The director of controversial men’s rights documentary ‘The Red Pill‘ absolutely stunned the panellists on ‘The Project‘ last night.
Cassie Jaye is in town to promote her doco, which had been met with boycotts, protests and criticism for what its deeply misogynistic values. (Vice has a great breakdown on just why the film has been boycotted.)
It was meant to premiere in Australia at Palace Cinemas in Melbourne, but was cancelled after an enourmous outcry.
“I’m curious what is different about Australia that makes this topic so polarising, so fearful to people that they actually want to shut it down and silence it,” said Jaye on ‘The Project’ last night. “I’m not sure why there’s so much resistance in Australia.”
Carrie Bickmore explained that since the tragic death of Luke Batty in 2014, domestic and family violence had been part of a national conversation, largely thanks to the tireless campaigning of his mum and former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty.
“It’s really on the agenda here,” she said.
“And it was his son that passed?” Jaye asked.
“It was her son that was killed by his father,” she clarified.
And here’s where it got nasty, because Jaye used Luke Batty – a victim of family violence – to promote a harmful agenda.
“I didn’t know about that, but that is interesting, because it shows that there are male victims of domestic violence,” she said.
Waleed Aly looked gobsmacked.
“Sorry,” replied Aly. “That’s the lesson you took from that? Because children are always factored into domestic violence conversations. The point that a lot of people I think take from that is that the violence was perpetrated by a man in that situation, as it overwhelmingly is, particularly in cases where there is a fatality.”
“It’s something I really thought long and hard about while I was making ‘The Red Pill’,” she replied. “We have to distinguish between victims and perpetrators, or criminals, or the evil people in the world, because a boy who is being abused by a parental figure, that is a boy that deserves care and compassion and resources if he needs to find help.”
That sentence means nothing. Literally fucking nothing. Children are always included in conversations around family and domestic violence (hint: it’s the ‘family’ part of that phrase). It’s not as though Australia is somehow unable to distinguish between male victims of domestic violence – either as minors or as victims of intimate partner violence – and perpetrators.
The panellists spent the rest of the interview pulling Jaye up on the more offensive parts of her film, and honestly, her answers are just so lacking in logic it’s equal parts infuriating and baffling. Watch at risk of your own blood pressure.
Photo: The Project.
If you or someone you know – male or female – is experiencing domestic or family violence, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
