Red Pill, Blue Pill: The Hopeful Transgender Lens of The Matrix

One of the most satisfying rewards for someone like me, who lives and breathes movies, is revisiting one of the greats and basking in how miraculously well it's held up. It can be easy to take a genre-defining juggernaut for granted, but over 25 years since its theatrical run, "The Matrix" remains an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. It's sexy, thought-provoking and most importantly, innovative. It not only launched Keanu Reeves into the next stage of his movie stardom, but also inspired everyone to do their own riff on bullet time. But embedded within the zeros and ones of "The Matrix" is an important legacy built upon the foundation of the people who made it. It may surprise some of you to learn that the revolutionary duo that transformed the sci-fi action movie overnight, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, are transgender women. While they wouldn't come out as their true selves until well over a decade later, it's impossible to not subtextually read the film as an integral slice of trans cinema. In the "real" world, Thomas Anderson (Reeves) is your average computer programmer with a terribly dull nine to five office gig. He sells stolen software on the side under the alias Neo, which guides him to a mysterious online correspondence with a figure named Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). "Wake up, Neo" shines in bright green text on his computer screen, imploring the hacker to give into his curiosity. After a threatening encounter with a figure known as Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), Neo is saved by the leather-bound Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss), who brings him to finally meet Morpheus in the flesh. At this moment, Morpheus offers Neo a choice: take the blue pill, which allows him to sink back into his routine without interruption, or the red pill, which offers the whole truth about the "real" world, no matter how much it may hurt. With Neo's choice to take the red pill, he learns that his reality is the technological aftermath of a war with machines, in which the machines won, farming humans from infancy to fuel their simulation masquerading as reality. "The Matrix" is, at its core, about escaping the burdensome weight of capitalism, about making the choice to see beyond the world presented to you in favor of individual enlightenment; but there's a deeper meaning to Neo's choice. In the decades since, the idea of red pilling has unfortunately been hijacked by alt-right misogynists. But while Lana and Lilly didn't outright say their film is about being transgender, at least not at the time, it's difficult to ignore the deeply woven subtext of two closeted trans women trying to find the truth within their artistry and what taking the red pill actually represents. Being trapped within the Matrix provides a striking metaphor for body dysphoria, that the human shell you were born into doesn't reflect who you are internally. Neo is deeply unhappy with his life and feels stuck in the role he's been forced to play. It's not until he's offered the choice to see the truth and is confronted by those that have escaped their own external prisons that he feels at one with himself, however shocking the discovery. The sad truth about trans folks is that an awakening like Neo's can bring gender euphoria, as much as it brings terror and confusion. To be your true self in a world that suppresses your gender identity in order to keep you in line is a nightmare nearly every trans person has to deal with at some point. What if everything and everyone I loved turned on me? The danger of being transgender into a cis-het dominated world, sadly, never fully goes away. For some, it's easier to stay hidden, to take the blue pill in the hopes that violence won't rear its ugly head if they shut up and play ball. It's understandable why a lot of trans folks choose to take that path, but it's arguably just as harmful to deny your existence in favor of an inhumane minority that doesn't care whether you live or die. Neo triumphs over the Smiths and the Matrix because he not only embeds himself within a community that encourages him to be who he was always meant to be, but because he wants to fight for his bodily autonomy. In the Matrix, if you believe you can fly, you will soar. I've been proudly writing for The Keene Sentinel as your chief film columnist since 2016 under the name Matthew, but I've since taken a life-altering step. I'd felt lost within myself and after a lot of overdue introspection, I've finally acknowledged my truth, so allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Quinn, my pronouns are she/they, and I'm a Queer transgender woman. For the first time in a long, long time, I'm happy - free of the oppressive Matrix programming that kept me scared and complacent. No more. If You Liked "The Matrix," Then Try These: . The Animatrix - A stunning companion piece to the movies, "The Animatrix" consists of nine animated short films that thematically embolden the Wachowskis' world in a kaleidoscopic anime that plays as history filtered through alternate perspectives. It's something I wish more franchises, especially those bound by continuity, would take a crack at. . Bound - Before they left their indelible mark on science fiction, the Wachowski sisters came out swinging with one of the defining '90s erotic thrillers in "Bound." Nail-biting suspense meets the cosmic fate of Queer love in a neo-noir about a lesbian ex-convict (Gina Gershon) who plots with the bombshell next door (Jennifer Tilly) to rip off her violent mobster husband (Joe Pantoliano) and disappear forever. I may end up elaborating upon this one at some point in the future, but you shouldn't wait any longer on a stone-cold masterpiece. . I Saw the TV Glow - One of the year's best films, Jane Schoenbrun's deeply affecting horror film eschews genre conventions in favor of something more internally gutting. Spectacular work from Justice Smith as a shy teenager who bonds with an older classmate (Brigette Lundy-Paine) over a "Buffy" inspired television series named "The Pink Opaque," which leads them to question their identities. Given the ingrained subtext, this hit particularly hard amid my own gender transition. "The Matrix" is currently streaming on Netflix. Are there any streaming projects that you would like to see me cover? Shoot me an email at moviemoxie1@gmail.com and be sure to let me know! Be kind. Stay safe. Happy Pride!