With a release date on June second, only a few days away, drama is already starting to circulate around the newest film Wonder Woman. While the powerful superhero is a feminist icon, the women’s only screenings are sending waves throughout the community. The conflict started when the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas announced they would be hosting a “No Boys Allowed” event to watch the newest film, starring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. The announcement for the event read “Apologies, gentlemen, but we’re embracing our girl power and saying, ‘No Guys Allowed’ for one special night at the Alamo Ritz. And when we say, ‘People Who Identify as Women Only,’ we mean it. Everyone working at this screening – venue staff, projectionist, and culinary team – will be female. So lasso your geeky girlfriends together and grab your tickets to this celebration of one of the most enduring and inspiring characters ever created.” Their announcement, which can be found on Facebook, was shared on the online community more than 1,500 times. Women’s rights are incredibly crucial to a well-functioning
The announcement for the event read “Apologies, gentlemen, but we’re embracing our girl power and saying, ‘No Guys Allowed’ for one special night at the Alamo Ritz. And when we say, ‘People Who Identify as Women Only,’ we mean it. Everyone working at this screening – venue staff, projectionist, and culinary team – will be female. So lasso your geeky girlfriends together and grab your tickets to this celebration of one of the most enduring and inspiring characters ever created.” Their announcement, which can be found on Facebook, was shared on the online community more than 1,500 times. Women’s rights are incredibly crucial to a well-functioning society, and have often been overlooked. However, is this going too far? Some men praised the screening event, believing Wonder Woman truly is a celebration of women, while others weren’t so supportive. Following the backlash, one user posted on the Facebook page, “Came here to see fragile masculinity and whining, was not disappointed at all.
Some men praised the screening event, believing Wonder Woman truly is a celebration of women, while others weren’t so supportive. Following the backlash, one user posted on the Facebook page, “Came here to see fragile masculinity and whining, was not disappointed at all. Hey Alamo can you do more of these sorts of things? I like laughing at men who are threatened by women getting to have their own lives without constant male presence 24/7.”
Alternatively, according to some men on Facebook, this selective event certainly didn’t go over well in the male community. One Facebook user wrote, “Apparently ‘equality’ is only selective nowadays. How about a ‘men’s only’ showing of a movie or is that now how equality works?” Another user posted on the Alamo’s Facebook page, “Great, let us know when you have guys-only screenings of Thor, Spider-Man, Star Wars, etc. Let’s see you walk the walk now that you set this precedence.”
In response to the negative backlash, the Alamo brought to the public’s attention that they have hosted private, selective events in the past, including veterans-only screenings of a majority of military films. The Alamo also stated that the event is meant to be a celebration of women as well as the Wonder Woman character, who even added another screening in their New York location to celebrate the spirit of the film and its recognition of females. In the film, Gadot stars as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, whose character originated in the 1940s by DC Comics.
In recent years, the character has been consistently featured in a variety of comic books as well as a short film series in the 1970s. This 2017 film stars the Israeli actress, telling the story of her character who breaks away from her Amazon nation to become a hero for “a world that desperately needs it.” However, the male community was still not satisfied, with one movie-goer stating, “Very tacky Alamo. I’m all for equality and having a screening specifically stating it is not inclusive to everyone, is against equality. I’m not saying Alamo did this intentionally, but it is still just wrong.” The Alamo staff continued to remain apologetic towards the community, releasing a statement that read, “Very sorry if you feel excluded. We thought it might be kinda fun – for one screening – to celebrate a character who’s meant a great deal to women for close to eight decades. Again, truly, truly, truly, truly sorry that we’ve offended you.” Based on the Alamo’s reaction to the negativity, it appears they didn’t intentionally mean to offend anyone, particularly those who weren’t invited to the event. However, equality is all-inclusive; everyone and anyone are key components of an equal society.
