Casey Affleck made a movie about a post-apocalyptic world without women, sigh

69th Berlin International Film Festival - Light Of My Life - Premiere

IndieWire’s headline was amazing: “#LightOfMyLife Trailer: Casey Affleck Directs Himself in Post-Apocalyptic Drama About World Without Women.” Casey Affleck was accused of sexually harassing female coworkers several years back. Two women filed civil lawsuits against him, and he settled both out of court through mediation. Those cases were briefly discussed in 2016-17, when he was campaigning for an Oscar for Manchester by the Sea, a campaign which would ultimately be successful as all of the white bros of Hollywood lined up to support Affleck. But still, there’s an asterisk by Casey Affleck’s name and while he’s addressed the settled cases and spoken some words about #MeToo, I’ve never really gotten the sense that he actually did learn anything. So… it’s kind of funny that noted sexual-harassment-case-settler Casey Affleck would want to direct a movie about “a world without women.” Those pesky bitches just need to be edited out of the narrative. That’s what Casey learned: just make movies with only dudes.

For his long-awaited followup to his controversial feature directorial debut, “I’m Still Here,” Casey Affleck picked a bit of a strange premise to tackle: a post-apocalyptic drama about a world without women. The actor and filmmaker settled two lawsuits in 2010 accusing him of sexual harassment and other forms of misconduct during the making of “I’m Still Here.” Despite the lawsuits being settled, Affleck has faced scrutiny over his behavior in the wake of the #MeToo and Time’s Up anti-harassment movements.

When he debuted his latest film, “Light of My Life,” at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, he hit back at queries regarding its genesis. “It’s not. I wrote this movie and made this movie before all of those things became part of the conversation,” Affleck said at the film’s festival press conference about the film being a response to his personal history. “I hope people keep their minds open and be responsible and measured in their reactions. And people can talk for themselves. It’s not something I can control.”

One thing to talk about in purely cinematic terms: Affleck’s apparent affection for other post-apocalyptic and survivalist dramas that hinge on the relationship between parent and child, like “The Road” and “Leave No Trace.” Both films appear to have influenced “Light of My Life,” which follows Affleck as a father attempting to hide his daughter after a plague kills the rest of the world’s female population.

[From Indie Wire]

“…After a plague kills the rest of the world’s female population…” The real plague was toxic masculinity, SPOILER. I loved the comment that this is “INCEL: The Movie.” Yes, very much in that vein. Here’s the trailer:

69th Berlin International Film Festival - Light Of My Life - Premiere

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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51 Responses to “Casey Affleck made a movie about a post-apocalyptic world without women, sigh”

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  1. lucy2 says:

    Nope.
    Let’s do a world without toxic abusive a-holes instead. So, bye bye Casey.

  2. asdfa says:

    well! THIS should be an interesting film…

  3. Valiantly Varnished says:

    Please…we all know if there were ever a post-apocalyptic plague the male population would be the first ones down.

    • Jb says:

      I feel like if almost ALL men were wiped out, it’d be a safer world? That it’d be a way for women to take control and get things back on track and with the young boys and limited men, we could start fresh?? Am I the only one?

    • Chimney says:

      That is essentially the plot of Y: The Last Man, a stellar graphic novel

  4. Nickie says:

    oh man that must be a joke *facepalm
    MAN LIKE YOU ARE THE PLAGUE!

  5. OriginalLala says:

    ugh, I have encountered men like this – their response to being called out is to just cut women out of everything they are involved with. eff that.

  6. Steff says:

    What a pathetic little man.

  7. SallyS says:

    Hollywood still gives him money for his movies.

  8. Chaine says:

    Matt Damon must be salivating to see this, the ultimate “As a Father of Daughters” movie.

  9. TheOriginalMia says:

    I just can’t with the Affleck-Damon toxic masculinity and misogyny today. Good Lord.

  10. Marty says:

    He ‘s not arrested yet?

  11. Becks1 says:

    UGH. Just….UGH.

    Side note – anyone else read “diary of the unnamed midwife” or know if that’s being made into a movie? That or Station Eleven are my favorite stories in that genre.

    • LooseSeal says:

      I love Station Eleven so much! I think about that book several times a week. It’s still on my nightstand too, because I think I’ll read it again sooner than later.

  12. The Recluse says:

    So, in other words, it’s about extinction.
    With modern technology women no longer necessarily need men to procreate, but I am curious to find out more about the scriptwriters of this project. Was their goal to glorify in maledom or to point out how necessary women truly are?

  13. CROWHOOD says:

    Wow! Affleck brothers are coming in HOT with the misogyny. Glad to see they are staying on brand.

  14. SuperStef says:

    He’s always come across as such a douchebag. Things haven’t changed much for him. I cancelled him years ago.

    Next!

  15. Cate says:

    This is, at a minimum, SUCH a weird film premise. Like, if the world’s female population gets wiped out, isn’t that kind of…the end? Unless they are also deploying artificial wombs to birth the babies. And then all the men have raise these kids and deal with night wakeups, feeding, etc. Actually, now that I think about it, this could be comedy gold….

