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Wonder woman has long been considered a feminist icon ever since her first appearance in DC comics in 19411942, making her one of the very first female superheroes. In many ways, she was unlike any female superhero that was in circulation at that time, being a perfect example of a strong, formidable character at a time when female superheroes were most often given the role of side characters, damsels in distress, and were rarely the sole character in any series. Wonder Woman was essentially created to break that trend, showing women and girls strong physical and mental traits that not only men could obtain. The 2017 film fit her status as a feminist icon perfectly, focusing on having wonder woman be the source of most of the action and one of the strongest characters in the film. Wonder woman (2017) was one of the first modern examples of a female-led superhero film that was a massive success both financially and from a feminist perspective.
First, in order to understand why Wonder Woman was the perfect candidate for the first successful solely female-led superhero film, we must first understand the history of Wonder Woman that led up to this point. Her very first appearance was in 1941 in All star comics #8, where it was made clear that Wonder Woman was there to represent a strong, formidable woman At last, in a world torn by the hatred and wars of men, appears a woman to whom the problems and feats of men are mere child`s play. CITATION Chr21 l 1033 (Klein, 20162021). Right from the beginning, it was clear that Wonder Woman was created to be an inspirational role model to women at the time, as in the 1940s, due to World War Two, many new possibilities were opened up for women as their help with the war effort was needed just as much as men were, which allowed for more opportunities for women, such as better paying jobs and opportunities to move away from stereotypical roles at the time. CITATION Katwn l 1033 (Wright, Unknown). Wonder woman was created by Psychologist William Moulton Marston, who saw the need for a female superhero who was strong and powerful. Marston writes Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman. It was clear that Marston wanted to create an inspirational role model for girls, the 1942 press release said: Wonder Woman was conceived by Dr. Marston to set up a standard among children and young people of strong, free, courageous womanhood; to combat the idea that women are inferior to men, and to inspire girls to self-confidence and achievement in athletics, occupations, and professions monopolized by men. CITATION Chr211 l 1033 (Klein, 20162021). Marston`s intentions for Wonder Woman clearly panned out as he was hoping, as she has become one of the biggest feminist symbols of all time. It is this history that was essentially the catalyst for why Wonder woman (2017), was so successful as a feminist piece, as the building blocks for a well-established, fleshed-out female superhero film were already there from her creation. Wonder Woman was already a feminist icon before her 2017 film, which meant it only made sense that the film would follow in these footsteps.
Now that we have a better understanding of the feminist origins of Wonder Woman, we can move on to the film itself. There are many examples of what makes this film great from the feminist perspective, but first, a quick summary of the plot: Isolated from men and the entire human race, the highly trained pacifist and magnificent Amazon warrior-princess, Diana of the mystical Themyscira, lead a disciplined but peaceful and safe life in the bosom of her fierce tribe of elite fighters. However, Diana’s cocooned world will turn upside down, when the intrepid American pilot and the first man ever to set foot on the idyllic island, Steve Trevor, reveals a horrible reality, as a devastating great war threatens to consume humankind. At the height of WWI, the unlikely duo embarks on a perilous mission to do battle with an all-powerful adversary, in an all-out war that will end all wars. Can the extraordinary Wonder Woman defeat Ares, the merciless God of War? CITATION Nic17 l 1033 (Riganas, 2017) . The plot is not too relevant to how the film work from a feminist perspective, but it will help to bring some of the things I will talk about into context. One of the main things that make Wonder Woman (2017) amazing from the feminist perspective is that it regularly reverses normal gender roles in the story. The main example of this is the relationship between Diana (Wonder Woman) and Steve Trevor. Throughout the film, it is mainly Diana who makes all the big decisions that drive the story forward and Steve Trevor follows her lead when often it is the other way around in films, especially in the superhero genre. Another way that the film throws out traditional gender roles in the film is by having the German scientist Dr. Poison be a woman instead of a man. A female German chemist trying to destroy humans (in the shape of Dr. Poison, a proto-Mengele before Nazism existed) might be the most feminist act of all. Women are repeatedly erased from the history of classical music, art, and medicine. It takes a radical mind to pick up that being erased from the history of evil is not great either CITATION Zoe17 l 1033 (Williams, 2017). Women are very rarely represented as irredeemable villains with truly dastardly intentions, which made Dr. Poison`s character almost refreshing in some way, as the goal in feminism is to achieve equality, it means that we also must accept that women have done truly evil things in the past as well as women who made leaps and bounds in their fields. Women have been erased from both sides of history, and seeing this specific issue tackled so well in this film was a step forward in female representation in films. Probably the biggest thing that makes the film so good from a feminist stance is how well-rounded Diana`s character is. She is not perfect, a powerful warrior goddess who can win any fight in a split second, she has flaws and makes mistakes in the film, and, most importantly, suffers the consequences of those actions. But at the end of the day, she has ambitions, she has flaws, she loves, she rages, she feels joy, she feels sadness, she fights her own battles, she talks to other female characters about something other than men, and no one tells her what to do. Feminism asks for equality of the sexes, and in that regard, Wonder Woman gets an equal if not better shake at being portrayed as a three-dimensional character than most superheroes. CITATION Jos17 l 1033 (Yehl, 2017) Not many superheroes in general, let alone female superheroes, are as well-rounded of a character as Diana is. This only adds to how Wonder Woman is different from other superhero films, as she is allowed to be viewed as flawed by the audience and we are allowed to see her fail, which is uncommon in the genre. Another thing that makes the film unique is that the biggest villain in the film is not a single person or entity (although Ares fits the bill as the main physical antagonist) the main villain of the story is the horrors of war and the devastation it leaves in its wake. Superhero films (especially prior to Wonder Woman) would often fall into the trope of having one singular bad guy to that all of the problems and bad events in the story could be attributed to, and most of the time blamed. While, in a way, it is satisfying to see an antagonist like that defeated at the end of the film, and the story having a happily ever after so to speak, that isn`t how it always works, or in the case of superheroes would work in the real world, which made it a breath of fresh air almost to see a story that had a different kind of villain, one that could not be so easily defeated in the long run.
