Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
lilly wachowski
-
New ‘Matrix’ Movie In The Works — But It Will Be The First Directed By Someone Other Than The Wachowskis
-
'The Underground Railroad', Barry Jenkins' Acclaimed Miniseries, Coming To Criterion Collection In June
-
Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon' Is More Than Just An Edgelord 'Star Wars' — It's A Rebuke Against Denis Villenuevue's Somnambulant Spin on 'Dune'
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Matrix Resurrections' on HBO Max, a Long-in-the-Works Sequel That's More Woe Than Whoa
The Matrix creator says that the film she made years ago — now deeply embedded in culture and beloved by fans as a transformative movie — came from a place of deep rage. Lilly Wachowski revealed the motivation behind The Matrix in an interview today with The Hollywood Reporter, explaining that her famous film was heavily influenced by her own personal struggle with gender identity.
Wachowski, a trans woman, made The Matrix with her sister, Lana Wachowski — who also identifies as a trans woman — in 1999 before either of them came out. The filmmaker explained that The Matrix was “born out of a lot of anger and a lot of rage.” “It’s rage at capitalism and corporatized structure and forms of oppression,” she said.
But the film was also shaped by Wachowski’s own experience before she came out in 2016. Wachowski explained the “bubbling, seething rage within me was about my own oppression, that I [was forcing] myself to remain in the closet.”
After the success of The Matrix, both sisters continued making films, but Wachowski pointed out that her experience as a filmmaker has changed since she came out as trans. “Now that I’m out and a living example of someone who can grow old being a trans woman, [trans people] can see those films through the lens of my transness and their transness,” she said. “They’re able to go, ‘Oh my God, these films were such an important part of my coming out and my own journey.’ I’m extraordinarily grateful that I could offer that to people.”
Although the The Matrix is influenced by gender and the trans experience, the film’s red pill message has been manipulated by men’s rights groups and alt-right movements on the internet over the past few years, and is now being used as a radicalized political message. Recently, Elon Musk tweeted, “Take the red pill,” in reference to the film. President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, replied with, “Taken!” But Wachowski rejected their interpretation of her film, voicing a clear message with her own tweet. “Fuck both of you,” she wrote.