    • phaedra7 says:

      There was a sci-fi movie in the 1970s, which showed babies being born wombless (test tube machines, perhaps?). Female-hating, Take A Dump-Trump idiots are the ones who would wish and love for this to be a reality!

  16. Dani says:

    Honestly…good. I don’t want to be stuck on this planet after an apocalypse with a POS like Casey Affleck.

  17. Fluffy Princess says:

    :::Eye Roll:::: He’s such a douche canoe. This movie sounds stupid AND boooooooring.

    Incel: The movie — hahahahha that covers it.

  18. h3Rh1GHN3SS says:

    i was unable to buy into the characters, plot or atmosphere. nope.

  19. Franny says:

    It’s a douche fantasy about protecting women from rape. Just a chance to pound their chests and pretend to be righteous protectors.

    Yet, when it comes time to actually stand on the side of women who are raped or assaulted or harassed, most men (and Hollywood) are utterly silent. Or only speak up to reaffirm that they don’t know what happened, that a lot of women lie, that their friend/boss/frat brother is a good guy, or who cares, she must have led him on.

    • Juls says:

      I mostly just read comments, responding only occasionally. Yours deserves a response because it it so SPOT ON and I’m shocked that no one else responded, because it is so poignant.

  20. Valerie says:

    Well, this should be a short movie. They’d never survive.

  21. Powermoonchrystal says:

    That’s one way to avoid sexual harrassment lawsuits. Or he could just not be a shitty person, but maybe that is too hard for him..

  22. Tiffany says:

    Okay Douchebag, tell us how you really feel.

    The only thing that can top this disaster is if he called up Brie Lawson and asked if she wanted to produce it.

  23. Mia4s says:

    Ewwwww. Well if anyone is crowdfunding a movie about a world without Casey Affleck; I’d be glad to donate.

  24. LUIS says:

    He’s disgusting! I’d rather eat glass than watch any of his movies.

  25. Kristen says:

    At least he got the part where a world with only men looks shitty and miserable right.

  26. stephka says:

    Hunh. I just read the first book in a science fiction series based on this concept. Written by a woman. The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Road to Nowhere series) by Meg Elison. https://www.amazon.com/Book-Unnamed-Midwife-Road-Nowhere-ebook/dp/B01DAD218C/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+book+of+the+unnamed+midwife&qid=1563987751&s=gateway&sr=8-1

    I must admit, it was a very depressing book, in which men were constantly trying to rape and enslave the few women that were left.

  27. Patty says:

    This has al been done before with different variations. There’s stuff about all children disapearing, all adults, etc. Yawn.

    • Godwina says:

      I don’t think it’s yawn, for me at least, when it’s done well. Y the Last Man, Children of Men…to name just two. But I adore post-apoc. I do not however adore Casey Affleck.

  28. Texas says:

    Well. No. No, I don’t want to wipe out the male population of the world. What an absolutely weird take. My husband is wonderful as are his sons, grandsons and great grandson. My nephews are wonderful men. I know many, many wonderful men and very few bad ones. I am very aware that they are there, but geez. That is just sort of psycho.

    • Sidewithkids says:

      @Texas, correct, honestly the problem is the toxic men (not all men) but the bigger problem is those allowing them to continue their toxicity and when you really see/hear about those protecting these toxic men, it’s usually women who allow it to exist and continue. Some women are known for selling out other women before a man. It needs to stop. Really.

  29. JRenee says:

    Just wow..

  30. Sidewithkids says:

    He still gets to make movies? Wow. How is he still making movies? Who’s signing off on this?

  31. SM says:

    The optics are great: you can’t harras a woman if there are no women. Maybe it is Casey not people need to open his mind and, you know, start acting in respectful way around women. And what this story is really about: men masturbating themselves into oblivion and then death. End credits. There. Here is your apocalypse.

  32. Cara says:

    Oh brother, he would. 🙄🙄

  33. SURFCHICK says:

    Why do they pay this loser to make shitty movies? Ugh, go away.

  34. A says:

    My thing with “men are terrible” is this: yes, they’re terrible, but that’s because culturally, institutionally and systematically, they are rewarded for being terrible towards women. I am firmly against any line of thought that insists that there are certain terrible qualities that are inherent to men, simply because they are men, because not only does that entrench gender roles in a way that is categorically untrue, it also gives people the leeway to simply continue letting men off the hook for bad behaviour, because, “That’s just how they are and we just have to deal.”

    HOWEVER–if there’s any group of people who would instantly die because of a plague, it wouldn’t be women. We have actual standards of hygiene that go beyond using 2-in-1 shampoo as body wash. Just saying.

    And incidentally–where do trans women and trans men factor in this fictional universe that Casey Affleck has created? My guess is that they obviously don’t, because people like Casey Affleck don’t deal with such nuances in life. If they had to, their whole world view would fall tf apart, wouldn’t it?

    • Godwina says:

      Hard agree.

      I read a short post-apoc SF tale a few years back about all men turning into scary werewolf creatures (toxic masculinity taken to extreme), written by a guy named Scott R Jones? Jones actually accounts for trans men/women in his take.

  35. Jana says:

    Saw him on Kimmel recently and couldn’t believe anyone would have him as a guest, he was boring, unattractive and has the most irritatingly high voice I’ve ever heard from a 40 year old man.