We live in a strange and worrying time. Thanks to the culture of the internet, certain voices can get amplified with ease. Some of the more troubling perspectives are those of the male “incel” community. While the term stands for involuntarily celibate, its taken on a much more toxic definition. Often, the people who find themselves “involuntarily celibate” display contempt and hatred for women. They combine that with a sense of entitlement that doubles down on the negative personality traits, further isolating them from the women they feel they deserve. Good subject for a rom-com, eh?
Andrew Tate’s YouTube
Zarrar Khan vs The Patriarchy
Zarrar Khan is a Canadian-Pakistani film maker who received rave reviews for his 2023 film, In Flames. The movie tackled elements of sexism and patriarchal society in the guise of a supernatural horror. Considering incel culture isn’t too far removed from that realm, it seems like a natural topic he’d cover. This upcoming project, The Lion Does Not Concern Himself is written by Mohammad Ali Hashmi who also stars in the film. He said he was inspired by seeing a staggering amount of incel propaganda after joining a new gym. It made him realize how quickly someone could fall under the spell of people like Andrew Tate.
If you’re not familiar with Andrew Tate, bless your heart. He’s a sexist alleged criminal whose made a name for himself in trying to champion his own view of masculinity. That view just happens to be homophobic and misogynist. The lead character in The Lion Does Not Concern Himself sees a similar role to being his way towards having some kind of impact on the world. That is until a girl walks into the gym he’s working at and he develops feelings for her.
Incels and “Fight Club”
The teaser trailer for the film doesn’t reveal much but it hits on certain points rather comically. We see two people talking, presumably the aforementioned lead and his romantic interest. When she says she works on movies, the man asks her if there’s anything he’d recognize. She in return, asks him the last movie he’s seen. He says, “Fight Club.” But when she responds back, “You’re not supposed to talk about Fight Club.” He responds, “Why?” She tells him its a line from the movie but he excuses it as he must have dozed off.
“Fight Club”
20th Century Studios
So, that alone sets up the kind of guy we’re dealing with here. He knows that Fight Club is supposed to be a movie he’s watched. The film has kind of incorrectly been adopted by angry white males who miss the film’s point. But clearly he has no knowledge of the movie. So perhaps he’s not THAT invested in the incel culture, he’s just lost. Maybe human interaction can help pull him out of that. And beyond that, maybe this is the kind of movie that can shine enough of a light on this subculture to point out how awful it is. Film can have that power, we look forward to seeing if Zarrah Khan wields it.
