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The first time I saw “The Matrix” (ages and ages ago, back in 1999) I had to wonder “Why the hell does Trinity dress like that?”
The question was not “Why would the Walchowski brothers *write* her dressed like that?” – easy enough for me to figure that out. Ha. Larry’ and Andy’s cyberpunk wet dream. Not much to wonder about that[1]. No, I wanted to know why the character would choose to dress in such an overtly sexual, attention-grabbing way. (Especially when she has to sneak into the Matrix, and lay low while she's there, anyway).
This was *way* before I knew what femme was, or had any idea what it meant.
Hell, I’d never heard of ‘genderqueer’, either. As such, I didn’t know quite what to make of Switch, the Other Woman, but only knew that I found that character fascinating in ways that the rest just, well, weren’t[2].
Anyway, now that I have a slightly broader vocabulary, I figured I briefly chat on the subject of queered gender presentation as it applies to Switch and Trinity in “The Matrix”. Bear with me, this is short, and possibly a little weird.
Fristly, Switch:
Switch is first introduced to us as an impatient probably-female (but not necessarily woman) threatening to shoot Neo in the head if he doesn’t co-operate. She/Zi is, fairly clearly, the ‘butch’ foil to Trinity’s feminine persona (last seen pressed against Our Hero, whispering in his ears about freedom and choice). You’d think she/zi was easy to figure out.
But two scenes later, Switch is shocking the hell out of us (or, well, me – maybe everyone else saw it coming. Or didn’t notice. Either way) because it turns out she/zi's got a girly little gold lamee bandeau top on under that sombre man’s suit.
Surprise!
Yes, Switch wears clothes that hide her/hir hips and flatten her/hir breasts, and yes, she/zi has a boy’s hair style.
But she/zi also wears high heels and check-out-my-awesome-legs skinny trousers when she/zi goes into the Matrix.
And, well, she/zi did pick the name ‘Switch’. That really should have been a tip-off. ;-)
For all that this character pretty obviously doesn’t let just anybody inside her/hir emotional walls, for all that she/zi presents as pretty damn serious most of the time, I think it’s possible that Switch looks at gender – and/or gender-presentation – as something fluid and to be played with.
I also think it’s possible that she/zi knows how much humans like to classify things – especially in a society like the one in the Matrix program – as either/or. By blurring the lines between masculine and feminine, she/zi can catch people off guard. That split-second of “huh??” might be enough to get her/hir safely away from (or through) a dangerous situation. A useful trick to have up her/hir soldier’s sleeve.
For further yammering – of a different sort – on Switch and gender, see This Entry.
And then there's Trinity:
Elizabeth Ruth (in “Quantum Femme”, one of the pieces in the 2002 anthology Brazen Femme) says that wardrobe is a weapon, a method of protection.
Because femme, among other things, is a presentation – the presentation of “too much woman for you to handle”. (“Touch me, and that hand will never touch anything again” (from M2), or “You don’t have the hardware to handle this software” - which was in an earlier draft of the M1 script – I think). It’s the presentation of “so hot I’ll incinerate you, if you get too close”.
A different type of armour, it’s a way of keeping people at a distance.
It’s also a method of distraction.
It’s dressing so that the men in power only see a good – if unattainable – lay, and end up with a false sense of security. (“I think we can handle one little girl”, from M1).
Trinity, I think, is well aware that a PVC cat-suit is as much a part of her arsenal as a 9mm or a scorpion kick.
On a related note: Theresa L. Geller has a wonderful article (“Queering Hollywood’s Tough Chick”) that talks about how characters like Trinity (and Switch, and the Oracle, as well as Charly Baltimore from “Long Kiss Goodnight”) flip heternormative cultural ideals on their heads through the queering of feminine gender identity.
I recommend that you all check it out. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
[1] That was before I saw “Bound”, before I realized that Larry and Andy knew what ‘femme’ was, and had an idea of what it meant.
[2] Yes, yes, Belinda's Very Pretty. So’s Keanu – in pretty much the same way, no less – but I can’t say I was mesmerized by Neo, despite his having extra screen time and a *lot* more lines on his side.
