Being one of history’s most iconic films, The Matrix can be read as an allegory for many things. While most theories focus on its relation to themes like capitalism and technological advancement, its creator Lilly Wachowski views The Matrix as a reflection of their own experience coming out as transgender.
The story of The Matrix should be familiar not only to those who have seen it, but to everyone, since the film essentially repackages one of mankind’s oldest and most persistent tales: someone finding themselves. In The Matrix, a hacker named Neo discovers that his world is actually a computer simulation, and realizes his heretofore unfulfilled potential braving the wilds of this new frontier.
In a recent episode of the Netflix Film Club, a series which documents the world’s most-watched movies, Lilly Wachowski recalled how making the pic helped others find themselves, saying:
“They come up to me and say ‘these movies saved my life…’ I’m grateful that I can be there, throwing them a rope to help them on their journey.”
Upon being asked to comment on the trans community relating to The Matrix as a whole, the filmmaker said they were glad the idea existed, and also notes that such an interpretation of the film would not have flied back when they were making it.
“[The movie] was all about the desire for transformation, but it was all coming from a closeted point of view.” “I’m glad that it has gotten out that that was the original intention,” Wachowski said. “The corporate world wasn’t ready for it.”
“Me and Lana,” she says, referring to her sibling, who also came out as transgender, “we were existing in a space where the words didn’t exist…it’s why I gravitated to science fiction and fantasy…. I think in our trans-ness, and queer-ness, we were trying to incorporate as many things as possible.”
Interest in The Matrix has only been surging these past few weeks and as outlets liken the film’s plot and concept to the current state of the world, Lana is now hard at work on bringing Neo and company back to the big screen in the upcoming sequel.