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Spoilers abound in today’s drunken review of The Matrix! Nichole and Callie sip on cocktails and philosophy while they break apart The Matrix from an intersectional, vegan viewpoint.  

In This Episode

The princesses dig into all things Matrix in today’s episode, specifically focusing on race, gender and speciesism. This movie is one that is loved in vegan circles and for good reason: so many of the lines and themes in this movie relate well to “taking the red pill” and waking up to the nightmare that is our food system. Overall, the princesses were impressed with gender representation and the diversity of the cast, with some caveats. It’s a movie that holds up pretty well and one we highly recommend.

Favorite thought-provoking lines:

Morpheus

…there’s a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.

Remember that all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.

The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around. What do you see. Business men, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it. Were you listening to me Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

Agent Smith

Once we began thinking for you, it became our civilization.

You are the plague, we are the cure.

I hate this place. This zoo, this prison, this…”reality”

Mouse

To deny our own impulses is to deny what makes us human.

Links and Information

News

• Forbes Answers the Call for a Humane Economy (VegNews)
• Only Male US Weightlifter in Olympics is Vegan (VegNews)

Related Information

• Director Spike Lee slams ‘same old’ black stereotypes in today’s films (Yale): Spike Lee talks about the problems with the “magical negro” in movies, an issue we noted with The Matrix.
• White savior narrative in film (Wikipedia): a definition of the white savior complex we spoke about on the show. This article lists The Matrix as an example of this, which is true, though we also don’t want to dismiss Keanu Reeve’s Chinese and Hawaiian heritage, we do acknowledge that he is white-presenting and his character Neo can certainly be seen as a white savior.
• Fluid Realities/Fluid Identities: Gender in the Matrix (Hannah Kuhlmann): in leanring that the Wachowski’s have since come out as trans women since they made The Matrix, Callie and Nichole tried to pay attention to themes of gender and identity in the movie, but this article does a much better, much more thorough job!
• Call Trans Opt: Transgender Themes in The Matrix (Ontological Geek): fascinating analysis of transgender themes in The Matrix.