![]() In the original film, the character (played by Laurence Fishburne) wears the iconic cyberpunk style that is now synonymous with the series. “All of the colours there are extremely resonant of Caribbean West African culture,” remarks Augustine. When Neo first meets Morpheus, he’s wearing a burnt yellow suit with a statement belt buckle. This is perhaps best seen through Morpheus, Neo’s teacher, who is presented as a new version of himself.Īctor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II sets a new tone as the Morpheus of 2021. “The fashion was extremely on point for representing queerness,” says Augustine of the new film. Queerness is arguably symbolized via the characters’ refreshed wardrobes, consisting of bright colours that are distinctly different from the original trilogy’s all-black aesthetic. The Matrix Resurrections features openly gay cast members like Neil Patrick Harris and Jonathan Groff, and similarly to the original, some characters are queer coded (meaning, not explicitly stated to be queer). PicturesĪfter writing and directing the original trilogy with her sister Lilly, Lana Wachowski is making history with The Matrix Resurrections as the first out transgender director to helm a major blockbuster film. ![]() In the end, he embraces his true identity as Neo, and this journey has been long been linked to the gender transition process. The first film opens with Neo leading a double life: switching back and forth between his given name, Thomas Anderson, during the day, and Neo, his chosen internet hacker name, at night. The series follows Neo (Keanu Reeves) as he fights alongside a team of rebels to free humanity. Not unlike The Matrix, I guess, now that I’m saying it out loud.” “Suddenly, we had to maintain our virtual existence while completely radically changing our physical existence. Now, COVID-19 has thrust the organization further into the digital realm. That’s the whole point: there’s anonymity and there’s safety,” they explain. “When you think about the process by which 2SLGBTQ youth contacting us, we don’t exist face to face with them. Now a board member of Youth Line, an organization that supports 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario, they say The Matrix also speaks to the ways technology can foster community. If you’ve heard the theory before or just learned about it, here’s a thread breaking down the trans allegory of the film, from trans writers and critics. But two decades earlier, a young Augustine had already taken note.įor years, fans of THE MATRIX have discussed the film through a trans lens. And in 2020, Lilly Wachowski confirmed that The Matrix was, as many in the community suspected, a trans allegory. Sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski, who co-wrote and directed the series, both came out as trans after the first film hit screens. The dystopian series - set in a world where AI-powered machines have seized control and trapped humans inside a simulated reality - has inspired academic literature, video essays and social media threads that interpret its queer symbolism.Īs it turns out, this wasn’t just fan speculation. ![]() The Matrix’s queer significance runs deeper with its fourth installment, The Matrix Resurrections, which premiered Dec. ![]() “Even when I was very early in figuring out my own identity, there are things in the movie that resonated,” Augustine says. That changed in 1999 when The Matrix, in all its sci-fi splendor, presented a new reality. But as a trans, non-binary person, their connection to the film series meant something different.Īugustine knew their gender didn’t match with the gender assigned to them at birth, but as a child, there was little to do about this realization. Like many other kids of the ’90s, Myriad Augustine was a fan of The Matrix. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |