Begin Transmission: The trans allegories of The Matrix (paperback)
Release date June 27!
Begin Transmission: The trans allegories of The Matrix
by Tilly Bridges
Foreword by Jacyln Moore
186 pages
6x9
ISBN 9798887711256
Trans woman and screenwriter Tilly Bridges takes you through the trans allegories of the Matrix franchise, with deep dives into The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections, tracking one person’s transition journey - from Thomas Anderson, to Neo... to Trinity.
Each movie’s allegory is deeply layered, building from movie to movie, and speaks to a different aspect of trans existence. You’ll learn how color is used to convey more than you realize, how Neo’s psyche is personified in the people around him, how no other mass media franchise speaks as truly, deeply, and honestly to the trans experience, and exactly why these movies are beloved and vital to the trans community (and their cis allies).
Free your mind, and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
"Tilly Bridges writer with furious clarity and trenchant urgency. "Begin Transmission" is much more than film analysis; it is a determined call to action and a demand that we all tear away at the world that has been put before our eyes to see the truth of a far more complex and difficult, but, ultimately, fairer and more loving way of life."
-- Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Writer/Producer, "Lost," "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," "Cowboy Bebop," "The Middleman"“Tilly Bridges has written a book that is not just thorough and thoughtful but also unrelentingly full of love. For the material, yes, but also for the reader, the world we live in, and the hope that we might yet make a more compassionate society for all of us.”-- Jenn Court
Producer, "Leverage," "Marry Me," "The Player"
Coming Out Pod 242
Radio Seattle Gay News 56
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-56-tilly-bridges/id1571189421?i=1000607258484POPSKL special pop-up episode
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-up-begin-transmission-the-trans-allegories-of/id1568560985?i=1000609334017"Within the first chapter, Begin Transmission made me want to rewatch the Matrix. Tilly Bridges unlocks layers to the film that I hadn't seen before and made me feel like I understood my trans family members a little bit better."-Mary Robinette Kowal
Author, "The Spare Man,” The Glamourist Histories, The Lady Astronaut Universe, “Ghost Talkers”"It's obvious to trans readers that The Matrix is trans cinema, but Bridges shows why that matters: the trans sensibilities and themes of the series resonate far beyond the trans community, for art is most universal when it is most particular."-Maya Deane
Author, "Wrath Goddess Sing""A thoughtful, passionate deep-dive work that recontextualizes icons of modern sci-fi. It makes me go back and appreciate the movies in a whole new way."-John Rogers
Writer, "Transformers," "Leverage", "Marry Me"“Impossible to put down. A fascinating and illuminating analysis of a seminal piece of cinema. You will never see The Matrix the same way again. Tilly Bridges is offering you the red pill. Take it.”
-Geoff Thorne
Writer/Producer, "Magnum P.I.," “Power Book II: Ghost,” "The Librarians," "Leverage," "Avengers: Black Panther's Quest"“I thought I knew everything about The Matrix. I thought I knew all the ways in which transness informs the works of the Wachowski sisters. It turns out I had A LOT TO LEARN and I was lucky enough to learn it in Tilly Bridges’s remarkable book Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix, and not in the gutter, where I learn most things. If you’re interested in The Matrix or transness or both, Tilly’s book is a masterclass.”
-Lilah Sturges
Writer, Girl Haven