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The idea of a gender switch between online and real life has been a meme since at least the early 90s. 18/F/Cali anyone? I don't understand the pill reference

by axaxs 6y ago

The idea of a gender switch between online and real life has been a meme since at least the early 90s. 18/F/Cali anyone? I don't understand the pill reference, other than that they behave diffently as medicines. The woman in a red dress is...a woman in a red dress. Please elaborate. I'm willing to be proven wrong here, I didn't even particularly like the movie, I just feel like the connections are rather vague. It reminds me of a time in elementary school I won some award for a drawing I did because of my use of limited colors to express something. Truth is I was just lazy and liked red and black, but people see what they want. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. To express my own take, it was more about government, society, and the inevitable end we would come to some day as resources constrain. To say that's wrong and it's about the individual (neo) feels wrong, to me. Edit to add - One of the great things about works is people being able to take their own meaning away from things. Whether it's my view of societal collapse, a gay man's view of a person coming out, or a trans person's view of being trans, I like to think nobody is wrong. When an author then boxes it in after the fact with such vague references feels like an affront to the work.

bawolff 6y ago
> I don't understand the pill reference, other than that they behave diffently as medicines. Trans people often take hormone therapy in order to become their true self, just as the characters in the matrix take a pill to "wake up". Edit: because i can't directly reply anymore, replying here to your response on pills. I agree that by itself, it means nothing. Pills can mean lots of things to lots of people. Its not one individual thing that makes the movie an allegory about trans people. Its the pattern and combination of elements that make it an allegory. Any one of the various minor plot elements or aspects of the theme that relate to the trans "experience", on its own, mean nothing. Its that there are so many such elements that all fit together. Idk what the trans connection is to the woman in the red dress. I always just took it as a nod to how in movies the dangerous female characters always wear red dresses (think #6 in bsg, but many other examples) > To express my own take, it was more about government, society, and the inevitable end we would come to some day as resources constrain. But in the movie resourses weren't constrained due to overpopulation, but due to war. And even then, people may not have lived in luxery in zion, but we had no indication that people were doing without. The only character who talked about over-population and resource constraints was Agent Smith, and he was the villian > I like to think nobody is wrong While good art can support multiple interpretations, i definitely think that interpretations can be more or less wrong. E.g. Anyone saying the matrix is actually about the benefits of double-entry bookkeeping, is straight up wrong. Edit: lol, i just realized that the sequels were all about how the equations were "unbalanced" and neo is the result of things not adding up. Maybe it is about double entry book-keeeping after all.
- axaxs 6y ago
  But tons of people take pills. I take aspirin when I have a headache, and a mild anti anxiety pill at times etc. Some people take pills for blood pressure, some for anti psychotics. Equating pills to hormones is doing a disservice to the 99.9 percent of people who take pills for other reasons. When I think red pills I think Sudafed, blue NyQuil. Maybe Neo had rhinitis after all :). I'm not mad at all IF this was truly a trans movie, like some. I just don't buy it, and attribute it to the likes of JK Rowling. A combo of some mild mental illness and/or grasping for fame or brownie points.

by axaxs 6y ago

bawolff 6y ago

> I don't understand the pill reference, other than that they behave diffently as medicines. Trans people often take hormone therapy in order to become their true self, just as the characters in the matrix take a pill to "wake up". Edit: because i can't directly reply anymore, replying here to your response on pills. I agree that by itself, it means nothing. Pills can mean lots of things to lots of people. Its not one individual thing that makes the movie an allegory about trans people. Its the pattern and combination of elements that make it an allegory. Any one of the various minor plot elements or aspects of the theme that relate to the trans "experience", on its own, mean nothing. Its that there are so many such elements that all fit together. Idk what the trans connection is to the woman in the red dress. I always just took it as a nod to how in movies the dangerous female characters always wear red dresses (think #6 in bsg, but many other examples) > To express my own take, it was more about government, society, and the inevitable end we would come to some day as resources constrain. But in the movie resourses weren't constrained due to overpopulation, but due to war. And even then, people may not have lived in luxery in zion, but we had no indication that people were doing without. The only character who talked about over-population and resource constraints was Agent Smith, and he was the villian > I like to think nobody is wrong While good art can support multiple interpretations, i definitely think that interpretations can be more or less wrong. E.g. Anyone saying the matrix is actually about the benefits of double-entry bookkeeping, is straight up wrong. Edit: lol, i just realized that the sequels were all about how the equations were "unbalanced" and neo is the result of things not adding up. Maybe it is about double entry book-keeeping after all.

axaxs 6y ago
But tons of people take pills. I take aspirin when I have a headache, and a mild anti anxiety pill at times etc. Some people take pills for blood pressure, some for anti psychotics. Equating pills to hormones is doing a disservice to the 99.9 percent of people who take pills for other reasons. When I think red pills I think Sudafed, blue NyQuil. Maybe Neo had rhinitis after all :). I'm not mad at all IF this was truly a trans movie, like some. I just don't buy it, and attribute it to the likes of JK Rowling. A combo of some mild mental illness and/or grasping for fame or brownie points.