This feels like kind of a loaded question that would have a lot of different answers, and when taken from a personal view, none of them would be wrong essentially since one thing, one story, one image even, can mean a lot of things to different people. The difference between what it means to anyone else and what it was meant to mean by the creator is what matters. When speaking of The Matrix, one has to take into account that many trans fans are, at this time, of the mind that The Matrix has a great deal to do with Lana Wachowski’s transition as a transgender human being, and there’s a lot of truth to this, but the manner in which it’s laced into the movies is so convoluted that one might get rightly confused as the various meanings behind one scene and another. One of the absolute best ways to look at The Matrix movies is that they represent an awakening, as this could be far more inclusive than many are ready to admit, and it could leave the movies open in a way that would invite discussion and debate rather than make people decipher just what it is that’s being said.
One thing that any creator either ignores or can’t stand (sometimes ignoring is better) is the fact that many fans will seek to attribute their own meaning to a story and therefore assume that what they believe is what the creator was trying to say. This absolute belief that their description is one hundred percent right is all well and good so long as it remains their belief and isn’t foisted upon anyone else that might want to believe in a different idea that comes from the same story. The Matrix has been left wide open to speculation and theory over the years and many people have taken their explanations in a direction that might feel well out of bounds but still remains within the realm of feasibility when thinking about the main story.
One theme that has been noticed quite a bit by the trans community came in the recent release of Matrix: Resurrections, as the idea of Neo being controlled in order to create something that was a hit the first time alludes to the fact that Warner Bros. was apparently going to go ahead with or without Lana Wachowski when it came to this fourth movie. The idea that Neo finds himself in a spot where his own creation is being forced upon him in a way he doesn’t want but can’t escape carries a lot of meaning for many people. But the point is that many people take away different meanings from many elements of any given story, and The Matrix is one of those that a lot of people have derived a great deal of meaning from when it comes to their own lives, experiences, and everything that has gone into making them who they are. In this manner, quite a few people have come to believe that The Matrix is meant to convey the one thing that they happened to take from it when in truth it’s a movie series that carries a great deal of inspiration for pretty much anyone who watches it.
The idea that fans know more about a creation than the person who makes it however is kind of funny to think about since not only does the idea imply that the creator might have no knowledge of what they made, or why they did it, but it would also mean that the fans have some special insight into the character of the person doing the writing. In other words, when the fans think they know the creator of a favored franchise better than the creator knows themself, it’s a bit obvious that ego and expectation have taken over, and that fans believe that the creation now belongs to them. In a way, the books, movies, and music that people love to listen to do belong to them in the sense that they mean something and have inspired them in a very important way. But to cut the creator out of the mix, even a little bit, is hubris that exists on a level that’s worthy of an eye roll and a shake of the head.
It’s great to have fans, and it’s nice that fans take stories and gain meaning and inspiration from them, but unless the creator explicitly implies, or reveals, a certain belief or meaning to their creation, then the act of stating what the creator meant to say is a matter of opinion, not fact. Many people might be right on the mark when trying to deduce what is being said by an author, a director, or anyone who creates something, but until the creator affirms that belief, it’s simple opinion, not fact. The Matrix movies do mean a lot to quite a few people, but stating that the meaning is definitive would be tough if Lana Wachowski had been completely silent on the matter.
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