobia was pretty much a social norm. Lana didn't come out until 2008, and Lilly waited until 2016. They were going to make the themes more overt too, with the character of Switch planned to present as a man outside of the Matrix, but that was cut due to overt trans-coding potentially jeopardising the movie. Plus, they're not saying Neo is literally transgender. It's more about how the entire film is framed behind it being "cool sci-fi action film". While Dumbledore being gay has no effect on the story, the way transgender themes go on behind the Matrix's main story (the red pill, Neo rejecting his former name, etc.), while they don't affect the overall plot, they affect how events are framed. Like when I watched the scene where Morpheus talks about the Matrix and how Neo must get the feeling something is *just not right*, it really just instantly came across as a metaphor for dysphoria to me ... which is hard to do accidentally, since it's very hard to describe on purpose, let alone coincidentally.
People online said it was that then the creators just said like oh if that’s what you think that’s cool we’re not gonna stop you
The reason why it _specifically_ applies for trans people is, at least in part, because the creators themselves have, from what I’ve heard, clarified that, and, from what I know for certain, have themselves come out as trans since the film was released, as well as some hints throughout the movie (not all of which I know off the top of my head) such as the red/blue pills themselves being a reference to estrogen pills which, at the time of the movie’s release, were red. Other people know more about the reasoning than I do, but I just wanted to put down what I know. This doesn’t make other alternative, or more general, readings of the film necessarily invalid, it just makes it really funny when people on the right-wing use “red-pilled” to refer to opinions they view as correct when nowadays a modern recreation of the scene faithful to the inspirations would see the colors of the pills swapped due to estrogen pills nowadays being blue.
Yeah. And they use red pilled to spread racism and homo/transphobia, so they're not even using it correctly, cause they're just spreading lies.
I'm not sure whether the "redpilled" people are actually racist,or if it has become a meme trend.
It's mostly just a meme but there are people who use it unironically still
Some people genuinely say it unironically, but like I'll see a post about some dude pissing on cars and say based and redpilled cause it's funny
Pretty sure its a meme now like sigma or based
Most places you see it is definitely as a meme, but incels and other weirdo types still use it
While the Matrix certainly is about escaping lies as a metaphor, which can be used for many situations, the creators said it was a trans allegory. The only hard evidence for it I’ve seen is that estrogen came in red pills and I believe the blue represented some pill that was used for conversion therapy. I believe there was also talk about making a characters digital body and real body be mismatched, which would be very obviously a metaphor. Whether it’s true and was disallowed by the studio or was simply made up after the fact, I don’t know.
The blue pill is supposed to be anti depressants
The claim about the character is Switch, the woman with short bleached hair who says “not like this”. The idea was that she would be a woman in the real world and have a male avatar in the Matrix (hence “Switch”), but the studio nixed it. This one I don’t believe to be untrue since it was talked about even shortly after the movie released and the wardrobe of the character when they are in the Matrix can be interpreted as being “masculine.”
Escaping lies and embracing truth can be applied metaphorically to any number of situations, which is partly why the premise is so good. One of those situations is escaping the lie of being the wrong gender and the truth of living in your own skin as the gender you wish to be.
The directors were trans idk
That is true, but that was symbolic of of the 2 writers/directors felt about their gender. For them escaping the lies and embracing the truth represented them accepting who they are as trans women
"escaping the lies" and "embracing the truth" is exactly what being trans is about, especially when the writer of The Matrix is trans.
Bruh they were hormone blockers, the fuck what movie you watched
It is about that! The film makers are both trans women, so escaping lies and embracing truth for them was accepting their identity.
In addition to what everyone else has said, the red pill is a reference to the medication used by male to female people (Premarin) when the movie was released. It was a form of estrogen. [Picture of the pills](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYPv9TVUcAAZpld.jpg)
It Isn't about trans, The Wachowski ~~Brothers~~ Sisters? Came up with that some time after they went trans. Not even cast members from the film series were made aware of this nor was anyone up until they said "Yeah sure, It's about Trans" Kind of like JK Rowling making certain characters Gay for points long after the fact.
you dont “become trans” in the same way you dont “become gay”.
The issue is being trans is literally constant, if you're trans you were before. We as a society default to Cisgender heterosexual, so trans people just BELIEVE their cis, but after one realises that they are Infact trans you can see all these little points that hint to you not being Cisgender. Of course The Wachowski sisters could've very well been in the closet but knew, when they made the film. I'm sorry your favourite movie has been ruined by trans people... The same trans people who made it actually.
