The Matrix co-director Lilly Wachowski is once again taking aim at right-leaning audiences—this time by declaring that conservatives who use the term “red-pilled” are essentially embracing fascism. The comments surfaced during a recent interview highlighted by The Post Millennial, generating fresh debate about who really owns the cultural language surrounding The Matrix and whether its two creators understand the modern meaning of the phrase they helped inspire.
In the So True with Caleb Hearon interview, Wachowski (a biological male who identifies as a female) accused conservatives of twisting political language for their own purposes.
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in The Matrix (1999), Warner Bros.
“So right wing ideology appropriates absolutely everything,” Wachowski said. “They appropriate left wing points of view, and they mutate them for their own propaganda, to obfuscate what the real message is.”
That leads to the now-famous term “red-pilled,” which has become shorthand for the moment someone begins questioning establishment narratives. Conservatives have adopted it enthusiastically—much to Wachowski’s frustration. According to the filmmaker, this is no accident but part of a broader pattern.
“This is what fascism does,” Wachowski said. “And so, of course, that’s going to happen. They do it with absolutely everything.”
Lilly Wachowski speaks at an event – YouTube, Entertainment Tonight
Wachowski didn’t stop there, arguing that even basic discussions about biological sex are not legitimate, framing them instead as propaganda.
“This idea of, you know, putting scientific gender in the words of our, I mean, we’re, where are they putting this?” the dirctor asked. “‘There is only two biological genders.’ They’re calling it science, but it is not science, right?”
The irony, of course, is impossible to ignore. The term “red-pilled” originated directly from The Matrix, where choosing the red pill meant waking up to the truth about a constructed reality. That message resonated with audiences across the political spectrum long before Wachowski’s recent criticisms. Today, the phrase is commonly used to describe anyone—left, right, or center—who begins questioning elite narratives. But now Wachowski insists that the people most associated with the phrase today are somehow subverting its original meaning.
Lilly Wachowski being interviewed by Collider – YouTube, Collider
Wachowski went on to bemoan fan interpretations of The Matrix more broadly.
“I look at all of the crazy, mutant theories around the Matrix films, and the crazy ideologies that those films helped create, and I just go, What are you doing? No! That’s wrong!” Still, Lilly Wachowski admitted that creators can’t control how people interpret stories, whether liberal or conservative, saying, “You’re never gonna be able to make absolutely every person believe what you initially intended.”
For many conservative readers, these latest comments by Lilly Wachowski are likely to reinforce the very meaning of “red-pilled”: waking up to realities that powerful cultural figures prefer the public not question. The idea that everyday people who simply use a pop-culture term are “fascists” will strike most as a stretch—if not an outright attempt to shame political opponents into silence.
And this is where the cultural friction remains sharpest. The phrase red-pilled didn’t become popular because conservatives wanted to distort a movie’s message. It caught on because millions of people—across political lines—connected with the metaphor. A creator insisting audiences “got it wrong” long after the fact doesn’t erase 25 years of cultural impact.
Lilly Wachowski being interviewed by Collider – YouTube, Collider
If anything, Wachowski’s interview may only ensure the term remains alive and well. Every time an artist tells audiences they’re not allowed to interpret a story in a certain way, that audience tends to push back. It’s practically human nature. And that’s something no amount of scolding will change.
How do you feel about Lilly Wachowski and these comments about conservatives? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Unpopular opinion: the Matrix is overrated.
The matrix’s sucked.
HE is upset because HIS side is getting a taste of their own medicine. How many times has the woke left appropriated things to try and cash in on existing fandoms and to try and influence society? Too many for me to even keep count. How many often has that tactic failed miserably because it was forced (poorly) and completely misunderstood popular appeal?
Every. Single. Time.
Turnabout is fair play and I will personally continue to “appropriate” whatever woke idiots “create” and turn it against them. Just like how Pete Hesgeth turned Franklin the Turtle (a woke Canadian publisher’s icon) into a support meme for ICE’s efforts. To those on X that made all new ones to rip on Kids Can Press for their pathetic response? I salute you.
