# Did Larry Wachowski becoma Lana Wachoswski? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020 "2010-05-19T17:02:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/1 "2010-05-19T17:02:43Z")
Somebody brought this up in the other Matrix thread I started. His [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0905154/) page lists him (or rather her) as Lana, as does his [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachowski_brothers) page. But neither explicitly says that he had a sex change, and the Wiki page includes denials from several people that he became a woman. So what’s the deal here? If true, this really does add a whole other layer of meaning to the Matrix. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/2 "2010-05-19T17:17:16Z")
This doesn’t look like a very hard mystery to solve. Apparently she’s a MtF transsexual. That doesn’t necessarily mean she had a _sex change_, so it’s not unusual that people would deny rumors that she had one. And saying she “became” a woman isn’t accurate either–as a transsexual she would have always been a woman despite her physical appearance. And how does it add another layer of meaning to **The Matrix**? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/3 "2010-05-19T17:21:00Z")
The Wiki Page the OP links to elaborates: > [@](#): > > Beginning in 2001, Larry Wachowski was regularly seen with Los Angeles-area professional Dominatrix Ilsa Strix. Eventually these appearances led to a romantic relationship, culminating with Larry’s divorce from Thea Bloom in 2002. Larry and Strix subsequently began living together.[5][6] > > Shortly after the release of Matrix Reloaded, it was rumored that Larry Wachowski began to make small public appearances dressed as a woman, using the name Lana Wachowski.[7] In his column, published May 30, 2003, David Poland said “Every indication I have says that Larry Wachowski is now in the process of changing his sex. Dressing in public like a woman, taking female hormones and yes, having a sex change operation.” This was further supported by a March 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article on transgender people, which repeated that Larry Wachowski, “has changed his sex and is now living as Lana Wachowski.”[8] The rumor was exacerbated by Larry Wachowski’s reported penchant for cross-dressing, as reported by Rolling Stone.[5] > > In a 2007 interview Joel Silver, the producer of numerous Wachowski films, stated otherwise, saying that the rumors concerning Larry’s sex change were “all untrue”, further explaining, “they just don’t do interviews, so people make things up.” Similar statements were made to Fox News by crew members working on the Speed Racer film, with one employee pointing out, “on the call sheets, it still says Larry.”[9] > > As of March of 2010, Wachowski is listed as Lana Wachowski on IMDb and is noted with “as Larry Wachowski” in the credits for her prior movies [10]. Just remember: “You can’t change the penis. That’s impossible. You have to realize that there is no penis, and you’re changing your mind.” ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/4 "2010-05-19T17:26:35Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > This doesn’t look like a very hard mystery to solve. Apparently she’s a MtF transsexual. That doesn’t necessarily mean she had a _sex change_, so it’s not unusual that people would deny rumors that she had one. And saying she “became” a woman isn’t accurate either–as a transsexual she would have always been a woman despite her physical appearance. > > And how does it add another layer of meaning to **The Matrix**? Well it certainly gives new meaning to all the bondage imagery for one, not to mention the themes of living in a false reality and not being who you think you are. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/5 "2010-05-19T17:35:14Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well it certainly gives new meaning to all the bondage imagery for one… Er… how so, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/6 "2010-05-19T17:35:21Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > This doesn’t look like a very hard mystery to solve. Apparently she’s a MtF transsexual. That doesn’t necessarily mean she had a _sex change_, so it’s not unusual that people would deny rumors that she had one. And saying she “became” a woman isn’t accurate either–as a transsexual she would have always been a woman despite her physical appearance. Did you read the Wikipedia article on The Wachoswski Brothers? I had the same thoughts as joebuck20 and did some of the same looking around and their really is no good evidence one way or the other out there. A lot of heresay and gossip. There isn’t even any definitive statements that he’s a tranvestite and just likes to wear women’s clothes. > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > And how does it add another layer of meaning to **The Matrix**? One of the main themes of The Matrix is choosing your own identity. How would one of the driving forces behind the making of it being a transsexual not add another layer of meaning? > [@Miller](#): > > Er… how so, exactly? Larry left his wife to shack up with a professional dominatrix. The only provable thing about this whole Larry/Lana thing. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/7 "2010-05-19T17:39:46Z")
[Here’s a picture of her](http://scifiwire.com/assets_c/2009/12/Huffington_Wachowskis-thumb-550x412-29746.jpg) with Andy, and Ariana Huffington in between them. I think she’s adorable! Ariana tweeted that picture from the set of a new Wachowski movie, and [Sci Fi Wire re-posted it](http://scifiwire.com/2009/12/a-glimpse-of-the-wachowsk.php), but no one knows what the movie is, because it’s just listed on IMDB as the [Untitled Lana and Andy Wachowski Project](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617661/). There’s something listed called [Cloud Atlas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/) but only people with IMDB Pro can access more information. Anyway, I’m a total Wachowski Siblings fangirl, from Bound to Speed Racer, so I’m drooling with anticipation as what they’ll do next. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/8 "2010-05-19T17:43:52Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Er… how so, exactly? This is what I was referring to, as far as the bondage thing anyway. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Larry left his wife to shack up with a professional dominatrix. The only provable thing about this whole Larry/Lana thing. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/9 "2010-05-19T18:02:30Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Did you read the Wikipedia article on The Wachoswski Brothers? I had the same thoughts as joebuck20 and did some of the same looking around and their really is no good evidence one way or the other out there. A lot of heresay and gossip. There isn’t even any definitive statements that he’s a tranvestite and just likes to wear women’s clothes. > . Yeah, I read the wiki page. She changed her name to Lana, she dresses as a woman, she presents herself as a woman, and she seems like she’s not going to be using “Larry” again in the near future, since her earlier movies are now credited as “As Larry..”