A painful, every day reminder that lunatics remain in charge
A preposterous movie trope still holds currency, more than two decades later
I am not sure if it is the age we live in or the circles I travel in—books, podcasts, and articles, etc.—but the proliferation of conversations about what of these different colored “pills” one must take to get through one’s life’s journey…well, it is way too much.
As a matter of speech these days, folks talk about taking either the “red pill” or the “blue pill.” These colors of pill describe one’s willingness—or lack thereof—to face truths which exist in this world.
Does one face the truth head-on or would he rather everything be hunky-dory and just coast through life without the potential of any problems arising?
Taking a pill to decide upon one’s fate or to put it on another track entirely is absurd.
Only in the movies.
I prefer the ostrich example that I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter. The ostrich—allegedly—will at least hide his head on a case-by-case basis and not commit his whole life to some “aMorpheus” cause.
The major problem with a red pill-blue pill discussion of any type is that these notions stem from a popular movie from the late-1990s—and a few of its sequels—none of which I cared for and all of which are of dubious intellectual heft or rigor.
None of my conclusions, however, are apparent to the masses at first-glance thanks to many of our mid-witted “intellectual class” who serve as the critics of cinema—as well as our thought-police and much more—within this society.
My eyes used to glaze over when someone brought up the notion that The Matrix had a deep philosophical foundation.
So, for almost two decades, I never seriously thought about the notion of a blue pill or a red pill. It wasn’t until the last few years that I found the pills themselves somehow became the key takeaway of that movie and has thus permeated a good segment of the moderately-intellectual conversations in our time.
I strenuously object to that notion—as Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway may have done in court, as well, if she served as my attorney for this cause.
So fed up with the brazen idiocy that surrounds her, she is left with little choice but to crack under the pressure.
Either way, The Matrix is a bad movie. Popular movie, but no, not for me.
I now rage—silently and/or in print—against claims that The Matrix is of any lasting value to the culture. It can be argued, probably more forcefully, that the franchise is a net negative on the culture today.
Technically, many consider it a good movie, and I don’t have much quarrel with that notion. In particular, I have a few friends who really like the nuts-and-bolts filmmaking of the (once and perhaps future) Wachowski brothers. But these are film buffs and film-makers, not casual fans of cinema…also a discussion for another day.
Surprisingly, the acting chops of Keanu Reeves are not the worst part of the franchise…and not by a long shot.
See for yourself. I’m happy to foster debate on this subject.
Watch for free on Amazon Prime. If you don’t have Prime, get it for free for 30 days…
So when the subject of colored pills comes up, I usually need to get on the Internet and figure out what these people are talking about. Perhaps writing this letter will help me figure out the colors better. No guarantee.
Now they are talking about black pills and white pills? Give me a break. Come up with another idea or metaphor or whatever else to get your point across.
When the folks who are into the “pills” talk about them, they do so confidently. When someone stops to ask what the colors mean…again and again…it is usually met with annoyance. “Everyone should know what the colors mean … [yadda-yadda-yadda] Matrix … but here is an easy way to remember…”
Well, I consider myself fairly intelligent—perhaps unwisely—and if I have to keep coming back to the wilds of the Internet to figure out all this stuff about pills and so forth, it is really not that “easy.” Granted, I don’t really want to know, so that internal struggle makes learning—or at least the retention—even more difficult with this subject.
I can’t imagine I am the only one.
Plus, the writer-director duo of the Matrix franchise—f.k.a. The Wachowski Brothers—are nuts. They were nuts then, when the trilogy first launched (1999-2003) and both had become certifiable as of 2021 when the fourth feature film installment of the franchise was released.
Though, as far as I can tell, only one of the ex-brothers worked on The Matrix Resurrections, but I am not entirely clear.
Just take a cursory look at the lives of “The Wachowskis” and what you’ll find is mostly appalling. I’d prefer to put my “head in the sand” than delve any deeper into the lives of these folks, yet I do it for my people so that you don’t have to.
Taking “philosophy lessons” from the Wachowski movies or the Wachowskis themselves? No thanks. They are warped individuals.
In 1996, the once brothers collaborated on the first major film of their own, Bound, and their careers took off. It was merely a step on the woke-ladder as critics praised the “courage” to feature lesbianism in a feature film. Whatever floats your boat.
Having not seen the movie since the late-1990s—and I can’t remember ever finishing it—my recollection was of gratuitous violence and sleazy, graphic raunch. Again, great if that’s what you seek in your cinematic experience. I want more (or less) out of mine.
I don’t recommend it, but if you want or need to watch it, you can get Bound on Prime.
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Based on the critical and financial success of Bound—$7 million at the box office on a budget of just $6 million—the brothers (at the time) were granted a $63 million budget for the first Matrix flick.
People liked something about the original Matrix, which earned a worldwide gross of over $460 million.
The second film, Matrix Reloaded, released in 2003, almost doubled both the budget and box office take of the original. Reports are a budget somewhere in the $125-$150 million range and a worldwide gross of over $740 million.
The third film The Matrix Revolutions, also released in 2003, but later in the year, had roughly the same budget as the second, but it’s box office was about the same of the first. Either way, a highly successful franchise, even though it was losing steam toward the end. I don’t believe I ever bothered to catch the third installment.
I also did not watch the fourth film, due to various policies such as the Fauci-era banishment of human beings from most movie theatres and my own general disinterest in the franchise at this point.
Yet, The Matrix Resurrections had the highest budget of all the films—not surprising since it was filmed two decades later alongside rampant inflation that has ravaged nearly everything in society. But so far Resurrections has lost money, taking in less than $160 million against a $190 million budget since its release in December 2021.
This is a long way of saying that, while I understand the blue pill-red pill thing a little better than before, talking about colored “pills” as it relates to one’s relationship with society needs to stop.
The talk of “pills,” in other words, is a childish approach to a legitimate topic of discussion, leaning on pseudo-intellectual jargon based upon a childish movie purporting to be serious. Not helpful.
I could be wrong, since I have no intention to go back through the franchise and pick it apart for its supposed genius. And a lot of people more intelligent than I use the notions of the “pills” to describe society’s connection with its individual people and vice-versa.
Still, it is unfortunate that a movie of, at best, a middling intellectual level is now—perhaps unknowingly to many of its participants—a catalyst for important discussions throughout society.
I think it is safe to say that not everyone talking about “pills” and such has seen the movies. A good segment of the “pill-poppers” probably haven’t even heard of Keanu Reeves.
That is almost beside the point however. Our goal here is to bring you “serious content amidst an unserious world.” The Matrix movies, on the other hand—I can’t speak to the last two installments because I haven’t seen them—merely LARP as serious subject matter.
We’ve got to do better as a society. We have to be better than speaking of the abstract concept of “pill-taking” to get a point across.
If one hasn’t the foggiest notion of anything about anything I have written above, consider yourself fortunate. Continue living your life like the Boss that you are. I mean it. We need more of you.
Furthermore, if you haven’t already, please tune in to our latest podcast with entrepreneur Sean Edrington.
We do not talk about pills of any kind.
It is a good conversation with a young entrepreneur who has staked out his own claim on the Internet (sure to be copied) and is at the front-edge of the latest content-creating trend.
Support Sean’s newsletters:
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Yours, Red-Pilled (?) or something like that,
Brian O’Leary