“When feminist filmmaker Cassie Jaye sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Jaye had only heard about the Men’s Rights Movement as being a misogynist hate-group aiming to turn back the clock on women’s rights, but when she spends a year filming the leaders and followers within the movement, she learns the various ways men are disadvantaged and discriminated against. The Red Pill challenges the audience to pull back the veil, question societal norms, and expose themselves to an alternate perspective on gender equality, power and privilege.” (Source)
The Australian premiere of The Red Pill was to have been in Melbourne in early November 2016. That didn’t happen. A feminist petition on change.org saw Palace Cinemas crumble and give in to their demands to cancel the event. This discussion thread looks at some of the misrepresentations made in the text accompanying that petition.
There were then several change.org petitions underway seeking to have Palace Cinemas reverse its decision, a link to one of which is provided below:
Stop Extremists Censoring What Australians Are Allowed To See. Save The Red Pill screening
More than 8,000 people signed this – almost four times the number of people who signed the petition that saw the screening axed! This petition provides a copy of the letter sent by Palace Cinemas advising that they were cancelling the event. The comments added by petitioners are also quite instructive.
In response to the number of people calling on Palace Cinemas to reverse their decision, feminists then rallied in opposition to make sure the film did not go ahead.
Feminists say publicly that they don’t want The Red Pill screened because of it’s alleged hateful and misogynistic message. That’s only partly true. In actual fact they are more frightened by the prospect of:
a) ordinary people being exposed to an alternative perspective on various gender-related issues, and in particular the public becoming aware of, and sympathetic towards, the men’s rights movement
b) the public questioning aspects of both the feminist narrative and the actions of feminists in the community. They are quite simply terrified of the prospect, knowing that exposure to those ideas will inevitably further erode the already dwindling level of support for their tainted ideology.
To my knowledge (at the time this blog post was originally uploaded) no-one in Australia had yet seen The Red Pill. Not the feminists who started and signed the petition, nor Palace Cinemas, no one. All we know about it comes via interviews with the film-maker, a movie trailer and reviews from screenings in the USA. There is no evidence to indicate that the film contains anything offensive or upsetting to the average adult.
This is what feminists do. Not the benign dictionary-definition feminists, I mean the ones in real life. You only need to see how often the ‘censorship’ tag appears in posts in this blog. Censorship and the erasure of dissenting voices, by whatever means, is absolutely a central theme in gender feminism.
What does that tell you about the inherent nature of this ideology? Why do not more people recognise this for the enormous red flag it is, and speak out accordingly?
This video is a good intro to the nature of this ground-breaking film.
Update April 2017: Dendy Cinemas in Canberra and Newtown cancelled scheduled screenings of The Red Pill. And again a petition was started calling on the cinema operators to reverse their decision.
Update June 2017: Cassie Jaye visited Australia to speak at the International Conference on Men’s Issues. During her stay she was a guest on Channel 10’s ‘The Project‘ and on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise‘ program, both of which generated a lot of media attention.
Rachel Corbett (who was on the panel for The Project when Cassie was ‘interviewed’) wrote an article, and this is Paul Elam’s response.
This tweet and the comments appended is typical of the response to the ‘Sunrise‘ interview on social media … zero support for the program hosts
“Extreme misogynists”: Cassie Jaye vs the Aussie media (13 June 2017) Video
Director of “anti-feminist” documentary leaves The Project panel in stunned silence (8 June 2017) Despite this being a feminist forum, most of the reader’s comments are supportive of Cassie Jaye and/or her film.
A remarkably biased and unprofessional interview on ‘Sunrise’ TV show (11 June 2017) The following viewer asserts that many comments were subsequently removed from the Sunrise Facebook page. I can confirm that a video of the segment was not available via their Facebook page when I checked, and there was no relevant entry in their timeline.
Not content with that, in the face of a tsunami of condemnation on social media, Sunrise then demanded that Facebook remove copies of the interview from The Red Pill’s FB page and presumably elsewhere. So rather than do the right thing and apologise, Channel 7 tries to hide the evidence instead. This mishandling of the incident has only served to create further publicity for the film (and again here). Such clowns, and what a great example of why people have lost all faith in the MSM.
Our feral media attacks Cassie Jaye, by Bettina Arndt (12 June 2017)
A message for Andrew O’Keefe (12 June 2017) Video
Go ahead and see this prize-winning film for yourself:
There are now many avenues via which you can rent or buy The Red Pill.
