Wondering about Wonder Woman
I have been very enthused about every Marvel Universe movie that has been released in recent years, and the DC properties less so. This is ironic, since the original SUPERMAN THE MOVIE which came out when I was a teenager was and is one of my favorite films, and Tim Burton’s dark and moody BATMAN was near the top of my list.
Now, I wish I were enthusiastic about the latest offering from DC. Here is the trailer for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, and despite a promising establishing shot (the Amazon finds a Steve Trevor shipwrecked on the shore of Paradise Island) a certain creeping smell to which I am perhaps all too sensitive begins to tickle my nose.
The smell I deem I scent, albeit dimly, is political correctness, which, since it serves untruth first and foremost, all kills storytelling, which serves truth first and formost.
First, does this take place during World War One? Where are the Nazis for the red, white and blue maiden to bash? I am wondering if this is another ‘Hydra Era’ universes where Nazis are fought but never called Nazis.
Second, the decision to put her in a dark and grim costume parallels a similar decision to make Superman dark and grimy in MAN OF STEEL, which was the worst interpretation of Supes I have ever seen on any screen, large or small, bar none. Darkness and grimness and nihilism are comfortable favorite color schemes of political correctness.
PC niks love shades of gray because their deeds are wicked…
Third, the idea that an Amazon from ancient Greece would describe a secretary (an office known to the ancients; they had scribes) as a slave because she obeys orders from a superior officer is not just stupid, it is in-your-face stupid. It is an unkind, even insulting thing to say, doubly so when said to someone just met. It is as if the film maker is double-dog daring us not to like an bitchy and unpleasant character merely because that character is a woman. Would all soldiers and servants be described as slaves by an Amazon, or only female ones?
There is another line where Wondie is telling someone darkly not to tell her what to do. Presumably she is speaking to a man, not to her mother the queen.
It is a trailer, not a movie. You cannot judge a book by the cover, but you cam judge what market the publisher who picked that cover thought he was trying to convince to buy his wares.
In this case, whoever picked the trailer did not convince me.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
