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Movie Analysis; Wonder Woman

Introduction:

There are many tales regarding the origin of wonder woman. In comics,

the character originated in October 1941; however, it is said that in Bronze

Age, her mother, Queen Hippolyta sculpted her from clay, and her life and

superhuman powers were given by the Greek gods. Some believe Wonder

Woman (Diana) to be the biological daughter of Zeus. Nonetheless, she has

occupied a special place in the superhero world and first appeared on

television in 1975. This superhero had her first solo movie in 2017. The

movie exhibits a great blend of tenderness and strength. There was much

speculation about the movie as it was the first movie with a female

superhero, and its director was also a female people wondered how will it do

at the box office and whether it would successfully claim space amongst

male superheroes. To everyone's surprise, Wonder Woman went above and

beyond people's expectations and did great at the box office. The movie is

brilliant in its cinematography, storyline, and direction as it demonstrates the

best of human values, and the movie has a great plot twist. The movie also

explores different human emotions and how Diana has to struggle between

choosing one of the two options she is presented with. In the following essay,

I shall be analyzing the movie through the lens of responsibility, courage,

feminism, and selflessness. 

Responsibility: 

The movie begins with the protagonist, Diana, being born as an only

child amongst Amazonian warriors. She lived on the hidden island paradise

of Themyscira. Diana, looking up to her older sisters, longs to learn and hone

her skills for battle. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, however, is against

Diana's wishes to learn warrior skills and fight in a battle. But being a strong-

headed girl, Diana defies her mother's desire and trains in sword fighting,

hand-to-hand combat, and archery under proud General Antiope. The

General prepares her for the honor that had been bestowed upon the

inhabitants of the entire island – to protect mankind from the influence and

wrath of the god of war – Ares.

Growing up, seeing her elder sisters fighting to make the world a

better place, Diana's desire to play her role in saving the world keeps

growing stronger. She considers it her responsibility to help the ones in

trouble and bring them ease. This is demonstrated in the scene when an

undercover spy Steve Trevor's plane crashes near the island of Diana; she

rescues him and shelters him till he recovers (Bastien, 2017). From Steve

Trevor, she learns about a bigger war that is meant to end all other wars.

When Diana enquires about the location of the war, he tells her it's right

outside the boundaries of their island. Diana, upon hearing all this, believes

that Ares - the god of war, was behind all the bloodshed and fatal hostilities

and decides to combat him to save mankind. Her decisions and actions

reflect her fierce spirit and the sense of responsibility she feels towards

mankind because of her superpowers. Diana then embarks upon a journey to

London with Steve, who informs his superiors about a German commander

concocting a poisonous gas for mankind. 

Diana, who had been living a life isolated from the world, then

discovers new things about the world and men that she had never witnessed

before. Diana, in her mission to locate the mad scientist's base and destroy

it, accompanies Steve and his band of fighters across the war frontlines. In

this journey, she witnesses man's hidden virtues and glaring flaws – that are

prevalent across the whole of mankind. These contrasting traits give rise to

her conflicting thoughts about whether she should fight for them or to retreat

to her safe island where people live in peace and harmony. But despite the

confusion she faces, she stays true to her word and moves along with Steve

and his mercenaries. This depicts how responsible she is, not only in her wish

to save the world but also in the word that she had given to Steve, and she

stands firm in the face of an unknown and scary world. 

Courage:

The wonder woman is shown to be a courageous character. In the

world of male superheroes, this movie stands out the best as the protagonist

is a woman with superpowers who is courageous, bold, and not afraid to fight

the unknown. She is someone who has never seen the cynical world of a

man, but when she comes across it for the first time and is taken aback and

has the chance to back off, she does not do so. Rather, she stays firm on her

decision and decides to move ahead and fight for the safety of humanity and

save mankind. She is determined and dedicated to her mission and wants to

fight off what she spent years training for. She does not want to let her

powers and training go in vain. Although she is not alone in this mission, as

she has many supporters and fellows who are accompanying her and are

well-equipped, she is the only one with superpowers who can stop the evil

scientist from harming mankind. She is courageous because the fear of being

harmed does not stop her.

Another point about Diana's strength is that she is not ignorant of her

superpowers. She is aware of her unique gifts, abilities, and strength and is

determined to refine them and use them to the best of her ability. Moreover,

it can be deduced that Diana was always meant to be a wonder woman

because as her mother was reluctant to let her leave the Amazon and go to

London, Diana does so despite knowing the fear of the unseen.

In the movie, when Diana and her mates are crossing the trenches, she

learns that Nazis are holding the innocent villagers, which include old women

and innocent children too. Many in her team dissuade her to not go further,

but she dismisses their suggestions as she is determined to save the children

and all those people who are in trouble (Alanson, 2017). She then charges

into an onslaught of machine guns, overpowers the Nazis, and frees the

villagers from their hold. She leaves Amazon knowing there is something

worth fighting for and does not hold back from fighting for it, even if it means

risking her own life for it. All this indicates that she had courage; otherwise,

she could not have done any of it. Nothing fears her when she makes up her

mind for something good.

