The Wonder Woman Moment

[ericadawn16]

Everyone kept talking about Wonder Woman in this revolutionary way, how it made them cry.

I felt left out a little.

It was cool to see her kick ass but it also felt...normal, how things should be.

I thought maybe it was how my generation was raised. We had Ripley, She-Ra, Dana Scully, Buffy, Kim Possible, Mulan and countless others showing us how strong women were normal...

But some of those crying women WERE my age so...

It was something else and then, I realized I already had my "Wonder Woman Moment". It was when, for the first time in my life, I saw a woman in a live action Star Wars film take up a lightsaber and defeat the male patriarchy with it.

It was pretty freaking sweet.

Comments

[mf_luder_xf]

I think that makes sense; I think we connect to characters/fandoms differently. Because yeah, I've definitely seen great women characters on screen (Scully, Mystique, Jean Grey, lots of women who have had badass moments). But I've seen WW twice (plus I've watched some scenes repeatedly on youtube) and every time I cry watching the beach scene and the whole No Man's Land/town sequence. It's uncontrollable. WW is the first female-led superhero movie; maybe that symbolism is why I'm more inclined to cry with joy than watching Black Widow strangle people? Or maybe it's the difference in "action sequence with a woman" versus "moment meant to inspire" including music? Or maybe it's because I've always loved WW in the same way you love Star Wars. (That said, Rey is pretty awesome.)

[ericadawn16]

Aww, that's cool...I'm glad that it meant that much to you and you could explain it to me...

Although "first female-led superhero movie"...that gets me into semantics because comic adaptations in general would include Ghost World but then, you did specify "superhero" but then, wouldn't that include Tank Girl and Elektra or are they antiheroes?
Also, there's the often ignored Chinese film, The Heroic Trio, where the three title characters are FEMALE SUPERHEROES!
I'm sorry about the all caps but it's dark but so much fun and stars Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui and Michelle Yeoh!
Which is another reason why I loved that the credits made her one of the original Guardians of the Galaxy because Yeoh would have been one of the original female superheroes on the big screen since The Heroic Trio was 1993. Feel free to skip the sequel though, it gets way more dark and sad.

[mf_luder_xf]

Sure, you're right and I don't mean to dismiss smaller productions, foreign productions, or lesser known characters. Yet, that still is a difference; I've never heard of The Heroic Trio which does sound great and I'll definitely look it up now, but my feelings for WW aren't diffused by a movie I've never heard of - whether I should have or not. And as for Elektra and Catwoman (I'll throw her in because I've never heard of Tank Girl), it's not so much the antihero, but probably, honestly, the quality. Both are awful movies that don't do a good interpretation of the source material and are just all around bad (I saw them before I read the characters comics as well as after). And yeah, it might be harder, broadly speaking, to see Elektra as a movie that makes you cry for its symbolism versus WW. Elektra is a far less known character and doesn't exactly stand for hope (what's more likely to make someone cry: hope symbolism, or vengeance?).

So yes, many characters have helped lead to this current WW's success, and I can understand why those characters could have affected someone more. But I think, speaking to a broad audience, a broad USA audience in particular, despite all those other kickass women characters we've seen in one way or another, this movie still is a symbol. WW is a character many people grew up with. It's a movie that features some 20 odd minutes with no man character at all and features numerous women fighting in a way that doesn't sexualize them. Considering few movies or TV shows can pass the Bechdel test, I am not surprised that this movie - for some, including myself - tugs at the emotions more or in a different way. Because it's not that I watched Scully or Jessica Jones, or Supergirl in passivity (I distinctly recall crying several times during Supergirl's S1 because Kara is so good and full of light and hope and watching such a powerful woman on screen made me sob with happiness), I think it's just that there's something unique about Wonder Woman and this movie adaptation in particular that tugs at the heart of many.

Also, I may just be someone who's super moved regarding women on screen generally.lol