I'm never totally sure how to deal with men's rights activists, but Jimmy Kimmel's parody of a men's rights version of Star Wars is a big ol' step in the right direction. Apparently a group of MRA fun-lovers called Return of Kings took issue with The Force Awakens, calling for a boycott of the film because of its "non-white and female agenda." Activate side eye. They claim that their actions cost the film, and thus Disney, $4.2 million, a figure apparently pulled from a Twitter poll with just 565 respondents. Intensify side eye. And, instead of delving into exactly why it's completely bonkers to feel threatened by a film whose leads are a woman who doesn't need saving and passes the Bechdel Test, and a black man who takes an immense risk in betraying the evil First Order and whose race is never even mentioned, Kimmel gives them what they want.
That's right! A new and "improved," male-centric version of The Force Awakens. I was wondering if it might be just Rey completely edited out of the movie, and fart sounds put in instead of lines of male dialogue, but it's so much better than that. It's the scrolling words from the beginning, adjusted to suit the — ahem — needs and interests of a group of people who think they deserve your respect simply because they're white and male and arrogant about those two things. So let's see it, Jimmy Kimmel! Roll tape!
I think what I love about it the most is how clearly it states Kimmel's own feeling about the men's rights group. It can be hard to tell where famous people fall as far as feminism unless they say it right out, but Kimmel has made it crystal clear in this video. And not by starting with "BRAH!," or the drawing of boobs, or changing the thing that's being sought to AXE Body Spray, hilarious as all those touches were. Instead, it was by pointing out that our real-life men's rights activists actually have a lot in common with the First Order, and their thoughts on women and minorities. Ayoooo! Can't argue with that!
It warms my little feminist heart to see Jimmy Kimmel firmly putting his flag down on the right side of history.
Image: ABC
