Austin Mayor Responds To Man Angry About 'Wonder Woman' Screening

As the Two-Way reported earlier this week, some men are quite perturbed about a women-only screening of Wonder Woman at an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater in Austin, Texas.

The theater responded with some finely crafted posts on Facebook and Twitter, and by scheduling women-only screenings in Brooklyn and Northern Virginia, too.

One man was so angry about the screening that he wrote a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler. In addition to writing some — ahem — eyebrow-raising ideas about women and bringing up a 1966 mass shooting, the man threatened to not grace Austin with his presence.

This is the email that Adler received on May 26:

"I hope every man will boycott Austin and do what he can to diminish Austin and to cause damage to the city's image. The theater that pandered to the sexism typical of women will, I hope, regret it's decision. The notion of a woman hero is a fine example of women's eagerness to accept the appearance of achievement without actual achievement. Women learn from an early age to value make-up, that it's OK to pretend that you are greater than you actually are. Women pretend they do not know that only men serve in combat because they are content to have an easier ride. Women gladly accept gold medals at the Olympics for coming in 10th and competing only against the second class of athletes. Name something invented by a woman! Achievements by the second rate gender pale in comparison to virtually everything great in human history was accomplished by men, not women. If Austin does not host a men only counter event, I will never visit Austin and will welcome it's deterioration. And I will not forget that Austin is best known for Charles Whitman. Does Austin stand for gender equality or for kissing up to women? Don't bother to respond. I already know the answer. I do not hate women. I hate their rampant hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of the 'women's movement.' Women do not want gender equality; they want more for women. Don't bother to respond because I am sure your cowardice will generate nothing worth reading.

"Richard A. Ameduri"

Today, Adler posted his response:

"Dear Mr. Ameduri,

"I am writing to alert you that your email account has been hacked by an unfortunate and unusually hostile individual. Please remedy your account's security right away, lest this person's uninformed and sexist rantings give you a bad name. After all, we men have to look out for each other!

"Can you imagine if someone thought that you didn't know women could serve in our combat units now without exclusion? What if someone thought you didn't know that women invented medical syringes, life rafts, fire escapes, central and solar heating, a war-time communications system for radio-controlling torpedoes that laid the technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS, and beer? And I hesitate to imagine how embarrassed you'd be if someone thought you were upset that a private business was realizing a business opportunity by reserving one screening this weekend for women to see a superhero movie.

"You and I are serious men of substance with little time for the delicate sensitivities displayed by the pitiful creature who maligned your good name and sterling character by writing that abysmal email. I trust the news that your email account has been hacked does not cause you undue alarm and wish you well in securing your account. And in the future, should your travels take you to Austin, please know that everyone is welcome here, even people like those who wrote that email whose views are an embarrassment to modernity, decency, and common sense.

"Yours sincerely,

"Steve Adler"

Jason Stanford, the mayor's communications director, says that while the mayor gets a lot of interesting mail, "We don't get a lot of Wonder Woman letters."

"Most people are aware that the mayor's office has precious little control over movie screenings," he says. "This is the first time we've ever been asked to insert ourselves into the seating process at the Alamo Drafthouse."

A number of the men who were angry about the screening questioned its legality. But Stanford says the screening doesn't break any laws.

"It's legal," he says. "It's a private business. Furthermore, 99 percent of all the screenings in Austin are dude-friendly. It's almost like the whole world is set up for us. I think the real shocking thing is it took this long to get a lady superhero movie."

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.