In real life, radical feminism is a collection of squabbling tribes populated by bitter women intent on proving themselves the biggest victim in order to enlarge their slice of the victim economy.
But if you imagine, as I sometimes do, a secret feminist command bunker, there is a war room somewhere in Portland today with a vagina-shaped table surrounded by all the leading feminists arguing how to save their movement.
They are not, for once, arguing over that table about me, the supervillain of the Internet. They are instead scrambling to stop Cassie Jaye, a filmmaker whose documentary on the men’s rights movement called The Red Pill was premiered tonight in New York.
Today, feminists are getting ulcers not from their horrific diets, but from a self-identified feminist who has serious bona fides both as a filmmaker and a friend to lefty causes like marriage equality. This is the type of woman who liberals typically would fall over themselves to praise with compliments like brave and stunning.
But they won’t be so complimentary this time, because Jaye has made a film on a topic feminism doesn’t want the public to hear about, and she has done it fairly, which means feminism can’t afford for anyone, most especially women, to see it.
The Red Pill sets out to explore the men’s rights movement through interviews with MRA leaders like Paul Elam, feminists that oppose the movement, video footage of events and graphics and animations highlighting particular issues. Although many were skeptical of Jaye’s ability to fairly represent men’s rights activists, she has, I think, succeeded.
Jaye’s budget ended up directly on screen. Her style keeps things visually interesting when they could otherwise turn boring quickly. I was impressed by the graphics she uses, which become especially devastating as the hate-facts on topics such as military deaths start rolling.
The graphics in this documentary are some of the most visually appealing anti-feminist images I’ve ever seen, outside of my own YouTube channel of course and that of the Factual Feminist, Christina Hoff Sommers.
This is a film that made me feel a variety of emotions, and that is no mean feat when the viewer’s heart is as cold and black as mine. You can expect to find humor at various points, become angry at feminists assaulting police officers and pulling fire alarms and disgust at the holier-than-thou pronouncements from academics and activists.
One of my staff members, a father of two, reported tearing up at one interviewee’s description of the struggles he went through in family court and the toll the process had on both his health and his son’s health. The story is anecdotal, but anecdotes humanize the subject in a way statistics never can.
This is not a movie short on statistics by the way, they are discussed in detail and shown on the screen throughout.
The other emotion I experienced was horror at numerous short scenes of Jaye driving around. I had to peek through my fingers expecting a crash at any moment. I freely recognize this is a personal hangup, not everyone shares my well-known fear of femsteering.
Jaye’s interview style is to focus on the thoughts of her subject, and then to comment on what they’ve said afterwards in voiceover. I found it to be effective, but there were times with both feminists and MRAs where I wished she was more confrontational during the interview.
Another device she uses effectively is to insert her own video journals into the documentary in order to chronicle her reactions to what she has learned. I found these interesting and felt that Jaye was sincerely sharing her opinions and emotions. The Red Pill includes some snippets of her acting at the beginning, and with all due respect I don’t think she has the chops to fake these journals.
The video journals add a secondary plot to The Red Pill: the red-pilling of Cassie Jaye herself. Unfortunately these journals seem to disappear in the latter part of the movie and this thread is not as fully realised as it could be.
The Red Pill includes interviews with a variety of activists on both sides of the men’s rights debate. Some of the interviewees are impressive both in their appearance and in their material. Others are a bit harder to watch.
My chief complaint about The Red Pill is that almost all of the men’s rights activists interviewed are older men. The casual viewer might come away thinking that MRAs are all middle-aged. Why is there almost no representation of younger men, who face their own unique challenges?
I’d love to have seen Jaye interview a man kicked out of a school by a kangaroo court because a female student regretted a consensual sexual encounter. As readers of my work will know, I’ve chronicled the increasing problems faced by younger men in pieces like the Sexodus.
The film includes an interview with the infamous “Big Red,” an angry Canadian feminist notable primarily for looking like the love child of a bad Canadian Michael Jackson impersonator and Elmo from Sesame Street. I would have thought it a good opportunity to counterpoint her with a young MRA.
But my gripes are minor. The Red Pill is a powerful film on a complicated, important, yet woefully unaddressed issue. I applaud Jaye for having the intestinal fortitude to not only tackle this subject, but to do so fairly. After all, it would have been much easier to produce a documentary on how wonderful feminism is and how stunningly brave Emma Watson is for fighting the horrors of being called bossy as a child.
I’m not going to give away any more of The Red Pill because you need to watch it yourself. I will point out my favorite part, which is Karen Straughan blowing feminism out of the room by illustrating the horrors of Boko Haram before “Bring back our girls” became a liberal clarion call.
I found it delightful that Karen was interviewed in a noisy bar: talk about a perfect setting. I can tell you this — everyone concerned about men’s rights should thank God that Karen Straughan is on your side.
There is another theme teased out by The Red Pill, which is that feminists will always, always try to shut down those who disagree with them. Two interviewees describe this explicitly: Erin Pizzey, who opened shelters for both men and women, is not welcome at the very shelters she founded, because her views are not politically correct.
Warren Farrell describes a similar experience: as his interests changed from women’s rights to men’s rights, his speaking engagements and other projects simply dried up.
Jaye is herself an example of this phenomenon. The picture was almost not made due to lack of funding. It was only after I covered Jaye here at Breitbart that it was funded well above its target. I am pleased to report that Milo fans, Mike Cernovich and the wider men’s rights movement did not fund the project in vain.
The Red Pill does not yet have a digital distribution deal, but you can keep an eye on the website for ways to see the film. While you wait, enjoy the wave of feminist harpies attempting to tear it apart. There is already a review from The Village Voice which apologizes for ‘taking the bait’ by reviewing The Red Pill.
Who are they fooling? They wake up every morning with the sole aim of being offended.
My message to Cassie Jaye is a simple one: buckle up and prepare for every slimy outlet in the mainstream media (which is most of them) to come after you. You’ve done the unthinkable. You’ve made a fair-minded documentary about feminism’s most hated target.
As always, hatred from the mainstream media is the best advertising one could hope for, especially with the group that could gain the most from The Red Pill, young men and women who distrust the media and are witnessing the fall-out of radical feminism on America’s campuses on a daily basis.
Madeleine Albright infamously said, “There is a special place in hell for women that don’t help women”, and if that’s true, The Red Pill has earned Cassie Jaye her own spot there. On the bright side, she will have women like Karen Straughan to hang out with. And me, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to our infernally fabulous brunch dates.
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