Woman: a costume
racism: not supporting racial hiring practices
sexism: not being a cuck
feminism: hating men
fascism: disagreeing with them
equality: treating people unequally
human rights: stuff they want
healthcare: trooning children, killing fetuses, and canadian style killing off people
empathy: narcissism
free speech: only when they agree
islamophobia: not wanting child rape
wealth redistribution: theft
The left invented word play.
[…] UP NEXT: The Matrix Creator Lilly Wachowski Attacks Conservatives Who Use the Term “Red-Pilled” […]
A fine article. 👍
Yes, this is Irony on top of more irony.
And, also, look at the Orwellian double-think of this biological (yes, you can’t change the sex of your cells) geezer.
This talentless freak is arguing that questioning the Establishment’s narrative is, somehow, “Fascism”.
It’s like the last part of, “war is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength”.
Remember, kids. Fascism was, and is, LEFT wing. (Total govt).
This mentally ill dude is the personification of cringe. He did provide a very useful analogy with the red pill and the fact that it bothers him makes it even better.
Another, subtler point, is that red is the colour of danger (due to the colour of blood / fire). e.g. signs like: ⛔ – DO NOT DO IT.
So, in the Matrix, the pill that makes us question the Establishment is the dangerous pill.
RED is DANGER. Do not take it is the message! Just get on with your lives, or you will end up in Hell (outside normal life).
I think that the directors were subconsciously, or even consciously, on the side of the traitorous guy with the goatee, arguing, “Look, I wish I had taken the blue pill. I could enjoy a juicy steak”.
(That corporate produced “steak” is now made of lab-grown meat is another irony entirely).
Maybe they wanted to punish NEO in the 2nd movie, by making the Matrix into something virtuous after all. But, Neo was so popular, they found they couldn’t get away with it. Which is why the sequel seems incoherent.
So, they accidentally made propaganda that was right-wing, not left wing, in the first movie.
I don’t understand why this article even plays along with this poor mentally ill person’s insane babblings about how people should call him Lilly and use feminine pronouns. Placating these people hasn’t worked in a single instance before, so why start now? Especially given the origins of both brothers attempts at changing their gender was instigated by an S&M dominatrix that took full control over their lives, it’s literally a case of two men being victimized by a bitter misandrist woman that got off by manipulating these mentally vulnerable people into forced feminization. They’re a great case study of what actually happens to all these people and clearly shows how behind every man “transitioning” there’s a scheming woman that’s pulling the strings.
Poor Andy. I think he’s regretting his decision to transition but hasn’t consciously come around to that fact.
I also can’t understand how he can claim fans don’t understand such a simple concept manifested in the red vs. blue pill. It isn’t rocket science. It wasn’t the deep, nuanced philosophical moment Andy thinks it was any more than the idea of the Matrix itself is some mind blowing revelation.
All creators see more weight and complexity in their own creations than those who ingest the creation. It is natural favoritism that they should recognize and consider before they say “My art is being misunderstood!”
They blame us for them taking their own lives, but you don’t need the validation of absolutely everyone if you know you made the right choice.
You appropriate a woman. Don’t lecture us about appropriation. They do not control our speech, and if we were as fascist as they made us out to be, we’d at least be able to do the stuff we want. Instead they indoctrinated children in schools and media, suppressed us on social media justifying it with “freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences”, and actively pushed for people to be fired. If he just let people appreciate his works, people wouldn’t care about his delusion.
They can never answer the question about how many genders has science discovered despite lecturing us about “muh science”.
If these dysgenics were so concerned about “fascism” they wouldn’t be so quick to character assassinate us. They do so because they know there is no consequences and that they’re a protected class. They call us fascists to justify their own persecution against us. This power fades so long as people stop consenting to the authority they never earned.