'Untold: The Secret World of Incels' Channel 4

Quick review of the new doc

A new doc on incels just dropped on Channel 4 and hour ago so naturally, I’ve already seen it (click here to watch). I don’t always write about things I see, read or listen to about incels because honestly, there’s a lot and it would be a full time job, but docs on incels are pretty rare and I think documentaries tend to have a wider appeal to the general public. There’s just something about watching people telling stories, camera edits, shots, and feeling like you’re in the room with someone that just sticks with you a lot more than an article or even a podcast. And documentaries about people who live very different lives to us just fascinate us to bits, it’s why Louis Theroux is so popular, why interviews with seriel killers, true crime and and obese people documentaries just grab our attention (I’m honestly not sure why the latter hasn’t been cancelled yet but okay..).

‘Untold: The Secret World of Incels’ is an interview based exploration of incel culture mostly in the UK told mostly through the lens of some self described incels. It tries to take a balanced approach to the issues, it’s position is clear- the Blackpill ideology is toxic, violence is a real risk, the forums are designed to encourage self hate and hatred towards others but that the individuals drawn to this have empathetic stories and are vulnerable. The interviewees come across as sympathetic characters, more lost than dangerous, more suicidal than homicidal but also with obvious issues that extend beyond just ‘not having a partner’. One interviewee didn’t have a single friend in real life, while another was in a state of constant depression and suicidality. All of them had major issues with how they looked and lived in a state of paranoia, resentment or hopelessness. One interviewee did not appear to be an incel in the same way, however, and had more of a fascination with the violence. He was a musician who wrote a song based on Elliot Rodger’s manifesto and even openly admitted to having contemplated a mass shooting for the infamy. Although obviously, it’s difficult to get incels on camera to talk about their situation and feelings, it would have been better to have had a couple of more interviewees than they managed to get, just to have a bit more variation.

What I like about this documentary is that it does actually take the view that most outsiders do commonly hold about incels. The creator of this documentary, Ben Zand, has a chill and kind attitude, he approaches it all much like most people I’ve talked to about it who have no clue. He empathises with the people he interviews but also tries to highlight the discrepancies, negatives and hate of the theories and narratives they talk to him about. However, he doesn’t condescend to or debate them, he allows the interviewees to tell him their feelings and thoughts while piecing together how it also effects their lives.

For anyone who’s more acquainted with the Blackpill and incels, there isn’t anything necessarily surprising in this documentary except for maybe one or two things. I hadn’t actually heard of people hammering their face before or what that technique actually is or does. I also hadn’t heard of the connection between the femcel community and a fascination with gore. Things that are known but sometimes forgotten were also brought up in this documentary, such as how snuff films have been shared on the forums (a couple are verbally described in the doc). The documentary doesn’t go into the various narratives in depth, but it does touch on how incels believe looks are the most important and how they categorise people into looks. One part that might confuse people watching, is that they claimed that incels believe only the very good looking men ever find partners, which might make people feel that incels are actually completely blind or very insane as there are lots of non super handsome guys in relationships, but what they should have said on top of that is that in the Blackpill, it’s seen that average guys, ‘normies’, who have girlfriends are actually just being ‘cucked’-meaning settled for.

Lastly, the documentary brought out something that I think isn’t really talked a lot about and that’s how consistent exposure to the Blackpill and narratives around it makes people almost automatically cast people they see on a daily basis into categories or judge them on their looks. This is a real thing, I’ve even had it happen to me after just researching it for a short time, it’s like voodoo, when you start to be exposed to it a lot, you can start to believe it and then your perception starts changing. Instead of just seeing people on the road, you start seeing where these people might lie on the Blackpill totem pole of status and hierarchy. You notice things you wouldn’t have before, how tall or short a man is, how big a nose a girl has, how good a jaw a man has or doesn’t, these things which most people wouldn’t notice while they’re just going for coffee or going shopping or even in a bar or whatever, become noticeable. You also start to perceive negative attention more often, you see neutral looks as hostile and you feel it’s based off of your appearance. It’s true that you also start to judge others a bit more harshly and think you see people enacting Blackpill theories. And all of that can sort of be like this intrusive crazy making thing that makes a person also become more anxious or strange. In incels, this can really take over their lives, it becomes difficult to go outside, have coffee or even sit on trains as you feel everyone is judging you on how you look and you’re also scanning for clues that you are being treated in such a way because you feel ugly. This can all lead to a lot of social anxiety and awkwardness, making it difficult to even speak to people in general, but especially the other sex.

In total, it was a good enough doc, not ground breaking and some of it was a little off centre and mixed up with other forms of extremism online, such as school shooter culture, but it was still good. For people who know nothing about incels, the takeaway from this doc would be that the incel ideology is extremely toxic and violent and vulnerable individuals who have no friends or support are susceptible. It’s also honest and touches on the point that it’s not all about relationships, that a lot of it is due to loneliness in general, like not having any friends, being employed or having social anxiety. At the same time, it’s open and honest about the violence and extremism and even features an interview with a mod from some incel forum who thinks it’s becoming a lot more extremist. It doesn’t mention non misogynist incels, and it also doesn’t really go into a lot of common factors of what draws an individual to these spaces, but it’s okay. I recommend this doc, especially to anyone who knows nothing about incels and wants to better understand the people drawn to it, but there is room for another doc to be made on incels that contains more issues such as mental health, employment issues, socio economic statuses, nihilism, masculinity, poor sexual education, lack of social spaces, lack of support or set up for young people and how our society still perpetuates many of the narratives (though less extreme) incel peddle.