Wonder Woman (2017): How Not To Write A Character
I started watching to be inspired by a powerful female hero. I continued watching because I trusted the 93% critic reviews on Rotten Tomato. But Diana Prince just never earned her title as Wonder Woman.
After hearing about the great reviews about a “fresh, innovative, feminist” stance that Wonder Woman takes, I thought it was finally time to check this movie out. Yet, the bleak setting and bland characters only contributed to an overall “woke” narrative that lacks an in-depth perspective at Wonder Woman. In the film, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) lives among her Amazonian warrior companions. Against her mother’s wishes, she shows a love for combat. Eventually, a spy for the allied forces, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), finds the island as he escapes from Nazi soldiers. In order to stop WWII, Diana decides to kill the God of War, Ares, by following Steve to the forefront in Germany. At the end, Steve sacrifices himself for “the greater good,” and Wonder Woman/Diana Prince defeats Ares because she “believes in love.” (Her words. Not mine).
Themes?
I am still not sure what the themes or message were supposed to be found in this movie.
Perhaps it comes from Wonder Woman’s final line before destroying Ares, in which she declares that she “believes in love.” If this was the main lesson, then the filmmakers barely set up the premise. Only a couple minutes before, Steve finally confesses his love for Diana. Afterwards, Diana is somehow able to channel her rage (her love?) to destroy Ares for good. Wonder Woman uses a cliched line to bluff complexity and meaning in order to make up for its hours long Enchanted-like pretense.
Or rather, is the film’s message present in its first couple minutes? At the beginning of the film, Antiope presses Diana to not hold back during her training. (“Come on, Diana. You’re stronger than this.”) Considering the amount of times that Antiope reestablishes Diana’s hesitancy, it would not be too far off to assume that the movie was setting up Diana’s character arc in“believing herself.” Nevertheless, this idea was never mentioned again.
Worse, the film markets itself for its feminist foundation. Regardless, its so-called “feminist stance” is definitely not a theme. Rather, the filmmakers use misogyny as a mere backdrop of the film, but they never fully delve into the issues. In fact, the greatest jab that Wonder Woman undertakes is an occasional line of sexism which is then immediately met by Wonder Woman’s competence. Yet, the overall narrative would remain unaffected if the filmmakers chose to delete those scenes.
But surely that doesn’t matter: Diana Prince is a good role model for young girls, even if the film didn’t explicitly explore sexism. Except…
Diana Prince?
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is mostly used for laughs until the film needs her to create an out-of-place example of her gifts.
Most of this film is comprised of filler of how Diana Prince is amazed by a “world of men.” She struggles to figure out how modern-day technology works and how to fit in with the societal norms.
Yet, despite her unfamiliarity, she decodes the journal that Steve smuggled out of the Axis forces’ territory within seconds. She also somehow knows how to speak dozens of languages, but doesn’t know anything about etiquette in the outside world. Not only is it laughably unrealistic, but it also never allows the audience to glimpse at her humanistic struggles. Her triumphant moment against a bunch of misogynistic men is ruined by a overly-simplistic solution.
There are similar and more blatant problems in this battle sequence:
Despite her non-tactical gear, she is somehow able to single-handedly defeat almost every soldier without breaking a sweat. The experienced, male soldiers, on the other hand, can barely do anything. Again, nothing feels earned. This entire sequence (and entire movie) seems like a montage of how Wonder Woman is insanely perfect. If I wanted to watch something where I could guarantee repetitive results, then I would undertake an academic paper. In fact, if Wonder Woman is so powerful, why does she need a legion of alleged soldiers that constantly walks in her shadow? Only to help her navigate Europe? From a filmmaking perspective, neither Wonder Woman nor the forgettable troupe of characters that follow her across the world are ever developed by their relationship.
Her lack of conflict throughout the film only contributed to the foggy theme and low staked adventure. How can the audience stay invested in her story if Wonder Woman’s only so-called flaw is that she is “quirky and socially awkward.” If I wanted to watch an awkward rom-com, then I would look towards any teenage coming-of-age movie instead of a million dollar corporation’s long-awaited project.
Additional Uh-Oh
Another thing that seemed to bug me throughout the film was how Diana only chose to listen when it was convenient to the plot. When Steve was first captured, he talked about how he was working with the allied forces to defeat Nazi Germany. (“The bad guys,” as he explains to Diana.) Considering the filmmakers were bold enough to introduce WII as the backdrop of Wonder Woman, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if a Nazi soldier was captured in lieu of Steve. Would Diana have just as easily become a tool for the Axis forces if she was promised that Ares was corrupting the Allied powers, especially considering that she knows nothing of the reasons of the war? Her naive personality combined with her brute strength and intelligence is ill-fitting and somewhat concerning.
Feminism is meant to open a door of opportunity for everyone. By showing characters that do not conform to the societal standards, we can redefine the “masculine” and “feminine” roles in our society. In retrospect, by drawing attention to Wonder Woman’s exemptive position as a female superhero and simeotaneously neglecting a quality character arc, her presence feels more like a clog that fills a quota more than a quality heroine. At the end of the day, Wonder Woman’s final product only leaves me wondering about the movie we could have potentially gotten.
