Anyone who knows me knows that my all-time favorite film is The Matrix. And anyone who has ever watched it knows the scene where Neo, the main character, is offered a choice between the now-iconic red pill and blue pill. The blue pill would allow him to remain blissfully ignorant in the Matrix's illusion of reality, while the red pill would lead to his escape and give him access to the painful reality of the real world.
"You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
―Morpheus to Neo, The Matrix
The significance of that scene has ultimately come to define my life and love for social justice. Why? Because I have chosen the metaphorical red pill.
I often imagine that activists and social justice advocates have taken the red pill, choosing to "free their minds" from the social coercion that structures and dominates our lives. Analysts and free-thinkers like us feel like we've found a path to freedom, deconstructing everything that might help us understand humanity and the human condition a little better. This is the the red pill perspective—seeking the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be.
Always observant, my attention to detail has encouraged me to pursue journalism and has helped to sharpen my feminist lens; but it's that same level of awareness that so often causes my distress.
My awareness of institutional racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism and privilege among other issues at both macro and micro levels has opened my eyes to the illusion of our so-called "progressive" society. And once you're socially aware, there is no going back. You can't "unsee" and "unknow" the ugly truths. I see the repercussions of social inequality and watch functionalism work in favor of the white, heterosexist majority every single day.
I wish I could just flip the switch and shut it off sometimes, but I can't.
The fight for equity will never end and my agenda for social change will never shrink—a struggle that activists and feminists know all too well—but being socially aware is a powerful and fulfilling feeling that is unique to individuals who constantly absorb the world's issues at large. I'd choose enlightenment over oblivion any day. My mind has been freed and there is no going back, there's just moving forward from here.
The fight for equity will never end and my agenda for social change will never shrink—a struggle that activists and feminists know all too well—but being socially aware is a powerful and fulfilling feeling that is unique to individuals who constantly absorb the world's issues at large. I'd choose enlightenment over oblivion any day. My mind has been freed and there is no going back, there's just moving forward from here.
Until next time,
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment