Frankel - Red, Blue, and Bronze: Inside the Symbols of the Wonder Woman Film

To many, Wonder Woman is the first, the only superheroine of note. Why is that?

Wonder Womans emergence and success in the 1940s was unparalleled by any other woman in comic books during that time or since. Her continued success has defied the odds, though changes in the structure of the comic books helped to welcome young female readers. By and large, women as well as men were drawn to the 1970s television series. Since Wonder Womans spectacular beginnings, she has become an icon for female empowerment, as well as a term for any woman who can multitask with finesse or show abilities that transcend traditional norms. (Knight 314)

Supergirl and Batgirl (however well the former is doing on television) began as sidekicks. Far too many heroines like Hawkgirl or Sue Storm were created as girlfriend and female counterpart. Its also notable how they all were named girl, even those who were created as equal partners. Diana, created before them all, is an actual woman. Caroline Preece of The Mary Sue writes: Here was a female hero who wasnt great in spite of being a woman, but great because she is a woman. Kara Danvers [TVs Supergirl] is girly and silly and frets about dating boys. She is compassionate and understanding and sometimes too headstrong and idealistic for her own good. Sometimes shes wrong, and she makes mistakes. Wonder Woman offers a new kind of role model feminine but indescribably powerful.

The character arrived in comics in 1941, and continued with barely a break through present day. Even without this longevity, her comics were remarkably prolific. With 56 issues of Wonder Woman, 106 issues of Sensation Comics , and 29 issues of Comic Cavalcade released in the 1940s, no other super-heroine came close to matching Wonder Womans presence on the newsstands, notes Tim Hanley, author of Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the Worlds Most Famous Heroine (26). When her creator, William Moulton Marston, first pictured a new kind of superhero, one who would triumph not with fists or firepower, but with love, his wife advised, Fine ... but make her a woman (Mandaville, Kindle Locations 4245-4246).

In a 1943 article in American Scholar, Marston stated that it seemed to me, from a psychological angle, that the comics worst offense was their blood-curdling masculinity In response, Marston pitched a female superhero to All-American editor Sheldon Mayer to give young readers an alternative to all of this male-dominated violence. Marston called her Suprema the Wonder Woman, which Mayer wisely shortened. Marston wrote his comics under the penname Charles Moulton. (Hanley 13)

After Supergirl and Catwoman, this is the first female dominant superhero film in twelve years since Elektra (2005). This is also the first female-directed live-action film to have a $100 million+ budget (of $150 million). With an opening of $103 million, the film marks the highest US opening for a female director unsurprising as there are so few of them. Director Patty Jenkins adds, I think the pressures and responsibilities of making the first Wonder Woman film were already intense. You know, thats as big as it gets. I try not to only focus on the fact that its a female character and just make Wonder Woman a great Super Hero movie (Interview: Director Patty Jenkins).

Many would say the Wonder Woman film has been delayed decades too long, with piles of Superman and Batman , and even obscure heroes from Punisher to Thor getting in first. Critic Robert Jones, Jr. concludes:

The people who own the Wonder Woman trademark and brand dont really have, and havent really had, much faith in the character and her potential. She has historically played third fiddle to the likes of Batman and Superman. And I think the corporate types dont really get her appeal. That is why theyve been so hesitant about doing anything with her. Its why Green Lantern, a character no one outside of a few die-hards is checking for, could get a film before her. Thats why they had to test her out in Batman vs. Superman. They projected their feelings, insecurities, and ignorance onto an audience and assumed we wouldnt want a Wonder Woman anything, much less a movie, because they didnt want one. This movie and the reaction to it proved them dead wrong. (Complex and Jones)

Before this, Joss Whedon ( The Avengers ), George Miller ( Mad Max ) and Paul Feig ( Ghostbusters ), among many others, all failed to bring the Amazonian princess to the big screen.

Still, Jenkins celebrates the characters universality: As a woman, to discover such a complex and compelling woman at the helm of a universal heros journey? What a wonderful gift (Gosling 6). Robin Wright (Antiope) celebrates:

With headlines as of late about gender inequality and women having a stronger voiceitll be revolutionary in terms of this new generation. These young girls and young boys seeing a different perspective, not just through the lens of men are the leaders, women are the subordinates. (Coggan and Franich 33)

The film doesnt make the women audience squint through the male gaze but presents competent, athletic (or more to the point exceptional and near-godlike) women training, without focusing on their cleavage or rear ends. Women on Paradise Island have crowsfeet and are played by older actresses, suggesting wise matriarchs over pretty, eternally young things. It presents a superheroine whos clever and determined and never ever listens to the orders of men who think themselves her superiors.