- Movie director Lilly Wachowski has not taken kindly to a tweet by
Elon Musk and shared byIvanka Trump urging people to "take the red pill." - Wachowski replied to Trump reposting Musk's tweet by saying: "F--- both of you."
- The "red pill" phrase comes from
the Matrix movie trilogy directed by sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski, in which taking a red pill reveals the dystopian world as it truly is. - However, the phrase has now shifted to describe adopting more right-wing political leanings.
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The co-creator of "The Matrix" has slammed Elon Musk and Ivanka Trump for tweeting the "red pill" phrase that has its origins in the movie series.
Tesla CEO Musk tweeted "Take the red pill" accompanied with a red rose emoji on Sunday, and soon after was quote-tweeted by Trump with the reply: "Taken!"
Movie director Lilly Wachowski did not appreciate the reference, and responded to Trump's tweet by saying: "F--- both of you."
The idea of taking a red pill stems from the first "Matrix" movie, co-written and directed by sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski.
In the key scene, the lead character Neo is given a choice between taking a blue pill and a red pill. The red pill reveals the world of the movie as it truly is: a dystopian illusion.
But as Business Insider's Jake Swearingen explained, the "red pill" analogy has more lately been adopted by the alt-right as a way to describe a political awakening.
The phrase comes up frequently forums devoted to white supremacy, men's rights and support for President Donald Trump.
Musk has become a political renegade in recent weeks on the subject of coronavirus shutdowns, having described stay-at-home orders as "fascist" and making a string of tweets in late April demanding that the policy be reversed.
Trump's retweet of the "red pill" suggests that she believes Musk is moving closer to the Trump political worldview.
Wachowski, who is transgender, tweets most often in support of trans rights, but also has shared other anti-Trump opinions.
During the 2016 election, she tweeted an article critical of Trump voters, and in early 2019 retweeted a tweet that referred to the Trump-era Republican party as "motherf-----s" who "must be eliminated as a political entity."
Immediately after her reply to Musk and Trump gained attention, she followed it up with a request for donations to an organization supporting services for trans people.
Read the original article on Business Insider