Don’t take the fascist pill, Neo: techno-orientalism, kung fu, and conspirituality in the afterlives of The Matrix

Released in 1999, The Matrix and its sequels rapidly became cultural touchstones and remain so today. However, 25 years on, we are faced with the question of how a film directed by two trans women with a headlining star of mixed Asian-Pacific heritage, strong women characters, and a supporting cast notable for its inclusion of Black American actors has been embraced enthusiastically by the emerging anti-feminist and white nationalist ‘alt-right’ and its culture of conspiracy theory. The Matrix has even provided this with some of its most potent metaphors (most famously, that of the ‘red pill’). I therefore explore the reception of the Matrix franchise in the context of the rise of right-wing conspiracy cultures, interpreting the formal properties and modes of viewing of the films, as well as their iconography and thematic content, through their appeal to the psychology of conspiracism. In particular, I explore the role of the franchise’s high-tech Orientalist kung fu warrior mysticism within this. The ‘New Age’ address of this imagery has fed into the phenomenon of ‘conspirituality’, a term which describes the increasing coincidence of extreme right-wing conspiracy thinking with the alternative space of mind-body-spirit practices. In this context, The Matrix’s concern with martial arts provides metaphors that re-imagine twenty-first century alienated digital labour, hacking, and conspiracy theorizing alike as activities of both rebellious glamour and spiritual purpose. These had a powerful resonance within the online spaces, such as 4Chan, within which the alt-right emerged.