Anyway, I like the tribute to this great movie! And, to be quite contrary, I actually enjoyed Reloaded. Of course, it pales in comparison to the first one, but it was WAY better than the third. (C’mon, the twins were freakin’ badass!)

And I’m not one of those “wow I’m so old” people. I didn’t see it ’til 2003, and the only thing I remember about it before then was everybody in my elementary school saying “matrix!” to anything cool. But my whole perspective changed after watching it. It really was a life-changing movie and it played an important role in finding my “identity” as a teenager.

Yes, I did feel old when this anniversary rolled around. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one. Time’s not just measured in years, but which years, and, to put it very damned mildly, a whole fuck ton of a lot happens between 16 and 26, between 9 and 19 or between 20 and 30, and let’s not even talk about the time from 1999 to 2009.

Seeing a milepost, a big event that signposted that time and mindset, reminds us that the past is real.

Looking through these comments, I’m confirmed in the belief that I don’t think the Wachowskis entirely knew the impact of what they had.

In some ways it’s the mother of all mash-ups, before the word was even really in use. But that’s what a lot of art is these days. To some extent, it’s been throughout history, we just don’t see the strings as clearly now, because no much old culture recedes over the years.

But now there’s so many subcultures, genres and styles to draw from, and so much information to trace back, that we can see the webs clear back through the decades or even just the months. At the touch of a button, we can trace the genealogies and sources in ways undreamt of before.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think humans are any more or less original now than they ever were (doubt it? Research the sources behind most of Shakespeare’s plays). There’s a lot more potential inspiration to work with, cultures that before were much harder to bring together. Eclectic works can still be just as horribly botched (Equilibrium, anyone?), but beautiful fusions are easier than they’ve ever been.

What also surprised me is how many people went out and did something, inspired in part by a frickin’ movie. I’d dabbled in the internet in the years before the Matrix, but it got me delving into anime and a whole variety of subcultures that, living where I did, I’d barely known existed. It’s been for the best, trust me.

And yes, Trinity will always remain one of my all-time favorite fictional heroes.

P.S.- The day after this post, xkcd caught on weighed in.

RE: Sci-Fi heroines
Aren’t we forgetting inarguably, the best one of ALL time? It has to be Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley from the Alien trilogy. Strong, kick arse, intelligent while still being sexy, but also sensitive and still in touch with her feminine side without turning to mush for a man. Trinity is sharp, hot and kick-arse but she was a bit mushy when it came to Neo with the One thing.

I saw the trailer, was completely blown away and dragged a few of my nerd friends to the cinema to go and see it. It was an awe-inspiring spectacle that had us talking for weeks.

It had a profound nurturing effect on me. My love of Asian action/martial arts cinema was already blossoming, I’d recently discovered cyberpunk as a literary genre and my own musical tastes were already growing in that techno/industrial/metal/whatever (I’m awful at/hate classifying music) direction. The Matrix took everything I loved, rolled it into one awesome whole and let me know that computer geeks could kick arse too. It even starred Ted!

I find it hard to answer the question “What is your favourite movie?” but I was once asked the much simpler “Which movie have you watched the most?” and The Matrix is definitely in that spot.

I’m still a geek.

If you think about it, not much has changed. Women are STILL just sex objects in far too many films. That being said, I was 9 when I saw it and had the biggest crush on Trinity…but she was equal measures hot and AWESOME.