The director of "The Matrix," Lilly Wachowski, has finally revealed the meaning behind the sci-fi films that still have audiences debating the plotline. In an interview with Netflix Film Club on Tuesday, Wachowski explained that "The Matrix" was a metaphor for transgender identity.
For years trans fans have speculated the films' allegories. The theory is that Neo, the main character played by Keanu Reeves, represented an archetypal trans woman, wrote Adam Pilfold-Bagwell of the entertainment site Birth.Movies.Death.
Neo cannot connect with his friends, but Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, "wakes him from his dream" with a red pill that could represent estrogen pills.
In her interview, Wachowski confirmed that she and her sister Lana, who both came out as trans in recent years, had intended the film to be a metaphor for gender identity.
"I’m glad that it has gotten out that that was the original intention," she said. "The world wasn’t quite ready for it. The corporate world wasn’t ready for it."
Wachowski further explained that Switch, a character in the first installment of "The Matrix" franchise, was written to be gender fluid.
"The Matrix ... was all about the desire for transformation, but it was all coming from a closeted point of view," Wachowski explained. "We had the character of Switch, who would be a man in the real world and then a woman in the Matrix, and that’s where [both of] our headspaces were."
Wachowski said she was glad that viewers were talking about "The Matrix" movies with a trans narrative.
"I love how meaningful those films are to trans people and say, 'these movies saved my life,'" she noted. "I'm grateful that I can be a part of throwing them a rope to help their journey."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.