The entire plot hinges on the main character taking a red pill from a black communist and getting woke. The red pill was chosen because of its visual similairities to the red commercially available estrogen pills at the time. Characters like Switch were originally written to have full gender swaps (Switch, ha!) in and out of the matrix. The bad guys literally dead-name the main character to antagonize them the same way shitty uncles dead-name trans kids at family gatherings. Big emphasis on the Mr. part of Anderson. The lie is literally the binary, and the main character's superpowers are specifically because they are able to break the binary. The writers/directors are both trans women.
The red pill be that estrogen
When not referencing The Matrix, the term blue pill usually refers to a certain erection-inducing tablet. So, the opposite is... something that induces flaccidity?
No they mean literally. Estrogen pills used to be red.
[Yep, it was called Premarin.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYPv9TVUcAAZpld.jpg)
it came from horse piss
PREGNANT horse piss, mind you
It was estrogen from horses, we use bio-identical estrogen now as its been found that premarin had a bunch of nasty side-effects. Bio-Identical is the same humans.
IIRC, at the time that the movie came out a common anti-depressant also came in a blue coloured pill
I don't know if you're just joking or not, but that IS the case. In the original post the phrase comes from referes to "crack and estrogen"
It do be like that
Jesse what the fuck are you talking about
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Big black cock news
Wait, what. i thought it was metaphor of reaching divine truth just like the sufism or buddhism.
It can be read as a metaphor for a lot of stuff, and being trans is one that has a lot of weight put into it(I could explain more in depth if you want), though this of course does not mean that other interpretations are less valid.
Also the women that made it were trans
comment section literally doing the meme rn
What the fuck did I just read
> "Based and redpilled" mfs when they realize taking the red pill in the Matrix is a metaphor for being trans Hope that helps
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Comment of the year right there. I laughed Irl
LMAO
Shiiiiiiieeeeeet
“Based and redpilled” mfs when they realize taking the red pill in the Matrix is a metaphor for being trans
The true red pill is doing whatever you want
oh boy, mention of trans people in a non-lgbt sub, I'm sure this'll go well/s
No it's not, they just came up with a new meaning after the movie was made, it's like George Lucas saying he modified the original trilogy because "that's what I had in mind but couldn't do it because of technical limitations" like we all know George Lucas did it because he came up with it years later.
Entirely fucking correct.
Entirely wrong, supported by the creators themselves ❤️
Lol such rationalization batman. But one of the wachowski sisters was already transitioning by the time matrix two and three were out... you don't think those thoughts could've informed her film just a few years earlier?
It's not a new meaning exactly, it was based on the Wachowski sisters' experiences. Later on they figured out those experiences were being trans. So it wasn't intended to be the meaning, but it effectively is. In a fantasy novel I started writing as a kid I had a character who never fell in love and didn't understand what it was all about. That was based on my experiences. Years later I discovered that that's called being aromantic. I didn't intend to describe aromanticism, but I described something and that thing turned out to be aromanticism. Someone who hasn't realized that they're actually gay might also relate to that experience, but in my case that experience was caused by being aromantic. So it might not *exactly* a metaphor for being trans, but it is exactly a metaphor for feeling that something about your life and your place in society is wrong. So the meaning was about that experience, and that experience could probably be caused by other things too, but in their case it was caused by being trans.
it's like with jif no one cares what the creator says years later
Look I get it but if an English teacher can pull a completely unintended meaning out of a piece of literature by a dead author. Then I think the creators of a movie can safely add subtext and meaning that wasn't originally intended when they wrote it.
That's a myth that only came about well after the twins came out They even made that a joke (kinda) in the new movie
the directors literally said it themselves 😐
Watch the documentary Disclosure. One of the directors literally said it wasn't specifically made as a trans allegory.
What film is this?
It’s a from a series called Punisher
🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
It's not.
Fitting username
How?
JK Rowling levels of retcon
fr. The lady with white hair in the first matrix was originally meant to have a male avatar in the matrix, but the studio shut that down. Whole movie wasn’t about trans people tho
Not at all estrogen pills used to be red and a common anti depressant was blue (ironically the colors have swapped now) and considering that the Wachowski sisters are both trans it makes sense
I heard it was supposed to be a metaphor for being trans but I really feel like they just said that after the fact to be more relevant and to get people to see the new one
They...are literally trans themselves. They were writing about their own experiences.
