Current Events > I wish 'The Matrix' had never been made

(+) Yeah! (+)

KeeperOfShadows posted...

What warped version of FFIX did you play?

Everything I posted happened.

When i watch i barely ever go looking for subtext. The Matrix was just a fun action sci-fi movie to me.

So, can someone please explain to this dum dum how the Matrix is a trans-allegory?
Besides the identity of the creators, just talking what's on screen

ROBANN_88 posted...

When i watch i barely ever go looking for subtext. The Matrix was just a fun action sci-fi movie to me.

So, can someone please explain to this dum dum how the Matrix is a trans-allegory?
Besides the identity of the creators, just talking what's on screen

Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the character named "Switch", which the studio interfered with.

Was supposed to be male outside the Mateix, but Female within. Tied into the whole "You see yourself in The Matrix how you view yourself."

Studio made them remove it, and just make her a female character over all.

I wish this thread had never been made

so is the "trans-metaphor" like similar to Dumbledore being gay?
in that the author only said it afterwards, and it never being alluded to in the material at all

ROBANN_88 posted...

so is the "trans-metaphor" like similar to Dumbledore being gay?
in that the author only said it afterwards, and it never being alluded to in the material at all

No. It was stated while being made, it had considerable amounts of very obvious alligory, etc. We even got to have the Wachowskis complain about censorship because WB wouldn't let them have a character have a character's Matrix gender be the opposite of their real world one. Something that they spent money on prior to being told "no" (they had to hire an actor to play as the "real world" version of the character but when WB stepped in they had no use for the actor) so it very much existed as early as casting: basically as early as you can get.

KeeperOfShadows posted...

-Garnet is her/his deadname

Thomas Anderson is Neo's dead name. Watch the subway scene again. Agent smith is calling him Mr. Anderson throughout, and the triumphant moment is Neo standing up and declaring "My name is Neo."

ellis123 posted...

it had considerable amounts of very obvious alligory, etc

i'm virtually blind to allegory if it isn't in my face. some examples in the movie would be nice

and while the "opposite gender in Matrix vs real world" is a cool concept, the fact that it's not onscreen renders it...i don't wanna say irrelevant, cause it's still in their vision, but one can't infer it just by watching the movie

PMarth2002 posted...

Thomas Anderson is Neo's dead name. Watch the subway scene again. Agent smith is calling him Mr. Anderson throughout, and the triumphant moment is Neo standing up and declaring "My name is Neo."

And Garnet isn't a deadname. Thus the entire connection flops and dies.

Kitten posted...

My point is that there's more evidence that FF9 is a trans allegory than The Matrix, and yet it still isn't.

Wow, the Chewbacca defense.

"If FF9 isn't a trans allegory than you must stop saying the Matrix is!"

Kitten posted...

-Garnet is her/his deadname
-Dagger cuts her/his hair to suit more of the male gender
-Dagger spends most of the game being uncomfortable with male advances, particularly Zidane
-During Dagger's transition, he/she goes through a deep depression where mentioning the deadname turns him/her away

There's also Quina, who is flat out supposed to be gender ambiguous. Garnet must travel "through the swamp and tunnel", in order to get to the light on the other side. Which brings Garnet to the tree of life, which brings the motivation to assume the true identity of Dagger. Quina's marshlands is a metaphor for the confusing and sometimes dark transition period that brings light and life on the other side.

The game also centers around the theme of identity crisis, where Zidane and Kuja suffer from not being able to identify with themselves. Kuja in particular, who may have more obviously been a symbol of transgenderism. Freya as well, who was the only female in her army and never felt like she was a woman but rather a man, which was made more exposed when Freya's BF left her.

I thought this was about the Matrix still and was like who tf are all of these characters.

ROBANN_88 posted...

i'm virtually blind to allegory if it isn't in my face. some examples in the movie would be nice

and while the "opposite gender in Matrix vs real world" is a cool concept, the fact that it's not onscreen renders it...i don't wanna say irrelevant, cause it's still in their vision, but one can't infer it just by watching the movie

The concept of a Matrix itself is a real-versus-not-real and is something that people with gender dysphoria consistently identify with experiencing, Neo switches their name because it is how they identify as: something that, once again, is very overtly a metaphor for dysphoria being overcome, etc. Everything in the movies can be viewed through the lens of "twos", where even something like the usage of bullet time creates two distinct passages of time, and the number of things that don't follow with being an allegory in even a minor way is practically non-existent. While not everything is necessarily obvious, if you go in with the basic understanding of what the movie was made to be about it is fairly obvious that that was what they were going for.

Anteaterking posted...

I thought this was about the Matrix still and was like who tf are all of these characters.

They are suspended for their conservative views. Let their posts rot, they don't need a reply.

ellis123 posted...

The concept of a Matrix itself is a real-versus-not-real and is something that people with gender dysphoria consistently identify with experiencing, Neo switches their name because it is how they identify as: something that, once again, is very overtly a metaphor for dysphoria being overcome, etc. Everything in the movies can be viewed through the lens of "twos", where even something like the usage of bullet time creates two distinct passages of time, and the number of things that don't follow with being an allegory in even a minor way is practically non-existent. While not everything is necessarily obvious, if you go in with the basic understanding of what the movie was made to be about it is fairly obvious that that was what they were going for.

I would also say that the feeling of not fitting in or feeling uncomfortable about your place in the world is so extremely relatable and human that conservatives are able to relate to it emotionally as well.

If only that empathy could be extended to others once they consider the possibility.

while i disagree that it's obvious, i'll keep your interpretation in mind next time i watch it

ROBANN_88 posted...

while i disagree that it's obvious, i'll keep your interpretation in mind next time i watch it

The movie's been my favorite movie since it came out basically and I hadn't the slightest idea about the trans subtext until a few years ago.
The Subway scene as a metaphor for dead names and coming out, and Neo's corporate job versus his life as a hacker being a metaphor for dysphoria was what made it click for me.

PMarth2002 posted...

The movie's been my favorite movie since it came out basically and I hadn't the slightest idea about the trans subtext until a few years ago.
The Subway scene as a metaphor for dead names and coming out, and Neo's corporate job versus his life as a hacker being a metaphor for dysphoria was what made it click for me.

I think that there is definitely a lot of metaphor related to dysphoria and identity (and in the Wachowskis case that mostly comes in the form of trans analogues) but I'm not entirely convinced that many of the individual instances of the allegory that people cite were actually intentional.

Like I don't think the creators are actually hack-y enough to be like "We chose to have Trinity drive a motorcycle to emphasize the cycle of medical treatment that accompanies transitioning". It's like 80% the larger themes you can see through the movie and 20% little winks and nods.