Spotlight
Dear Hollywood: Give Us More Wonder Women
Think of the last action movie you saw. It doesn’t have to be a superhero flick. Picture any action or thriller CGI extravaganza that hits theaters every July. Now try to think of a scene in which two women are engaging in combat. Now try for three. Four. How about over a hundred.
Having trouble? These films simply do not exist. Female action heroes are so often the exception to the rule. There can be only one badass heroine on screen at a time in order to fill your diversity quota, but after that who cares.
I knew from the second I saw hundreds of women on horseback galloping into battle, armor-clad and swords drawn, that “Wonder Woman” was unlike any film I had ever seen. And after two and a half hours of staring wide-eyed at the screen beaming, my face literally hurt from smiling as I walked out of the theater.
Watching “Wonder Woman” is an experience unlike any other. For one, the film passes the Bechdel test in the first five minutes. The entire first third of the film features an all-female cast, with women in complex, dynamic roles that are practically unheard of in any other genre flick.
NO WONDER WHITE MEN ARE SO OBSCENELY CONFIDENT ALL THE TIME I SAW ONE WOMAN HERO MOVIE AND I'M READY TO FIGHT A THOUSAND DUDES BAREHANDED
— meg ?☕? (@megsauce) June 4, 2017
So often female badassery is explained away as a product of male upbringing. She is just “one of the boys” and trades away her femininity for a more “powerful” masculine traits.
“Wonder Woman” is unabashedly a woman. She was raised by women and fights alongside them, making both the character and the Amazonian women of Themyscira an absolute breath of fresh air.
For decades, Hollywood told us that no one would go see a movie where women are featured in prominent roles. Well, the numbers are in, and they were wrong. In its first weekend “Wonder Woman” easily raked in $100 million in the box office.
The film set records for the biggest domestic opening for a female director and the biggest opening for a woman-led comic book film. It was also well-received by critics with an approval of rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it not only profitable but also a pretty decent flick.
My producer just sent me this… ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! This makes every hard day worth it. Thank you to whomever wrote it!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/3DzIaMueIh
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) June 11, 2017
With all the success of “Wonder Woman”, there are signs that the film industry may be starting to listen. In response to the success of the film, Warner Bros. domestic distributor president Jeff Goldstein said “I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of Diana on the big screen.”
This is all well and good, but we don’t just need more Diana Prince or Wonder Woman. We need more films featuring women in roles where they are not just the exception to the rule.
Films were female ass-kickers are not something remarkable, but a given. Films that make it so young girls don’t have to fight at recess over who gets to be the one female superhero in the squad.
Hollywood, we are desperately awaiting a “Wonder Woman” sequel. But in the meantime, make sure you give us some more wonder women.