What would the world look like if women ran the show and men became obsolete? That’s the premise of Vancouver director Mark Sawers’ No Men Beyond This Point.
The wry-humoured movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall and is set to be released in the city this weekend. It’s already playing this week in Vancouver and will be released on iTunes on April 26.
According to its TIFF synopsis, Sawers “envisions a world” where women have stopped giving birth to boys. “Virgin births have been increasing exponentially in number since the 1950s,” taking men out of the “procreation equation.”
“The dwindling population of men are desperate to reclaim their place in the sun.”
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The trailer shows women partnering up to co-parent their kids, as men stand on the sidelines.
Judging by the YouTube comments, the satirical view of a hypothetical society was clearly too much for some to fathom.
“What kind of repulsive garbage is this?” one commenter demanded.
“It’s a mockumentary,” someone replied.
Robert Smith argued that the film is actually proof we’re living in male-hating society. “If the premise was reversed,” he wrote, “this film would never be allowed to be released.”
“What’s more is that this film represents a growing attitude among all women in society,” Smith added.
“In my opinion women are effectively useless and without men this society would crumble, literally.”
“If men disappeared who would build our homes, fix roof tops, repair roads, do our plumbing, wiring and take away the trash? Who would build and maintain our cars?
“Who would sweep the streets, maintain the sewage systems… What would happen to advancements in science, biology, engineering and technology? Women really have no idea how dependent they are on men.”
“My favourite part,” echoed Eric B., ” is how there’s still somehow a functioning city infrastructure, cars, modern tech, and use of oil.”
Others went as far as to say that women’s suffrage was a mistake and that things like the gender wage gap doesn’t exist.
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“F*cking feminism. Go to hell,” said another critic.
So what does the director have to say about all the controversy? He thinks it’s hilarious.
“I didn’t think men were so sensitive about women becoming the dominant sex but I guess it’s understandable. No one likes to give up control. Especially men,” he joked.
He assures us there was no political motivation behind his faux documentary. He simply wanted a storyline where two lovers were kept apart.
“That led me to a world where women ruled and men were going extinct. I had to make it as a fake documentary in order to explain how this all came to be. My takeaway: men — can’t live with us, can’t live without us.”
Sawers also told men to chill out (“and maybe seek some counselling?”) because his plot-line is just a joke.
The last word goes to Mel Betancourt:
“The actual documentary that will be inspired by these comments: ‘Male fragility, and their inability to understand a joke.'”
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