Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Gal Godot's Wonder Woman has stirred up five different controversies and a movie isn't even out yet.

I'm really excited for Batman vs. Superman this March (March 25th to be exact), and I think most of that stems from the fact that I'm really looking forward to Wonder Woman. But do you know the controversies?

1) People have complained that the actress playing Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) is too thin and that her arms don't have muscle. Hmm. I beg to differ on this one as artists over the years have shown that she's not really this super-built, muscular woman. I mean, this is how she looks like in the comic books:
And then compare/contrast this with Gal Godot as Wonder Woman...
I think she looks pretty accurate to the one pictured in the comic. Although Linda Carter made an amazing Wonder Woman, she may (in fact) have been a little more curvy than the Wonder Woman in the comic books.

2)  When Wonder Woman gets her own movie, it will be set in World War I and not World War II. Everyone knows Wonder Woman rescues Steve Trevor and fights the Nazis! Eh, I think exploring World War I affords many opportunities not fully explored in film (especially given that the bulk of Wonder Woman seen on tv was from a seventies series, part of which explored World War 2 and then part of which continued in modern times with Wonder Woman driving a Mercedes). World War I was born out of intolerance, greed, and colonial expansion. It will just be a world of men being awful to each other in general, instead of the Axis fighting the Allies in a contest of pretty much "clear cut" good and evil. And World War 2 has been done to death. World War 1 just sounds so much fresher in context with good storytelling.

3) Wonder Woman may have a pet tiger than she can talk to (and can communicate like a person).  When this rumor broke, so many people were outraged by it. But honestly, what's wrong with having an animal on screen that can talk? This is a movie with superheroes? She's a comic book character that has a major villain called Cheetah. Why is a talking cat such a big deal as long as it looks great on film? People are so silly.

4) Wonder Woman's costume. Apparently people are kinda/sorta torn over the whole sword thing and they're also upset over the wedge heels. In other words, wedge heels are inappropriate for a person to fight crime while wearing. I dunno, they look okay to me. And let's not forget that she's got gifts from the Greek gods.
5) Wonder Woman is 5,000 years old, basically retired, and very jaded about mankind. So yeah, this broke this weekend, and I'm not sure how I feel about this latest revelation. But really old characters can be a lot of fun because they know so much. It also will make it so that she's not some innocent lass when it comes to dealing with the patriarchies in the world. I think it is a fresh take on the mythology of the character and enriches her for future stories.

So what do you think? Do people just like to bitch about Wonder Woman, or is this whole thing going to be a disaster?

15 comments:

  1. As a big DC fan, none of those things bother me. I think it will all work out in the movie.
    As long as the tiger's lips don't move. That's just creepy when shows and commercials do that.

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  2. How can people not like the outfit? It's awesome. Have to agree with Alex about the tiger's lips. Some sort of telepathy would work well.

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  3. I think people just like to bitch, about Wonder Woman or whatever else they can think of.

    And I personally had absolutely zero interest in the Batman Vs. Superman movie until I saw that Wonder Woman would be in it.

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  4. I was actually pretty stoked about the casting. It looks like it's going to be an epic movie.

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  5. I don't know much about Wonder Woman and can't offer an opinion. i never watched the TV show back in the day.

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  6. I think the World War I setting is so they can more easily sell the movie overseas. Like how Captain America downplayed the Nazi thing to focus on Hydra.

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  7. Your pictures of how she looks in the comic are a bit... out of date. To say the least.

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  8. Um, heels on a warrior are all about sexualization. Let's not kid ourselves. But, yeah, she looks great.

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  9. She looks fine. Linda Carter was a little too perfect.

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  10. I totally agree with you on #2.

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  11. I think some of the complaints are to ensure that Wonder Woman comes off onscreen as a hero enough people will watch to guarantee more superhero movies starring women. I don't think it will flop but there are genuine concerns that bad Wonder Woman movie can spell a block to more movies starring female heroes. A male lead movie flops and it's the movies fault but when a female lead one flops there is someone in the gallery claiming no one wanted to see a movie starring a woman. Which is dumb but I think fans just want this movie to do well. Besides Mike aren't you technically griping too by creating this blog post about gripers?

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  12. I've never really been into Wonder Woman - sorry. But I've enjoyed reading the post! Hope the movie lives up to expectations.

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  13. When I was young I was much more into Sheena Queen of the Jungle than Wonder Woman, so I don't mind if she's updated and changed, especially since the old costume really looks dated. And I do like the WWI setting--it's different, more complex, and there's new story territory to explore.

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  14. I've gotta admit, I have a problem with the heels. Totally impractical for fighting. Try spending a day on them just walking. I wind up ignoring many comics because I feel that female characters are written for men. I'm not looking for a sexy warrior girl in my fantasies. I want someone to admire. Those characters are few and far between.

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