Redpill and Bluepill: What does The Matrix have to do with misogynistic podcasts?

In the last week of February, the misogynistic remarks of influential Thiago Schutz became a police case. Your participation in an interview podcast The use of terms familiar to fans of the Matrix saga has been questioned: the red pill and the blue pill.

So how did the pills for Keanu Reeves’ Neon character gain new context within a sexist movement that fuels hatred against women?

Find out below what the Red Pill movement is, its relevance to the movie The Matrix, and the possible legal ramifications for tackling gender-based violence in Brazil.

What is the Red Pill movement?

The terms “red pill” and “blue pill” are used within right-wing and far-right movements to distinguish men who “fight against the system that supports women” from men who prefer to live ignorantly.

For red pill men, women gold diggers, selfish and unfaithful. Therefore, they deserve to be treated as sexual objects that serve the man’s desires and do not have the right to have a serious relationship with him.

You blue pill men are unaware of female manipulation. and therefore agree to date and marry women.

The redefinition of the terms “red pill” and “blue pill” assumes that feminism preaches the supremacy of women, whereas the movement actually fights for gender equality in society. The biggest proof that Machismo is still alive, but by wearing new clothes, it appears in annual surveys of gender violence conducted by public and private organizations of international importance.

in Brazil, 3 A woman is murdered every day, 26 women are subjected to physical violence every hour, and a girl or woman is raped every 10 minutes. The data was collected in 2021 by the Brazilian Forum of Public Safety, a non-profit organization that promotes discussions on important social issues such as gender-based violence.

It is worth remembering that the culture of violence against women goes beyond physical aggression. The pay gap, the reproductive rights debate, and the lack of access to quality education paint a very different picture from the ideology of the red pill men.

If the system is made for the benefit of women, how to justify the substantial difference in access to opportunities given to the men and women of our society? It is possible to realize from this conversation that the notion of the pill of true knowledge of the world enshrined in the Matrix has been subjected to a great distortion by the extreme right.

How does misogyny relate to the Matrix?

In The Matrix, one of the iconic scenes of the main character Neo became a fertile ground for misogyny: the moment when he had to choose which of the two pills to take. The blue pill would allow Neo to continue living in the illusion, while the red pill would help him see the reality of the world he lived in.

A Appropriation of “Matrix pills” by the far-right began in 2014, with the Gamergate movement in the United States. At the time, online forums 4chan and Teddit were awash with misogynistic discussions, where online gamers theorized about women’s infidelity and the alleged sexual and moral oppression that men have to face but women don’t.

Both the cast and The production of The Matrix has already positioned themselves against this kind of rereading of the film. In an interview with UOL, actress Eréndira Ibarra (Lexy) stated that the new movie “Matrix Resurrections” came at the right time to reverse the use of metaphor in her first feature film.

The director of the legend, Lana Wachowski, constantly speaks out through her social networks against hate speech that uses the Matrix as a reference.

Understand the Coach “Red Pill” controversy

On February 3, coach Thiago Schutz participated in an episode of the Buteco Podcast, an interview program that describes itself as “light bar chat”.

During the conversation, Schutz exposes sexist views and cites a case that shows “how women try to shape men.”. Since Aries would already be drinking Campari, he reported that a woman would decline an offer to have a beer – this would prove to be an “authentic” and “authentic” man’s attitude.

Three days later, the repercussions of the enrollment cuts took over social media as the terms “coach do Campari” and “calvo do Campari” went viral.

One of the most viral reactions on Instagram was the reels of actress and screenwriter Lívia La Gatto. In the video, artist plays a character and satirizes sexist lines As with Schutz, the number of men who spread hatred towards women, but not directly mentioning the coach.

The video went viral on the internet. The original post has over 1 million views, 128k likes and 7230 comments, along with replications on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.

Disturbed by the content of the humorist, Schutz harassed La Gatto by phone and threatened with text From the player’s instagram account “Remove posts about me within 24 hours. After that, case or bullet. The choice is yours”.

Lívia La Gatto did not succumb to Schutz’s threats and recorded a police report that went to the 27th DP of the São Paulo Civil Police last Tuesday (28) to file a criminal complaint against the defendants.

In addition to the player, two other women reported experiencing the same type of violence It’s from Schutz. Andressa Ricci says the influencer tried to call via Instagram and sent repeated voices of threats to Lívia. This approach also happened to Bruna Volpi after she posted a video about “The Man from Campari.”

The influencer defended himself through a video on social networks and on his website. Shutz says it’s often misunderstood because he communicates using too much slang and profanity and can’t shoot someone.

Influencer also says that the phrase “meet me” would mean “we will solve” (the situation) and that sending the message was the result of weeks of being hacked on the internet.

Campari Brasil also made a press release. A The beverage brand mentioned in the podcast has released a disclosure note reject any relationship with the coach and condemn any prejudicial or violent actions.

Who is Thiago Schutz?

Thiago rose to fame after participating in the Netflix reality show. perfect lovein 2020. Schutz advertises himself as a writer, speaker, and presenter on his website. Mentoring for those who have relationship or masculinity problems.

Influential, her Instagram profile posts biased advice and content on Manual Red Pill, such as “a man’s purpose always exceeds a woman’s purpose”, “your wife may cost more than a call girl” and “a woman returning”. commuting for hours may not work for a serious relationship”.

The image of the ideal of women, reinforced by Thiago Schutz’s speeches, is the stereotype of a sweet, well-behaved, childless woman who does not dress short and does not go to clubs.

What does the law say about misogynistic attacks?

Article 20 of the law no. 7716 in Brazilian legislation punishes those who commit discrimination or prejudice because of the victim’s race, colour, ethnic origin, religion or national origin. Hate speech can then be framed and result in imprisonment.

Despite misogynistic attacks that fuel misogyny, gender discrimination has not yet been envisaged by law. Lawyer Camila Granado, member of the Commission for the Study of Gender-Based Violence (CEVIGE Maringá), explains that there are bills that seek to exemplify this gender bias, but are still in the process of being passed by Congress.

The gender-based violence expert explains:devices we currently have in individual spacecapable of structuring acts of violence, such as wounding, defamation and psychological violence”.

The penalty prescribed in these cases is detention, but the periods are shorter than imprisonment.

The lawyer repeats, “Penalties depend on the crime committed by the accused. Since the act of speaking misogynist has not yet been typed, it is necessary to examine it on a case-by-case basis in order to give the most appropriate punishment.”

For To denounce hate speech against women, it’s worth checking. The Guidebook for Victims of Hate Speech has been produced by the FGV Direito Rio Law Enforcement Cores’ Fundamental Rights Legal Counseling Laboratory (LADIF) and the Rio de Janeiro Public Defense Bureau.

The training material explains step by step how to find out if the woman is a victim of hate speech and what to do to formalize the complaint to the competent bodies.