Happy 2022! Thanks for sticking around— I hope the coming year brings plenty of joy and many excellent films. Spoilers ahead for The Matrix (1999). No spoilers for Reloaded, Revolutions, or Resurrections.
The Matrix has easily one of my favorite opening scenes in cinema history. It’s the perfect introduction to the film, and it’s owned completely by Trinity, hair slicked and leather-clad, who wastes no time in performing a scorpion kick so powerful it’s been lodged in my brain for more than a decade.
When I saw The Matrix as a ten-year-old, Trinity was basically the end-all be-all. Besides her action chops and ability to rock a leather corset like nobody else, I loved Trinity because she radiates competence— devastating competence. She’s the Nebuchadnezzar’s heart, Morpheus’s most trusted confidant, and a real believer, not just in Neo or the prophecy, but in the righteousness of her rebellion and the need for her cause.
Over twenty years later, Trinity holds up. And I find that the more that I watch The Matrix (which is a LOT), the more I love Trinity for her relatability, not her unattainability. We first meet Trinity as an undeniable badass. She’s the woman who single-handedly takes out two police units. The woman who cracked the IRS d-base. The woman who has answers in a world with only questions. But even with all of that under her belt, Trinity is, to be blunt, a disaster when it comes to Neo. Who doesn’t know the feeling of acting stupid in front of a crush? We can all take comfort in the fact that even Trinity (Trinity!!!) isn’t immune to this effect. She’s only human, after all.
Let’s take a tour through Trinity’s greatest romantic hits:
Starts the film taking an extra shift to surveil Neo. Look, I’m loathe to agree with Cypher, but it’s not exactly subtle
Neo asks Trinity what the Oracle told her. Trinity responds, “She told me”, then just stops talking. Smooth.
Neo confesses he isn’t the One, and Trinity says he must be. When Neo asks why she’s so convinced he’s the One, she won’t say. It’s like, if there’s a time to give Neo a confidence boost about being the One, it’s probably before the suicide mission
After rescuing Morpheus, Neo and Trinity are finally about to exit the Matrix. The phone between them rings loudly, but Trinity stops them from picking up. She’s beginning to confess something, but she’s stumbling over her words, and moments later a Smith arrives on the scene. I love Trinity, but timing— she doesn’t have it
If you can hear this picture, you, too, have been traumatized by Trinity’s bad timing Neo is dead. Trinity says, “I’m not afraid anymore. The Oracle, she told me that I'd fall in love and that man, the man I loved would be the one. So you see? You can't be dead, Neo, you can't be because I love you”. The “I’m not afraid anymore” line always makes me laugh a little, because, girl?? Neo is literally DEAD?? If your fear of rejection is so bad that your crush has to be dead for you to reveal your feelings, you might want to work on your emotional expression
These moments endear me to Trinity with their humor and humanity, but over the years, I’ve come to suspect that they’re also the true heart of The Matrix. This movie receives a lot of rightful credit for being cutting edge sci-fi and a fabulous action thriller, but I rarely see The Matrix held up as a romance, and that’s a crying shame.
When Neo meets the Oracle in one of the film’s core scenes, she offers this wisdom:
“I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Being the One is just like being in love. Nobody can tell you you're in love. You just know it. Through and through. Balls to bones.”
This sets up a key theme of The Matrix, which is the difference between knowledge and belief. Intellectually understanding something isn’t enough; you have to know it so deeply, believe it so truly that you’re willing to put stakes on it. When Morpheus tells Neo, “What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are— know you are”, it’s a push towards instinct over intellectualism. When Neo fails the jump program, it’s not because he doesn’t understand that the Matrix does not control him. It’s because he doesn’t yet believe it.
The real brilliance of the Oracle’s speech, however, is the line “Being the One is just like being in love.” It’s not a throwaway comparison but a deliberate deepening of the original theme, linking belief to love and thereby upping the emotional stakes of the film in one fell swoop. We learn later that the Oracle told Trinity that she would fall in love and that the person she fell in love with would be the One— I love that the message the Oracle gives Neo, however many years later, is a direct parallel to that.
Despite being so ground-breaking, The Matrix follows a classic story structure: a seemingly average man turns out to be very special, and he must face the burden of responsibility - and greatness - that is thrust upon him. It’s a tried and true recipe, but by connecting being the One to being in love, the film inextricably intertwines Neo’s and Trinity’s path to belief with their relationship. This saves Trinity from being a passive romantic lead who falls in love with Neo because of his special abilities— it is because Trinity falls in love with Neo that he can realize his path to being the One.
Take the moment the characters in the film become convinced of Neo’s power. When Tank exclaims, “I knew it! He’s the One” and when Morpheus finally asks, “Do you believe it now?”, it’s not when Neo dodges an Agent’s bullets or even when he rescues Morpheus. Instead, those pivotal lines follow the breathless moment when Neo realizes Trinity’s helicopter is falling too fast, and he wraps the attached paracord around his arm again and again without hesitation. It’s an unthinking act of love for Trinity, one that bypasses all rational thought or conscious cognition— it’s an act of belief.
Call me a romantic, but there’s also a reason that Neo’s true moment of becoming is crosscut with Trinity’s confession of love. It’s not Neo’s own belief in his superiority or his powers that revives him. It’s his belief in his love for Trinity and Trinity’s love for him that allows him to finally put mind over Matrix, thereby breaking all the rules the movie so carefully set up for us.
For all that this movie is a dystopian future packed to the brim with genre goodness, it also inherits a classic fairytale moral: the power of love. It’s beautiful in its simplicity, and I think it’s a big part of what makes The Matrix so compelling and endlessly generous. And if you’re still looking for proof that love is what’s at the heart of this film and that this is as much Trinity’s story as it is Neo’s— the door Neo happens to be resurrected in front of? It’s number 303.
Culture Crumbs
Shout out to my lovely friends, several of whom I finally managed to peer pressure into watching The Matrix in 2021. Grateful for all of you
Some more literal crumbs this issue: I can wholeheartedly recommend Claire Saffitz’s baking cookbook Dessert Person, and the many hours of accompanying YouTube content
In honor of rewatching The Phantom of the Opera (the Gerard Butler version, of course), I want to share some of the most iconic POTO content ever created
So when other people wear a mask, stay inside a lot, and start giving singing lessons on the side, they're "dealing with a global pandemic." But when I, the Phantom of the Opera,
I might just need to create a segment for Zendaya’s red carpet looks, because she keeps on serving
like oh my god!! oh my god!! oh my GOD!!
That’s all for this issue! Thanks for reading, and as always, please consider subscribing if you enjoy this content.