Reclaiming The Matrix


Cloud Atlas is one my all time favorite movies.  It’s up there with Blade Runner, The Fountain, Empire Strikes Back and Chasing Amy.  And it is from this affection that my expectations for Sense 8 were simply too high.  I abandoned it before a friend (thanks Tess) convinced me to give it another go with a more open mind, and I enjoyed it for what it was/is not what I was hoping it would be.  I first became aware of The Wachowskis with the home video release of Bound, an amazing crime flick that also openly addressed LGBTQ issues of identity.  In high school The Matrix was released and blew my fragile little mind part.  This was partially due to my ignorance of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and partially because it was simply amazing on all levels.  When the sequels were announced I was stoked, so damn stoked.  Reloaded sated my appetite for rambling monologues on meaning as well as incredibly choreographed actions set pieces.   Revolutions soured me on the franchise, killing repeat viewings of all three films.  As an actual adult I re-watched the trilogy on a fluke and developed a greater appreciation for the two sequels, and as I continue to age (decay) I appreciate Reloaded and especially Revolutions more and more.  Why?  An abridged version, War has no clear victor.  Revolutions gives us an armistice and the promise of more work in the future.  The ideas from the first film are built further upon fitting perfectly into the original Allegory of the Cave.  Elements such as the realm of being, becoming and recognizing that a higher truth many not be the full truth.  All of this brings us to the point of this article, thanks for staying.

For reasons that baffle me The Matrix is being culturally appropriated by Men’s Rights Activists and the Alt Right.  The inspiration for this piece came from my Hulu Account and a documentary titled Red Pill.  The Matrix is now being used to explain the plight of the oppressed Cis White Male in today’s modern world.  Redpilling is a verb to describe when a person learns the truth about the oppressed straight white male.  The original film comically calls out the concept of a male dominated underground community pretty fucking quickly in an early scene where Neo meets Trinity.

Trinity: My name’s Trinity.

Neo: *The* Trinity? Who cracked the IRS d-base?

Trinity: That was a long time ago.

Neo: Jesus…

Trinity: What?

Neo: I just thought… you were a guy.

Trinity: Most guys do.

Ah the subtle sexism that permeates the civilized world.  See Neo learns about gender pre-conceptions, its his first step into a larger world.  Also the first choice to play Neo was Will Smith.  And Morpheus is played by actor Laurence Fishburne, a black man who has made pretty clear statements about his political views.   Spoiler he does not worry about the oppression of straight white men.  When The Matrix was released in 1999 it was credited for writing and directing to the Wachowski brothers.  If you were to look it up on IMDB now it is from The Wachowskis while these are the same people, Larry and Andy now identify as Lilly and Lana.  Concepts of true identity permeate their work so this was not surprising to me, nor do I think its any of my business.  The Wachowskis have stated that they do not like the limelight and simply want the opportunity to create and as a fan and decent human being I want to respect that as much as possible.  However for this piece I do see a relevance.  With all of this in mind I mind it utterly baffling that the film is being co-opted in the manner it is.  It is as though these Alt-Right/Men’s Rights Activists are ill informed despite the amount of time they spend on reddit and 4chan…weird.

So how do these communities latch onto the film, because they believe they know the truth.  It is that simple.  The rest of the world is simply blind to the oppression of Straight White Males, and they need to wake up.  The straight white male is being used as batteries to support all the unworthy elements of the world.  Perhaps it is more, but I haven’t found it.

So this where you come in dear reader.  I want to recruit you.  I want to unleash the fanboy/girl upon the world.

I am tired of seeing Alt-Right Memes of two specific scenes appearing online.  I would like you dear reader to create memes of tolerance and acceptance of all peoples using either the ‘what if I told you,’ template or ‘red pill blue pill.’  I would like see a meme show up on George Takei or Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s social media feeds.

M.R. Gott is a failed fiction author and despite the horrible things he writes is not a total and complete asshole

40% asshole tops