Wonder Woman - so not the 1970s!

[amberdreams]

This feels like too many posts in a day but never mind.

Let me talk about Wonder Woman.

I went to see it today and loved it – of course I did. It was a good story, well told – great characters, lots of action, visually exciting and beautiful. And I nearly cried during the battlefield scene – the one where Diana mounts the ladder and sets out to cross No Man’s Land, stopping in the middle of the wasteland under a barrage of machine gun fire from the German trenches.

Was I upset because (as this article postulates) women are getting all emotional because finally we are getting a kickass heroine? I don’t think so. To be honest, I’m cheering that, not crying over it.

While I was watching that scene, all I could think was – if only it was this easy. Some superhero turns the tide of that terrible war (which was ending anyway, it the armistice succeeded) and a load of trench-footed, starving German troops get slaughtered as the Brits leave their trench and cross in her wake. I don’t know. I think it was maybe because they chose to set the story during that war, where there were no obvious bad guys apart from the top brass on both sides, where so many young men died for so little (a few feet of land over so many years), and maybe I’m just taking that part too seriously. Maybe I’m remembering reading All Quiet on the Western Front.  Whatever it was, those scenes left me choked and sorrowful, and now I’ve read that article, I feel I’m a bit of a weirdo and not a very good WOMAN.

So that reaction aside, I loved the message of the film that love conquers all; I loved that Diana was a powerful woman and didn’t have to prove it (as such), that there was a cute and funny woman (I loved Etta and wanted more of her) who wasn’t glamorous or powerful but who metaphorically kicked ass too; I loved that Ares was Lupin from Harry Potter and not a hunky muscle bound Adonis. I didn’t love that they made Wonder Woman wear chunky high heels on the battlefield. WTF? Flat shoes, please! I was kind of bummed she turned out to be a goddess, I’m not sure why. (I don’t remember Wonder Woman in Linda Carter’s day being a goddess, but I’ve not read the comics so don’t know what happens in those). I liked that they didn’t cop out and have Diana somehow use her powers to bring Steve back. And I loved watching Gal Gadot – she’s so beautiful!

So yeah. I’ll hopefully be going to see it again in a couple of weeks when my movie buddy is free. It’ll be interesting to see if I have the same reaction seeing it a second time.

Comments

[jennytork.livejournal.com]

I have the very first WW comics (from the 40s, reprinted in a hardbound book) and she was in NO WAY a goddess. Just a very powerful women empowered by the gods she worshiped.

One of my favourite lines from the first book was a woman scoffing on seeing her outfit, "Shameless hussy!" And another shooting back instantly, "Ha! Sour grapes, sister, don't you wish YOU looked like that!"

Even more remarkable when you realise this was written and drawn by men.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ah interesting that she wasn't a goddess in the comics. Mmm I wonder why they changed that.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

I'm using my QuickReply function because I haven't seen it yet, but I'm SO tempted to read this because you always give awesome reviews! Decisions decisions.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Don't read it - go see it!

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

That was my thinking.

[etrix.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about setting it during WWI--no clear bad guys, no obvious point to either the start or the end, and just lots and lots of suffering in between. However, it did allow the filmmakers to have fun with period clothing, and it was the time when women's suffrage was just there. Then, there was the love interest. Chris Pine's character was okay with Diana the way she was. He may have apologized for her behaviour, but he never tried to change her.

I also appreciated the fact that there were POC soldiers on the train platform. People forget that this was a world war. It was fought on at least 3 continents, and pulled soldiers from all over the world (since this was still a time of Empire).

But mostly I enjoyed that I was watching people living these extraordinary events, and not just characters inserted to fill the space between action sequences with quips and dramatic poses.

I'd go see it again.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

My sadness isn't going to stop me going again! :D

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I really enjoyed the film overall, and love that it's doing well. I had a *lot* of issues with the history, though. Seems like a real conflation of the first and second wars, a 'bad Germans' narrative that's only partly overset by the humane ending which recognises both sides as humans. And I'm pissed that their German head bad guy is historical, and was genuinely vile, but for other reasons. (Also, yer man who makes weak Armistices is dead, so... the Armistice of 1918 should be fine! Yes, don't we all know it held beautifully!) So I was taken out of the joy there, in a way that's more than just history nerd pedantry. But I love the approach enough that I still rate the film as a really positive experience. I want more, I just also want a better setting.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of this - I was surprised at my emotional reaction to be honest, but I'm interested in going again with my cinema-buddy, and seeing what I think second time around. It had a lot going for it!