Movie Tavern Alamo Drafthouse stepped into a huge pile of Internet late last week when it’s NYC venue decided to hold a woman’s only viewing of upcoming DC Comic flick, Wonder Woman.
The proceeds of the screening were to benefit Planned Parenthood. It should be noted that Alamo Drafthouse hails from Austin, Texas, which is basically Portland, Texas, but without the rain and way too much cedar to be enjoyable.
I know what you’re thinking — WHAT ABOUT THE NON-LADIES WHO THINK THEY’RE LADIES?
Not only did Alamo Drafthouse make their Wonder Woman screening a ladies-only event, they specifically said, “No Guys Allowed”, which by the way, is illegal according to New York’s Unlawful Discriminatory Practices:
4. Public accommodations. a. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any place or provider of public accommodation, because of the actual or perceived race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status of any person, directly or indirectly, to refuse, withhold from or deny to such person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or, directly or indirectly, to make any declaration, publish, circulate, issue, display, post or mail any written or printed communication, notice or advertisement, to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any such place or provider shall be refused, withheld from or denied to any person on account of race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status or that the patronage or custom of any person belonging to, purporting to be, or perceived to be, of any particular race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status is unwelcome, objectionable or not acceptable, desired or solicited.
Alamo Drafthouse can’t legally host a women-only event in the state New York, at least not one in which they enforce gender restrictions.
Enter Heat Street‘s Stephen Miller. Miller purchased a ticket to the event. But heaven forbid a dude go see a comic book-based movie.
Of all the internet rage, the AV Club‘s bitter rant is the most delicious:
As Miller has delighted in telling people irritated by his decision—in that “I am speaking calmly, so you must be the asshole” tone so beloved by internet trolls—there’s nothing illegal about purchasing a ticket to a screening. That argument does, though, gloss over the fact that, while barging into a space you’ve been asked to stay out of just because that request made you feel briefly tiny and weak doesn’t make you a criminal, it does make you an insecure piece of shit.On the plus side, Miller gets to live with the comeuppance for his choices, i.e., having the kind of life where arguing for 12 hours straight with people on Twitter about your dumb, mean-spirited actions delivers some kind of awful inner satisfaction. Miller’s favorite tactic in his trolling is to refer to Wonder Woman as a “Chris Pine superhero movie” and pretend that star Gal Gadot doesn’t exist. (He also likes to lecture people claiming the film is a big step forward for female representation in pop culture, pointing them toward such milestones as Catwoman and Tank Girl.) So, yeah: Just an incredibly toxic and insecure little piece of shit.
The projection is almost too much.
“Mean-spirited” is the man who buys a movie ticket to a perfectly mediocre-looking lady movie (unless it’s a terrible chick flick like a film adaptation of the Vagina Monologues that becomes requisite viewing for all feminist males)! That’s probably a verse from the SJW Outrage Bible.
No one bothered to ask Miller if he’s attending the screening as a man who self-identifies as a woman. The heteronormative assumptions are flat out RUDE.
I’m so old, I remember when gender equality meant, well, ‘equality’. But we no longer live in a world where words have meaning, as this whole pathetic ordeal sadly illustrates. Because unless we care about and celebrate the accomplishments of male-only movies or projects, why in the world should we care about a fictional chick movie? SPOILER: No one outside of SJW Happy Fun Land gives two flips. And yes I know Wonder Woman has a strong female leading character (obvs) and was directed by a woman. I remain unmoved by this fact.
Being a female and accomplishing something a man already achieved thousands of times over is not praiseworthy. It’s repetitious, trite, and limiting to all femalehood that a very tiny portion of women believe replicating accomplishments to be groundbreaking. Ultimately, this kind of attitude lowers standards for female accomplishment rather than raising the bar.
We chatted with Miller about the incident and asked for his thoughts. He very politely indicated he’s not offering comments or responding to media requests because he has no desire to cause a scene.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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