#Red and blue pill in the matrix series
#Red and blue pill in the matrix tv

While in narrative terms, there’s a choice of pills, in structural terms, there’s no choice: viewers have to take both. At the time the first film dropped, in 1999, the most widely prescribed oestrogen for trans women in the US was Premarin – a red pill. This was a thing even before the films’ directors, the Wachowskis, transitioned. It’s ironic that the other subculture to have embraced The Matrix franchise is trans people, particularly trans women, for whom it’s a story about coming out.

It’s both ironic and not that the main subculture to have adopted this language is extremely online men, who want to believe that everything they’ve been taught about how the world works – and, in particular, how gender works – is all a scam to which they have woken up. There’s a whole subculture that already imagines itself as ‘red-pilled’. If you accept that the films are real, then you accept that The Matrix exists, so you’re in it and, paradoxically, compelled to choose your pills. Which, of course, is a double-bind: even to acknowledge these films exist makes it impossible to not take a pill. They’re written with an ‘I don’t buy it’ tone. Courtesy: Warner BrosĪ lot of reviews of the most recent film in the franchise, The Matrix Resurrections (2021), profess to take neither. In narrative terms, it’s red pill versus blue pill but, structurally, the choice is actually to take both pills – or neither. To enjoy the world of The Matrix, we must accept this conceit of an exit from the simulation, within what is obviously a pure extrusion of it. ‘Welcome to the desert of the real,’ as Morpheus says to Neo (Keanu Reeves) when he takes the red one, stealing a line from Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation (1981).

#Red and blue pill in the matrix series

“Given that enthusiasm, and the very nature of what the Matrix story and settings are about, an NFT program seemed perfect,” Lifford adds.My favourite meme from The Matrix film series (1999–ongoing) has an incredulous Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) ask: ‘What do you mean you took both pills?’ In the narrative arc, the blue pill takes you to the simulated world the red pill is your exit. Larva Labs, the creator of CryptoPunks and other projects like Meebits, have signed with UTA for film, TV, and gaming representation, while some high-profile NFT owners, like the pseudonymous “0xb1,” have signed with agencies to represent some of their acquisitions. Some of the NFT avatar projects, like CryptoPunks, are seeing examples sold on the open market for the equivalent of millions of dollars, with owners using their avatars across social media platforms and elsewhere. However, the avatar-centric theme of the Matrix project is a differentiator, as the characters consumers will buy aren’t from the movies at all, but rather live in that universe.

#Red and blue pill in the matrix tv

In October, Lionsgate released NFTs based on the killer traps from the Saw franchise, while ViacomCBS says it is planning to release NFTs based on its film and TV IP. Fox, meanwhile, has already released its first FNT project tied to The Masked Singer, and is planning an animated series, Krapopolis, that will be “curated on the blockchain,” according to the company. NFTs have become a popular experiment for IP owners, with Fox Corp., Lionsgate and ViacomCBS among the companies signing on to NFT projects. “It’s another touchpoint for fans to engage, and another way we can entertain and provide great content.” “If you think about all the ways fans of content can interact with their favorite characters and stories in 2021 - retail stores, theme parks, social media, collectibles, online shops - digital art and collectibles are certainly on that list now,” she says.