Why Wonder Woman was the Film that I needed.

SPOILERS AHEAD...


I've spent a long time away from writing, occasionally popping on to write or I'll write about something and end up not posting it because I have been very depressed recently. My mother got very sick right around the same time that I had a miscarriage, I also suffered trauma from the miscarriage itself, which I had no idea could actually happen but it does around 25% of the time. My head has not been in a very good place recently, with the tests and the panic attacks. I had lost my voice and forgotten how to write, but then I went to see Wonder Woman.

For two hours that film made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me feel strong. I felt as though I had to power to do anything, be anything, I went through something terrible and I would make it to the other side stronger. For two hours I forgot about everything I'd been through and just focused on this fun action flick, at no point was I worried or anxious, I just got to see one of my childhood heroes in a movie and it was good.

From the start at no point was there a big deal made out of the fact that a society of warriors were women, they were just warriors, and there could have been a few stupid lines used in the film to comment on this and the fact that Diana (Gal Gadot) was female but there wasn't. It was also so refreshing to see women of all ethnicities living in this paradise, Themyscira is for all, and again it wasn't made a big deal out of or commented on, it just was.

Yes, when Diana goes off to London there is some uproar when she appears in a meeting, this is because it was historically accurate at the time, it was 1917/1918 after all, but it never deterred Diana from speaking her mind or doing what she thought was right. That's probably what I loved most about it, she did whatever she wanted to do and she committed to it. Even when she kept being told no (no don't look at the baby, put the sword down, no we can't save them, no Diana you can't go into no man's land) she was completely against it to the point where she just said screw you I'm helping and she became the hero she knew she could be and I cried.  

I needed to see that strength doesn't just come from being able to throw tanks in the air or being able to deflect bullets, and this is why the third act works for me. To have the strength not to kill Dr. Poison (Elena Anaya), not to turn her back on humanity when she finds out Ares merely just makes suggestions to us that we can choose not to listen to, both work so well for me as it is a testament to her character. She saw the goodness inside all of us, and she's been quite happy to sit in the shadows for the past 100 years as we discover it on our own.

Yes, part of me would like to have seen the alternative timeline where General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) was Ares and she turned her back on humanity because we continued to fight each other, but if that scenario was used would she actually come back to help us in future films? I liked the twist that a British Lord (David Thewlis) was actually Ares, not to say that General Ludendorff wasn't his own personal type of villain but it was refreshing to have the God of War disguised as an allied member secretly working to prolong the war.

I enjoyed how personal it all felt at the end, and we discover her true backstory (although I do like that the original story of her being created by clay still made it in there). She is the God killer, not the sword, not the shield, not the lasso, but her, because she is a God herself. She has to fight against her own brother, against herself for wanting revenge for Steve Trevor's (Chris Pine) death and against humanity for listening to Ares' weak manipulation.

This film works on so many levels, it has quickly become extremely important to me, and I now cannot wait to see more Diana Prince in Justice League. I am forever grateful to the movie for letting me take two hours away from some pretty heavy real life issues, enabling me to be brave and to fight to get my voice back. I also liked how they dealt with PTSD, it wasn't too heavy-handed, and it was respectful. Good job Patty Jenkins.

What did you think about Wonder Woman? Overhyped or Just Perfect? Comment below.