"The Matrix" and trans?

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Reading Emma Anne Tate's Matrix fanfic reminded me that I've heard that the movie was supposed to be somehow about the trans experience. But I've never figured out how, exactly.

Can anyone explain it to me?

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The Wachowski sisters

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SammyC's picture

were the Wachowski brothers (Larry and Andy) when The Matrix was released in 1999. About a decade plus later, both brothers transitioned and became the Wachowski sisters (Lana and Lilly). As to how their trans experience was limned in the movies, I'm not the person to ask. Perhaps Emma Anne can enlighten us.

Hugs,

Sammy

The Matrix in retrospect

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Emma Anne Tate's picture

Hi Asche — I can’t speak on this with any authority, but based on what I’ve read, I think some trans folks have kind of looked at The Matrix retrospectively through the lens of the Wachowski brothers’ later transitions and read a trans-friendly meaning into it. I don’t think that’s at all unfair. It’s very likely that the Wachowskis were wrestling with gender identity when they wrote the story, and — as I’ve explored in Decision Matrix — a feeling that what we experience with our five senses is in a deeper sense false is something trans people understand. Rumor has it that the character of Switch was originally supposed to be a different gender in the Matrix than they were in the real world. That’s about all I know. I hope it helps!

— Emma

Opening a can of worms

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Dee Sylvan's picture

I never thought about the trans aspect of The Matrix before your story Emma. But as princesschelsea references below, it was all about transformation. "Lilly Wachowski has been the more outspoken of the two concerning the trans allegory in “The Matrix” and the sisters’ original intention with the films. She told Netflix Film Club in 2020 that a trans sci-fi story didn’t inspire higher-ups in the film industry back in the 1990s. “The corporate world wasn’t ready for it,” she said. But since its release, she added, the response from trans people has been monumental: “I love how meaningful those films are to trans people.”

It must have been somewhat difficult for the W sisters to write their story while cloaking the transgender aspect in a sci-fi setting. But $466m in worldwide box office enabled them to eventually tell the world their story. :dd

DeeDee

"Like a splinter in your mind"

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Erisian's picture

There's a lot of parallels in The Matrix with the experience of being trans, if you look for them (at least, in my opinion). Starting with the whole 'something is wrong with the world...driving you mad'. The dysphoria of being trans and feeling like one's body is just wrong is the blatant top of the mountain here, but let's dive deeper.

In the film Neo is told, "It seems you have been living two lives": one where he is his 'genuine' self ('Neo'), and the other as his day-to-day self ('Mr. Anderson'). Each day he puts on a shirt and tie, goes to work, and pretends to be something he's not - because that is what is expected of him. All the authorities - be they his work manager, or the outright 'Agents' of the 'System' - expect him to conform, telling him that he has no future otherwise. This is directly akin to the world telling a trans person that they must conform to the gender assigned at birth, and that there is no path otherwise - at least not without complete rejection from the 'System'.

Many folks here can certainly attest to what they sacrificed to transition - loss of job, loss of family, loss of friends.

Then there's the transition itself. Once kicked out of The Matrix, Neo has to relearn how to move and live, training eyes he had never "used before". Life became harsher, messier first - before he could make the adjustment. He also then goes on to suffer tremendous self-doubt about being 'The One', as he fights against his true self. The sign above the door at the Oracle states “Temet Nosce” - "Know Thyself". The path of someone trans requires a deep inner search to know themselves true - and reject what society and even physicality has tried to impose upon them.

The films (especially the first) are about rejecting the imposed conformity, finding your true self, and living as it ("walking the path").

Even lines like, "To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human" can be interpreted in a new light: to deny our inner reactions of being the opposite gender, is to deny that which makes us whole - and not an automaton.

Okay, I've probably rambled enough - hopefully this helps. :)

- Erisian <3

You can teach an old dog new tricks

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Dee Sylvan's picture

Thanks for the enlightening ladies! I learned a new word today 'limned' thanks to Sammy. And Emma and Erisian's thoughtful explanations of The Matrix have me scrambling for my DVD's to watch again with a much different perspective! :DD

DeeDee