Also, y'know, Neo was miserable and depressed and trying to figure out why he felt like there was something deeply wrong with the world and then took a pill to explore the truth and gain the agency over his life he was lacking. Unrelatedly the authors are trans and left wing.

Couldn't possibly be a metaphor for how modern society crushes freedom of expression and agency in order to serve the powerful often in ways most people aren't even aware of.