In some ways, Wonder Woman (2017) was not able to escape certain stereotypes that often plague female superheroes, one issue being her outfit. It is hard to make her original outfit from the comics not seem sexist, as it is a product of its time, and although Wonder Woman may be a feminist icon, she was also created to still have a feminine side to her, and it was very common for female superheroes outfits at the time of her creation (the 1940s) to be problematic. Wonder Woman`s original suit is just a leotard, boots, and a tiara, which realistically leaves many weak points an opponent could attack, especially if they had weapons. The film does its best to modernize her outfit, making it more armor-like, but it could still be viewed as sexualizing Diana. However, the film`s director Patty Jenkins does her best to tackle this issue, Patty Jenkins`s directing proved the importance of incorporating representation in the production. Andrew Barker`s film review for Variety notes specifically, Wonder Woman is the first major studio superhero film directed by a woman, and it shows in a number of subtle, yet important ways. As skimpy as Gadot`s outfits may get, for example, Jenkin`s camera never leers or lingers gratuitously-Diana is always framed as an agent of power, rather than its object CITATION And17 l 1033 (Barker, 2017) CITATION MWa19 l 1033 (M.Walsh, 2019). The film also makes a point about the issues of the outfit and subsequent sexualization. Wonder Woman`s casual rebuttal of a sexual advance, her dress-up montage (it`s itchy, I can`t fight in this, it`s choking me) CITATION Zoe17 l 1033 (Williams, 2017). I think it shows that the film was written by a man but directed by a woman because there are quite a few examples of where the male gaze has affected the film but was remedied as much as possible by Jenkins The movie represented Diana as physically and emotionally strong. However, in some ways, the writing neglected Wonder Woman`s intelligence. While in one scene she manages to decode languages the men cannot, overall, Snyder`s writing limits her to traditional strong female character tropes. Thus, while Jenkins directing enabled a positive message for the character, the male screenplay in some ways undermined that. CITATION MWa19 l 1033 (M.Walsh, 2019). Even though the film cannot tackle every sexist issue with the way Hollywood writes its female characters, especially in the superhero genre, it does extremely well in subverting some of the most prevalent issues.
Wonder woman (2017) is a fantastic example of how a solely female-led superhero film can be a success from the feminist perspective. The film regularly throws traditional Hollywood tropes for female characters (especially female superheroes) out the window and represents women as both good and evil. Each prominent female character in the film was well-rounded and had interests outside of men, with Diana being the most established character out of all of them. What makes Wonder Woman such a joy to watch, besides being a fresh take on a superhero film, is that we are allowed to see Diana go through a whole range of emotions and situations that most Superheroes are not allowed to go through. We see her succeed, we see her make mistakes and deal with and take accountability for them, and, of course, we see her save the day at the end of it all. While wonder woman still falls victim to some outdated and sexist tropes, it makes leaps and bounds in female representation in superhero films.
References and Works Cited
- Barker, A., 2017. Variety. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:variety.com2017filmreviewsfilm-review-wonder-woman-1202446320#![Accessed 31 May 2021].
- Klein, C., 20162021. History. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.history.comnewswonder-woman-origins[Accessed 30 May 2021].
- Klein, C., 20162021. History. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.history.comnewswonder-woman-origins[Accessed 30 May 2021].
- M.Walsh, K., 2019. Geek Heroines: An Encyclopedia of Female Heroes in Popular Culture. illustrated ed. unknown: ABC-CLIO.
- Riganas, N., 2017. IMDB. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.imdb.comtitlett0451279plotsummary?ref_=ttpl_sa_2#synopsis[Accessed 30 May 2021].
- Williams, Z., 2017. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.theguardian.comlifeandstyle2017jun05why-wonder-woman-is-a-masterpiece-of-subversive-feminism[Accessed 31 May 2021].
- Wright, K., Unknown. Time Toast. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.timetoast.comtimelineswomens-rights-timeline–10[Accessed 30 May 2021].
- Yehl, J., 2017. IGN. [Online] Available at: HTTPS:www.ign.comarticles20170530wonder-woman-review[Accessed 31 May 2021].
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