Dendy Cinemas has joined the shameful list of Australian companies caving into pressure from extremist groups.
Dendy has just announced they will cancel The Red Pill, a movie about men’s lives which was due to be screened in Newtown next week and Canberra next month. Tickets for the Newtown screening have been sold out for weeks.
Last year we became the only country in the world where movie theatres have been bullied into banning this movie.
The Red Pill is a documentary by feminist filmmaker Cassie Jaye who set out to attack men’s rights activists but ended up exploring why important issues about the lives of men and boys so rarely get proper attention. http://www.bettinaarndt.com.au/mens-issues/the-red-pill/
The Red Pill is receiving world-wide acclaim – in the US it is currently the #1 Documentary on Google Play.
Yet planned screenings last October in Australia were cancelled after extremists promoted lies about the contents of the movie, alleging it promoted violence and misogyny. Cinema owners received death threats and had their businesses attacked.
I have been working to organise screenings across the country through Fan-Force – an organisation which allows people to see whatever movies they choose.
The April 26 screening of The Red Pill at The Dendy in Newtown was the first Fan-Force screening to sell out although other events are planned across the country, often through large cinema chains like Hoyts, Event and Village.
However the Canberra screening on May 17 was also planned to be at Dendy and hence will also apparently be cancelled. Dendy has issued instructions to Fan-Force to notify ticket-holders that the screening will not go ahead but refuse to issue a statement.
No doubt they are nervous of ending up looking like the management of Cooper’s Brewery which was caught out caving into pressure from the LGBTI lobby group and ended up alienating a far larger group of their clientele.
The Dendy decision shows an appalling disregard for their mainstream audience of men and women who were keen to see this movie. Men and women who realise that men matter too!
Feminist extremists have loud voices but they have no right to determine what other people in this free country choose to see.
The other organisers and I, of the Fan Force screenings, are putting together a change.org petition protesting this move by Dendy. SHAME ON YOU, DENDY. MEN MATTER TOO! Please sign this urgently and get everyone you know to do so. We need lots of signatures to make the point that we object to this type of bullying by extremist groups.
But there is another screening taking place in Sydney at Hoyts Broadway on May 10. People who believe in free speech are urgent to book their tickets now to make sure the wicked witches don’t win!
Other screenings are taking place across the country and another venue will be found for Canberra. All details will be on the Fan-Force site.Please book in now!
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