So. About that Woman...

This is an expanded version of something I posted to Facebook. Turns out there is more to say. 

Wonder Woman works because it's not about women or wymyn or feminist empowerment or gender equality or some other heavy handed message. 

It's about people rising to face the challenge at hand. People; young and old, men and women, of different races and different belief systems and  different countries. 

Not because they were born heroes - even Diana- but because they took responsibility. Because they looked at a pending disaster and felt that they had to try and sort it. Because they were brave and fierce and godly?

Not at all. Diana is a naif, Steve Trevor is a sneak, and the merry band of gentlemen they collect as they go are, in general, pretty seriously damaged.  

They get involved because they are all inspired to rise above themselves, to look at the world outside of themselves and their problems, and as a consequence, realized that something needed doing and that they- against all probability, were in a good position to get it done. 

Inspired by Diana? Certainly. Not due to her prowess in battle or even her amazing optimism, but rather... Because of love. All kinds of love, in the end. The love between men and women, between family,  between comrades at arms, between us and ourselves -  the love that lets us look in the mirror without cringing. 

Empowerment, and all the messages people are getting from it?  It all stems from this. From the bravery of standing up. Standing up for self, for family and for humanity. 

The movie doesn't stop to highlight any of this, to objectify it, to hover over beautiful bodies or add gloss to the violence. Gal Gadot is beautiful. Connie Neilsen is beautiful. Robin Wright is beautiful. Chris Pine is beautiful.  So are fireballs and gouts of blue fire and the spark of a bullet ricochet. 

There could easily have been long scenes devoted to the adoration of all that. 

There are not. We see plenty of skin, plenty of action, plenty of stuff asploding all over the screen. But we are seeing athleticism and verve and moxie in motion, and the terrible results of war. The beauty of the human body, and the horror of what happens to it in battle. 

It is- for a big, tent-pole actioner? Charmingly forthright and free of leers. 

There is even a discreet cut away from a love scene. Not quite a candle blowing out as draperies move in the breeze, but that same effect. Haven't seen that in a while. 

The movie also reminds us that we- whoever we are, whatever our abilities or lackings- can be heroic.  We don't need to be living action figures, either.  We just need to stand up. I'm not subtracting the importance of having a woman lead- a bisexual leading character at that. I'm applauding everyone involved for making her, and her actions, part of a larger story, and trusting that people would see the inherit empowerment within. 

You're a wonder, Wonder Woman.