The Conservative Club reproduced this on posters promoting the event: “See the film that USU tried to stop you from seeing.” In a statement headed with a content warning for sexism and rape, USU said the film was “discriminatory against women, and has the capacity to intimidate and physically threaten women on campus”. The odds were seen to be tipped in the protestors’ favour when, a month out from the screening, the University of Sydney Union announced that it had decided to disallow the use of its funds or resources for the screening after receiving a “number of complaints”. Morley said the intent of the protest was not to shut the screening down: “We’re simply here to present a counter, left-wing, pro-women, anti-homophobic message.” According to Conservative Club members, the protesters’ initial plan had been to storm the auditorium halfway through, effectively ending the event.
For those in favour, the Red Pill was a proxy for freedom of speech but it represented misogyny for those against it. On campus, the battle was ideological, not commercial. Much of the backlash had assumed it was a “curatorial decision”, a representative of Kino cinema had said, which was “potentially damaging” to its credibility. The film was worrying for its “anti-women” stance, which, Morley said, reflected that of the US president: “It’s not just as an isolated group of weirdos who share these views.”Ī “ban” on the film Morley referenced in Melbourne last year was a private screening, organised by a men’s rights group, that was cancelled by the cinema after an online petition. It made no impact on me.”īut its argument that men were systematically oppressed by society, she “very strongly” disagreed with. She had watched it online the previous night: “I thought it was a bit of a joke, really.
#RED PILL DOCUMENTARY FREE#
Rival chants started up – “GOODNIGHT ALT–RIGHT” from those holding banners about the “MRAs’ tears”, and “FREE-DOM, FREE-DOM” from a group that included a man in a shirt that read “FEMINISM IS CANCER” and another in a “Make America Great Again” cap.Įleanor Morley, of Fascist Free USyd and the Socialist Alternative Club, told Guardian Australia the film was “deeply misogynistic” and gave a platform to men’s rights activists with “outrageous” views about women. Outside a small auditorium in which the film was to be shown, and under the observation of a small group of police officers, the two groups taunted and filmed and rallied against each other.
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