Last Tuesday, May 2, 2017 the Linfield community was subjected to a showing of the Red Pill—a tedious 2 hour propaganda ‘documentary’ advocating for the so-called ‘Men’s Rights Movement.’ The movie derives its premise from the famous scene in the movie Matrix in which Morpheus offers two pills to Neo:

“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

In the minds of the Men’s Rights Activists (MRA’s), the red pill is a metaphor for opening one’s mind to the sad reality that we, poor, overworked, underappreciated, straight (white) men are a misunderstood minority whose rights have been trampled upon by society. These ‘meninists’ claim that it is women, and radical feminists in particular, who are responsible for their sorry state.

Part of the worldview of the MRA’s is the belief that society considers men disposable. According to their thinking, men take all the hard jobs, are more prone to addiction, die disproportionately in wars, discriminated against in family courts, and believe it or not, are often tricked into fatherhood. The MRA’s claim that their personal grievances are indicative of the world in which the systematic discrimination against men in general is the norm.

This project is the Kickstarter-funded creation of Cassie Jaye, an actress and an amateur film-maker. It is a sort of a video diary starring Jaye herself. She starts her journey as a ‘feminist,’ yet gradually succumbs to the MRA’s charms. As she begins to see virtues in the point of view of these middle-aged, tired, angry white men, she gradually modifies her views on gender equality—so much so, that by the end of the movie she tearfully declares that she can no longer call herself a ‘feminist.’

Not surprisingly, since its premiere in the fall of 2016, the Red Pill has received rather mixed reviews. While the Guardian, The Village Voice and the LA Times unanimously panned the movie, the Pill received glowing reviews from Breitbart News and its recently disgraced provocateur and anti-feminist crusader Milo Yiannopoulos. A deeper search of the internet’s less travelled corners quickly reveals an enthusiastic endorsement from the Daily Stormer—the leading neo-Nazi site.

Personally, I found this dreary jeremiade a bitter pill to swallow. My first reaction was—gentlemen, you cannot be serious! In our times, while women suffer disproportionately from sexual abuse, workplace discrimination, lack of access to affordable healthcare and a myriad of other issues, you dare to pine and whine about your own victimhood? As a father and a husband, somehow I don’t feel the need for your advocacy! Instead, I’d much rather fight for the rights of my daughter who is about to enter adulthood.

The creators of the Red Pill utilize to the fullest the power of emotional persuasion. Throughout the movie, the MRA’s insufferable grumbling is accompanied by equally mundane and generic soundtrack. In the propagandist cinematography, kitschy music is akin to emotional fascism—it has the power to make the audience feel a certain way while feeding it all kinds of lies and banalities. For me, it took a certain amount of mental discipline to separate the revolting mendacities spewing from the mouths of these curmudgeons from the emotional bombardment produced by constantly cooing strings.

In the final analysis, The Red Pill is a classic example of kitsch, and in the words of Milan Kundera: “Kitsch causes two tears to flow in quick succession. The first tear says: How nice to see children running on the grass! The second tear says: How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass! It is the second tear that makes kitsch kitsch.” Kitsch and propaganda make a powerful combo and the creators of The Red Pill use it to great effect.

The unfortunate reality is that some of the MRA’s claims are undoubtedly true and deserve serious consideration, yet the overall picture presented to the audience is erroneous at best and outright disingenuous at worst. While men’s issues require genuine advocacy, the heroes of this pathetic diatribe tend to be rather unsavory characters. An internet search easily reveals the following gems from Paul Elam, a dead-beat dad and the founder of the Voice for Men:

“And all the outraged PC demands to get huffy and point out how nothing justifies or excuses rape won’t change the fact that there are a lot of women who get pummeled and pumped because they are stupid (and often arrogant) enough to walk through life with the equivalent of a I’M A STUPID, CONNIVING BITCH – PLEASE RAPE ME neon sign glowing above their empty little narcissistic heads.”

What surprised me is that this horrendous bucket of lies of a documentary was followed by a rather civil discussion in which ‘both sides of the issue’ were presented. I am all for reasonable discourse, however, I do not believe that lies and misogyny can be argued with rationally. What we saw in this movie was not just another perspective on a complex issue but a poorly produced piece of sexist propaganda sponsored and endorsed by the most-repulsive characters in today’s political universe. The answer to rape apologists cannot be just a rational discussion—it has to be outrage!

I am confused and bewildered why a small group of students is dead set on promoting misogyny and discrimination in the name of free speech. In light of their enthusiastic support for this second-rate, amateurish caricature of a documentary, their sanctimonious pining decrying “moral panic at Linfield” rings particularly hollow. What we witnessed on Tuesday was revolting. I can only imagine how the victims of sexual violence (if they were in the audience) felt while listening to these abuse advocates spewing their repulsive worldview. In my humble opinion, free speech is no excuse for bigotry and harassment.

Anton Belov, DMA

Associate Professor of Music