Birds of Prey Fans and Punisher Creator Gerry Conway Blame Film’s Poor Opening on Men and Misogyny
Spencer Baculi
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Following the disappointing box office numbers for the opening weekend of Birds of Prey, fans of the film have taken to blaming the entirety of ‘men,’ rather than the overall production, for the film’s poor performance.
Despite the film receiving generally positive reviews from critics of both genders almost across the board, fans were quick to accuse men of refusing to see the film because of their inherent misogyny:
When #BirdsOfPrey might flop at the box office because y’all hate women
pic.twitter.com/UQQbjPaSLJ— Gabriela Cristina🐹 (@gaby_burgos27) February 8, 2020
white men really think they’re doing something by not seeing birds of prey in theaters. just say your dicks are small and you’re afraid of seeing powerful women together on screen and go. pic.twitter.com/maeuB3sFhm
— tricia 🦇 (@skywalkerwayne) February 8, 2020
I just- Birds of Prey is so special and it sucks so bad that men (and Grace) with power in our film space is scaring people away from seeing it
If you are even the TINEST bit interested in the film, please go see it.
— Academy Award winning Taika Waititi (@moviesandcats) February 8, 2020
Related: Margot Robbie’s Birds Of Prey BOMBS At Box Office
This is just so fucking important for future female lead blockbusters that this makes money
— Academy Award winning Taika Waititi (@moviesandcats) February 8, 2020
I don’t want studios to think that we only will put our money behind female lead safe and generic films like Captain Marvel and Wonder Women (as much as I love Captain Marvel and as much as everyone else loves Wonder Women, they’re basic)
— Academy Award winning Taika Waititi (@moviesandcats) February 8, 2020
me, rushing to meet everyone i know to see b*rds of pr*y four hundred and seventy three more times so margot won’t be sad at the lower than hoped for ticket sales which i 100% blame men for pic.twitter.com/yqy0mTcTQ9
— 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 🏳️🌈 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝒷𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓁𝓈𝒶 (@sobering_stairs) February 9, 2020
FUCK THIS SHIT I’M ABOUT TO RANT.
YOU KNOW WHY PERVY INCEL-Y FANBOYS ARE PISSED ABOUT #BirdsOfPrey ?!?
BECAUSE WOMEN ARE INTERFERING ON THEIR TERRITORY.
COMIC BOOKS HAVE BEEN CREATED AND CURATED FOR MEN FOR SO LONG THAT THEY HAVE GROWN COMFORTABLE.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
Related: Birds of Prey’s Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDB Audience Scores Revealed
WELL KNOCK KNOCK. GUESS WHO? ME BITCH. A GIRL WHO JUST REALLY FUCKING LOVES COMIC BOOKS AND ALL THE CHARACTERS.
I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH FANBOYS BULLYING ACTRESSES WHO GET CASTED AS THEIR FAVORITE CHARACTERS BECAUSE IT’S NOT YOUR FANTASY.
IT’S NOT JUST YOU ANYMORE.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
A LOT OF FEMALE CHARACTERS HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN AND BE BADASS AND INDEPENDENT BOSS ASS BITCHES.
MOST OF THEIR STORIES REVOLVE AROUND MEN OR HAVE LITTLE TO NO BACKSTORY WHATSOEVER.
WHY? BECAUSE THEY’RE WRITTEN AND DESIGNED FOR THE GAZE OF MEN.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
IT’S TIME FOR THE FANBOYS WHO HAVE BEEN COMFORTABLE IN FANDOMS FOR SO LONG TO OPEN UP AND LET US IN. WE’RE FANS JUST LIKE YOU. WE WANT GOOD STORIES FOR BOTH MALE AND FEMALE CHARACTERS.
WHEN MALE BLAME SJWS/FEMINISTS/WOMEN IN GENERAL FOR THINGS I WANT TO RIP THEIR HEADS OFF.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
THIS ONE IS FOR MY LADIES! WE NEED MORE WRITERS AND DIRECTORS AND FREE-THINKERS AND ARTISTS IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES! FILM, TV, COMICS, MUSIC! WE NEED MORE WOMEN TO MAKE ART!
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
FOR SO LONG I HAVE BEEN SHUT OUT OF THE DC COMICS FANDOM BECAUSE I’VE BEEN AFRAID OF MEN TRYING TO ACT TALL AND PISS ON THE CARPET TO MARK THEIR TERRITORY. BUT Y’ALL I’M SICK OF THAT SHIT. I FOUND GOOD PEOPLE ON HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LONG TIME.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
AND I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE A FEMINAZI IS GOING OFF. BUT I DON’T WANT WOMEN TO TAKEOVER EVERYTHING.
I WANT YOU TO LET IS IN AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND THE GEEKING OUT ABOUT OUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
I WANT FEMALE CHARACTERS TO GET WELL-ROUNDED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND BACKSTORY. I WANT A LESS OVERTLY-SEXUAL CHARACTER DESIGN FOR BOTH MALES AND FEMALES.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
now that i’ve taken a deep breath. let me clarify. i’m not saying that i’m gonna yell over them, but clarifying and debating the subject is what i meant. and i’m not saying that all male comic book fans are pervy scum who hate women. ➡️
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
➡️ i have plenty of male comic friends who are more open-minded to things such as the #BirdsOfPrey film.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
speaking of #BirdsOfPrey, it was the first time in a long time that my favorite characters were properly represented and not dumbed down to a sexual fantasy for my fellow male movie-goers.
