Went to see Wonder Woman tonight and just wanted to jot down some thoughts, rambles, perspectives… so spoiler alert, get outta here right now if you haven’t seen it yet (and plan to do so).
Several things struck me, so I’ll just dive right in. Visually, they did an amazing job, comparable in my mind to any other modern-day super-hero flick, so no issues there.
I thought they cast the role well, the wide-eyed innocent look was there (though I was surprised, honestly, that she wasn’t more “buff” because of the role Gal Gadot was playing, –this isn’t an insult, complaint or criticism, just an observation) as Robin Wright and the others all seemed to have a lot more muscle tone.
The only oddity in my mind was that the god of war, Aries, was played by an average-Joe-looking middle-aged British man complete with mustache. An unexpected choice.
So all this aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, loved getting to see the backstory of Diana Prince.
I have a lot of emotions I am trying to nail down in regards to how the movie makes one feel as a woman.
Of course, we are not all Amazons from Paradise Island, but still… it has a way of making a woman feel proud to be one. It struck me that this movie couldn’t and wouldn’t have been made even twenty years ago, not done this well, anyway.
On the way home I found myself (once again, it’s happened a few times in the life of my marriage) trying to describe something of what it feels like to be a woman to my husband. He’s a great guy, not at all a misogynist, but still, it’s hard to describe what being a woman is like to a man. Kind of like trying to describe a rose to a blind person. Not easy.
I told him how–at 16–I learned that I had to make myself smaller, dim my light, in order that men wouldn’t think I was flirting with them. Even at that age I’d already had the experience of being my bubbly, best, most joyful version of myself, only to be accused of wanting to sleep with some guy that I had just thought I was having a friendly conversation with.
What is that?? I’ve had other such experiences where–myself or other female friends were just being a normal friendly person but it was misconstrued as coming on to men. Smile too much? Oh you must want to sleep with them. Dare to be happy around a man? Must be trying to take them to bed. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about being a woman. We have to make ourselves smaller, literally and figuratively, because of men.
Literally because, let’s face it, all of us women have a sacred duty to be tiny and have perfect hair/skin/nails/everything so as not to offend the eyes of men. And figuratively because heaven forbid we should be beautiful, bubbly, joy-filled people with our lights shining on full wattage because, you know, the men won’t understand. And while you’re at it, know your place and don’t be smarter or make more money or have more talent because men’s egos can’t handle it. (If you think I’m coming on too strong you’re probably a man.)
I’m not a man, I don’t want to be a man and I surely do not want to be treated like one. I am not the same as a man, I only want equal respect and dignity. That’s all. I wouldn’t think it’s that much to ask. There are women who really do want to be treated like men, or at least they seem to think so, but not me. Just treat me with respect, treat me like an individual, give me my dignity. See, I’m easy to please.
I tried to make my husband understand circumstances where you are in a room full of people and the men are talking and you try to get a word in edge-wise and are looked at like window dressing or like they’re surprised and startled to hear you actually speak. There are all sorts of circumstances where I’ve felt smaller, less than, unappreciated, under-estimated, judged, inappropriately lusted after (I know, right?) and in general, taken for granted. It’s not something that’s easy to explain to someone who hasn’t felt it.
Anyway, all of that to say, there is a scene sort of towards the end of the movie, where WW is walking towards the evil god of war, and it’s kind of “after the struggle”, after she has come to some realizations and she’s now very calm and I connected with this scene, so much. She’s no longer raging and angry, she has found big love, she’s awakened, you might say, and she is at peace and more powerful than ever before. And I’m just shaking my head, like, “Yeah, that’s right.” She’s been through the fire, she’s facing her demons and she is so strong in that moment, not because of her strength changing, but because her heart changed. She found her love.
That hit me between the eyes. It’s so true to life. It’s not about the raging and the revenge and the struggle, it’s about finding big love, finding peace, about how truly powerful and centered we can become. We have the capacity.
For me it is all about being on a spiritual path, looking for more truth, more light, more love, more God. I believe when you seek, you find. The universe has so much for us but God doesn’t force more into us, it comes when we’re open and ready, when we haven’t shut ourselves down. We choose not to grow sometimes, because we think we have it all figured out already. We close down our minds and hearts.
So the long and short of it is, I really loved the movie. And also, even though it’s tough sometimes, I love being a woman.
🙂