It’s been a while, but inspired by discussions I’ve been having with some friends of mine, I thought I’d offer a quick bit of manosphere-related silliness for you today, loyal readers. I’ll be briefly talking about a concept the manosphere (and the alt-right in general, for that matter) is so fond of: “The Red Pill.”

Essentially, it goes like this: Y’all remember the Matrix, where Neo takes the Red Pill from Morpheus and is released from the Matrix, which is the simulated world machines used to keep humans oppressed and separated from the real world? Well, according to the manosphere, pretty much all men today are living in a “Matrix” as well. Rather than a literal virtual reality world, the Manosphere’s Matrix is the (supposedly) false system of beliefs which delude the typical Western male. Things like “chicks love nice guys,” “women are as intelligent and capable as men,” and so on, and so forth. The only way to break free of those pernicious lies, according to the manosphere, is to “take the red pill,” which is just admitting that women are useless, subhuman parasites who enjoy being abused.

Yeah, OK, whatever. Even if I actually believed all that woman-hating nonsense (I don’t, for reasons outlined here), I still wouldn’t call it “taking the red pill,” as if it was some incredible revelation. These guys think they’ve been “lied to” by society, most notably Disney movies. Yeah, well, I never put much stock in the idealized Disney version of romantic relationships because, oh, I don’t know, most guys realize Disney movies are just cartoons when they’re past 10 years old. Sure as hell didn’t need some “red pill” to tell me that.

That’s not the funniest thing, though. Here’s the real irony: “The Matrix” itself is probably the worst example of “Red Pill” ideals I can think of, at least from the Manosphere’s point of view. I mean, you have to wonder if those guys actually watched the movie past the first half-hour or so. It’s chock full of “strong, capable women,” and at the end of the first one, Trinity even saves the main character, Neo, with a kiss and the ~*power of her love.*~ And to top it all off, one of the Wachowskis *is a transgendered woman.*

Hate to break it to the manospambots, but if you really believe women are that bad and you need a movie to represent that, you should *really* choose a different movie. A flick that portrays women in a positive light, made by a dude who later became a woman himself, doesn’t seem like the very best emblem for guys who hate women.

P.S: In b4 “White-Knight! Mangina!” As I’ve said before, I’m happy being single and feel no need whatsoever to “appease” women in any way. I just happen to hate hypocrisy and pretentiousness, and a group which goes on endlessly about how terrible women are while hijacking the iconography of a fairly pro-woman movie made by pro-woman directors strikes me as hypocritical indeed.

P.P.S:

Amusingly enough, just as I put the finishing touches on this entry I found a post elsewhere which made many of the same points. Check it out, I guess great minds think alike:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?723789-The-Wachowskis-films-have-spawned-two-social-movements-both-of-which-entirely-miss-the-point-of-said-films