What is the Matrix? Are we in it? If so, how do we get out? Unless you’ve been living under a rock this past year, you’ve probably heard of Andrew Tate. Son of international chess master Emory Tate, he is a four-time kickboxing world champion. Andrew and his brother, Tristan, have appeared on a variety of reality TV shows, including Shipwrecked and Ultimate Traveller. In 2016, Andrew was a contestant on the seventeenth season of Big Brother UK. The first housemate ejected from the house, he was abruptly removed from the show by production “due to events in the outside world.” When asked about his removal, producers cited a video that showed Andrew hitting a woman with a belt. Both parties in the video claimed that the actions were consensual, and it would later be reported that his removal was actually caused by an ongoing police investigation that was closed in 2019 with no charges filed. In 2017, following the rise of the #MeToo movement and subsequent downfall of Harvey Weinstein, Andrew made remarks on Twitter, suggesting that victims of sexual assault “bear some responsibility” and cannot count themselves as victims if they “exchanged sex for opportunity.” But, this was just the beginning of his online tirades, as he would go on a media tour, appearing on numerous podcasts to discuss his controversial views. Along with a webcam business that Andrew and Tristan operated, recruiting their girlfriends as employees, the brothers founded Hustler’s University, an online course intended to teach students how to make money. Through affiliate marketing, members of Hustler’s University would receive a commission by posting clips of Andrew on social media with a link to the course, encouraging others to sign up. This led to his explosive rise to fame when he became the most searched person on Google in July of 2022, more than Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump combined. The following month, he was banned from several social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. This was ineffective, as he had already amassed a huge following and was regarded as an inspirational figure in the “manosphere,” an online community of content creators promoting masculinity, traditional gender roles, and opposition to feminism. His videos continued to circulate around the internet, and his ban only solidified the interest of those who referred to themselves as “red-pilled,” a reference to the 1999 sci-fi action film, The Matrix, in which protagonist Neo takes a red pill to learn the ugly truth about his existence. To combat what he perceives to be the real life Matrix, a system in which society is being controlled and enslaved by elites, Andrew Tate created The War Room, “a global network” where “exemplars of individualism” congregate as a secret society “to free the modern man from socially induced incarceration.” Members of The War Room share in the belief that the Matrix is actively and deliberately trying to oppress military-age males which they view as the world’s most powerful demographic. Leaders of The War Room include Tristan Tate (“The Talisman”), author Bobby Dino, and Iggy Semmelweis (“The Master Of Spells And Shadows” and self-proclaimed “Greatest Hypnotist The World Has Ever Known”). Andrew Tate, himself, has compared the organization to the Freemasons, the oldest fraternity in the world. The irony of this is that many would associate Freemasonry with the Illuminati, a secret society of elites that some believe control the world, the very thing that Tate claims to be fighting against. His take on the Balenciaga campaign scandal was that they are “Satanists” who believe in “karmic retribution” and feel the need to put their evil on display in order to get away with it. This is not unlike Tate’s method of blatantly professing misogynistic sentiments such as “women belong in the home,” “women can’t drive,” “women are given to the man,” “women belong to the man,” and “18 to 19-year-old-women are more attractive than 25-year-olds because they’ve been through less dick.” He has also stated that women should be expected to be monogamous, while men are entitled to as many partners as they want. The Tate brothers moved to Romania under the assumption that they would be less likely to face rape charges there, due to the fact that they saw it as a country where “corruption is accessible to everyone.” However, after a man claimed that his ex-girlfriend was being held captive by the Tates in April of 2022, their home was raided by Romanian police. The brothers were interrogated and released. Then, in December of 2022, both men were arrested under suspicion of human trafficking, organized crime, and rape. They are currently being detained in a Romanian prison, but charges have yet to be filed against either of them. Andrew has told press on multiple occasions that the Matrix is trying to frame him and denies any wrongdoing. His fans have remained steadfast in their support for the influencer, despite the allegations made against him, some even going as far as to discredit his accusers. It’s easy to dismiss this behavior as “toxic masculinity,” but why are young men and teenage boys so susceptible to this kind of rhetoric? I think it could be attributed to the lack of male role models for this generation. Whenever a seemingly successful “high-value man” comes along and starts spewing “politically incorrect” talking points under the guise of self-improvement, it’s no wonder alienated (oftentimes misunderstood) young men latch onto these ideas. We live in a world where being a “straight white man” comes with the categorization of “privileged.” Some men resent this, feeling as though it implies that their personal struggles are insignificant. This leads to an extreme, reactionary worldview, perpetuated by the likes of Andrew Tate who radicalize them into feeling entitled to the subservience of women and justified in this belief. The truth is, people like Andrew Tate don’t actually care about the wellbeing of young men and are more than willing to prey upon their desperation for guidance and use it to their advantage, the same tactic utilized by the “Matrix” to keep society under its control and benefit from people’s unwillingness to think for themselves.