Or we really are in The Matrix …..
(extract)
"The Matrix may not have invented the idea of “waking up” to a new reality, but it certainly popularized it. We still see the film’s cultural footprint within our modern-day blockbusters, and the ideas and iconography of the film still thrive through internet memes. Looking back, it feels like the beginning of the cynicism that has become commonplace in our suspicious, conspiracy-theorising era.
It’s been known for years that Lana Wachowski is a transgender woman, but last year Lilly, Lana’s sibling, also came out as a transgender woman, leading to speculation that Neo’s story is in fact, a secret allegory for transitioning into a new gender. While I don’t believe the Wachowski’s included a transgender theme in The Matrix intentionally, it’s fascinating to rewatch the film in the light of their shared transition, and speculate on how the burden of their secret identities may have influenced their story.
The Matrix pulls inspiration from an incredible range of sources; anime, ancient philosophy, religion, and high-concept sci-fi. But no matter the intellectual and creative influences, the foundation of all great stories are based on personal experience.
Neo spends the majority of the film feeling out of place, haunted by the sensation that the reality he lives in, is ever so slightly off. He can’t put his finger on it, he tries to drive the thought out of his mind, but the feeling is inescapable. He is not the same as everyone else.
Neo lives two lives. One life is that of a mindless drone trapped an office cubicle, the other a hacker pursuing online havoc under his preferred alias, “Neo.” One conforms to and is trapped by, the norms of society, the other a free spirit with a new name. It’s worth noting that the authority figures and aggressors in Neo’s life refuse to call him by his chosen name, always referring to him as “Mr. Anderson.”
Eventually, Neo awakens, and is quite literally reborn, tearing himself from the mechanical womb and forging a new identity." (cont.)
www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/04/30/looking-back-at-the-subtle-gender-politics-of-the-matrix/#1613eded6210