The riveting origin of Wonder Woman, spiced with S& M
Earlier this year “Wonder Woman” became a critical hit and box- office smash. Now comes “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” a movie with a far more interesting story about how the inspiration for Wonder Woman comes from the world of bondage, S& M and sexual freedom — and it’s true. It’s not as good a movie, though. It’s not a bad one, either. Writer- director Angela Robinson’s film doesn’t explore the comicbook origins of the superhero as much as it does the real- life man who created her, and he was a fascinating guy.
Robinson uses a framing device, beginning with William Moulton Marston ( Luke Evans) being interrogated by a religiousbased family- values group ( led by the great Connie Britton, who sadly doesn’t have much to do).
Why, the group wants to know, do so many Wonder Woman comics involve women tying men up, or vice versa, or each other? There’s spanking, there’s women wrestling women. What’s going on here?
In repeated flashbacks we see William, a Harvard professor, teaching a graduate course to women in 1928. Watching is his wife, Elizabeth ( Rebecca Hall), the smarter of the two, but Harvard’s sexist policies are preventing her from receiving her doctorate. One of their projects includes advancements in the liedetector machine.
William notices a student, Olive Byrne ( Bella Heathcote) and hires her on as an assistant. On the newfangled lie detector, the truth comes out: William, Elizabeth and Olive are attracted to each other, want to have sex with each other, love each other.
A polyamorous relationship begins, and scandal follows. William and Elizabeth are fired, but the three set up a home together.
One day William wanders into a shop, looking for lingerie. He finds it, as well as S& M gear the proprietor sells in the back. He brings Elizabeth and Olive in, and Olive winds up in large bracelets, a corset and a tiara, with a rope — used for bondage — looped and hanging from her waist.
Sound familiar? Superman wasn’t born this way.
Inspired, William comes up with a character, which will become Wonder Woman. The comic is a huge hit — until it trips the wire of conservative do- gooders.
Robinson tells the story in a straightforward way, not quite breezy but definitely in mainstream fashion. You long for a little more grit; even the rough edges seem a little smooth.
But the cast is good ( Hall, always terrific, is the best thing about the film), and the story is undeniably compelling, making “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” a nice companion piece to one of the biggest movies of the year, and a good movie in its own right.