Wonder Woman
This article contains a lot of spoilers for Wonder Woman.
The first time I saw this film, I cried a lot. Not because [SPOILERS] Diana doesn’t get her happy ending with Steve, or because Antiope dies or any of the normal stuff you might cry about in a movie like this. Nah. I cried during the action scenes. I’m not even joking. I sobbed through the battle on the beach of Themyscira, tears coursed down my face as Diana climbed that ladder to no man’s land and kicked ass in Veld. Because this was the kind of action I’d never seen before. Action where the women weren’t being filmed to emphasise how hot they were or how big their butts were. The slow-mo shots weren’t focused in on their tits or their asses, but their whole bodies, showing their strength and capability.
And honestly, I told people after I saw this movie that it changed my life. Most of the men (and some of the women) I said this to looked at me in total confusion with a mocking sort of smile on their faces. One friend said, ‘What do you mean by that? Like, you really thought it was that good of a movie?’
And that’s the thing. I don’t. I enjoyed this movie, but the plot is not particularly original and David Thewlis as Ares at the end is kind of terrible. His whole ‘trying to convince her to join him’ thing is kinda far fetched and doesn’t make much sense. Even the fact that she seems tempted by his offer is absurd. At no point in the movie before this does she indicate that she would be okay with wiping out humanity, no matter how evil or awful or whatever. So yeah, the plot of the movie and the end sequence with Ares isn’t the most fantastic thing in the world. Compare this to movies like Captain Marvel or Birds of Prey and I don’t think it really comes in on par, as a film.
Regardless, this movie really did change my life. The way the costumes are designed, the cinematography not focusing on how hot these women are, even simple aspects like when Diana says to Steve that men are not necessary for women’s pleasure. The costumes she wears, even when she is told she has to cover up to be decent, are practical and clothes she can fight in. The one time we see her in a fancy gown, she has a sword stuck down its back.
She also refuses to put up with the basic sexism and misogyny of 1910s England, and it’s beautiful. She gives the men the weirdest looks when they tell her she has to leave the room or when Steve has to keep saying ‘she’s with me’. They’ve never been spoken to by a woman the way she speaks to them, and it is fantastic seeing how she spits truth at them and they just stare at her in disbelief. Overall, this film just does an amazing job of highlighting the everyday sexism, even in the 1910s, that is perpetrated against women without men ever noticing they’re doing it. Steve and his buddies are constantly having to re-examine their gender biases while they watch Diana in action, and it is such a delight to see them eating their words. The number of times Steve tries to tell Diana to get behind him or stay safe somewhere and then she just kicks everybody’s ass is honestly incredible to watch. He has to come to terms with being wrong at almost every turn in this movie, and it’s incredible.
Additionally, while Gal Gadot’s irl political motivations and opinions are super problematic, it is nice to see a Jewish woman cast to play a superhero, something that was followed up with another Jewish casting for Justice League in the form of Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. Despite there being a huge number of Jewish people working in the industry, it’s still not so common to see Jewish actors being cast in high-profile roles like the superheroes in Justice League. There’s also a powerful message in seeing a Jewish woman fighting against the Germans and being associated with a hero who, in the comics, was very tied to the events of WWII.
This movie is far from perfect, and I can understand why a lot of people didn’t love it or thought it was kind of average. But the thing is, it changed things. Because of this film being made, and raking in box office moolah, we have gotten and will continue to get more awesome movies about women, starring women, made by women, the list goes on. So yeah, this isn’t my favourite movie from this month’s project, but it is one that I felt was important to include because it genuinely made me feel like things were going to change in the film industry when I saw it. And there’s still a long way to go, but things have gotten better and I think this movie and its mainstream success were a huge step forward in that journey.
Wonder Woman is available to stream in Australia on Binge and Foxtel Now. In the UK, it’s available to stream on Amazon Prime and on HBO Max and DirecTV in the US. It’s available to rent or buy everywhere on YouTube, Google Play, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