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
Related: Ewan McGregor Doubles Down On”Misogynist” Marketing for Birds of Prey
for the record, i’m not a newcomer by any means. i basically grew up on batman, dc comics, star wars and star trek. (not as well-read in marvel comics…anybody got any recommendations?) pic.twitter.com/ktxak6wfLP
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
and also, for the record: i am a feminist. but i believe in an equal playing field and not a total feminazi takeover. 👏🏻
humans can be pretty cool when they’re not mean. ✨
— adeline 🏹🐤✨ (@allpwrfloracle) February 9, 2020
Others falsely generalized that men were refusing to see the film solely in protest of the female cast not being “sexualized.”
“The women in #BirdsOfPrey aren’t sexy enough”
“Female directed movies are bad”
Get out of here with your misogyny. pic.twitter.com/T8vruDvPY5
— Caillou Pettis (@CaillouPettis) February 8, 2020
the fact that men are refusing to watch birds of prey because it’s an all women team and their clothes are not showing enough skin just frustrates me. they will only see a movie with a female lead if she is sexualized and that’s disgusting
— victoire (@siriusclaw) February 9, 2020
Good morning, please go see BIRDS OF PREY! Don’t let white men with no taste tell you not to see it. They’re not used to seeing POWERFUL WOMEN on screen & not needing men. Better yet, they’re probably so mad because the women in this movie aren’t being sexualized! 😇💕👀✨ pic.twitter.com/wD7EFMOUWp
— 🤍Francis Dominic🤍 (@francisdominiic) February 9, 2020
imagine getting turned off by a movie just because the story centers around women who aren’t overly sexualized/exist purely for the male gaze and actually have substantial storylines, couldn’t be me! go see birds of prey https://t.co/7vG2QHofg5
— faith (@victuurii) February 9, 2020
Ok but film bros™ who trash #BirdsOfPrey because it has a female director and the leads are women who aren’t being hyper sexualized for the male gaze are the worst kind of film bros. Like just shut up and go back to jacking off to Joker for the sixth time lmao.
— Lily🧃🦋🌿🧚🏻♀️✨ (@lil_m_olson) February 6, 2020
Related: Harley Quinn Voted for Bernie Sanders In Warner Bros. Latest Birds of Prey Film
The scapegoat of a lack of sexualization was also put forth by Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway, who described the supposed lack of desire by “young men” to see the film as “crass, horrible, shallow.” He also stated that the “desexualizing” of the team’s members as “in the abstract, and politically, this is good.”
I’m so disappointed by “Birds of Prey” box office and what it says about the male audience for superhero films. Here’s my controversial take (don’t hate me): the movie didn’t pull teenage boys because Margot Robbie didn’t want Harley Quinn to be sexualized as she was in SS.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
It’s horribly shallow, but there we are: I’ll bet much of Harley’s appeal for young men in “Suicide Squad” was the hypersexualiazation of her body in a middrift shirt and shorts shorts that emphasized her buttocks and legs. To her credit Robbie wanted to attack that.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
The result was a complete desexualizing of Harley in “Birds”– so much so that we see her in baggy overalls or baggy pajamas, etc., throughout. Her fellow “Birds” are also desexualized. In the abstract, and politically, this is good.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
But superhero movies unfortunately depend for a large part of their audience on young men, and without special powers, or a truly mind-bending set of special effects, what would draw young men to see “Birds of Prey” if there’s no…uh…T&A? It’s crass, horrible, shallow.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
“Captain Marvel” and “Wonder Woman” were hits because they provided superhero powers, big special effects, and, yeah, beautiful women who looked good in tight fitting outfits. To her credit, Margot Robbie wanted to challenge the need for any of that.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
Unfortunately what she may have proved (who can say off one movie) is that the male audience for superhero movies isn’t as mature as we’d like to hope, and the female audience isn’t large enough to compensate.
— Gerry Conway (@gerryconway) February 9, 2020
However, despite these misandrist excuses, various news outlets including Deadline, Forbes, and Yahoo! Entertainment have attempted to analyze the reasons behind the film’s poor showing and have not identified ‘men’ or ‘misogyny’ as a factor. In fact, men made up 53% of the total opening weekend audience according to Deadline. They also reported that men over 25 were a plurality of the audience with 33%.
Most analysts cite the film’s lack of Joker or Batman, massive deviation from the comic book source material, being a sequel to the atrocious Suicide Squad film, and R-rating as some of the major causes behind the lackluster opening. As summarized by Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro:
“As the old saying goes, goods movies sell, bad movies don’t. And the latter is what really happened here with Birds of Prey at the end of the day.”
The film’s hardline feminist marketing may have also played a significant role in driving audiences away.
Ewan McGregor, who plays the film’s villain, Black Mask, routinely touted the “feminist” messaging of the film, even stating that the film would take on “everyday misogyny, of those things you say as a man you do not even realize, [such as] mansplaining.”
Margot Robbie, who stars as Harley Quinn, described her costume as being specifically “less male gaze-y”.
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