When a movie theater in Austin, Texas decided to hold an advanced screening of the “Wonder Women” film, it decided to make the event a woman-only one, according to IO9. The exclusion of male fans has touched off a social media firestorm from people who objected to what they regarded as gender discrimination. The entertainment media, needless to say, has been less than sympathetic.
Is “Wonder Woman” about to be ruined by the same gender-based politics that sunk the all-female Ghostbusters last year?
Wonder Woman has been a feminist icon since the 1940s
Wonder Woman, who first debuted in comic books in the 1940s, was certainly a superhero who was ahead of her time. She was a strong, independent female who could put on the deck any male supervillain with as much alacrity as Superman and Batman. Decades before the feminist movement first took off, Diana Prince, the daughter of a race of Amazons, was someone that female comic books fans could root for.
An all-female screening seemed like a good idea at the time
The Alamo Draft House in Austin recently announced a screening of “Wonder Woman” in which only females and those who identify as women will be allowed in, as customers and staff. The screening sold out in hours and a second woman-only screening has been announced. The Alamo Draft Hose has indicated that such gender segregated screenings will be opened up nationwide.
A lot of male fans are upset about being excluded
The gender-segregated screenings have touched off a social media firestorm from male fans who object to being excluded from the events. Terms like “reverse sexist” and “misandry” are being bandied about. Some of the men opposing point out what would happen if a movie theater chain were to hold a male only screening of, say, the upcoming “Spiderman” movie.
Talk of a boycott of the film chain has ensued.
The push back from the entertainment media has been nasty
Some of the rhetoric coming from the entertainment media has been decidedly unpleasant. Io9, for instance, has called the male fans “jackasses” and “dumbass sexists.” The article went on a rant about how women and girls have been discriminated against in the genre of comic book superheroes for decades. Anyone objecting to gender segregated screenings should just “shut up.”
Could ‘Wonder Woman’ be this year’s all-female ‘Ghostbusters?’
Last year, when the first trailer of the all-female ‘Ghostbusters’ first dropped, a lot of male fans slammed it on social media. The studio pushed back, suggesting that the critics were sexist and worse.
The movie turned out to be a flop as fans stayed away in droves.
The difference is that advanced screenings in which everyone has been allowed to attend have received positive reviews about the movie. If “Wonder Woman” is a good movie, likely the dust-up over the woman only screenings will be forgotten. But the Alamo Draft House might want to rethink a marketing strategy that disrespects half of its customer base.