Sally Field and the MGTOW Reality Distortion Field

People used to say that Steve Jobs had a sort of “reality distortion field” that surrounded him like an aura, that his charisma and enthusiasm were so off the charts that he was able to convince those in his presence (and, quite often, himself) of almost anything.

The people I tend to write about on this blog also seem to live within reality distortion fields of their own making, but instead of seeing the world through Apple-colored glasses they come to believe a lot of stupid and terrible things about women. And in the process, some have become incapable of seeing what is right there before their eyes.

Take, for example, the surreal discussion of the new Sally Field comedy Hello, My Name is Doris that I ran across recently on the MGTOW forums on GoingYourOwnWay.com.

The film tells the story of a comically frumpy and awkward older woman (Field) who gets the hots for a charming, handsome and much younger co-worker (Max Greenfield). I haven’t seen the movie, so I have no idea if the two end up together. Or if the movie is any good.

The fellows on GoingYourOwnWay.com haven’t seen the movie either, but they have some pretty strong feelings about it regardless, notably the feeling “eeeeeeeeww!” They’re not only offended and disgusted by the idea of the two getting together; they’re angry that any old lady could even think she could bag a much younger man.

“Well i like older women but this garbage glory hole piece of garbage grand parent slut i wouldnt be able to puncture,” one commenter declares.

“[I]ts not a rom com its a fucking crime against nature, a freakish out growth that exists only after years of gynocidal feminist garbage has poisoned us all,” adds another.

So far this is all pretty standard MGTOW stuff. After all, these are guys who, like so many others in the manosphere, think women “hit the wall” by the age of thirty, if not earlier.

What’s interesting to me is how old they think Sally Field is.

In the post that opens the thread, titled “New fantasy for post-wall women,” a commenter who calls himself Nuggets describes the film thusly:

Romantic comedy with 50-ish woman seducing the 20 something new hire guy at her job. I always find shit like this hilarious. Probably the beginning of a new trend for movies. Bleh

In a followup comment, he adds:

It’s like they’re in total denial that she’s old. They’re trying so hard to present her as an “omg so awkward” 23 year old woman, even though the actress who plays her is 54. That’s exactly how women think though, especially the target demographic for this movie. Picture some grannies going to see this, gives me the creeps mang.

Sally Field is 69 years old, not 54. She played “The Flying Nun” in the 1960s, for god’s sake.

Not only that, but in the film she’s done up in a way that makes her look even older — as you can see from the film’s trailer, which Nuggets helpfully posted to the thread:

Here she is at the film’s premiere, with somewhat better styling:

For purposes of comparison, here’s another 69-year-old who’s been in the news a lot lately:

Now, I should point out that several commenters on GoYourOwnWay.com piped up to set Nuggets straight on Field’s actual age. And, for what it’s worth, Nugget is also off on the age of Sally Field’s movie crush. The actor playing her co-worker isn’t “20 something.” He’s 35.

But Nuggets’ confusion about Field’s age is telling.

Does he think that when women ‘hit the wall,” at whatever arbitrary age he thinks this happens, that they immediately start shrinking down and drying up, transforming from “hot babes” into an army of bitter old crones?

Is he so convinced that “women age like milk,” as misogynists often say, that he simply can’t see all the women who don’t?

Newsflash, MGTOW dudes: lots of men find older women attractive.

In the real world, to be sure, it’s pretty rare for 35-year-old men to date 69-year-old women. But the inverse is also true, and there are plenty of men who are interested in the older women that MGTOWs profess to be so disgusted by, even if they lack the age-defying powers of a Helen Mirren. Indeed, one recent study by AARP found that a third of 40-something women who were dating were dating younger men.

Physical attraction doesn’t abide by the rules that people like MGTOWs try to impose upon it. Contrary to the assertions of manosphere “wall theory,” not all men are forever obsessed with 18-year-old supermodel virgins.

One of the weirder aspects of straight male sexuality is that men are often afraid to admit when they find themselves attracted to women who don’t measure up to some arbitrary standard of conventional attractiveness.

That’s why you see so many teenage boys and young men online loudly proclaiming that they “would not bang” this or that celebrity woman due to some weird and imaginary flaws (“pointy elbows”); their proclamations are often so obviously and ridiculously untrue they’ve inspired a popular meme, here applied to a perfectly lovely cat:

MGTOWs are men who’ve never outgrown this phase; indeed, they’ve turned their cries of “would not bang” into a life philosophy of sorts. Some of them must realize that they’re protesting too much.

But others, like Nuggets, have become so enmeshed in their own nonsense they can’t ever see straight. Bad ideas can be a strangely powerful thing.