#catrix

Livia: Oh hey Catrix. Do you want a little cuddle?

Young, old, and everyone in between, all bodies were fidgeting with excitement throughout the previews as the house lights went down and the Matrix green glow of the emergency exit was replaced by the Matrix green glow of iconic lines of code.

During a flashback of the movie, a teenager whispers to their family member "is that [young Neo] really Keanu Reeves too!?" I have to try to keep from laughing, until they're stunned into silence by Carrie Anne Moss. (I struck up a conversation afterwards with the older family members and recommended Sense8, and they recommended other sci-fi. It was a rare moment: I felt like I could connect — mentally bridging the physical distance— with strangers over a common fandom during the hellish pandemic.)

Then I hear someone else let out an "ahhh" and a heartfelt sigh when they see the oracle and the words resonate in my chest "no one can tell you you're in love you just know it, balls to bones."

But I think, most legendary of all, is when a certain four-legged glitch comes onto the screen, and a fiery, middle aged woman by the bourbon octave of her voice, exclaims "Puto gato otra vez!" No one in the theater had to speak Spanish, it was such a UNIVERSAL MOOD that the entire theater laughed like a breaking sea. From now until I'm grey, when I rewatch any of these films I will remember that wonderful back row oracle, and think "PUTO GATO!"

And when gravity was defied, awed and reverent fists punctuated the air.

The Matrix is iconic. So are the film fans who love it.