Why Wonder Woman Rocks

Fear not! Wonder Woman will not deprive you of the standard super-hero fare. You’ll get an extravagant lightshow as flames consume an explosives facility, and the elegant acrobatics of the sword-wielding hero saving the day. But these antics do not diminish the film’s relevant undertones. I drove home debating the merits of varying approaches to feminism.

A central conflict in feminism today is whether to host a bra-burning bonfire or admit to the empowerment of the right pair of heels. Ignorant of 20th Century gender roles, Diana neither conforms to them nor fights them; she makes her own rules. In determining her wardrobe, she doesn’t aspire to masculinity or “modesty,” but uses the roundhouse-kick test.

Wonder Woman has flaws. Diana does not noticeably age through the film (though I am not entirely clear on the aging process of gods). Plus, we see that the female ideal remains young and white. Still it manages to combine mass appeal with social relevance.

—By Elena Cox