Book review of Meadhbh Park’s Blackpilled Masculinity, Media and Incels (2025) by Diana Wallens.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves…
Similar to the experiences of Meadhbh Park, author of Blackpilled: Masculinity, Media and Incels, and stories from other colleagues who study the domestic and international far-right extremism, my original intentions were to specialize in neo-Nazis and emerging far-right conspiracy cults. Increasingly, however, the ideology and language of incels and related “manosphere” groups has come to the forefront of both extremist spaces as well as the sociopolitical mainstream. For those in the field and concerned citizens alike, then, it is imperative to have a comprehensive understanding why followers may find these belief systems compelling in the first place.
Overall, Park’s Blackpilled strikes a balance between reviewing pillars of far-right extremist communities within the “manosphere” and sharing important insights specific to“black pill” ideology. Central to these insights is her perspective that these extremists do not materialize in a vacuum. They have more in common with the “average” person that he or she may want to admit. The most critical link is, perhaps, the importance of storytelling. For centuries, human beings have used “stories to help craft their understanding of the world and also to help craft their ideologies and worldviews” (Park, 2025). Park correctly notes followers of blackpill ideology, unlike other extremist belief systems such as neo-Nazism and Qanon, have roots in popular cultural narratives. Their ideas aren’t new, and are largely of films, shows, and novels that many readers have either consumed or are familiar with.
For the blackpilled, teen movie tropes are some of the most influential media subgenres. These tropes include a cast of “effortlessly beautiful, popular, and attractive” (Park, 2025) “teenagers’ (several of whom are, in reality, adult actors in their 20s or even 30s) who regularly attend lavish high school or college parties. Of the central cast, male characters typically have several romantic/sexual relationships before the age of 25. When real life does not align with these narratives, it is no wonder that certain viewers may feel “cheated.” These stories may be fictional, but, for some, the expectations they engender are very real.
Although Park importantly notes that only a subset of incels go on to commit acts of violence, their motives for the unthinkable have roots in another common media subgenre: the male antihero film or show. I have often ascribed the link between these antiheroes and perpetrators of incel violence a tendency to use violence to redress perceived or actual slights. The connection, Park argues, runs deeper than that. These films and shows present violence as a path to reclaiming a sense of control or the masculine identity. As a consequence, they have the potential to function as male empowerment fantasies for vulnerable audience members.
While I maintain that Blackpilled is well worth audiences’ time, it may be of greater interest to those who are unfamiliar with far-right extremist belief systems and terminology. For readers with years of experience researching and/or interviewing members of far-right movements, some sections may reinforce information that they are well acquainted with. For example, Park argues that some followers of extremist belief systems have distanced themselves from this ideology via forming connections outside of these ideological “bubbles.” These new, non-ideological connections indicate that these “beliefs aren’t always that ingrained or even genuine” (Park, 2025). Numerous interviews of current and former members of the far-right, however, have already extensively documented this dynamic (see Windisch et al., 2018; Simi et al., 2017). Thus, some readers may find some passages to be repetitive.
Park concludes with a brief discussion of plausible exits from the black pill community. Crucially, she dispels the myth that a sexual/romantic relationship with a woman would “cure” a woman. Instead, the author recommends connecting incels with positive, life-affirming social support systems and diverse media representations of both men and women that move away from tired misogynistic tropes as potential paths out of the blackpill and the ideas it promotes. While these suggestions may disappoint audiences seeking a more extensive list of interventions for at-risk or radicalized populations, I believe that doing so would deviate from the book’s objective of explaining the common narrative foundations of the blackpill.
Blackpilled is an essential addition to the expanding canon of literature addressing the growing issue of radicalization into black pill and/or related far-right ideologies. Because extremists’ comments can often evoke feelings of disgust, it can be tempting for most of us to argue that their ideas are products of an alien culture. Park makes a case for resisting such an urge, exploring the roots of these ideas in the modern Western media canon without condoning them. As she states, “if we can figure out how they got there, how they reached this point, then perhaps we can figure how they can get out of there too” (Park, 2025). I happen to agree, and believe that she has provided a step forward in this arduous journey.
References
Bengtsson Meuller, E. (2024). The misogynist incel in the news: Analysing representations of gender-based violence in Britain. British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 26(4), 1121–1143. https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481231224275
Park, M. (2025). Blackpilled. Biteback Publishing.
Tomkinson, S., Harper, T., & Attwell, K. (2020). Confronting Incel: exploring possible policy responses to misogynistic violent extremism. Australian Journal of Political Science, 55(2), 152–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2020.1747393
Simi, P. et al. (2017) ‘Addicted to Hate: Identity Residual among Former White Supremacists’, American Sociological Review, 82(6), pp. 1167–1187. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417728719.
Windisch, S., Simi, P., Sefiha, O., & Brown, S. E. (2018). Neo-Nazi Music Subculture. In Routledge Handbook on Deviance (1st ed., pp. 111–121). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315648057-14
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Diana Wallens is a member of the RPRN and PhD student at American University, PhD associate at PERIL, and Junior Fellow at CIFRS and has had publications featured in the CIFRS blog and the Global Network on Extremism on Technology (GNET). Her research specialities include transnational far-right extremist networks, and the intersection of this ideology and technology.
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