Wonder Woman: A leap in the right direction

Last night I saw Wonder Woman at the theatre with my husband and sons. Given that this is a Hollywood movie my expectations weren't high, but director Patty Jenkins must have been the right choice because this movie provides audiences with one of Hollywood's exceptionally rare positive portrayals of women. For starters, the lead female role, the goddess Diana, is far less sexualized than the vast majority of women in mainstream movies--I don't remember a single bath/shower scene. But it's more than that. She differs from them in several ways, namely: the attempts made to silence her do not deter her from continuing to make her voice heard; she is not shown drinking alcohol, getting loose and partying; she is not portrayed as superficial and materialistic; she is capable of interacting with men without flirting; she has positive interactions with other women; she criticizes uncomfortable clothing that restricts women's movements; her presence is not limited to being eye candy for men; her role is not limited to falling in love with a man (and ending up in his arms in the last scene), etc.    

If I had a girl this is one of the only Hollywood movies I would let her see because not only is it one of the rare movies in which women are not men's playthings but also because the female lead is strong, capable, powerful, altruistic and concerned about the state of the world--unlike the near totality of female roles that have come out of Hollywood. This Diana is an anomaly in Hollywood, which is a shame because her character is a very realistic portrayal of women, other than her physical superpowers, obviously. I'm happy my teenage boys saw this movie. Now they have this positive cinematic portrayal of womanhood stored in their mind that they can compare with the other, more negative ones, they are continually exposed to.        

© 2017 Alline Cormier