A date with Sarah-Kate; Kate’s home truths
Sarah-Kate owns up to her Gal-power crush
Ididn’t know until I saw the new movie that Wonder Woman is the heroine I’ve been waiting for. I loved her ’70s TV predecessor played by beauty queen Lynda Carter too, but if there was any feminist message, I missed it while I was envying her pneumatic hotpants and her amazing head of hair.
But big-screen Wonder Woman 2.0 – wow! The 2017 version of this female superhero is strong, brave, kind and powerful in all the right ways. She has a body to die for, but her boobs and butt are not her best assets – indeed, they’re hidden behind a stunning piece of upholstery and never used merely for drooling purposes.
Wonder Woman 2.0 can run, jump, fight, think and speak for herself. She even turns her back on Chris Pine when she gets the chance for a quickie, which is a feat of superhuman strength in anyone’s language. Lordy, that man is good-looking. But Wonder Woman’s no prude – when the time is right, she opens herself up to the possibility of love.
She has empathy for those who suffer, and a balanced sense of justice and fairness. On top of this, she is dropdead gorgeous. But not in a flimsy, fake way. Looking at photos of actress Gal Gadot, the real woman behind the wonder, when she was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, her most stunning feature was actually her smile.
Yes, even her looks are strong. OMG, I am fan-girling big time. It’s embarrassing! Or is it just time we had an Amazonian woman to look up to? Madonna did her bit for girl power back in the day – and also likes a hotpant – but she does tend to push the sex barrow, which is starting to feel a little 1980s.
And I’m as obsessed with Kim Kardashian West as anyone (maybe a bit less), but I don’t want the daughter I forgot to have to aspire to be her because what she stands for is, um, shopping.
Yes, I know Wonder Woman is not a real person, but you could argue that neither are Madge and Kim. We see what they want us to see of them (sometimes too much of it), but the real them exists in sweats on the couch, shovelling in crisps and looking at re-runs of Thelma&Louise when no-one is watching.
My point being that if you’re going to have a heroine, it may as well be one who can use her magic lasso to straighten up the far-less-super powers in the universe. If only she could do it in the real world.
I don’t want my wonder women to hitchhike naked or sit front row at Paris Fashion Week. I want them to kick butt, fight bad guys and stick to their guns – and flat shoes. Yes, Gal wore flats on the red carpet because they are more comfortable. And they cost her all of $70. Now that’s a role model.