In recent days, critically acclaimed director and screenwriter, James Cameron, gave his long anticipated opinion on the new Wonder Woman film. In an interview with the Guardian, Cameron said, "All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon...I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards. Sarah Connor 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...how many times do I have to demonstrate the same thing over again? I feel like I’m shouting in a wind tunnel!” Cameron, most commonly known for Titanic, Aliens, and Avatar, has faced copious amounts of backlash in response to his comments, including a response from Wonder Woman director (and queen), Patty Jenkins:
"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 filmmaker, he is not a woman...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."
I'd like to take this moment to point out that James Cameron, while an incredible visionary, is the man who once bragged about putting boobs on an alien and used the telling of Titanic's sinking as a chance to get Kate Winslet naked on screen.
Not exactly the poster child for being against the objectification of women, am I right?
His comments are not only completely misguided and wrong, but also insinuate that the only time a woman can be strong and powerful is when she is cold, hard, gritty, broken, and troubled. The idea that a beautiful, caring, emotional woman cannot also be a badass is absurd, ignorant, and - frankly - sexist.
There have been multitudes of complex, beautiful, strong, powerful female characters throughout film and television history, Sarah Connor being one of them no doubt. But the running trend is that women on screen cannot be powerful unless they exude some unusual amount of masculine, dark, broody energy. Wonder Woman maintains her "womanly" characteristics - loving, caring, smiling, feeling emotions, nurturing, exuding happiness when seeing a baby in public - all while simultaneously kicking ass.
Cameron's problem with Wonder Woman is not that she is strong; it's that she is strong while remaining overtly and unapologetically feminine.
Some of Wonder Woman's greatest strengths come not from her God-given (literally) powers, but from her abilities to love and care for human beings. Diana is a woman who makes it her life's mission to save the man's world from hatred, evil, and self-inflicted destruction. And her goal is to do that through love. "Only love can truly save the world."
James Cameron seems to think the solution is less love and compassion, and more explosions, guns, and heavily-breasted aliens.
Am I going to boycott James Cameron? Absolutely not. I love his work and he's a brilliant filmmaker. Do I think he needs to check himself before he wrecks himself? A little bit, yeah. Wonder Woman is amazing, in print and on screen, and no one needs to hear me say it again because pretty much everyone knows by now. But I will say it again. Wonder Woman is amazing. And I don't think any amount of old dudes who think otherwise will change anyone's mind on that.
