‘For a guy who hates pronouns, you sure do love this allegory for the trans experience.’
Elon Musk has been roasted on Twitter after he made a reference to The Matrix in a cringe-worthy meme post.
The Tesla and (current) Twitter CEO is said to be a fan of the film and seems to love the idea in it of people seeing through the fakeness of the world around them and accepting a real truth.
On Friday, Musk shared a bizarre meme featuring a cartoon of Neo from The Matrix along with the text:
“What if I told you the only way to escape the matrix is to unlearn everything that you have been taught and rebuild your entire belief system based on critical thought & analysis?”
Combine this with his recent mocking of pronouns, and it wasn’t long before many decided to point out one very ironic aspect about his love of referencing The Matrix – that it’s creators, the Wachowski sisters, are both transgender and the film is an allegory for the trans experience.
The Lana and Lilly Wachowski directed and wrote the iconic sci-fi action film starring Keanu Reeves.
Lana transitioned after 2008, whilst Lilly came out as a trans woman in March 2016.
Both the sisters wanted absolutely nothing to do with Musk, and many on Twitter were more than happy to point this out to the billionaire.
One person replied to Musk saying: “WHAT IF I TOLD YOU The Matrix was made by two trans women that both hate you personally”
Another said: “Whilst laughed at noted transphobe Elon Musk relating so hard to The Matrix, a trans allegory written by trans women, we should not neglect to also laugh at a CEO relating so hard to The Matrix, a story about how work under capitalism is mind-numbing bulls**t.”
laughing at noted transphobe Elon Musk relating so hard to The Matrix, a trans allegory written by trans women, we should not neglect to also laugh at a CEO relating so hard to The Matrix, a story about how work under capitalism is mind-numbing bullshit.
— Yell in a War (@jelenawoehr) December 31, 2022
A third commented: “For a guy who hates pronouns, you sure do love this allegory for the trans experience.”
Another said it was blatantly obvious the film’s message was “gender is a construct” and that anyone who can’t see this is “incapable” of the critical thought Musk clearly believes he possesses.
Musk has previously referenced The Matrix on Twitter, encouraging his followers to “take the red pill” in 2020, Pink News reports.
When Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, quote-tweeted him, saying “Taken!”, one of the film’s creators Lilly Wachowski replied: “F**k both of you.”
In 2020, Wachowski confirmed that the Matrix films were a metaphor for the trans experience.
Speaking to the Netflix Film Club, she said their “original intention” was that the film would follow a trans narrative.
“I’m glad that it has gotten out that that was the original intention. The world wasn’t quite ready for it. The corporate world wasn’t ready for it.
“I’m glad people are talking about The Matrix movies with a trans narrative.
“I love how meaningful those films are to trans people and the way that they come up to me saying, ‘Those movies saved my life.’
“Because when you talk about transformation, specifically in the world of science fiction, which is just about imagination and world-building and the idea of the seemingly impossible becoming possible, that’s why it speaks it to them so much.
“And I’m grateful I can be a part of throwing them a rope along their journey.”
