Tags
Originally I didn’t have any intention to see the new Wonder Woman movie in theaters even though she was one of my favorite super heroes as a girl. The preview looked promising but DC’s movies, eh…*sad head shaking*. They’ve lured me in with awesome trailers before only to find out later that the preview had a better plot line than the actual movie. But then the Wonder Woman released and everyone exploded about it and I thought, “Well, all right then. I guess I better see what it’s all about.”
The result? It’s the best DC movie to date. Hold your applause, people, that’s not a high bar. The truth is, it’s a good movie. It’s not MOVIE OF THE YEAR, but it’s good. It has a coherent story line (apparently DC thought they’d give that a try), a character arc for the protags, and a satisfying conclusion (even though the end was a tad CGI wonky and included some too-stupid-to-live moves by the Big Bad).
So, why is everyone going bananas over this movie?
Well, even if the story isn’t the best ever made, it 100% portrayed the Wonder Woman we’ve always loved. The one who is strong but not vengeful. The one who seeks truth and cuts through the pretenses. The one who believes in the best of us even when we’re at our worst. A warrior who kicks some ass but is also capable of a smile. A woman who can love a man but owns her own destiny.
Gal Gadot portrayed her perfectly. Aside from her obvious knock-you-over beauty, she exuded that hope, strength, and intelligence we associate with Wonder Woman. And Lord, she was TALL. I loved that they didn’t try to downsize her at all. I mean, you could see she was one towering woman. The movie itself started out centered on the Amazons on their hidden isle. In fact we didn’t even see a man show up for quite a while. It’s a bummer that this is something noticeable because it means we aren’t accustomed to movies revolving strictly around a woman’s story.
That’s the part of the film making waves, in my opinion. It felt authentically dedicated to a woman’s journey. It didn’t devolve into anything catty with other women. It wasn’t overburdened with a love story, though there was one. The man never rescued her from danger (excellent job on that score). It also wasn’t a role reversal where she had all the control over the men and they were subordinate to her. It was as though her presence uplifted the situation to one where respect was simply a normative state.
This isn’t to say there wasn’t sexism when Diana traveled to the world of men, but it wasn’t something that seemed to touch her, or at least it appeared to fall below her notice. It was there, we the audience saw it and detested it, but it didn’t have any effect on Diana herself. The comments slid off her like Teflon. Some have said they didn’t like that the character never addressed that issue, but I disagree. Considering the culture she came from, she did not understand she was seen as a “woman” in our world. She didn’t possess that concept as we understand it. She was herself, strong, noble, and heroic, unquestioning in her worth–a wonder in every sense of the word. I only wish we had loads of examples like this to show our girls.
Will there be more Wonder Woman movies, independent of Batman, Superman, and the Justice League? I hope so, because it would be a shame if this fell into the “Okay, we did the Wonder Woman origin story so we’re done with that. Back to the shitty male-centered ones we were busy with before.” That would be a shame, if only because of how unsurprising it’d be.
Has anyone else seen the movie? What did you think?
The trailer (RAWR!!):
Author of speculative fiction 