This thesis argues that the science-fictional genesis of the term “red pill,” along with multiple other instances of science-fictional poaching and misreading, insists upon a thorough troubling of the ways in which the genre and its fandoms have been weaponized as recruitment tools for alt-right and white nationalist rhetoric and ideology. The terms itself, deriving from the 1999 cyberpunk film The Matrix, implies that its taker chooses to undergo an intellectual, and, more importantly, ideological transformation, one which exposes the “truth” of the real world. Despite the film’s progressive and at-times radical philosophy, the alt-right and similar digital-born reactionary groups have harnessed the hacker-hero archetype as a means of what I call “subcultural infiltration,” using it and other science-fictional works to disseminate and propagate misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist ideology. In this thesis, I interrogate this methodology by examining three key components—idealization, initiation, and imitation—used to curry favor with and build affinity in SF fandoms, thereby indoctrinating and recruiting members to the white nationalist cause. Acknowledging this process, I argue, is vital to abnegating its lethal influence.
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