At last, a superhero flies the flag for women
AND about time! The first headliner female superhero for my generation, and the only surprise was that DC did it first.
In my lifetime, it has majorly sucked to be a female fan of the superhero genre.
When it comes to superhero movies, I’m a huge nerd. I love nearly all of them.
I tend to go see most of the major superhero films within the first week of their release and I’m especially a huge fan of the Marvel films — Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and my personal favourite, Deadpool.
However, as many films as I see and love, what I don’t see is my gender being strongly represented.
There aren’t superheroes who reflect how awesome, strong and independent women are in the 21st century.
So not surprisingly, for a female fan, Wonder Woman was a totally refreshing change from the usual films because a young woman seeing a strong female in a lead role is totally awesome and a revelation.
Diana (Wonder Woman) is independent, strongminded and not afraid of anyone.
Her origin story revolves around her being the daughter of a queen and being bought up on an island of warrior women.
All of these women are clever, brave, athletic and muscular — all of which make for great role models for a female audience.
Unlike most action films, when a man does turn up, the warrior women’s first instinct is to try to kill him.
The main male character, Steve Trevor, while brave, at times seems a little clumsy in comparison to Diana — almost like a sidekick.
This role reversal was a pleasure for me to see.
Sometimes the ‘‘bad guys’’ are females, but the whole role of the bad guy is to lose to the good guy so even if the bad guy is a bad girl, then their role is eventually to lose to the lead male, e.g. Enchantress in Suicide Squad.
As a female fan, this isn’t very inspiring because it gives the unspoken message that girls will always lose to men, no matter what they do.
In Wonder Woman, however, Diana is so powerful that she beats not only the bad guy and girl but also, at the end of the film, she destroys a god.
We therefore see that a woman can be totally powerful while still being a good person.
One of the particularly strong points in the movie is highlighting the rampant sexism of society during the early 20th century.
The film is set during World War 1.
Diana has no past experience of this and she refuses to be diminished by it.
For example, they try to dress her in time period clothing and all she can see is how inconvenient it is — ‘‘it’s itchy’’, ‘‘it’s choking me’’.
This includes the fact that she couldn’t possibly fight in such tightfitting, layered garments; plus she still wants to carry her sword and shield on her after they do that.
However, unlike most male characters, she isn’t just about fighting and action.
She talks about having a greater purpose and a mission.
For example, she says, ‘‘I will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves’’ and ‘‘Only love will truly save the world’’.
She’s starting from a moral and caring position, which lifts her above most of the usual male superheroes, so she matches them in power but adds in what have traditionally been seen as female values, such as caring, love and compassion.
Steve Trevor’s allies, by contrast (all men), seem to have less worthy motives because
❛ . . . when a man does turn up, the warrior women’s first instinct is to try to kill him
they often ask about how and when they’re going to get paid.
Compared to Diana, they seem mercenary and less noble as a result.
When I go to the movies, sure, I want action, engaging characters and a good plot.
But when I can see characters that I can relate to, it vastly improves my experience and enjoyment.
As a female fan of the superhero genre, Wonder Woman ticks all the boxes and restores my faith that there is hope for good role models in this genre.
Now if only Marvel would make a movie starring Black Widow.