The Red Pill

So I finally got round to watching The Red Pill last night and have been wondering what to say about it. I have my own personal reservations about parts of how it is made - the interviews are all far too brief and so often little more than soundbites, barely scratching the surface of complex issues and showing practically none of the mountain of evidence and reason the MRAs routinely use to back up their arguments. In my opinion the film could have used 20 or 30 percent more of that and 20 or 30 percent less shots of Cassie Jaye driving around the streets of America and looking thoughtfully into the distance. I also would have liked less two-sentence interviews with people we never get to see again, and more time spent with Erin Pizzey, Karen Straughan, Paul Elam and Warren Farrell, all of whom could easily fill a documentary of their own. She seemed a little indiscriminate in her choice of interviewees, and more than a little random in what she decided to have them say.

But on the other hand, no-one has ever done this before, taken the Men's Human Rights Movement and turned it into an entertaining and compelling movie fit to be shown in theatres, and that counts for a lot in itself. The bottom line is once I started watching I couldn't stop, really enjoyed the experience, and, all content aside, thought it looked amazing.

If you're wanting a one-stop guide to the many and varied arguments, beliefs and philosophical positions of the red-pilled world, well then this film may well leave you wanting. But if you go in with the understanding it is an outsider's view documentary about one individual woman's journey through the current state of gender politics in the 21st century, I can't see you having any good reason to complain.

Many people are starting to learn what happens when you debate with a feminist, or question feminism in public. Facts suddenly become morbidly offensive. Logic goes out of the window. Ironically, even the concept of 'equality' takes a back seat. This film takes a dispassionate and balanced look at the men's rights movement and it's struggle with the feminist narrative.

I saw the red pill during the first UK screening on October 30 and I was profoundly impressed with the elegantly simple approach to the topic. We follow Cassie Jay on a simple journey, starting with her describing her experiences of being objectified as a teenage actress and her decision to look into 'rape culture' after learning of two horrific rape cases. She stumbled across the controversial website 'a voice for men' and proceeded to fall down the proverbial rabbit hole.

All the men's rights movement has ever wanted was fair representation and a chance to be heard. Something the mainstream media has taken great pains to prevent. Thankfully to men all over the world, the red pill delivers a fair hearing in droves.

I implore EVERYONE to watch this film. It is arguably the most important documentary of our generation.

Feminist documentary filmmaker Cassie Jaye sets out to explore the much-maligned men's rights movement, assuming as many do that it must be a hate movement composed of men who resent the gains that women have made and wish to turn back that progress. In delving into what motivates men's rights activists, she discovers that the movement is very different from what she had originally thought it was and goes on to challenge her own prior views about gender, power, and privilege. She discusses at length the numerous legitimate grievances that many men have on issues ranging from military conscription to false rape allegations, from unfair treatment in divorce to higher rates of violent victimization--and the apathy and in many cases outright hostility shown in response by feminist activists and society at large.

This film is historic in that it marks the first time that the issues facing men and boys and the activists working to address them have ever been portrayed on the big screen. It is a breath of fresh air standing in stark contrast to most mainstream media coverage of the men's rights movement, which tends to quote the most extreme things said by the most extreme people in the movement out of context and make them out to be representative of what the entire movement stands for. It no doubt took a great deal of both courage and empathy to make the film. Every man--and every woman who sees the men in her life as something other than patriarchal oppressors--needs to see this film.

This documentary is incredibly rich in texture – and it covers a huge amount of territory. The subject, the "Men's Rights Movement," has never been dealt with before in film, so "The Red Pill" becomes the go-to introduction to the people, organizations and even ideas associated with this movement that are not only ignored in documentaries but are given zero attention in the education system as well. The greatest surprise is the story of Erin Pizzey, a pioneer for women's welfare who, because she sought to help end domestic violence in all its manifestations became a pariah to thought-leaders and workers who control the domestic violence social work industry. The clips of the bizarre protests by political agitators against academic lecturers who promote human rights (for all people) are disturbing, yet are informative and valuable in shedding light on the fanaticism of extremists. The director, Cassie Jaye, is unusually modest and fair, yet at the same time is stubbornly honest and steadfast in her search for overlooked facts, no matter how unfashionable they may be. Highly recommended. Genuinely educational.

The Red Pill is a must see movie. Cassie Jaye was thorough, unflinching and relentlessly detailed in her research into the Men's Movement and in creating this lovely film. She patiently talked with and listened to many leading figures in the Men's Movement as well as several prominent feminists and held space for everyone's opinions.

It is difficult for most people to see beneath our culture's attitudes about male privilege and power to the myriad layers of problems and issues that run beneath that false front and to feel empathy for men based solely on their gender. I think Cassie Jaye's movie was the first attempt by a recognized documentary film maker to take on this task, and for that I am extremely grateful.

I found the movie,entertaining, fascinating and deeply emotionally moving, and I hope it will open the eyes of many to the plight of men and boys in our country and around the world.