[dropcap]W[/dropcap]illiam Marston’s 1940’s creation of Wonder Woman, an Amazonian Warrior Princess born of clay to the utopian matriarchal society of Themyscira, would go on become one of the world’s most recognized and criminally misunderstood icons of the Golden Age of Comics. Marston, a psychologist by trade, created Wonder Woman as the embodiment of female empowerment, he was utterly fascinated by the female mystique and wanted it represented in comics. Ironically, his views on what made women powerful were odd at best. He believed that because women are more submissive than men, they hold a stronger conviction and power over their partners, as they are willing to give up arrogance.
The majestic DC Trinity Hollywood seems to forget about
Along with blatant Bondage imagery slapped across the pages of her early books, Wonder Woman‘s legacy has been skewed to the realm of strange, if a bit unsettling to some. Though, just as “The World’s Greatest Detective” (who used guns regularly) became “The Dark Knight” (who vows never to kill), and the man who could “Run Faster Than A Speeding Bullet and Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound” became the “Man Of Steel”; Wonder Woman has evolved over time to become a character influenced by, but not bound to, her wacky beginnings. Her Lasso of Obedience became her less BDSM-friendly Lasso Of Truth, and she became an envoy for peace in Man’s World. People often point to her muddy and unclear back-story, as well as the unproven liquidity of female-driven action films, as acceptable reasons to keep her off of the silver screen. I attest that these are the very reasons we should be seeing her as soon as possible, the world needs Wonder Woman. And, finally we may have our answer, as it was revealed Gal Godot will portray Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, alongside Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice!
Gal Godot as Wonder Woman…, I’m cautiously optimistic
Pardon the reference, but the Twilight movies, as horrible as they were, are fantasy/sci-fi, and were hugely financially successful and were female lead. They knew their audience and captured it precisely, surgically. The Aliens Franchise, Resident Evil, Underworld, were all female lead and there are 4-5 of each so somebody is watching them. If anything, the newly announced Wonder Woman movie to come after BvS can be such a great opportunity to capture the completely underserved market clamoring for an Action/Sci-Fi flick with a strong female lead. And its not like she is a new and untested character, she has 70 years of continuous printing on her side. Concerning her international viability in traditionally religiously conservative patriarchal societies,… it’s all about marketing to make them want to see it, if only as escapism.
The film should highlight the idea of Diana as an outsider. Knowing nothing of Man’s world needs to be a central pillar to her character, as this will highlight her unique perspective in the super hero genre; as well as logically explaining why she would forge her own path and not accept the standard gender roles society usually enforces. This would lead later into the Justice League film and her and Superman bonding about their shared experience trying to understand our strange ways.
She may be a no nonsense warrior princess, but she knows how cut loose
If there is any character to buck the trend for unequal treatment of female characters in cinema its Wonder Woman, she is incredibly relatable and strong. Warner Brothers seems to want to go the financially secure route and put her in BvS first, and that’s fine. But the Wonder Woman movie has to be huge and all her own. I love Wonder Woman and it makes me sad to not see her well represented as a rightful member of the DC Trinity. The more noise is made about it, the faster the change in attitude will come, the instant success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter also gives credence to female roles as desirable and wanted by the audience, provided the story being told is compelling on its own merits. It’s time to give our attention to a character who has been waiting in the wings for 70 years for her just dues. She is pure good, incorruptible, and something many young women need to see represented.
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