The question was not “Why would the Walchowski brothers *write* her dressed like that?” – easy enough for me to figure that out. Ha. Larry’ and Andy’s cyberpunk wet dream. Not much to wonder about that[1]. No, I wanted to know why the character would choose to dress in such an overtly sexual, attention-grabbing way. (Especially when she has to sneak into the Matrix, and lay low while she's there, anyway).
This was *way* before I knew what femme was, or had any idea what it meant.
Hell, I’d never heard of ‘genderqueer’, either. As such, I didn’t know quite what to make of Switch, the Other Woman, but only knew that I found that character fascinating in ways that the rest just, well, weren’t[2].
Anyway, now that I have a slightly broader vocabulary, I figured I briefly chat on the subject of queered gender presentation as it applies to Switch and Trinity in “The Matrix”. Bear with me, this is short, and possibly a little weird.
Fristly, Switch:
Switch is first introduced to us as an impatient probably-female (but not necessarily woman) threatening to shoot Neo in the head if he doesn’t co-operate. She/Zi is, fairly clearly, the ‘butch’ foil to Trinity’s feminine persona (last seen pressed against Our Hero, whispering in his ears about freedom and choice). You’d think she/zi was easy to figure out.
But two scenes later, Switch is shocking the hell out of us (or, well, me – maybe everyone else saw it coming. Or didn’t notice. Either way) because it turns out she/zi's got a girly little gold lamee bandeau top on under that sombre man’s suit.
Surprise!
Yes, Switch wears clothes that hide her/hir hips and flatten her/hir breasts, and yes, she/zi has a boy’s hair style.
But she/zi also wears high heels and check-out-my-awesome-legs skinny trousers when she/zi goes into the Matrix.
And, well, she/zi did pick the name ‘Switch’. That really should have been a tip-off. ;-)
For all that this character pretty obviously doesn’t let just anybody inside her/hir emotional walls, for all that she/zi presents as pretty damn serious most of the time, I think it’s possible that Switch looks at gender – and/or gender-presentation – as something fluid and to be played with.
I also think it’s possible that she/zi knows how much humans like to classify things – especially in a society like the one in the Matrix program – as either/or. By blurring the lines between masculine and feminine, she/zi can catch people off guard. That split-second of “huh??” might be enough to get her/hir safely away from (or through) a dangerous situation. A useful trick to have up her/hir soldier’s sleeve.
For further yammering – of a different sort – on Switch and gender, see This Entry.
And then there's Trinity:
Elizabeth Ruth (in “Quantum Femme”, one of the pieces in the 2002 anthology Brazen Femme) says that wardrobe is a weapon, a method of protection.
Because femme, among other things, is a presentation – the presentation of “too much woman for you to handle”. (“Touch me, and that hand will never touch anything again” (from M2), or “You don’t have the hardware to handle this software” - which was in an earlier draft of the M1 script – I think). It’s the presentation of “so hot I’ll incinerate you, if you get too close”.
A different type of armour, it’s a way of keeping people at a distance.
It’s also a method of distraction.
It’s dressing so that the men in power only see a good – if unattainable – lay, and end up with a false sense of security. (“I think we can handle one little girl”, from M1).
Trinity, I think, is well aware that a PVC cat-suit is as much a part of her arsenal as a 9mm or a scorpion kick.
On a related note: Theresa L. Geller has a wonderful article (“Queering Hollywood’s Tough Chick”) that talks about how characters like Trinity (and Switch, and the Oracle, as well as Charly Baltimore from “Long Kiss Goodnight”) flip heternormative cultural ideals on their heads through the queering of feminine gender identity.
I recommend that you all check it out. :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
[1] That was before I saw “Bound”, before I realized that Larry and Andy knew what ‘femme’ was, and had an idea of what it meant.
[2] Yes, yes, Belinda's Very Pretty. So’s Keanu – in pretty much the same way, no less – but I can’t say I was mesmerized by Neo, despite his having extra screen time and a *lot* more lines on his side.
