In a recently posted Twitter thread, Netflix made the case that “The Matrix” is actually a film intended to be seen “through a trans lens.”
One of the co-directors of the 1999 hit sci-fi film explained in a YouTube interview posted Tuesday the movie’s plot is actually an allegory for gender transition. Lilly Wachowski, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie with her sister Lana, said the story was “all about the desire for transformation,” adding it came from “a closeted point of view,” because the entertainment industry wasn’t quite ready for a blatantly transgender message.
Her comments come amid an ongoing cancel culture phenomenon and the continued embrace of progressive ideals by many in the left-leaning media world. The fourth installment of “The Matrix” is expected to debut in April 2022.
Helping to advance Wachowski’s claims about the film’s storyline, Netflix posted a thread about the supposed allegory hidden in the classic movie’s plot.
Netflix cited Neo, the main character of “The Matrix,” as a good example of the shrouded pro-transgender message. The streaming service pointed to the moment Neo “wakes up” and begins to transition from his machine-bestowed name, “Thomas A. Anderson,” to his chosen name, “Neo.”
Then, there’s the movie’s most famous scene: when rebel leader Morpheus offers Neo the choice between two pills — a red one and a blue one.
Neo, of course, selects the red pill, which will allow him to see truth. The blue one would have kept him ignorant of reality. The main character’s choice serves as his “gateway to seeing the world as it is and the systems built to define and control his identity.”
With quite the stretch, Netflix asserted that whole part of the movie is “an apt metaphor for hormone therapy.” The company also noted Neo’s rejection of his previous name — “Thomas A. Anderson” — as an instance of “dead naming,” a popular term in the LGBT community denoting the use of the birth or former name of a transgender person who has adopted a new name.
During her interview with Netflix, Wachowski said she “love[s] how meaningful those films are to trans people and the way that they come up to me and say: ‘These movies saved my life.’”