I enjoy reading IndieWire as it goes over an array of topics in the film industry. However, the latest article from Eric Kohn on Fantastic Fest Under Fire: Why America’s Preeminent Genre Festival Needs Its Fans More Than Hollywood is a bit of a hype piece to get angry at men. In the only section that briefly attacks men at some fun activities at the festival, Eric shapes his story about Time League hiring back Devin Faraci in secret as the fault of boxing and slap fights. Devin Fraci was first let go for sexual assault charges then rehired in secret. Not a great movie, but bringing up the below slap fights and boxing has nothing to do with Tim League's management of his company.
"Clearly, the festival’s hard-partying culture fostered a major
systematic problem. It emboldened a male-dominated fraternity in which
misogynistic behavior went unpunished. The anarchistic streak of its
annual traditions — like debating movie topics in a boxing ring or
slapping games — created a sense of unregulated fun that unleashed base,
primal antics and allowed them to assert their dominance. League was
unquestionably complicit in this process, and Fantastic Fest co-founder
Harry Knowles created the precedent for empowering unruly fanboys with
Ain’t Cool News."
What's real correlation here? There is none. Because, when two events where adults choose to fight and play movie trivia happen once a year at a film festival they don't magically make Tim League change his views or make him sexist. It doesn't empower him.
This is the same company the gave us an all women screening of Wonder Woman.
I'm not gonna defend Tim as I don't know his relationship with Faraci, but blaming some dumb games at Fantastic Fest for his actions is such bad writing. That's why it only lasted a paragraph and had nothing to back it up.
The rest of the article is pretty much flattery for how much fans like the festival. The part in question that randomly tells us that basically, men are bad, should just be omitted unless it has a point or has some proof.
