The red pill has also been taken on by the alt-right, as well as conspiracy theorists and white supremacists, according to New York Magazine. Vulture reported that sexual frustration is also a driving force for red-pillers' vehement anti-feminism beliefs.

To put it simply, the average Red-piller thinks, 'Feminism: bad.' The term was popular amongst men's rights activists and birthed the subreddit r/TheRedPill in 2012. According to The Guardian in 2016, the 'truth' that men's rights activists have supposedly been awakened to is a world dominated by women, where men can't express their issues without fear of retribution. The term was originally used to describe people who were aware of the 'unpleasant truths' of the world, but it has widely been used by conspiracy theorists and subsequently, the men's rights movement. It also speaks about the red pill/blue pill dichotomy serving as a metaphor for estrogen hormone therapy, which Chu points out was literally a red pill in the 1990's.ĭespite the narrative of the film being loaded with trans subtext, the 'red pill' has taken on a vastly different meaning online, especially in terms of men's rights activists.

Netflix broke down so many of the allegorical references, including Keanu Reeves' character Neo taking on a new name and subsequently renounces his deadname. Not only is the pill literally Neo’s gateway to seeing the world as it is and the systems built to define and control his identity, but it’s also an apt metaphor for hormone therapy. And then there’s the whole red pill, blue pill connection.

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