The Red Pill Movie Facebook page / comments added to the Palace Cinemas Facebook page
IMD movie review page for The Red Pill
Further related articles:
The Cassie Jaye interview: reflections on The Red Pill movie, five years on (2 December 2021)
Cassie Jaye’s film on the men’s rights movement shocked Australia. Why? (29 July 2017)
A feminist review ‘The Red Pill’ (26 June 2017)
Sargon of Akkad comments on the University of Sydney protest at the Red Pill screenings (16 May 2017) Video, and here is a video on the incident by Karen Straughan
Professor writes dishonest review of The Red Pill Movie, gets REKT by Cassie Jaye’s mother (12 May 2017) Cassie’s mum goes feral at some jerkov named belov, who wrote this article (note the reader’s comments section).
Protesters clash, one arrested, outside The Red Pill screening and The Red Pill: What happened at the Sydney University screening protest (11 May 2017), which were followed by
The Red Pill screening divides campus ‘libertarians’ from pro-women groups (13 May 2017)
Articles in response to Dendy Cinemas shutting down scheduled screenings (April 2017): here, here, here, and here. Some letters to the editor of The Australian can be found here.
University of Sydney Union Board disallows screening of men’s rights film THE RED PILL (11 April 2017) Australia. Further discussion of this matter here
Jaye’s Red Pill documents social failure to promote gender equality (10 April 2017)
Well met, Professor Sullivan (13 March 2017) Video with Karen Straughan
The Red Pill takes top award at Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (18 January 2017) USA
Feminists you’re wrong. The Red Pill is not a hateful film (17 January 2017)
The Red Pill in Brisbane: a hero’s journey (15 January 2017)
The Red Pill – An uncomfortable but important conversation (9 January 2017)
Feminists, don’t ban The Red Pill, watch it instead (7 January 2017) Even when feminists try really hard to appear mature and empathetic, they fail to convince … e.g. “a movement based on the notion that men and boys, not women, are the real victims of structural inequalities in modern society“. Said by no MRA, ever, Lauren. MRA assert that men and boys are ALSO “victims of structural inequalities in modern society“.
Are the Cards Stacked Against Men?: Censored Filmmaker Speaks Out (4 January 2017) Video
Now playing at a theatre near you: Attack of the feminist killjoys (3 January 2017)
Wedding Reception Under Feminist Attack Over Movie Screening (23 December 2016) with related Reddit discussion thread here.
Video interview between Steven Crowder and Cassie Jaye (16 December 2016)
Video regarding the difficulty experienced by organisers in screening The Red Pill in Canada (3 December 2016)
Permission to screen ‘The Red Pill’ at Western Sydney University denied (29 November 2016) The author of this letter to WSU points out the double standard in relation to the University’s screening of ‘The Hunting Ground’
A Young Feminist’s Compassionate View of Men (28 November 2016
Some thoughts on the Berlin screening of ‘The Red Pill’ (17 November 2016)
The Red Pill, by Bettina Arndt (5 November 2016)
Is this the world’s most dangerous feminist? by Bill O’Chee (3 November 2016)
How a feminist petition to stop a film became an own goal (2 November 2016)
Dear Feminists, please stop telling us what to do, by Corrine Barraclough (31 October 2016)
Another feminist petition (31 October 2016) I live in hope that this one will turn out to be a hoax. Failing that these people need the assistance of mental health professionals.
Video interview with the organiser of the Melbourne screening (30 October 2016)
Studio 10 TV show debates the banning of The Red Pill (30 October 2016) It’s concerning to see Jessica Rowe (and others) adopting a view, and imposing it upon others, with so little effort made in terms of research or impartiality.
The Red Pill makes the Cut in Crowded Race for Oscars (29 October 2016) Reddit discussion thread and linked article.
Cassie Jaye’s Red Pill too truthful for feminists to tolerate, by Bettina Arndt (29 October 2016) Related Reddit discussion thread here.
Even Clementine Ford thinks the Red Pill should be shown (28 October 2016) Reddit mensrights discussion thread
Security guards hired for Melbourne screening of The Red Pill (27 October 2016)
Will you take the Red Pill? (27 October 2016)
Media coverage of The Red Pill (27 October 2016) Reddit discussion thread
Why Australian Men’s Rights Activists Had Their Bullshit Documentary Banned (26 October 2016) The article belongs in the bottom of the cat litter tray, but some of the readers comments are good.
The Red Pill film review ~ Inciting compassion for men’s issues (26 October 2016)
Men’s rights group vows to push ahead with documentary screening (25 October 2016)
Cassie Jaye on Feminism and Men’s Rights Activists (24 October 2016) Youtube video
More Reddit/r/mensrights discussion threads on The Red Pill movie