Hi Meghan,

I recently watched the documentary and thought that it was really well made. I thought that the film was rarely, if ever, definitive in its stance on Dr.Peterson and the events that unfolded over the last three years, and allowed the viewer to take time to listen to their own thoughts.

In many moments throughout the film, I was confronted with my own biases, ideological axioms, preconceived notions, assumptions, and projection of personal values. It definitely spurred a lot of conversation between me and my friends. It helped me see that I was judging those that I believed were in echo chambers from my own chamber.

I believe the directors asked viewers to think about each “controversial” situation that you may have heard or read about. There’s nothing ‘dangerous’ or ‘harmful’ about this film that warranted theaters to avoid showcasing it — it gave both sides enough evidence for productive conversation, if only people were willing to stay open-minded and listen to opposing perspectives rather than neatly fit the other side as “evil/ignorant/X-phobic,etc”. This is a cheap rhetorical tactic that allows people to not address the complexity of the other side’s argument.

And as you have stated in your piece, the cultural gatekeepers attempting to censor conversation starting forms of art like this documentary is another way to refrain from having the hard conversations that address the complexities that our society must face in order to live in relative harmony. Without giving validity to opposing sides and doing our best to represent counter-arguments with good faith, we inevitably reach a point where radicalism seems to be the only answer.

I hope that we, as individuals, all shoulder the responsibility of having meaningful and purposeful conversations that aim to understand the people around us as complex humans with rational reasons as to why they believe the things they believe rather than simple caricatures.

I really enjoyed reading your piece Meghan! Looking forward to reading more of your writing in the future.