Feminism:

The idea of Wonder Woman was first introduced in 1941 by

psychologist and lawyer Wiliam Moulton Marston. In the books, the character

appeared "as lovely as Aphrodite, as wise as Athena, with the speed of

Mercury, and the strength of Hercules" (Cocca, 2014). Whereas she conforms

to the gender norms, as she is a white, heterosexual female and belongs to

the upper middle class, she also unsettles normative gender boundaries

simultaneously (Emad, 2006).

Wonder women does so by being stronger than her male counterparts

and being a determined, formidable, and astute warrior simultaneously

(Cocca, 2014). Moreover, whereas she had a team of male mercenaries

accompanying her, she did not, in essence, need anyone to help her. She is

even willing to go solo, and all these factors point toward her being a

feminist figure. 

Wonder Woman over the years:

The Wonder Woman in comics was way ahead of her time. She was a

strong advocate of female superiority and matriarchy in the 1940s when

society was primarily male-dominated, and women were fighting for

fundamental rights. The Wonder Woman of the 1940s was shown to be tied

up in ropes after she was done having saved the world. This depicted the

sexist mindset of men who could not stand a bold, courageous, and strong

woman whom they could not compete with or defeat. In the 1950s, Wonder

Woman was shown to have the urge and desire to find a boyfriend and settle

down with him, all the while continuing her heroic missions, albeit

begrudgingly.

The female characters of the 1960s moved forward towards liberalism

and feminism, but wonder woman seemed to move backwards. Wonder

Woman's feminist strength was restored in the 1970s by Ms. Magazine and

Lynda Carter, who turned her into a symbol of strength and power (Hanley,

2014). When this history of Wonder Woman is explored and realizes all the

phases it has gone through, it eventually becomes a loving female character.

Along with her lost history, when her modern inclinations are explored, they

add a new dimension to her story. This also adds to why Wonder Woman

gained so much popularity and how the character retains its femininity in an

otherwise masculine world. She shows the world how women can be warriors

too, as well as fight along with men and also against them. Whereas children

grow up watching all male superheroes, Wonder Woman is an icon of

strength and courage for young girls (Matsuuchi, 2012).

Selflessness:

Wonder Woman is shown to be a selfless character. She, once hearing

about the potential threat to humanity, abandons her safe abode and

journeys towards an unknown place only so she can help the ones in need.

She wears bullet-deflecting bracelets because she is a hero and realizes the

danger she is going into and the threat she is about to face, but this does not

deter her away. Rather, his will to complete her mission keeps getting

stronger. She even finds herself at crossroads when she sees men's evil

nature and the crime they commit, but she is found to focus more on their

hidden good, how they can be the saviors, and this is why she chooses to

help the mercenaries instead. She can be seen to go against her mother's

orders, who does not want her to leave because she is afraid, she might get

harmed, but Wonder Woman is determined to do what is deemed right to

her. 

Conclusion:

The movie Wonder Woman is about a young girl with unusual

superpowers, which were bestowed upon her by the gods since she was the

daughter of Zeus. She lives on a small island in Amazon and grows up

amongst older women who are powerful, charismatic, and courageous.

Looking up to them, Diana, too, becomes ambitious to develop fighting skills.

Even though her mother does not want her to learn such skills, she goes

against her mother's wish and learns archery, sword fighting, and other such

skills, which can later help her in combat. Then she saves the life of a

stranger whose plane crashes on their island. As she tends to his injuries and

enquires about his whereabouts, he tells her about the evil scientist who

plans to annihilate mankind by releasing poisonous gas. Upon hearing this,

Diana decides to go to London with the stranger and join his team to fight

against the scientist. The character is full of strength, courage, boldness, and

kindness as throughout the movie, she exhibits all such qualities whilst

staying determined to finish her mission.

References

Hanley, T. (2014). Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the

World's Most Famous Heroine. Chicago Review Press.

Cocca, C. (2014). Negotiating the third wave of feminism in Wonder Woman.

PS: Political Science & Politics, 47(1), 98-103.

Alanson, C. (2017, November 10). 7 Ways Wonder Woman Shows Us How to

be Courageous, Purposeful and Amazing Women.

Bastien , A. J. (2017a, June 2). Wonder Woman. www.rogerebert.com.

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wonder-woman-2017

Matsuuchi, A. (2012). Wonder woman wears pants: Wonder woman,

feminism and the 1972" Women's Lib" issue. Colloquy, (24), 118-142.

Emad, M. C. (2006). Reading Wonder Woman's body: Mythologies of gender

and nation. The Journal of Popular Culture, 39(6), 954-984.