. If I didn’t know who this person was and just saw a photo of her or saw her on the street, all of the visual clues would be that she’s a woman. Thus, I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume since she’s gone out of her way to present herself as female, she wants the world to see her as a woman. Not a man, not a transvestite who likes to wear women’s clothes, and not somebody who “became” a woman or had a “sex change.” It could very well be that she doesn’t want to make a big announcement to the world or invite a dialogue on this issue. Well, I’d argue that her big announcement was changing her name. I mean, how much more information do you need than that, really? It’s not a “hearsay or gossip” that she changed her name from something obviously masculine to something obviously feminine. It’s also not a “hearsay or gossip” that she dresses like a woman. We have visual proof of that. So what else do you need? A press relief from her? More explicit photos? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/10 "2010-05-19T18:12:09Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Yeah, I read the wiki page. She changed her name to Lana, she dresses as a woman, she presents herself as a woman, and she seems like she’s not going to be using “Larry” again in the near future, since her earlier movies are now credited as “As Larry..”. If I didn’t know who this person was and just saw a photo of her or saw her on the street, all of the visual clues would be that she’s a woman. Thus, I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume since she’s gone out of her way to present herself as female, she wants the world to see her as a woman. Not a man, not a transvestite who likes to wear women’s clothes, and not somebody who “became” a woman or had a “sex change.” But that’s my point. We don’t know if Larry Wachowski has changed his name to Lana because he’s only ever been credited on things as Larry (or as part of “The Wachowski Brothers”). IMDB and Wikipedia changing the page name to Lana means jack squat as far as proof goes. It’s gossip and heresay and that picture doesn’t prove anything one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/11 "2010-05-19T18:19:31Z")
Ariana tweeted this along with the picture I posted above: [QUOTE=Ariana Huffington] It’s a wrap! With Andy and Lana Wachowski at the end of a great shoot [/QUOTE] Seems obvious to me that Lana wanted Ariana to call her Lana, not Larry, and that it was a natural thing for Ariana to use the name Lana. What exactly is it that you want proven? I’m confused. You want something that will absolutely force you to use the term “she” instead of “he” but what? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/12 "2010-05-19T18:20:36Z")
C’mon! Everybody knows that people in Hollywood never get funky with gender! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/13 "2010-05-19T18:25:24Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But that’s my point. We don’t know if Larry Wachowski has changed his name to Lana because he’s only ever been credited on things as Larry (or as part of “The Wachowski Brothers”). IMDB and Wikipedia changing the page name to Lana means jack squat as far as proof goes. > > It’s gossip and heresay and that picture doesn’t prove anything one way or the other. Okay, well, IMDB and Wiki wouldn’t change a man’s name to Lana unless there was some reason for it. Ariana Huffington wouldn’t call her Lana unless there was some reason for it. There wouldn’t be a picture of Lana dressed as a woman with her brother and Ariana unless there was some reason for it. My explanation is that Lana is a transwoman and she’s signaling this to the world through her name and appearance (which is how we all signal our gender identity to the world). I guess your explanation of all these objective facts is that it’s really “hearsay and gossip.” I don’t find your explanation remotely compelling or realistic given how the IMDB and Wiki work (You can damn well bet that if somebody changed, say Brad Pitt’s name on IMDB to “Annie Pitt” it wouldn’t stay that way for very long), so I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/14 "2010-05-19T18:27:11Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Seems obvious to me that Lana wanted Ariana to call her Lana, not Larry, and that it was a natural thing for Ariana to use the name Lana. OK, now we’re getting somewhere. Basically, I wanted something more than “The Wikipedia page has his name listed as Lana.” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/15 "2010-05-19T18:35:02Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But that’s my point. We don’t know if Larry Wachowski has changed his name to Lana because he’s only ever been credited on things as Larry (or as part of “The Wachowski Brothers”). IMDB and Wikipedia changing the page name to Lana means jack squat as far as proof goes. Uh, no. It may be subject to further validation, but credit on IMDB does not mean “jack squat.” It’s pretty much considered a reliable source of information, no more likely to find itself having to publish a correction than most other reliable sources. If IMDB has noted her name change, frankly the burden is on you to prove they’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/16 "2010-05-19T18:39:21Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Okay, well, IMDB and Wiki wouldn’t change a man’s name to Lana unless there was some reason for it. Wikipedia allowed the change to Lana because the IMDB made the change to Lana. Doing some digging, it appears Larry has changed his name with the DGA to Lana. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/17 "2010-05-19T18:48:54Z")
I’m not sure what your point is? Are you finally acknowledging that she wishes to go by Lana? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/18 "2010-05-19T18:54:48Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I’m not sure what your point is? Are you finally acknowledging that she wishes to go by Lana? :rolleyes: Just :rolleyes: The whole reason for this thread was the question if Larry had become Lana in any sort of official capacity. Whether through a sex change operation or something a little less extreme such as a name change. I stated that the Wikipedia article wasn’t definitive one way or the other and people got huffy. So I found some actual proof, and apparently that’s me trying to make some point. Seriously :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/19 "2010-05-19T19:51:31Z")
I was always curious about this, too. I heard some stuff about it but wasn’t sure if it was kosher or just gossip. I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t more of a big thing–it seems like the kind of thing tabloids eat up. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020/20 "2010-05-19T20:09:43Z")
So will they no longer be credited as the Wachowski Brothers? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-larry-wachowski-becoma-lana-wachoswski/540020.md?page=2)