Character Analysis
Riot Grrrl
When we first see Trinity, she has just been surrounded by a squad of policemen who are about to arrest her. She's sitting at a computer and is completely unarmed, so it's not looking too good for ol' T.
In the following scene agents show up and scold the lieutenant for acting without them. When the policeman scoffs that he thinks they can "handle one little girl" Agent Smith matter-of-factly informs him that his men are already dead.
And sure enough, in the next scene Trinity is kicking some serious booty. Female empowerment isn't the focus of the Matrix, but that doesn't mean it's not important to the movie. Think about Trinity's first encounter with Neo, when he realizes she is the Trinity; the one who cracked the IRS D-base (did people really call databases D-bases? It was the '90s, so we wouldn't be surprised). Neo is caught off guard because he thought she was a guy, to which she replies:
TRINITY: Most guys do.
Her intellect as a hacker and her proficiency at bending the rules of the Matrix prove that she is a force to be reckoned with. She ain't no damsel in distress. In fact, it is Trinity who helps rescue Neo from the Matrix, Trinity who saves Neo twice in their rooftop fight (once with a well-placed knife and once with a pointblank shot at an agent), and Trinity who helps revive Neo in his final struggle. If you can look past the sexy tight-fitted leather outfit—this is Hollywood after all—we can see Trinity as a symbol of feminine agency and power.
Love at First Virtual Contact
Before there was Hinge and Tinder, there was the Matrix. Well, okay, maybe meeting people in the Matrix isn't much easier than meeting people in the real world. Just ask Neo; it looks like he doesn't get out a whole lot.
But regardless, this is where the first connection between Trinity and Neo takes place. The physical intimacy is very obvious. Sure, the club is loud, but Trinity gets up nice and close so she can talk into Neo's ear. But what is even more interesting is that we learn that Trinity, too, was a hacker. Probably Trinity had been a hacker when she was still trapped by the Matrix; as she says:
TRINITY: That was a long time ago.
Is it a coincidence then, that both Trinity and Neo were hackers who were freed by Morpheus from the Matrix? Maybe, but maybe it is something about the nature of those people who are hackers that make them more prone to seeking out the question of the Matrix.
This spirit of rebellion and curiosity is as much a part of Trinity's identity as it is a part of Neo's, linking the two even before they physically meet in the real world. Of course, there intimacy extends way beyond their virtual criminality. It is Trinity's love of Neo that compels Neo to rise from the brink of death and defeat the agents.
It's unclear exactly why Trinity loves Neo. It almost seems as though her love for him is based on the Oracle's prophecy that she would love The One, just like Morpheus' belief in Neo being The One was dependent on the fact that he knew he would find The One. Phew. It's tricky in a chicken-and-egg sort of way.
But either way, Trinity and Neo experience something so real that it manifests itself as a reaction within the Matrix, and Trinity's love provides Neo with the impetus he needs to "get up."
Trinity's Timeline