Men Outraged As Austin Theater Adds 2nd Women-Only 'Wonder Woman' Screening

AUSTIN, TX — Responding to popular demand, officials at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz Theater in downtown Austin on Thursday added a second screening of the upcoming "Wonder Woman" movie. Like the first scheduled airing of the film, presale tickets quickly sold out, prompting operators to consider adding more.

In keeping with the milestone moment of having Wonder Woman memorialized on screen for the first time — after a long line of male superheroes rolled out for the summer blockbuster season —Ritz officials thought it would be a nice gesture advancing female solidarity and empowerment to have a screening scheduled just for women.

"The most iconic superheroine in comic book history finally has her own movie, and what better way to celebrate than with an all-female screening?" theater officials wrote on their website. "Apologies, gentlemen, but we’re embracing our girl power and saying 'No Guys Allowed' for one special night at the Alamo Ritz."

Related story: Girl Power: Downtown Austin Ritz Theater Sets All-Female 'Wonder Woman' Screening

Moreover, the special screenings would be feature an all-female staff, including ushers, projectionist and culinary team. The special screening quickly sold out, as did a second one, to accommodate demand. Officials now say they will add more all-female screenings wherever possible.

"So lasso your geeky girlfriends together and grab your tickets to this celebration of one of the most enduring and inspiring characters ever created," theater officials wrote.

Nice gesture, no? Some grown men don't seem to think so (we're talking grown men here) and have taken to social media and the theater's website to air their gripes. The male critics weren't so much mansplainin' as they were mancomplainin' about the ladies-only movie event with inferences of personal oppression and outright accusations of reverse sexism as a result.

Their umbrage is so energized it's commanded headlines beyond Austin, with the Huffington Post, Glamour and New York Magazine among the publications picking up on the controversy.

"Very tacky Alamo," sniffed Allen Dale in airing his complaint on the theater's website. "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."

Theater officials aren't shying away from such dissent. "This doesn't have a thing to do with equality," they responded succinctly to Dale. "This is a celebration of a character that's meant a great deal to many women since 1940," they expounded to another internet complainant.

"As an executive officer of several corporations, I can assure you that I know the laws," Jim Dujka, who identifies himself as executive officer and president of both Hearts & Paws Animal Assistance Program and the Ingenium Foundation of Texas Inc., chimed in. "But even if I wasn't involved in business, common sense would still prevail that 'women only' at a business of public accommodation is illegal."

"What a bunch of liberal crap," intoned Darin Stewart, seemingly channeling Archie Bunker had he lived long enough to see the internet. "Guess I won't be going to Alamo draft house [sic] again. Never seen you do a men's only night. I'll be sure to pass this BS around to all my movie going friends so they can start going somewhere else!"

But Tony Lee took his objection to different heights as something more akin to a cause, offering to pay the admission price for men pretending to identify as women to gain entry (seemingly unwilling to partake in the hirsute activism himself). In their original post, Alamo Drafthouse officials wrote the all-female screening would include transgender women.

"I'll pay for the tickets of the first 5 large, burly, bearded veterans who walk in there to see the movie and say they identify [as] women and demand to see it," Lee wrote. "It's a two way street."

Theater officials are taking the ensuing controversy in stride, noting they've often staged special screenings for particular groups. "We're big fans of special viewings and have done veterans and active military screenings many, many times," they said. "We will absolutely continue in the future."

Not all men were critical of the move, with many supportive of the idea. One man wrote how excited his wife was to join her girlfriends at an upcoming all-ladies screening and has given his blessings to the group.

Forbes magazine picked up on the story too, praising the theater chain's women-only screenings and calling for more. But its endorsement comes through the prism of business, if not social statement. "Should theaters across the country hold women-only 'Wonder Woman' screenings, the feminist fever will spread across the web virally, boosting tickets sales as it captures headlines. (Like this one)," those clever Forbes scribes noted, calling the move a "genius marketing ploy."

As for the movie, it centers on the the ascendancy of Diana Prince to her heroic Wonder Woman persona, after being forced to leave her island home —Themyscira, inhabited only by women — in order to stop a villain intent on destroying the world.

Given the hurt feelings of the men on the theater's Facebook thread, it's starting to make sense why on that idyllic island of Themyscira, there was nary a man in sight.

>>> Image courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse