The virality of “I Met the Tradwife Who Thinks Women Shouldn’t Vote,” Ben Zand’s documentary profile of far-right influencer Savanna Stone, can be explained by one chef’s kiss moment early in its 47 minute-run. As Stone holds forth on why women should submit to their spouses, we see her self-described full-time husband, Noah, quietly holding her purse. “Naturally, if your whole message is that a wife should submit to her husband, your own marriage becomes the evidence,” Zand deadpans.
“I Met the Tradwife Who Thinks Women Shouldn’t Vote,” the Sept. 1 episode of the Zandland founder’s YouTube series “Human,” arrives at an inflection point for both documentaries and tradwives. In a year that has brought us both Brett Ratner’s “Melania” and Alex Gibney’s “Musk,” Zand, a former BBC documentary producer who directed “The Cult of NatureBoy” for Hulu, is staking out the territory between serious subjects and Jubilee Media-style clickbait. Past “Human” installments include “Inside America’s Legal Brothel” and “I Took a Millionaire Into a Homeless Man’s Life.” The latest “Human” episode, “I Took a Feminist Into a Tradwife’s Life,” feels like an episode of “Wife Swap.”
The Savanna Stones of the internet are losing their shine, which is part of the reason Zand’s profile has struck a nerve. It’s one thing to know there’s a social media factory manufacturing these anti-progressive celebrities and another to see it in action: By tagging along with the so-called most hated tradwife on TikTok for her Turning Point USA Women’s Leadership Summit debut in June, Zand eventually talks his way to the heart of Stone’s promotional apparatus. Turns out it’s funded by one of the bro millionaires behind manosphere personality and alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate’s “War Room.” You love to hate to see it.
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Just over two weeks after its release, Stone’s undoing has racked up more than 1.6 million pageviews. For context, the second most popular “Human,” which came out nine months ago, has 1.3 million. Incidentally, Stone recently pivoted to lifestyle videos. “I no longer really care to post a ton of controversial opinions,” she said this week, “and my perspective changed on that because of the business partnership I was telling you guys about.” It’s heartening to see that documentary filmmaking can still change lives.
“Human: I Met the Tradwife Who Thinks Women Shouldn’t Vote” is currently streaming on Zandland’s YouTube channel.
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