Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the ‘70s TV series, is speaking out against James Cameron’s criticisms of the 2017 film version of Wonder Woman.
ICYMI, last month, Cameron told the Guardian:
All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor [from Cameron’s movie Terminator] was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!
At the time, Wonder Woman (2017) director Patty Jenkins responded with a statement on social media:
James Cameron’s inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to women all over the world is unsurprising as, though he is a great film-maker, he is not a woman. Strong women are great. His praise of my film Monster, and our portrayal of a strong yet damaged woman was so appreciated. But if women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we. I believe women can and should be EVERYTHING, just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman. And the massive female audience who made the film a hit it is, can surely choose and judge their own icons of progress.
Now, Lynda Carter is chiming in. In a Facebook post shared late last week, she wrote:
To James Cameron -STOP dissing WW: You poor soul. Perhaps you do not understand the character. I most certainly do. Like all women–we are more than the sum of our parts. Your thuggish jabs at a brilliant director, Patty Jenkins, are ill advised. This movie was spot on. Gal Gadot was great. I know, Mr. Cameron–because I have embodied this character for more than 40 years. So–STOP IT.
Carter’s and Jenkins’s responses are similar — Carter says, “we are more than the sum of our parts,” while Jenkins says, “I believe women can and should be EVERYTHING, just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman.” Female lead characters don’t have to fit one certain “strong female character” mold, and there is room in pop culture for both Wonder Woman and Sarah Connor — and many more female lead characters, too.
Images via Wonder Woman
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