In early August, Lilly Wachowski confirmed a long-standing theory that The Matrix was always meant to be a trans allegory. The director and her sibling/filmmaking partner Lana Wachowski are both transgender women who transitioned at various points following the success of The Matrix films, and the transgender community couldn’t help but notice that the films speak to their experience. Thanks to Wachowski officially acknowledging that the transgender themes were intentional, the video quickly went viral, and now, Keanu Reeves is offering his reaction.
In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Reeves admits that he wasn’t aware of the transgender themes present in The Matrix, and that it was never conveyed to him by the Wachowksis during the making of the trilogy, but he’s fully onboard with Lilly confirming that the film is an allegory. Would you expect anything less from Keanu Reeves?
“I think The Matrix films are profound, and I think that allegorically, a lot of people in different versions of the film can speak to that,” Reeves said. “And for Lilly to come out and share that with us, I think is cool.”
In the socially-distanced video for the Netflix Film Club, Wachowski shared her admiration for fans who continue to pick up on the transgender themes, which she says the world wasn’t ready for when The Matrix movies released in the early 2000s. In fact, the studio made moves to downplay the films’ more queer elements, so Wachowski is glad that the allegory is being more fully appreciated in recent years as trans rights have become a more prominent topic.
“I love how meaningful these films are to trans people,” Wachowski said in the video. “And the way they come up to me and say, ‘These movies saved my life.’”
(Via Yahoo! Entertainment)