This isn’t an expression of gender dysphoria, nor is it a statement where I wish to change my sex (not that I would necessarily complain, in all honesty). This is about the movie Wonder Woman, which I finally got to see today. Impatient to just wait for the movie on Blu-Ray (Sept. 19th), I made a digital purchase because for some reason they released it that way more than two weeks early.
I will not give any of the movie away, but suffice to say that for those of us who are feminists, this movie has been a long time coming, and it’s about goddamned fucking time.
Starring Gal Gadot, Robin Wright, Chris Pine, and a whole cast of other incredibly beautiful people, this movie takes place during WWI, which surprised me. Yeah, some of you knew that, probably most of you, but I had no idea. I purposely stayed away from every spoiler I could, though someone ALMOST told me a HUGE spoiler, but I shut them up in the nick of time.
Gal Gadot is perfect as Wonder Woman. I would believe she was born to play the role. She seemed so effortless. Everyone else performed admirably in their roles, but Gal Gadot did something for me I didn’t expect: she became Wonder Woman.
See, almost 40 years ago, a man named Christopher Reeve played a superhero role. As I’m sure most of you know, that role was Superman. Well, I wasn’t born then, but when I did get to see Superman: The Movie as a child, I wasn’t watching Christopher Reeve play Superman in a movie, I was watching Superman come to life. He leapt off of the comic book pages and onto the screen.
Gal Gadot gave me that Superman moment as Wonder Woman. I wasn’t watching Gal Gadot play as Wonder Woman in a movie, I was watching Wonder Woman come to life on the screen. Whomever chose her for the role, all I can say is that person deserves a huge fucking raise. She was phenomenal. Phenomenal.
There were points in the film where I started crying, not because of the war on the screen (though there are moments, folks), but just watching her. Watching her move, watching her speak, watching her take action, she was and is the living embodiment of all that is good and pure. I was overwhelmed a number of times. I caught myself nodding to things she would say, whispering “damn straight” and “you tell them, Diana!”
She made me want to hope and dream. It was amazing. If you haven’t seen this movie, please, please see this movie. I have it available as a digital stream, but I’m still buying the Blu-ray, because I want a physical copy, too. That eats up my entire entertainment budget for the month, but I don’t care. I want to support this film, I want to support Wonder Woman, I want to support Gal Gadot because she is Wonder Woman, and yes, I want women everywhere to rejoice and be proud, because Wonder Woman is the most amazing superhero I’ve seen ever since I believed a man could fly. ♥
THE DARKEST THOUGHTS BEFORE THE DAWN
