red pill Meaning & Origin | Slang by Dictionary.com

Red pill comes from the popular and influential 1999 sci-fi action film, The Matrix. Theres a scene early on in the movie in which the main character, Neo, is offered two pills: a red one and a blue one. The red pill represents an awakening, but one that could be difficult and painful. Neos world will be changed uncomfortably if he takes the red pill, but hell be made aware of the truth of the world. The blue pill represents comfort and security. If he takes the blue pill, hell continue to live in blissful ignorance.

The concept has a precedent in the 1990 science fiction film Total Recall. In that film, one character offers another a red pill, said to be a symbol of his desire to return to reality. Theres no blue pill presented, however.

Red pill and blue pill have become slang, respectively, for accepting truth even though its difficult, or rejecting it to cling to a comfortable falsehood.

A more specific, and controversial, use of the term comes from anti-feminist and far-right groups online, many of whom are extremist and misogynistic. In 2012, the Reddit community The Red Pill was founded around the principle that it is men, rather than women, who are oppressed by a society. Taking the red pill, here, is seeing this anti-feminist truth.

Gaining prominence during the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, the alt-rightwhich sometimes overlaps with mens rights groups also adopted red pill.In this context, taking the red pillis seeing the truth that white nationalism is under threat from such things as socialism, feminism, immigration, social justice, and other aspects associated with liberal politics.

In May 2020, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted about taking the red pill; Donald Trumps daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, positively replied. Due to close association of red pills with anti-feminism and white supremacy, the tweets notably caused confusion and controversy.

Taken! https://t.co/Ng0S2OFC93

Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 17, 2020

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red pill Meaning & Origin | Slang by Dictionary.com