Wonder Woman Made Us Cry
An onscreen cameo was just the thing.
WW 84’s Asteria cameo was for some, the equivalent of Skywalker’s appearance in The Mandalorian. It was a last rally to a story we thought was over. Something about Lynda Carter’s appearance onscreen again, had people bawling in an instant. Twitterworld filled quickly with confessions of runny eyes. The unexpected cameo caught us off guard after 2.5 hours of sorting through the Wonder Woman 84 plot line. What was it? Chris Pines in a brief Steve Trevor return did not incite a lump in our throat. Why did people of different ages and backgrounds, sit through a long- limbed Gal Gadot battle with a feline Kristen Wiig and then at the last scene of the movie find tears spill out without warning?
After a year of waving at neighbors from afar, Zooming through work and play, fearing Covid-19 as cases rose worldwide, worrying about family and friends who fought the pandemic and watching all the political and cultural upheavals of this year, the original Wonder Woman’s arrival onscreen felt like a warm chocolate chip cookie. It made me crave a memory I did not think of as important. A moment in time with the sun peeking in through the tiny patterns of our well-washed lace tablecloth as it formed a protective cocoon beneath the dining table, a refuge from my mother’s call to help with dinner. The specks of parsley floating in the tomato garlicky sauce fought with fennel bobbing together on the stove. I was expected to clear the abundance of pots and pans before setting the table. Along with that scene, comes the long forgotten echo of my brother running through the house with a towel pinned to both sides of his t-shirt, belting out the Batman theme and our little sister as his Robin in tow. Batman moved with his life and Robin with hers. Instead of the TV blaring, it was my father reading the NY Times to us, complete with a history lesson and his opinions on, as NPR would put it, the rest of the story. As his eyesight faded a TV finally found its place, and his history lessons continued. Those moments were as idyllic as it would ever be.
What we did not know was that just for a minute, as Diana Prince appeared on screen, we caught a tearful glimpse of our memories and a time we left behind.
