Some men, apparently, were bothered by a women-only screening of Wonder Woman at an Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas. One man, who lives outside of Austin, was so bothered that he chose to take the issue up with the city’s mayor, sending him an e-mail to question the legality of the theatre’s business practices.
The e-mail begins with its writer hoping “every man will boycott Austin and do what he can to diminish Austin and to cause damage to the city’s image.”
The city’s Mayor, Steve Adler, responded to the man by alleging that the man’s e-mail account must have been “hacked” by an “unfortunate and unusually hostile individual.”
In the e-mail, the man wrote that the “notion of a woman hero is a fine example of women’s eagerness to accept the appearance of achievement without actual achievement … Women pretend they do not know that only men serve in combat because they are content to have an easier ride.”
To this, the mayor directly responded by asking the man, “Can you imagine if someone thought that you didn’t know women could serve in our combat units now without exclusion? What if someone thought you didn’t know that women invented medical syringes, life rafts, fire escapes, central and solar heating, a war-time communications system for radio-controlling torpedoes that laid the technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS, and beer?”
While the man expressed desires to boycott Austin in his letter, the mayor dryly welcomed him to his city. He wrote, “And in the future, should your travels take you to Austin, please know that everyone is welcome here, even people like those who wrote that email whose views are an embarrassment to modernity, decency, and common sense.”
The mayor’s communications director, Jason Stanford, noted that the mayor doesn’t actually even have the power to change movie screenings.
“Most people are aware that the mayor’s office has precious little control over movie screenings … This is the first time we’ve ever been asked to insert ourselves into the seating process at the Alamo Drafthouse.”
Stanford also made sure to quell suspicions that the theatre was acting illegally. “It’s legal,” he confirmed. “It’s a private business. Furthermore, 99 percent of all the screenings in Austin are dude-friendly. It’s almost like the whole world is set up for us. I think the real shocking thing is it took this long to get a lady superhero movie.”
Wonder Woman was the biggest opening ever for a female director. The movie is also the first major superhero film to feature a female lead.
The film exceeded expectations, taking in $103 million in its first weekend and receiving praise from many critics and viewers.
52% of the film’s audience in its first weekend were women in an industry catered toward the male viewer.
Forbes says what the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin already knew; the movie didn’t need men to succeed.
“So, fun fact, had men been barred from Wonder Woman screenings last night, the film still would have grossed more than the entire opening weekend of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.”
Featured Image by LBJ Library on Flickr
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