Documentary sparks debate on masculinity and the manosphere

On Monday, Tele-Quebec released the highly anticipated documentary film “Alphas,” a look at the world of online influencers in what is known as the manosphere.

“A lot of it is really good, like discipline and entrepreneurship, like training, like good habits. But there's this also this misogynist, like, homophobic, transphobic message,” says Simon Coutu, one of the journalists behind the film.

He says he started looking into the subject when he noticed a lot of the young men around him were listening to Andrew Tate, a men's rights influencer with millions of followers around the world.

In August, Tate was placed under house arrest in Romania. He is currently awaiting trial on rape and human trafficking charges.

"When you look at what he is saying on social media. It's really violent,” Coutu says.

Coutu's documentary profiles two similar Quebecois influencers who have garnered large online audiences talking about traditional gender roles and who believe women should submit to men.

Pauline Hoebanx is an expert on women in the manosphere and she says these influencers are good at getting through to disaffected young men and teens.

“It gives them certain rules to abide by, and it's to abide by those rules. They're promised money. They're promised wives and children and a happy family,” Hoebanx says.

But in so doing she says they often blame women and feminism for the economic and social problems men face.

“The men in the manosphere, with those influencers especially, rely a lot on emotion and particularly anger with the system,” she says.

The documentary has sparked a discussion about masculinity that Coutu says is overdue.

"There's always like a debate of do we give the mic and give a platform to these people. But at the end of the day, I think it really is worth it to have this whole discussion," Coutu says.