Alamo Drafthouse held two women-only screenings Tuesday of the superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman at its Sixth Street location.
The logic behind last week's announcement of the showings was innocent enough: The DC Comics character is the most recognizable female superhero in comic lore. Still, the theater's decision prompted a slew of dude-based derision on social media that made national news.
Since then, Alamo – and others – responded with aplomb, and the Austin-based theater chain even added additional showings.
Outside the screening, Jessica Jacobs said she didn't see the harm in having a select number of women-only audiences.
“If you really wanna go see Wonder Woman at the Alamo, there’s a ton of other ones you could go to," she said. "I don’t think two screenings constitutes it being considered discriminatory.”
Tiffany Blackstone and her sister also attended one of the screenings Tuesday. The connection the two felt to the character growing up was, well, written on Blackstone's sister's face.
"We've loved Wonder Woman since we were a little girl," she said. "My sister has a scar on her eyebrow, actually, from spinning around the house pretending she was Wonder Woman and falling and hitting the fireplace."
Twelve-year-old Sylvia Grimes joined friends Khloe Lee, 12, and Sienna Fons, 9, for the screening. All three donned red capes and painted-on gold headbands in the style of the iconic heroine.
"It's not very normal to have a movie completely based on women and their abilities," Sylvia said. She compared it to her experiences in sixth grade with physical strength and endurance tests at school.
"We do a physical test every year and what's expected of men is higher than what's expected of women," she said. "We're not challenged as much as they are."
During the initial dustup, Austin Mayor Steve Adler defended the screenings in a snarky response to an email his office got referring to women as a “second rate gender.” His response made national news, and Khloe took notice.
"It makes me happy inside just knowing that someone’s sticking up for us," she said. "It also makes me sad that someone thinks that."
