THE BETA UPRISING

A drama series by Rupert Taylor

When a physically unattractive young virgin faces relentless rejection, he connects to an online community of incels (involuntary celibates), but they turn his pain and shame into rage, and he plans a violent attack on the beautiful people he believes have harmed him.

THE BETA UPRISING is an 8 x 26 minute drama series that follows LUKE, a fragile eighteen-year-old who wants to fall in love and be happy, but suffers endless rejection. This is nothing new to Luke – his father rejected him, he was bullied at school, most people never give him a chance. He hoped after high school would come the summer of love, and for pretty much everyone but him it is. He’s stuck in a spiral of loneliness, until he meets CARTER, who introduces him to an online community of incels (involuntary celibates) – virginal young men who believe they have been wrongfully denied love and happiness because they are genetically inferior, who bond over shared pain and shame. At first Luke is sceptical of the incels – he still has hope for love – but he suffers more rejection, shame and humiliation, and sinks deeper into a dark culture that breeds hatred for women and sexually successful men. His sister CASSIE, his mother WENDY, and his friend DIANE know he is a sweet boy at heart, and they pull him back from the dark path he is on, but a series of tragic events pushes him over the edge, and he plans an act of terror – an acid attack at a party filled with the beautiful alphas he believes have harmed beta males like him.     

The global incel community is growing, and they are a complex bunch. Many have been bullied and rejected, some are socially awkward, and some suffer from serious mental health issues. What they share is a sense of entitlement and perceived victimhood. They believe they have been denied sex and love (which they see as theirs by right) because they don’t fit into society’s masculine ideals. Their online communities are support groups, but also breeding grounds for a violent brand of misogyny. They dream of a revolution where they will overthrow their female oppressors, and some argue for women to be re-distributed as sex slaves. Many claim mass shooters like Eliot Rodger as martyrs, and when Alek Minassian killed ten people with a van in Toronto, he identified as an incel, claiming the attack as the start of a global uprising.

 THE BETA UPRISING looks at sensitive and terrifying truths in our society, and it does so in an unflinching and naturalistic way. By telling the story of a boy who gets sucked into a dark online culture and commits an act of terror, the show will not glorify his unspeakable acts, but will look at how and why they came to be. Luke is not a hero, nor is he a victim – he is the product of a culture that has a problem with teaching boys how to be good men. In Australia – and all over the world – boys are taught that a “real man” wins at all costs, that he takes what he wants, uses force if he has to. These boys grow up on social media, which causes feelings of inadequacy and alienation, and on reddit and 4chan, where hate spreads like wildfire. They are coming of age in the culture of Trump that has spread across the globe, causing division and uniting people in anger. So what we now have is a hyperconnected underclass of young men whose entitlement and anger is leading them down violent paths. This is a very real problem in our society – one we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to. By telling Luke’s story, THE BETA UPRISING will unpack the complex emotional and cultural issues that have created this problem. This may be confronting, at times uncomfortable, but if we are to solve this problem, we must not look away.