Black Book Corner: The Matrix and The Terminator Stolen…?

Wake up Neo…three words that dominated the playing field of Cinematography for decades, shaping the industry as we know it (which influenced a racist media concept called Asian-Futurism but that’s another topic…) And a 1999 sci-fi movie that somehow was able to use the color green in every shot imaginable. I’ll be honest, the book I am going to be mentioning is not really the focal point of this article, the author is- Sophia Stewart.

Stewart, self proclaimed Mother of The Matrix, is a journalist whose ideas are navigated by the gospel and possibly the simulacra, used these ideas to influence the way she sees the world and her writing. Her book titled The Third Eye, is a take on biblical futurism, which possibly was stolen to create The Matrix and The Terminator. I have never seen The Terminator, partially because of the lack of Keanu Reeves. I also really only enjoyed The Matrix because of the leather trench coats and aesthetics, so as you go down this rabbit hole- we will be falling in it together! (Matrix pun not intended but kept in). To begin my few hours of research I decided to scour the most reliable source any teen of our day can rely on, TikTok. As you probably imagined, I found nothing but uncredited claims and unnecessary millennial zoom in screams.

I switched my journey to YouTube, where I uncovered three videos that could possibly aid me with the story of Stewart. The first one being well edited but VERY biased. It started with him reading the book and insulting Stewart multiple times, shooting down all her claims and ending with his immature and intolerable review of The Matrix that reminded me of a male Film Major. The second video was heavily knowledgeable, including the woman herself! A half hour interview full of interruptions from the interviewer and some slivers of background about Stewart’s upbringing. She mentions her grandmother being a Shaman from a Cherokee Native Reservation in Missouri, which unsurprisingly and sadly prompted a 40 second spiritual character read for the interviewer’s entertainment. As I slowly began to lose hope in humanity, I stumbled upon a two hour long zoom interview. This changed everything. After plodding through many racist comments and transphobic opinions, I was able to discover that Sophia Stewart has a degree in Journalism and a double major in Law and Psychology at CSU and NYU. This, piled up with raving reviews from professors, inspired her to write her novel, The Third Eye. Written in 1980, The Third Eye covered everything from Aliens to a prophecy involving a Jesus-like boy being born to save the future? Soon after, a call for sci-fi scripts was published by an unnamed studio, thus the submitting of the Third Eye idea! As you could probably guess, it was denied, but soon after in 1999, a new movie titled The Matrix was being released by Warner Bros. directed by the Wachowski sisters. A few years later, The Terminator. Stewart states that both were stolen concepts, The Terminator being a prequel series to The Matrix, all created by her. In the early 2000’s she filed lawsuit to both companies on Copyright Infringement, which she states, “Was not an ownership dispute but a criminal case.” She lost the case deemed by “Ruling on ‘striking similarity’ grounds but noting close tie to ‘independent creation' ”. Stewart also claims that she held a case on September 25th, 2014, where she proclaims she won. With no special billing made to her, the companies offered her a Copyright claim check of 5-7 million dollars.

She refused. Now, after all that lawyer talk it seems we are getting wound up in the story, did they steal her idea? Did she ever get her money? Why was Will Smith offered the role of Neo?! To that I say, I have a small idea of what happened. Stewart writes her book, submits to companies, companies possibly use her idea, she gets no money, gets to advise scripts of The Matrix: Resurrections. Many fans believe this timeline since every movie after the first Matrix was “crap”. I like to believe that her ideas influenced both movies, The Terminator and The Matrix. It isn't hard to believe that a Black woman's influence gets silenced, in something she compares to ‘The Untouchables' and works of Al Capone, etc. Though I disagree with a lot of their ‘ideas', I enjoy the thought that a Black woman paved the way for the future of film, and two Trans Women directed it. So what does this mean for these movies? I’m not sure either. Maybe one day Sophia Stewart will build her case and get her deserved money, or maybe we will keep getting The Matrix until one day all the buckled platform boots of the world cease production.

Personally, I look forward to a future where Black voices are uplifted, especially when they deal with major film series like these! I think it's ironic how she is treated in the media and how hypocritical it is for her to belittle other minorities. Though, I heard our former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, gave her a call and thanked her for everything so I like to think that counts as a happy ending.