If you haven't seen Outlander, it is actually a decent show. And I know, this is a men's rights sub, but don't let the fact that the main character is a woman deter you... while the show DOES lean a little towards a more female audience, it actually does a decent job of being pretty balanced. Usually.

Also, the premise of the show is centered around time travel, actually. So hey, it's sci fi, right? ;-)

So anyway. The episode I saw yesterday completely took me by surprise, because despite overall being a slightly more female-leaning show, it put a GIANT fucking spotlight on a very large issue that men face today (and indeed, have faced for pretty much all of time):

False accusations.

Spoiler alert: I'm going to tell you what happened. Don't worry, it's just one episode.

Malva (side character) is the young and beautiful daughter of a preacher, who lives in a town in America in the mid 1770's (pre-revolution). And she begins seducing some of the local men, having sex with at least two. She is actually caught in the act while in the church, by the male protagonist's son Roger. She immediately threatens Roger, and says that if he tells her father, she will lie to his wife Brianna, and tell her that she saw Roger being unfaithful to her with some local village woman (he had been repairing the woman's chimney and roof).

Roger is of course completely taken aback, and is afraid of Malva. Malva says that no one will believe him, and everyone will believe her because she's the sweet innocent preacher's daughter. And he knows she's right. So, he leaves the church and keeps his mouth shut.

Malva continues on with her ways, and eventually becomes pregnant. Her father, of course, is furious, and demands to know "who dunnit". So, she points the finger at... well, not Roger. And none of the men she has ACTUALLY been sleeping with. Instead, she points the finger at the male protagonist, Jamie (most likely chosen because he is quite well off and the unofficial/reluctant leader of the village).

Jamie is 100% confused when she suddenly points the finger at him. And then naturally he denies it. But it's too late - the damage is done. The preacher's family doesn't believe him. The whole village finds out and doesn't believe him. Even Jamie's own wife (the main character, Claire) has doubts about her own husband's faithfulness.

As of the end of the episode, Jamie's reputation in the town that he himself founded is ruined. Even people in distant cities catch wind of it, and it ruins a very important and historic trip that he had planned. And even his wife Claire is treated as a pariah.

The western culture that we live in today, unfortunately, has this executioner's shadow hanging over our heads: if you EVER go against the feminist narrative, you immediately become a target.

It is so very rare to see a popular TV show have the massive balls to actually write a story like this. AND somehow get away with it without drawing any flack (I went out looking for backlash and didn't find any). Perhaps it drew no flack because it was completely expected (having been written as a book first?). Or maybe it had built up some good will and was allowed, because it is after all a more female-leaning series. Or maybe it was overlooked somehow, as it was simply a false pregnancy accusation and not a false RAPE accusation? Maybe it was how the main protagonist Claire handled it (she goes to Malva later and shows some pretty extreme empathy, saying that it must be extremely difficult and that Malva must be so scared and didn't know what to do). Or maybe it was simply overshadowed by the surprise at the end of the episode.

Whatever the reason may be... I'm just glad they made this episode. And I thought you guys should see it.

My hat is off, to the cast and crew of Outlander.