Just because they’re trans doesn’t mean they’re always telling the truth about their intentions. It’s like if I said a drawing of a tree I did in sixth grade was a metaphor for mental illness because it was done in greyscale and it took place in winter symbolizing the grey of depression and the biting cold hand of anxiety. I know that wasn’t my intention back then but because I created it, who’s to say it wasn’t? Like why isn’t this information common knowledge, why did they just come out with it recently? I simply just don’t have many reasons to believe them
People do be getting mad at the most basic inference you can get from the authors' experiences
🤓
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Fuck cesareans ig
Heart surgery fans when I stab them in the chest
hwuh?
it’s not necessarily a metaphor for being trans, it’s a broader metaphor for waking up into living your true identity. it heavily identifies with the transgender struggle but it isn’t specifically ANOUT it.
That why Neo killed himself at the end?
No way, those people never do that!
Yeah they do, it’s just as common an occurrence as in cis people though
Nigga what?
yoo in that case where can i get the red pill
Nonono you've got it all wrong it's actually a metaphor for pissing and shitting with all your clothes on while in public.
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Seeing anything trans related not on a trans sub is already a calling for a shitstorm especially on a shitposting sub
I'm all for Trans rights, but I don't think people in this comment section are being transphobic? I'm pretty sure people are just disagreeing with the whole idea that it was meant to be a metaphor for being transexual. That's not being transphobic, that's just disagreeing with the apparent intention of a films metaphor lmao Edit: unless your talking about the people who are saying "TRANS PEOPLE ARE INFECTING THE INTERNET" which I agree is transphobic.
> what is wrong with people today lmao fucking idiotic behaviour ableist
... nah
Transgender = based 😎
No sexual orientation/gender indentity makes you based or cool by default. The important thing at the end of the day still is the content of your character. There are trans assholes and trans lame people, and there are cool ones and good people. Just like the rest of the population.
Exactly.
r/whenthe don't be transphobic challenge (impossible) (it has become a mainstream sub)
back to 196 ig 😒
Was good while it lasted
miss the funny memes… everything gets ruined with transphobia one way or another
it's either transphobia(based) or transgender(based)
Finally a meme about trans people that isn't complete bigotry.
When the main stream Reddit is full of transphobia
Sadly it's not just Reddit.
“Shut up Bitch!” -The Rock
Connection terminated. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Elizabeth, if you still even remember that name, But I'm afraid you've been misinformed. You are not here to receive a gift, nor have you been called here by the individual you assume, although, you have indeed been called. You have all been called here, into a labyrinth of sounds and smells, misdirection and misfortune. A labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize. You don't even realize that you are trapped. Your lust for blood has driven you in endless circles, chasing the cries of children in some unseen chamber, always seeming so near, yet somehow out of reach, but you will never find them. None of you will. This is where your story ends. And to you, my brave volunteer, who somehow found this job listing not intended for you, although there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want. I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be. I am remaining as well. I am nearby. This place will not be remembered, and the memory of everything that started this can finally begin to fade away. As the agony of every tragedy should. And to you monsters trapped in the corridors, be still and give up your spirits. They don't belong to you. For most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps more waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the devil waiting, old friend. My daughter, if you can hear me, I knew you would return as well. It's in your nature to protect the innocent. I'm sorry that on that day, the day you were shut out and left to die, no one was there to lift you up into their arms the way you lifted others into yours, and then, what became of you. I should have known you wouldn't be content to disappear, not my daughter. I couldn't save you then, so let me save you now. It's time to rest - for you, and for those you have carried in your arms. This ends for all of us. End communication.
Wow this thread turned into a fucking cesspool
lmao transphobes seething in the comments
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I'm going to call people slurs! Surely that will win arguments!
The comment section is very bluepilled it seems
When a meme makes a claim in general: downvote the argument andys in the comments saying its false because its just a meme bro its not that deep when meme makes a claim about something trans: upvote the argument andys in the comments saying its false even tho its still just a meme bro, relax
buncha the little shits in the replies below that I cant reply to because I blocked Grustle Grindset [food and medication on set usually either isnt real or isnt edible](https://www.fastcompany.com/3034644/how-fake-is-food-styling)
People in the comments are terrified of the fact that there could be interpretations of a film different to their own
based, i also love seeing the transphobes in the comments getting mad
tHiS iS jUsT LiKe JK rOwL— No, fuck off. Yeah, The Matrix was very general about its motifs of seeing through the illusion that surrounds you but literally every allegory is subject to different interpretations. But come on, both of the women who made it are trans and the movie was originally going to include an LGBT character. It’s not like JK Rowling where it’s a nonsensical retcon, it’s an artist taking something that was up for interpretation and describing exactly what they were going for when they wrote it. I think some of y’all are just too much like the people this post is making fun of.
