I watched it expecting to be enraged, and in that respect, I wasn’t disappointed. The “red pill” universe peddled by overly preened misogynists in Louis Theroux’s Manosphere is exactly what you already know it is: a Ponzi scheme designed to exploit young men in search of purpose – to the benefit of a few charlatans and disreputable financial services institutions – and to the detriment of women, Jews, the LGBTQ+ community, or anyone who doesn’t conform to conservative social norms.
When I watched Adolescence, it made me fear for my sons. Watching this, I worry for my daughters. Young women are referred to throughout as “sl*gs,” “dishwashers,” and “simpletons”… lesser beings who have never created anything and whose value in this world is directly proportionate to their perceived beauty. Men are “alpha,” in charge and dominating. Their role is to tell women what to do because that’s “what women secretly want.”
The irony is, the men in this documentary? You’ve never seen a more insecure group in your entire life. They are all so desperate for recognition from Louis and from each other. After every controversial thing they say, they look around for a high-five or a nod of approval, and if they don’t get it, they backtrack. They don’t believe in anything.
These supposed “alphas” fawn over each other. How can you call yourself dominant while “fan-girling” over another person because his car is shinier or his suit tighter?
Never is their weakness more visible than in the presence of women. One of the hardest parts to watch is them spouting their hateful, ill-informed misogynistic rhetoric in front of their wives or partners, who everyone (but them, apparently) can see visibly dying inside. I can only assume they stick around as a form of self-flagellation, or because, as they state throughout, these men are different people off-camera. They have to be, right? It’s all a pantomime for profit.
I was always taught that loyalty was what people said about you when you’re not in the room. It’s telling that not one of these men would let their wives or partners speak to Louis out of earshot.
I hope this documentary acts as contraception to young male minds, and as a vaccination for young women: a small exposure to something that will kill you if you let it.
We need more positive male role models. We need to show kids you can have money and cars and nice things, and women who love you, without demeaning others or throwing feminism under the bus.