I wish we were talking about trolls with funny hair or the ones who live under bridges. But this is about internet trolls. The price of being in the public eye.
I was more than excited about our episode of “Forbidden Planet.” Jeremy had recommended it after finding the Caltex Theatre’s radio play. All of the sci-fi we’d done to date was set in “modern day” to the radio shows, so this would finally be a far-off future world. What fun, right? And a title a lot of sci-fi fans are well acquainted with. I thought it would be along the lines of our doing “Wizard of Oz,” “Miracle on 34th Street” or “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.” What I failed to recognize until the show premiered is that none of the other movie titles are fiercely guarded by men very vocal about their opinions on women in “their world.”
I am no stranger to angry men having a knee-jerk reaction to Madison. My very first Apple review back in 2021 said that he could “fix” me if he could be “left alone in a room” with me and “a 2×4.” Thanks for the constructive feedback. I have further had men pop up on the social media spaces saying they couldn’t possibly get through the episode because of Madison’s “annoying voice.” That one hurt for a while. I certainly do punch up Madison’s “valley girl/Millennial” voice, but she really isn’t too far off from my own. But after seeing ONLY men give that feedback, I recognized it wasn’t that they didn’t like my VOICE. They didn’t like what my voice was SAYING. Cutting down misogyny in OTR, a place men like to sit back and remember the “good ol’ days” where all women were slotted into subservient roles, wasn’t what they wanted invading “their space.” Where the portrayal of a “strong female” was a sexually manipulative “femme fatale.” Because sexually charged women putting themselves at reach of men is strength. But Madison being comfortable in her sexuality but NOT doing it to please the men around her… “annoying.”
Then came “Forbidden Planet.” As I’d hoped, the title drew new listeners. But with new listeners came men insisting this “classic film” is perfect, and no WOMAN dare touch it. A YouTube review simply said I “clearly have a disdain for all things old time radio and certainly this classic film.” You think that guy would’ve said that to the MST3K cast? (an all male cast) Thankfully, I don’t allow reviews to post without my approval, so that one went in the trash. I will not allow someone who knows nothing about this show to trash it after only listening to a couple of minutes of the content. When I posted the trailer on the Audio Drama subreddit with the hook, “Madison takes on the monsters and misogyny of this 1950’s classic sci-fi film.” I got one guy who replied “Monsters and misogyny of the 1950s” EYE ROLL. Silly girl claiming the movie that is textbook workplace-sexual-harassment-video misogyny is actually that. But the worst was the “review” that said he wanted me dead.
One of my cast reposted my Madison FB post announcing the episode. I see his posts because we are on FB together. His FB friend said he “tried to listen” a gallant effort he put in to support his friend BUT “her voice was so annoying I had to immediately turn it off.” He went on to list each and every male actor in the cast (save Jeremy who shares my last name, of course) and how THEY were all OUTSTANDING but he really wished I would’ve been killed. That the show would’ve been good if only I were dead. Sad to report, this cast member gave him a “laugh emoji” and the world went on. His super insightful review that men=good, woman=good-if-dead. That old “a good ___ is a dead ___” that has been used by racists, homophobes and misogynistic men for generations.
I am not producing content to win popularity contests or have a revenue of love to fill an empty void or anything. I do it because I enjoy it. But I really, REALLY wish this vocal minority of ANGRY WHITE STRAIGHT MEN (who appear all over social media) would learn one major lesson. Everyone has opinions about everything. And I understand that traditionally angry white straight men have been taught that their opinions matter above all others. That what they think absolutely needs to be shared with the world because the world needs their guidance. But not every tiny bit of content put out into the world has been put there for the consumption of angry white straight men. I can see how the world is changing and more and more content is being created for a wide spectrum of people, so that the angry white straight men are starting to feel their power and strength slipping. So they have to make a point to destroy anything that might not be for them to hopefully STOP that content from growing. But, podcasting especially, is the last frontier of free expression. So, my advice to all the angry white straight men is: learn this phrase “I am not the audience for this” and then fight ALL of your privileged urges telling you to insult and threaten the people who created that content, and MOVE ON. Scroll on by. Go to the next show. And if you think you’re funnier, more clever, know exactly the right way it should’ve been done… go make your own damn podcast.
Chrisi (aka Madison)