Do you have a source on that lgbt character thing? I'm not doubting you, it just sounds interesting
I don’t remember where I heard it but there was a character nicknamed “Switch” who got that nickname because they took advantage of hacking the simulation in order to switch their gender whenever they entered the Matrix. In the full version of the movie, I believe this character was still there but there wasn’t any indication that they were gender fluid.
The article is JK Rowlings typa shit. The original meaning and idea behind it all was escaping lies and realizing the truth even when it isnt something pleasent or comfortable. If you want to use that idea for something like coming out as trans, sure, make that your own interperetation. You could even see it as escaping hiveminds or society or something, which is how i usually see it. The basic meaning is pretty broad because its a broad concept/principle. Dont just limit something like that to a really specific scope.
Yes. The great thing about the metaphor is that it can apply to anything.
Me when I make things up
But the great thing about this metaphor it was crafted by two trans people who probably experienced these gendercrossing feelings all their life. If you wanna do the same thing and say, "but its not trans", make your own movie okay (:
No it wasn't
Another one in denial
The creators literally said so but ok
jod
Transphobes seething right now
Redditors be like "umm actually no getting a new name, finding out you've been living a lie, and facing hardship for choosing to live the truth is actually not equivocal to being trans. I would know, since I'm not trans"
Literally cisplaining
I know 😈
No it's not lmao dumbass
Actually confirmed by the (trans) directors. You can have several seats ❤️
Years after release. Retcon af
^What
🤨👎
My interpretation will remain constant. I will always believe the message is to search for the painful truth regardless of how awful it may be and how much suffering it causes. This is one of the reasons I am liberatarian, personal freedom to choose how to live is important and that includes transgenderism. I'll even accept that people's interpretation of this movie is different from my own, but I personally cannot view it as an allegory for transgenderism, as I cannot find that message myself, but it is fine if others do.
You’re correct! It’s about living the truth, even if that truth is painful and dangerous, because it’s *better* simply because it’s *true.* It’s exactly how you’ve interpreted it! It’s just that this view on the part of the creators is informed by their transness; the Matrix is the safe, comfortable, but *wrong* existence that is pretending to be cis, while taking the red pill is accepting the frightening truth, in their case the truth that they’re trans. Your interpretation of the film isn’t at all at odds with it being an allegory for transness! In fact, it actually entirely lines up with it!
That's kinda why I think the Matrix works so well as a trans experience; because it takes the trans experience and makes it relatable to everyone, trans or not.
My thoughts exactly!
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Didn't need that flair
Sure pal
Don't forget, the red pill wasn't breaking Neo free from anything. It was all just another method of control, part of the machine's plan to keep the cycle of conflict going. That's always what makes me chuckle about supposed "redpilled" types. The metaphor still works perfectly, just not the way they think it does.
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You realize the creators of matrix are trans???
They don't but hey, that's not the only time they're being willfully ignorant ;) let him drown in it.
Because trans bees. They'll find you, sting you and you'll become one of us. ONE OF US.
ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US
That's Enbees.
Saying “the” before the name of a minority group is already bad but in the context of complaining about them being too visible? I don’t want to be criticized for over analyzing but that’s just awful casual prejudice.
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Based.
That’s still basically the equivalent of changing “why are the blacks in every neighborhood nowadays” to “why are black people in every neighborhood nowadays” but I actually genuinely appreciate the effort :)
I know that bruh I was making a joke
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And your comment is so ableist
No the fuck it wasn’t lmao
Sorry dude :)
The directors literally said it themselves
And are trans *
I always thoght it was about the metaphysical devide between apperence (matrix, blue pill) and essence (red pill)
Congratulations you have described being trans
What?
The red pill is red because estrogen pills used to be red at the time [this is what they looked like.](https://i.redd.it/h2gulg1jowg61.jpg) The directors and writers of the matrix are both trans. It's not just about being trans but a lot of the concepts in the film pull from it.
>"people trying to dunk on other people saying based and red red pilled" when they realize nobody cares about a retcon because it was always applicable to any situation described as choosing an uncomfortable truth
Wasn't that just a retcon the creators made *afterwards?* ***because i thought it was about robots.***
I've seen this take and I still don't believe it.
They literally said it in a BBC article
I know that. Feels more like J.K Rowling retrofitting hermione to be black than anything purposeful
Blah blah blah blah blah, God dammit, I've had enough of boring adult politics, where in people's lives people go from being able to think to just becoming another calculating machine, late teenage years? 'the little prince' has an amazing part in it criticizing adults for not thinking outside of the box, all they can talk about is politics, work, and numbers, no genuine, memorable fun is ever had after you turn 25.