Wonder Woman- Breaking Stereotypes
Kyros Echaporia is a 9th grade student studying in Vibgyor High school in Pune. He listens to music and reads in his spare time. He loves putting his thoughts down on paper. Currently, he is a member of the Vibgyor High Student Social Responsibility Cell and the Vibgyor High Greaders Club.
Wonder Woman- Breaking Stereotypes
As a writer, having to choose the most empowering female leads that broke stereotypes is difficult. However, here is a movie that talks about empowerment of girls who fight for what they believe in. Wonder Woman is the first female driven superhero movie to hit theatres in 13 years. Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman is the first woman to direct a superhero movie.
When army pilot Steve Trevor crashes on the warriors’ secluded island paradise, disrupting the fictitious all-female sanctuary of Themyscira created by the Gods of Olympus, Steve is interrogated before all the Amazons with the Lasso of Truth. Unlike most movies where men do the interrogation with aggression, here women use a subtle, more powerful way of obtaining the truth.
He is forced to confess that he is a spy with the Allied forces. Steve explains to the Amazons about World War I and how he has learned of a sinister plan by Germany’s General Erich Ludendorff and his chief chemist. They are concocting a new bio-weapon, which Steve claims is unlike anything he’s seen before and tells the Amazons they are in more danger than they realize.
Steve acted as a spy in the German army before stealing the chemist’s notebook and flying away with it as he destroyed the Germans’ other planes until they followed him to the island. Diana realizes this must be the work of Ares. She aids for his rescue and wins the decisive right to escort him home, heading to an early 20th Century London.
Leaving behind the only life she’s ever known and entering the cynical world of men for the first time, torn between a mission to promote peace and her own warrior upbringing, as a “Wonder Woman,” Diana must fight evil in a “war to end all wars,” while hoping to unlock the potential of a humanity she doesn’t always understand.
This is a big leap in women empowerment as it is a best-selling film that has focus on female characters. It helps demolish the barriers which focus on men in movies being the only super-powered people. Men are shown as the heroes while women are in need of being rescued or are simply a romantic accompaniment to the main character in movies. In this movie, not only is the female the main character, but in most instances it is the female(s) who is rescuing the men.
Most of the movies that break gender stereotypes are animated movies. The reason of this could be to target a younger audience. This can result in them being open minded and not having any prejudices present in the previous generations. Be aware that as kids grow, they are specially keyed into specific gender messages that can affect the way they think about themselves and view others.
Wonder Woman has brought female empowerment to the big screen, and is a beautiful reminder of what feminism has to offer women and men.
Opinions are of the writer.
