Elon Musk tweets about taking 'the red pill,' gets dunked on hard by 'The Matrix' creator

Another day, another Elon Musk Twitter drama.

Fresh off the heels of his widely criticised anti-lockdown rant from a couple of weeks ago, the Tesla CEO popped back up in our feeds on Sunday with yet another controversial post.

This time, it contained a reference that anyone who's seen The Matrix will be familiar with.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The thing is, the concept of "the red pill" is no longer just the stuff of science fiction. In the years since that movie came out, its meaning has mutated.

"Red pilling" is now a term that's associated with right-wing and conspiracy-focussed corners of the internet. In this context, "taking the red pill" might mean turning away from a liberal ideology, or even buying into conspiracy theories surrounding the likes of the so-called "deep state."

The red pill is also synonymous with misogyny. The subreddit of the same name, for instance, is quarantined on Reddit due to its "shocking or highly offensive content," much of which revolves around anti-feminism and an obsession with "female privilege."

Needless to say, Musk's tweet received a very mixed response. In total there have been over 26,000 replies at the time of writing, half of them slamming the CEO while the other half (which includes Ivanka Trump) celebrate his apparent political switch (Musk has previously suggested he's socially liberal in his beliefs).

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

A little over half an hour after Ivanka joined the conversation, Lilly Wachowski, one of the co-creators of The Matrix got involved, too. And she wasn't exactly thrilled with the way her plot device was being appropriated.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Wachowski, who identifies as transgender, followed that tweet up with a link to Brave Space Alliance, a Chicago-based Center that aims to "provide affirming and culturally competent services for the entire LGBTQ community of Chicago."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

No response yet from Elon Musk on that one.