Editing The Matrix (section)

=== Transgender themes ===
Years after the release of ''The Matrix'', both of the Wachowskis came out as [[transgender]] [[trans woman|women]].<ref name="TransMasterpiece">{{cite web |last=Pitre |first=Jake |date=March 27, 2019 |title=How ''The Matrix'' Has Gone from Men's Rights Dream to Formative Trans Masterpiece |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how-the-matrix-has-gone-from-mens-rights-dream-to-formative-trans-masterpiece |access-date=April 1, 2019 |website=SyFy Wire |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401102609/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how-the-matrix-has-gone-from-mens-rights-dream-to-formative-trans-masterpiece |url-status=live }}</ref> The red pill has been compared with red [[estrogen]] pills.<ref name="Vulture">{{cite web |last=Chu |first=Andrea Long |date=February 7, 2019 |title=What We Can Learn About Gender From ''The Matrix'' |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/what-the-matrix-can-teach-us-about-gender.html |access-date=April 1, 2019 |website=vulture.com |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401072332/https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/what-the-matrix-can-teach-us-about-gender.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Morpheus's description of the Matrix creating a sense that something is fundamentally wrong, "like a splinter in your mind", has been compared to [[gender dysphoria]].<ref name="Vulture"/> In the original script, Switch was a woman in the Matrix and a man in the real world, but this idea was removed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guida |first=Matthew |date=January 7, 2018 |title=The Matrix: 15 Dark Behind-The-Scenes Secrets |url=https://screenrant.com/matrix-dark-behind-the-scenes-secrets/ |access-date=April 1, 2019 |website=ScreenRant |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401072333/https://screenrant.com/matrix-dark-behind-the-scenes-secrets/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 2016 [[GLAAD Media Award]]s speech, Lilly Wachowski said: "There's a critical eye being cast back on Lana and I's {{sic}} work through the lens of our transness. This is a cool thing because it's an excellent reminder that art is never static."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lachenal |title=lilly wachowski encourages viewers to reconsider 'the matrix' through the lens of transness |date=April 4, 2016 |url=https://i-d.co/article/lilly-wachowski-encourages-viewers-to-reconsider-the-matrix-through-the-lens-of-transness/ |access-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401072355/https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/43vmvp/lilly-wachowski-encourages-viewers-to-reconsider-the-matrix-through-the-lens-of-transness |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, Lilly said ''The Matrix'' was intended as an allegory for gender transition, but that "the corporate world wasn't ready".<ref name="trans-metaphor"/> She said it was "all about the desire for transformation but it was all coming from a closeted point of view", but that she did not know "how present my transness was in the background of my brain" when the Wachowskis were writing it.<ref name="trans-metaphor">{{Cite news |date=August 7, 2020 |title=The Matrix is a 'trans metaphor', Lilly Wachowski says |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53692435 |access-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203075310/https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53692435 |url-status=live }}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' in 2020, Reeves said the idea that the Matrix was an allegory for transgender identity "wasn't introduced to me when we started for production on the films."<ref name="reeves' awareness">{{Cite news |date=August 26, 2020 |title=Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter on How the Beatles Secretly Helped 'Bill & Ted Face the Music' (Watch) |language=en-GB |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/podcasts/keanu-reeves-alex-winter-bill-ted-face-the-music-1234748438/ |access-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826175728/https://variety.com/2020/film/podcasts/keanu-reeves-alex-winter-bill-ted-face-the-music-1234748438/ |url-status=live }}</ref>